Empowered Through Connection

…holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. Colossians 1:19

We live in a world gone mad.

Accusation and judgment hang in the air around us, dividing and isolating us from one another as we submit to the pressure to take sides. Perhaps we should remember the name given to Satan in Revelation 12:10. He is, “the accuser of our brothers … who accuses them day and night before our God.”

When we join him in hurling accusations, we advance his agenda. Make no mistake, beloved. Our enemy has purpose in his schemes. He fears the rise of the church, and in that fear, he divides.

Let’s explore why he focuses his plans on division. What lies at the root of this assault on unity?

Our opening Scripture offers a glimpse into his fears. Christ’s body is nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments.

God grows us through our connections.  

You and I need connection, dear one, both with God and with His people. 

Intimacy with God is essential, but we will limit our growth if we don’t also experience other aspects of His nature through His church. By God’s own design, you were created to connect with other members of His body that will nourish and strengthen you. And through them, God will grow you into the fullness of who He is and propel you into His plans for you.

No wonder Jesus answered the question identifying the greatest commandment with two replies.

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment.³⁹And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40

We will need to love both Jesus and the people around us to fulfill what has been prophesied. Our enemy knows that, so he assaults love in our days. Time is running short, and he’s terrified of what he knows the church will become. So, he makes us fear one another to disrupt our connection.

We can’t let him succeed.

Churches have become more divided than ever. We gravitate to people like us and isolate from everyone else. We’ve allowed the enemy to divide us according to our similarities.

But God manifests through diversity, dear one. As individuals operating in unique gifts gather together, God can reveal His fullness. Without diversity, we become paralyzed and stagnant, unable to move. Stuck.

Why? Because,

Movement occurs at the joints.

Our connections are what enable us to take ground. A foot by itself remains stuck in its place, but connecting that foot to a leg that connects to a hip, gives them all the power to advance together. Our connection to those who are different from us will both nourish and advance us.

No wonder our enemy wants to divide us.

Today, we find ourselves in a barren land. Although we claim to carry the life of Christ, we’ve become dry bones. Brittle and separated. Lifeless. Powerless. Losing hope. Centuries ago, God showed the prophet Ezekiel a barren valley filled with dry bones. His command?

 “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ⁵ Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. Ezekiel 37:4-5

Ezekiel did what God asked.

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. Verse 7

Don’t miss this truth revealed from the Father’s heart, dear one.

Before the Spirit can fill us with life, we need to let Him connect us.

Not with others who are the same, but with those who are different. Whose gifts can fill our lack and move us where our own can’t, who reveal something of God to us we wouldn’t experience without them. But connecting alone doesn’t reveal God in our midst.

And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.  Verse 8

Those bones began to have the appearance of life. They had connected and grown flesh. But there was still no breath. More was needed to raise them. They needed a Spirit-led man to discern their lack and pray for the filling that would carry God’s plans to completion.

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. ¹⁰So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Verses 9-10

Behold, our enemy’s fear, beloved.

He knows his defeat has been declared. God’s army rising on the Spirit’s breath will manifest it.

This wilderness hour is pregnant with purpose. Don’t let the enemy rob you of God’s plans to empower you. Put aside fear and judgment, and dare to step into love. Trust God with your connections.

Let’s rise from the dead and claim our victory.