A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”- John 13:34-35 BSB

Warrior;
What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after. (Ecclesiastes 1:9-11) “There’s nothing new under the sun” is an idiom, or a proverb! It’s meaning is simple, there is nothing in the world that has not already happened, been seen, or been created; things exist now as they always have. Sometimes used for hyperbolic effect. As a modern idiom, “there’s nothing new under the sun” is often used as a world-weary complaint against life’s monotony. When Solomon wrote the statement, he was emphasizing the cyclic nature of human life on earth and the emptiness of living only for the “rat race.” Even the news seems like the same old stuff, just regurgitated with different names, different faces, but the same content; hate, resentment, bitterness, strife…. record keeping and POUND OF FLESH, taking! Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Leader, the purpose of the book of Ecclesiastes is to spare future generations the suffering and misery of seeking after foolish, meaningless, materialistic emptiness, and to offer wisdom by discovering truth in seeking after God. Learn religion dot com, states that the main theme of Ecclesiastes is humanity’s fruitless search for contentment. Solomon’s sub-themes are that contentment cannot be found in human endeavors or material things, while wisdom and knowledge leave too many unanswered questions. This leads to a sense of hollowness. Meaning in life can be found only in a right relationship with God. With its dire warnings and record of futility, Ecclesiastes could be a depressing book, except for its exhortation that true happiness can be found only in God. Written ten centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ, the book of Ecclesiastes urges today’s Christians to seek God first if they want to find purpose in their life. Jesus told us that there is only one way to the Father and that is through Him, the Son. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.” (John 14:6-7) And in another letter John connected KNOWING, with DOING. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (1 John 2:3-6)

Conduit, the kind of love described in this new commandment was so essential, Jesus used it as a sign of His true disciples: “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” The fact is, the command “that you love one another” was nothing new in New Testament times. The Old Testament used similar words in the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself.” This was an ancient commandment even at the time of Jesus Christ. It says, “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:18). In Jesus Christ’s new command, the significant words are “as I have loved you.” Christ’s command to love “as I have loved you” is the “new commandment.” This depth of love takes the Christian to a whole new way of expressing love for others. The love that Jesus Christ had and continues to have for His followers is infinitely more profound than the love expressed in “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” When Christians express love toward others, it should not be just as we love ourselves, but as Christ loves us. Putting into practice His “as I have loved you” kind of love, Jesus Christ willingly paid the price for our sins. As He explained, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). In John 14:6 Jesus was saying, “WATCH ME, MATCH ME.” Jesus told us to watch Him and do what He does. This type of love is called AGAPE, unconditional, Godly love. We cannot do this in our own strength, we must die to ourselves daily and ask GOD to LIVE and LOVE through us! Love is NOT a noun, or a feeling, it is a verb. A verb is an action word, and most verbs require effort! For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. God is telling us, “For you so love me, that you do for others, what is against your nature.” This is why it requires that we must be BORN AGAIN! Let us pray to God, that today, HE will LOVE OTHERS through us, as HE has loved us! Lord, you know my flesh is weak, but my Spirit is willing. Lord, help me with my unbelief. Amen!

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. – 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 ESV

Warrior;
John MacArthur put it this way: “Paul was committed to the proclamation of the gospel, unstintingly, unhesitatingly, and unreservedly. And that is what we are called to do. We announce that God can be reconciled to doomed sinners, the greatest news the world has ever heard. If you look at just the enmity between God and man, it might appear at first hopeless. A perfect, infinite, holy, flawless, righteous God whose justice must be satisfied by the punishment of all who have violated His laws and standing under the looming sword of judgment is the helpless sinner who can’t please God at all and cannot change his condition. A holy God whose justice must be satisfied, a helpless sinner who can do nothing at all to satisfy it. Man, then stands in a doomed position. The relationship seems irreversible. And frankly, from man’s side it is. Happily, from God’s side, it is not.”

