Out From the Underground

Unity. Unity unity unity. I keep hearing that word over and over again in my spirit. This morning these verses caught my attention. "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:13-15‬ We are one. Part of one unit. You may be thinking, "ugh- I don't want to be one unit with some of these people". I can relate. I was asking God more about what He was saying about unity, and He led me to the passage of the last supper. We've heard it a million times, right? It always melts my heart when Jesus tells the disciples how much the supper- and they - meant to Him, yet He says and does all of these things even knowing Judas will betray Him. "The hand of the one who will betray Me is with Mine on this table" (Luke 22:21). Sharing bread in that culture was a sign of peace, that those who shared bread could not be enemies. So not only was it a betrayal, it was a betrayal masquerading as a friendship. If we knew ahead of time that someone would betray us, would we have the humility to let it happen? Could we treat them the same as if they weren't? In the preceding verses it mentions that Satan entered Judas. Jesus was able to hold that holy anger for the enemy but release and forgive Judas by knowing that it wasn't really Judas. We have an enemy, but it is NOT each other. Even now a bright red cardinal hops outside my window, which I have noticed over the years has always signified for me God moving into a new phase of something. There is a new movement that the Holy Spirit is aching to start. It involves, just as Ephesian described, tearing down the walls between us in order for us to move with greater unity and be as one. God then began unfolding something more. 1 Corinthians 6:19 begins "Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?". This is, of course, a charge to take care of these precious vessels and LOVE who God made us to be. But God whispered "it's even bigger than that. The BODY is my temple". This is also a call to love our BODY, as in the corporate body. That verse ends in a way that gives me tingles down my spine; "You are not your own". We are not our own! We belong to God and because of that we also belong to each other. "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34). Even Jesus served and gave Himself to the very least of these. So should we also. I had a vision of a being among a troupe of soldiers running into battle. As we were unified in direction, our charge was successful. Then some became suspicious of each other or fighting against each other and were not focused. Others were so focused on instructing their fellow soldier that they weren't paying attention to the commander. Still others were preoccupied about how those next to them were unfit for battle, and were distracted. When there is no unity, we not only hurt others in the troupe, but we leave ourselves vulnerable to the enemy. We have one Defender, one Commander, one Judge. Those jobs are taken and not to be occupied by us. The key is making Him and His directions our one focus as we let those dividing walls crash down. As I pulled up to the driveway today something GIANT bounced off my windshield. At first I thought it was a small bird, but as I got out and looked, it was a HUGE cicada. The first I've seen, though I've heard them in the hot summer evenings. Feeling like it was significant, I looked at up. Turns out some cicadas can spend over a decade UNDERGROUND. Eventually they emerge in huge numbers so to overwhelm their enemies. I feel like God is calling out the hidden ones. Those who feel overlooked or unimportant or invisible. You are crucial. God is needing unity in this time among the body so that our love and loyalty to Him can overwhelm our enemy. Individually we cannot conquer what we can united as the body. Love that person that you don't think is worth it. Let go of those walls of offense erected by betrayal and hurt. What God is wanting to use us for is SO MUCH BIGGER than that! Dust the dirt off from years of being buried. Feel the excitment. A new phase is coming.