John 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Jesus prayed a prayer in John 17 that you and I as believers have a part in answering. It was that the same oneness He had with the Father would be in us. It was this unity that would influence the unsaved world to know the love God has for them. Throughout John 17 He uses the word “one” five different times signifying the importance of unity. There is no truer foretaste of Heaven’s peace and harmony, nothing more pleasant and good in the eyes of God than His children dwelling together in unity. Unity isn’t the same as uniting. You can unite two cats by ntheir tails and there wouldn’t be much unity. Unity isn’t uniformity or that we have to agree on everything. We can have our different preferences, tastes, and ways of doing things but unity is a commitment to walk in love and peace whether we agree or not.
How can we ever have this unity? We’re already one in Christ (Rom. 12:5; Gal. 3:28). Ephesians 4:1-6 says that there is One Body, One Spirit, One hope of our calling, One Lord, One faith, One baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all. This unity is already in place. It needs kept by us or maintained by us. It is like fresh air, it is there, we don’t create it, we keep it clean. It is like clean running water, we don’t make it, we keep it clean. We don’t make unity we maintain unity; we don’t practice unity, we promote unity. We don’t create unity we contribute to unity.
We endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The best way to promote unity is to quit causing division. Quit doing what disturbs the peace in our marriages, family, and church. Where there’s unity there is peace, where there peace there is unity. Where there is disunity there’s a disturbance in the peace. Effort to keep the peace is to be made by every child of God and God blesses us for it. It does take effort and diligence to keep this peace but it is doable Ephesians 4:3.
Pastor John Rasicci is the founder and Pastor of Word of His Grace Church in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where we are building people who are building the Church. Pastor's ministry mission is to help people discover God's dream for their Life, the Local Church, and the Last Days' Harvest. With a strong emphasis on the grace of God and with a prophetic voice, Pastor John preaches and teaches in churches, conferences, and crusades both locally and throughout the world. He has produced books, tapes, and other teaching materials to empower, enable, and equip Believers with the Word of God. Pastor John is married to his wife Candy who with their three children, Krista, Joanna, John Anthony, and two son-in-laws, Matt and Doug, serve together in the ministry. After graduating from Kent State University, Pastor John pursued a career in professional baseball before accepting the call to the ministry. He and his wife, Candy, received their ministry training from Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
John Rasicci 
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