Leader, Continuing MacArthur’s thought: “There is actually a way to satisfy God’s justice. to satisfy His wrath and vengeance against sin, and still reconcile sinners. That is the supreme and sublime reality, that is our message, that is what we preach. We can get caught on all kinds of peripheral issues. We can…we can find ourselves messing around with the fringe elements. But sooner or later this is the core of everything we do. God can be reconciled to sinners. And to us is committed that ministry of reconciliation by preaching the word of reconciliation. A.T. Robertson, many years ago, said, “The pulpit is the Golgotha on which the preacher gives his life for the reconciliation of the world.” This is our calling.” Are you answering the call?

Conduit, Reconciliation is a divine provision by which God’s holy displeasure against man was appeased; hostility removed- relation restored! “For if while we were sinners we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more having been reconciled we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” (Romans 5:10) Reconciliation is by the WILL OF GOD. Sinners- you and me; have NO POWER to satisfy God’s anger, NO POWER to satisfy God’s holy justice, NO POWER to satisfy God’s standard of righteousness. We can change nothing on our own, nor do we initiate! Sinners are simply offenders who have broken the law of God and therefore are banished eternally from God’s presence. Any change that is going to come about in that relationship has to come from God! This is the GOSPEL: God so loved sinners that He sought a way of reconciliation. He sought a way to make sinners His friends while maintaining His ‘JUSTness’. If RECONCILIATION was going to happen- it was on HIM! The falsity of ALL RELIGIONS is based on the premise that somehow man can find a means by which to somehow mitigate the hostility of God. GOD chose you, GOD LOVED you first, GOD SOUGHT you, and GOD reconciled you to HIM! God did all the work; IT IS FINISHED! GIVE HIM ALL the GLORY! Amen!

We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. – 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NLT

Warrior;
We are different even though we seem like others. We are human, but we fight against the flesh, to be like Jesus, Human, but of God too! This is similar to the saying, “We are to be IN the world, not OF the world”. We are to be different. God’s purpose in choosing Israel was multifaceted, as with everything God does, He is OMNIPURPOSIVE. The Bible gives us many reasons why God chose Israel, it had nothing to do with Israel, it had to do with God. Hear the Word of the Lord: “The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your forefathers that He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.” (Deuteronomy 7:7-9) One of the main reasons He chose Israel is to create a people, who were different from the rest of the World. God wanted Israel to be a model nation, a group of people through whom other peoples could learn vitally important lessons. God wanted Israel to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). Other nations would see that when the Israelites obeyed God, they were blessed (verse 5), and when they disobeyed God, they would be punished (Deuteronomy 28). Moses reminded the Israelites of this important concept prior to their entering Canaan. “Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess”. God wanted Israel to live in such a way that others wanted what Israel had. That they would want to know what is so different about these people? God wanted them to look to Israel as a model, and then decide to follow the God of Israel, the ONE true God: Jehovah, Yahweh!

Leader, hear the Word of the Lord; “Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the LORD our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him?’” (Deuteronomy 4:5-7). An important point to note is that God intended for Israel to serve—be a servant—to God and to be a blessing to other nations. See Genesis 12:3. Unfortunately, Israel forsook God, yet because of their opportunity to serve God, they often wrongfully thought of themselves as superior to other peoples- pride and arrogance became idols. They apparently overlooked God’s warning that they needed to obey Him and keep the covenant they had made with Him in order to be a “special treasure” to God “above all people” (Exodus 19:5). I believe we are CALLED for similar purposes. Our life is not about us, it is about God. Our purpose of being created is to glorify God. Hear the Word of the Lord: Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them”. (Isaiah 43:7, Genesis 1:27) Everything God does, he ultimately does for His name’s sake, for His glory (Psalm 19:1-4, Psalm 23:3, Ezekiel 20:9, Ezekiel 36:22-32, John 8:50, John 12:27-28, John 17:1, Romans 1:5, Romans 11:36, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 1:15-20). I am asked all the time to help people find their purpose. People spend their wealth, their pain, their time, their heart, body, and soul working to find out their existential purpose. “Why do I get up each day, do what I do, go home at night and do it again and again and again…?” Your purpose is to GLORIFY GOD! As I help people overcome habits, or set goals, I have to ask many questions. One of the great questions of conflict resolution, in goal-getting is, “What is holding you back?” Once we can identify this enemy then, we can do proper battle, and become victorious.

