As we mature in our relationship with God there are marked changes in how we live. We can notice a growing humility and disciplined desire for God, a steady movement forward, giving of oneself in acts of love, becoming quick to forgive. The Holy Spirit, the agent of these changes, fosters unity and oneness, instead of dissension and fragmentation.
Pay attention to this divine action, always at work and present in all. What the enemy of our soul wants to steal, kill and destroy, Christ has taken back, restored, healed and made new. Open your heart to receive what Christ is handing out that is for you!
Ephesians 4:1-13 The Message
To Be Mature
In light of all this, here’s what I (Paul) want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk–better yet, run!–on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline–not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.
You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness. But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is,
He climbed the high mountain,
He captured the enemy and seized the booty,
He handed it all out in gifts to the people.
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What phrase or word spoke to you as you listened/read?
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What does this tell us about God?
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What does it mean to you to be one with God and one with all creation?
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How do you hear God speaking to your life in this text?