Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:1-3 NAS
The bond of PEACE! Shalom is not an absence of something, it is the presence of Christ in us and through us. The righteousness He gave us and the fruitfulness of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. The Bible refers to us – the Church – unique yet unified. I am one of ONE.
Each of us – one of ONE, a fearfully and wonderfully created, crafted, and called child of God and member of One body. Scripture refers to us as one; as a BODY, a BUILDING, a BRANCH and a BRIDE as we abide in Him and His Word in our heart.
Jesus is the Head, the Cornerstone, the Vine and the Bridegroom – we are one. As a body, I must understand that if you get cut, I bleed. We have all sorts of functions, but one faith. Yet, oftentimes it seems we, the Church, have not quite grasped this concept as we continue competing, instead of as one, completing the Great Commission.
We continue to be slow, and heaven forbid that the world may never “know” if we do not submit and commit to our oneness. Scripture tells us that we will be perfected in unity and the world will sit up and take notice that we are God’s people, loved by the Father who sent His one and only Son to be the Savior of the world…that we would be living in a way that causes the world to BELIEVE! Hallelujah!
It is a promise straight out of Jesus’ prayer in John 17:21.Jesus prayed for it and then paid for it on the cross. Our identity in Christ is that we are ONE.
All of our thoughts, words and deeds should flow like living water from us in the oneness that God calls us to be in our true identity. We cannot “identify” differently than who God made us to be, but when we divide, we live a lie; a counterfeit life authored by the enemy himself.
This is NOT to say that we run away from the gifting that God has given His Church or the multifaceted biblical ways He calls us to worship. But we love and honor one another as followers of Jesus Christ, knowing we are in the same Jesus-led, Jesus as the head, body. We are on the same team fighting a common enemy that is not flesh and blood. We must set aside all divisions and siloed positions, traditions, and oppositions.
God tore down the barriers between races, genders, and generations, grafting us into the family of God by the blood of Jesus. We now stand together as a “whosoever.” “Whosoever will believe in Him will not perish but have everlasting life,” John 3:15.
Friends, if we are praying for revival, if we desire to be sanctified, if we pray fervently for the world to BELIEVE, if you cry out for PEACE, then our beautiful feet must be shod with peace as we preach the Good News. Our lives, together, in the unity of Christ must proclaim the Prince of Peace, the Head of the Body of Christ, the Cornerstone of the building of which we are brought together, the answer to Jesus’ prayer to His Father that was bought and brought forth through the cross and an empty tomb, the Truth of our existence that we must not only proclaim with passing lip service but with LIFE service, humbly and fervently practiced every moment, of every day … Jesus prayed it and paid for it, Paul and Peter preached it, and the Church must pray and practice it.
This year’s National Day of Prayer Theme challenges us to pray and live in the identity of the finished work of Christ, knowing and showing our theme verse of Ephesians 4:4-6:
There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
Our 2027 Theme is ONE: That the World May Believe
Would you pray with me now?
Jesus, You are our Savior, the Good Shepherd, the head of the Body. I am a member of the body, a sheep in Your flock, and a faithful servant. I rejoice in the one hope I have in You, and the one hope, faith and baptism I share with my brothers and sisters in Christ as we, as one, worship and serve You. Forgive me for the times I lived a lie and viewed other believers as competition, rather than co-laborers for the Kingdom. I pray that in this new year, I would be rooted in the knowledge that I am one of ONE, honoring and encouraging fellow believers as we pursue You, Jesus, and seek to use our various gifts for the glory of Your Kingdom and the completion of the Great Commission. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.
Kathy Branzell
President