Conduit, the one common enemy of all people who fail to fulfill their mission and GLORIFY GOD, is because of removing God from the Pre-eminence of our lives, to something tangential, or something complimentary to our lives. God does NOT want to be a PART OF OUR LIVES, He wants to be the REASON for our lives. If GOD is not our reason for existing, if He is NOT our FIRST and LAST FOCUS, if He is not our FIRST LOVE- then we are ‘missing the mark’. Jesus’ complaint to the Ephesus church was just this point. But I have this (charge) against you, that you have left your first love (you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me). (Revelation 2:4) If Our Purpose Is to Glorify God, Then Our Purpose Is to Follow and Reflect Jesus. Jesus was extremely focused when He walked on the face of the earth incarnate. He was ALL about His Fathers business! Jesus glorifies God the most because he makes the invisible qualities of God visible better than anyone else ever could. Colossians 1:15 states, “The Son is the image of the invisible God,” and Hebrews 1:3 explains, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” John 1:14, 18 (ESV) adds that “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. . .. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made him known.” What we know about God is what we can see in the face of Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:4, 6). What others know about Jesus, could be what they see in the face, hands, feet, Heart, Bruises and Scars of you! It is time to check your throne. Is God, is Jesus on that throne? Or have you replaced it with someone, or something else? Proud obstacles that keep people from knowing God would be our idols. Living in a way that we desire, crave, fear, work for, elevate anything\anyone above the level of love, focus and desire for God- is going to play a part in keeping others from knowing your God. Is it time to do an inventory? Is it time to consider that you need to remove some Idols from your heart, or your mind? God has given us an incredible opportunity to REPRESENT HIM, to get credit for activating, some of His chosen. How are you doing in your primary existential task? Today, it is time to surrender and give Jesus the reins of your life, so He can use your life, to bring life to others- THROUGH HIM! Hear the Word of the Lord, 2 Corinthians 2:14-16: But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. 15For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life. And who is qualified for such a task? Only Jesus! Look up for the Kingdom of God is at hand!

Today on Like It Matters Radio Mr. Black is Continuing His series on Understanding. If I can understand you a little better and you can
understand me a little better- does it Not make sense that we are in a position to have a better relationship? We live in the “ME” time. We are told everything is about us! We have a tendency to be very selfish. We get wrapped up in our feelings, our wants, our hurts, our dreams, and our trauma. Rule #1 about being a leader is: It’s not about us! We are mere Conduits who pass on to others, what has been passed on to us. What America, our families, our brothers, and sisters need is understanding! In America today, UNDERSTANDING seems to be a rare gem. As Dr. Stephen Covey said in his seminal work; The 7 habits of Highly Effective people; Seek
first to understand, then be understood. Today Mr. Black will go into how to determine the processing style of the person you are communicating with.
Tune into Like It Matters Radio, for an Hour of Power as Mr. Black helps you to connect with others as he discusses; Understanding; V A K.
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Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 6:10-12 NKJV

