-Far greater still is the One God and Father of all. He is over all - both sovereign and omnipotent. He is through all - omnipresent, everywhere present in all His unlimited power and authority. And He is in all - immanent, specifically dwelling in and (potentially) filling each and every born-again believer with all His power and love and patience and humility and forbearance. He is all, He is THE Be-All-End-All. And in the end, and from the very beginning, it is always all about Him.
-Yes, He is over all. Every believer, every church, every organization, every single person place and thing on planet earth. He is in charge, never out of control or caught off guard in the least. He raises up empires and kings and puts them down again. He raises up mountains and levels them. He flung the stars throughout the universe, ignited and fuels the spark of nuclear energy inside each and every atom. He breathes and sustains the breath of life inside each and every person who has or ever will live. And He founded and animates the church, drawing people from every nation tribe and tongue to come together to celebrate and spread the knowledge of His breathtaking goodness to every corner of our planet. We are one church, one body, one holy family, one indivisible people united under God, not some localized social club or temporal political entity but rather a living organism created and joined together forever by the one-and-the-same Creator. He is our federal Head, and we all follow where He goes, in the same direction. The unity and bonding which should exist as a result often gets lost when I forget that my fellow believers are not the enemy. Mine is not to pass judgment on them or to regard them with contempt, to look down on them and criticize or to hold onto grudges and wounds and to foster a festering bitterness. Instead I hold onto my brother or sister as if somebody’s life depends on it (which, in fact, is true). I am not in any way better than them, they are not the problem, and dividing from them is not the solution. Most likely the log in my own eye is a much bigger problem. But we all have the same Boss, the same Father, the same Master - we each report to Him. In this arena the priority and primacy of the vertical relationship both trumps and strengthens my horizontal relationships. God comes first - I put Him before everyone else, even my own family, but even as I put Him first I then strengthen my connection and obligation to all others who likewise put Him first.
-And before I decide to not continue holding towards a fellow believer in grace and long-suffering and charity, I must consider whether or not our Father, the Lord Who is over all and through all and in all is not actually in this and intending for this situation, this person, to work some greater good in my life. Make every effort to keep guarding the oneness, Paul says. I may think I need to get out, to get away, but that is never God’s Plan A, not for His people. I may think there are greener pastures next door, across town, in another city, with a different spouse, a different pastor, a different group. Better by far to hang in there and let God teach me something, show me (and others) something about His heart to hang in there.
-But that person who annoys the snot out of me? The one who has made what I think is such a terrible decision, who has wounded me - not only are they following the same Master, they are indwelt by the Same. The very same God Who lives IN ME, LIVES IN THEM. He IS in all, constantly everywhere present and at work with all His grace and fulness and mercy and love and leniency and gentleness and faithfulness and forgiveness. We each and all constantly get this from Him (or should) and the expectation is that since He is in all of us, we can and should and will channel all this grace and mercy and love and faithfulness to those He has sovereignly put in our lives. We are one, constantly and enduringly, because He is One, and He is in us. And in the end it is all about Him, and when we make it all about Him, we stay together. We are faithful and we stay together, because that’s how He rolls. We don’t leave, cuz He don’t leave. At least, that's the plan. Where we get off the rails is when we make it more about the people and the things around us. Lord help us...
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