{"id":1417,"date":"2021-01-18T15:20:11","date_gmt":"2021-01-18T15:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antioch-network.org\/?p=1417"},"modified":"2021-01-21T17:05:17","modified_gmt":"2021-01-21T17:05:17","slug":"unity-week-devotion-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antioch-network.org\/2021\/01\/18\/unity-week-devotion-day-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Unity Week Devotion | Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Cover photo by\u00a0Brett Jordan<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Text<\/h2>\n
\n

\u201cI am the\u00a0true vine, and my Father is\u00a0the vinedresser.\u00a0Every branch in me that does not bear fruit\u00a0he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes,\u00a0that it may bear more fruit.\u201d\u00a0John 15:1-2 (ESV)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Commentary<\/h2>\n

Jesus didn\u2019t know everything.* Neither do we. Accepting this as fact could put us further down the road to authentic unity than we have ever been. What does this have to do with unity in the body of Christ?<\/p>\n

\u00a0Unity depends on how we view other followers of Jesus. In these verses, the branches, which we later we find out \u201cbe us,\u201d get lopped off for two different reasons. It\u2019s not apparent that any of the branches, nor maybe even the Vine, have a say in which is removed and for what reason. That\u2019s the Father\u2019s call.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Unity depends on our response to an important question. Think with me. Jesus fully and always trusted his Father. I generously venture most of us, at some time, are able to trust God with a difficult situation and eventually come to see his better wisdom that is working all things \u201cfor the good of those who love him\u2026.\u201d \u00a0Now can we trust how the Father is working the same way in another person\u2019s life? \u00a0What thoughts do we entertain when we see the next branch on the vine being cut by the Vinedresser? Judgment or mercy. Love or self-vindication. If we can trust God\u2019s work in another person, the possibilities for solidarity with that person multiplies.<\/p>\n

Remembering that \u201cwe\u201d are the branches, pruning a fruitful branch and cutting off a spent one is indistinguishable. We cannot know if the cutting is of a fruitful or fruitless branch. Both are acts of kindness from our Father. Even the verb used in the Greek text is basically the same for what is translated in one instance \u201ccut\u201d and the other, \u201cprune.\u201d \u00a0Pruning a good branch and cutting off a spent one feels the same to the branch. It feels like affliction. However, if we harbor in our heart a judgmental thought about the reason that the other person is being afflicted, we have veered from the path of following Jesus and broken fellowship.<\/p>\n

One the mount Jesus makes it plain, \u201cJudge not that you be not judged.\u201d There are many reasons to heed him. Unity, I assert, is one. Later Jesus would tell Peter directly, \u201ctake care of your own responsibilities and don\u2019t worry about how I, the Lord, deal with your friend John.\u201d Finally, Paul reinforces the principal in his second letter to the Corinthians: \u201cno longer regard anyone according to the flesh. Even though we one regarded Christ according to the flesh we do so no longer. Therefore, whoever is in Christ is a new creation. The old has passed away behold the new has come.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are to look at, BEHOLD, the person who is a brother or sister in Christ as the new creation they are, not according to the past, even if present behavior in that person harkens back to some habituated behavior of the \u201cold self.\u201d See them and respond to them for who they are: a new creation. To do so is a strong preventative for disunity and broken relationships in the Body of Christ.<\/p>\n

Reflection<\/h2>\n

Holy Spirit, where have I recently observed the behavior of one of Christ\u2019s follower and jumped to a premature judgment that what<\/em> they are reaping is a result of a sinful sowing.<\/p>\n

Action<\/h2>\n

Wait for the Spirit brings this person to mind whose behavior your see as \u201cless than mature\u201d in Christ. Maybe this someone has offended you or hurt someone you love. Now choose to \u201cbehold\u201d them, see them in your sanctified, grace-filled imagination, as the \u201cnew creation\u201d they are, as if the \u201cnew\u201d has truly \u201ccome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prayer<\/h2>\n

Grant me, O Lord, to know what I ought to know; to love what I ought to love; to praise what delights you most; to value what is precious in your sight; to hate what is offensive to you. Do not allow me to judge according to the sight of my eyes, nor to pass sentence according to the hearing of the ears of ignorant men, but to discern with a true judgment between things visible and spiritual; and above all, always to inquire what is the good pleasure of your will. Amen. (<\/em>attributed to Thomas Kempis)<\/p>\n

*(Mark 13:32;\u00a0Luke 2:52; Hebrews 5:8)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Cover photo by\u00a0Brett Jordan on Unsplash Text \u201cI am the\u00a0true vine, and my Father is\u00a0the vinedresser.\u00a0Every branch in me that does not bear fruit\u00a0he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes,\u00a0that it may bear more fruit.\u201d\u00a0John 15:1-2 (ESV) Commentary Jesus didn\u2019t know everything.* Neither do we. Accepting this as fact could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,12],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nUnity Week Devotion | Day 1 - Antioch Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antioch-network.org\/2021\/01\/18\/unity-week-devotion-day-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unity Week Devotion | Day 1 - Antioch Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cover photo by\u00a0Brett Jordan on Unsplash Text \u201cI am the\u00a0true vine, and my Father is\u00a0the vinedresser.\u00a0Every branch in me that does not bear fruit\u00a0he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes,\u00a0that it may bear more fruit.\u201d\u00a0John 15:1-2 (ESV) Commentary Jesus didn\u2019t know everything.* Neither do we. 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