Warrior;
FINALLY, is a closing statement…One last thought before we bring this to a close…something to leave you with…to surmise…. Be Strong in the LORD and IN the POWER of HIS might! Not our might, not about what MIGHT happen, or MIGHT NOT happen- in the Power of HIS MIGHT! We get so ‘wrapped up’ in the ARMOR OF GOD, what does it mean, what are the weapons of offense and weapons of defense, what does each item mean…we go running for meaning, that we miss the REASON, the PURPOSE, the NEED for THE ARMOR OF GOD. What is the reason we need to know, adorn and understand the ARMOR OF GOD? Paul says, “That you\me\we may be able to stand against the WILES of the devil. The great nemesis of the Roadrunner, in the iconic Saturday morning cartoons was Wile E. Coyote. The NKJV version uses the word WILES, and if you do not know what it means just remember our coyote friend and his helper, ACME. They would scheme, plot and devise schemes to trick, manipulate, trap, deceive, act AS IF…all to get him the Roadrunner. In other translations the words they use explain what is meant by wiles. Schemes, strategies, deceits, and tricks- those are the words that the other translations use, which defines the word, WILES. As one Bible expositor says that the book of Ephesians is about our POSITION, IN CHRIST. “In the first three chapters of Ephesians, Paul uses the terms “In Christ,” “In Him,” and “In Whom” (all referring to Jesus) 30 times. This lays the basic foundation of the book that you are to know your position as a believer—I am “In Christ” (which Paul declares in Colossians 1:27 was a mystery and is our “hope of glory”). Paul over-emphasizes this position of being “In Christ” in the first half of the book, and then in chapters 4-6 explains what this position looks like lived out day-to-day.

Leader, the Devil has many strategies, schemes, tricks, and deceits to move people away from their power source, which is their belief, their faith, their Jesus and his finished work in His ministry of reconciliation. God openly tells us one of the devils biggest schemes is to pretend he is an emissary, a representative, a member of the family of God. Hear the Word of the Lord; For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15) The devil also wants to make you doubt, or question your position in Christ. That is why Satan is called the accuser of the brethren. Hear the Word of the Lord: And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. (Revelation 12:10-11) One of the Devil’s greatest machinations is to have us be confused, to have us doubt God, doubt God’s Word, and doubt the truth and guidance of God’s WORD. CONFUSION is the #1 weapon formed against us. When we are confused we DO NOT RESPOND with POWER, nor with CLARITY, which means, without CONVICTION and COMMITMENT. Confusion leads to doubt and doubt leads to living a double minded life that glorifies Satan and horrifies our Lord. If we are not grounded in the WORD of God, then when the devil twists, perverts and distorts the WORD of GOD how will we know? Now the seeds of confusion blossom into doubt, fear and forgetting our POSITION IN CHRIST. The first 2 delusions of the devil that he uses against his foes, God’s chosen people is; 1- The devil is not real. 2- He is some caricature, some little man in a red suit with a pitchfork who encourages you to do what you want. In a recent nationwide survey of adults’ conducted by the Barna Group, it is again affirmed, ‘most American Christians Do Not Believe that Satan or the Holy Spirit Exist”. In other words, they do not know WORD and what they do know, they DON’T BELIEVE. Without Faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God! (Hebrews 11:6)

Conduit, If you can get beyond the 2 standard lies of the devil, and believe what the BIBLE says, instead of what the DEVIL and THE WORLD say– now you can STAND AGAINST THE WILES of the devil. In Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-12 the great spiritual battle of Jesus and Satan in the Wilderness plays out. We learn 6 things from that encounter and the first one: 1-THE DEVIL IS REAL. 2-The devil wants to make us doubt God, and His provision. “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of Bread”. (Matthew 4:3) 3- The devil knows Scripture. We know the devil knows at least three verses- you should know more of the Bible, than the devil knows! Interesting that Jesus rebukes Satan’s twisting of scripture, with scripture. Jesus quoted the Book of Deuteronomy each time. There is debate about whether Jesus quoted Psalms or Deuteronomy more. 4- The Devil has great power. The Devil is a created being, but as far as Created beings go, Lucifer is the most powerful creature ever made- He was the original Morning Star. Even Michael could not battle Satan on his own accord. Jude 1:9 says, But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” The devil is a defeated foe, but never-the-less a powerful, formidable adversary. 5- Jesus has authority over everything, including the Devil. Satan shows his great power by first taking Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and then to a mountaintop. If Satan can do such things, we should never underestimate his power here on earth. Furthermore, we should not be surprised by the evil we see all around us. Still, the devil can only do what God allows him to do (Job 1:12).6- The Devil is a defeated foe! The devil’s time is short, and his doom is sure. In this time before Jesus’ return, God is patient, “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (1 Pet. 3:9). Take comfort, because Jesus Christ—your captain, your champion, your advocate, your hero—shall never waver in his love for you. He “will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:8).

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I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. – 1 Corinthians 1:10 ESV

Warrior;
A friend of mine, a Pastor continually says that “God loves UNITY”. He says, “Nothing Pleases God more than Unity”. That statement surprised me, and I am not sure if I agree with it, but I do know that UNITY is important to God. And what I know is that what is today representative of “God’s church” is anything but unified. There is no doubt that UNITY is important to God, and it displeases Him when there is not unity in His people. One could say that the reason for the flood was that there was massive DIS-Unity in the world because of the wickedness of man’s heart. It would be a safe starting point to say that God destroyed the earth in the flood because of the lack of unity between men, and between man and God. “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time. And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” (Genesis 6:5-7) In Genesis we see after the flood, there was a new beginning. There was one family, 8 people, the family of the righteous man Noah who God chose to use to ‘start over’, and have some unity. Hear the Word of the Lord: Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, “Behold, I now establish My covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth—every living thing that came out of the ark. And I establish My covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. (Genesis 9:8-13)

Leader, In the Old Testament you can look at those who caused dissention within His people, and notice how God dealt harshly with them. Look at the curse of Ham, that happened not too long after landfall, in the New Beginning. “Now Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. But when he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers outside. When Noah awoke from his drunkenness and learned what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan! A servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”’ (Genesis 9:20-22, 24-25) We do not know exactly what Ham did, but it caused DISUNITY among the new FIRST FAMILY and punishment was severe. In the Exodus from Egypt there is an event called the REBELLION OF KORAH. Korah did not like that Moses thought he was TOP DOG, so Korah grumbled and complained about it, and God dealt harshly with him for the DIS UNITY it caused to His people and to Him man, Moses. Numbers 16 lays out the entire story, but let me share the ending. Hear the Word of the Lord: And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men offering the incense. (Numbers 16:31-35) You will see the same thing in the New Testament, God wants UNITY among His people. Jesus Himself said, “A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse. Similarly, a family splintered by feuding will fall apart. And if Satan is divided and fights against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive. (Mark 3:24-26)

Conduit, through the NEW TESTAMENT, you will see many examples of God wanting to create UNITY of the brethren, unity in the Kingdom of God. When the disciples were bickering about who was their Rabbi, or who they followed, or who Baptized whom- Paul wanted to create UNITY. But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants, nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Corinthians 3:1-9) Or in the 12th Chapter of Matthew where Jesus united all His church by asking and answering one of His famous questions: “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:48-50) Unity is important to our Lord and our Savior- Jesus, and it should be to us as well. Only God has omniscience. That long word means perfect knowledge. The religious leaders knew scripture, they had it memorized, yet they missed the Messiah, when He became flesh. We are to search the scriptures and we will have to fill in the blanks- because God left a lot of information out of the Word. We must remember the importance of UNITY and quit attacking others who have come to a different understanding of that information that is not clearly stated in the Bible. Let us remember and use this simple concept to create and maintain UNITY among the small REMNANT of what is the TRUE CHURCH. In Nonessential beliefs, we have LIBERTY. In Essential beliefs we have UNITY. In ALL our beliefs, we have CHARITY. Let us battle the enemies of God, our flesh, the World, and those that come to sow disunity in His body. Let us have UNITY as fellow servants of the RISEN KING, as Ambassadors in chains, and as foreigners in a strange land! Look up, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!