John 17 | What's the connection?
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
-Acts 2:44-47
At the heart of Jesus' prayer is a prayer for unity. The desire is for the believer to be unified with the Lord, and in being unified with the Lord, being unified with one another. In His prayer He is not so concerned with their physical safety as He is with their spiritual. Unity has a major part to play in that.
As you can see in the passage above, deep unity was something that could be experienced by the believer. Not only could it be, it was something they did experience. What was the result? The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved (v.47). The importance of this message continued to make its waves through the Church as well. As Paul writes to Ephesus and Corinth, he again emphasizes the importance of unity. In fact, we are instructed to endeavor to keep the unity of the saints. In the face of persecution, hatred, contentions, false teachers, and those who sow discord among brethren, we do see unity being preserved in the Church as we continue in reading Scripture.
More than the unity between man, we see the faithfulness of God pulling through as the believer is unified with the Lord. We see the Lord continuing to direct the Church through the book of Acts. We see the mission of Jesus being carried out fruitfully and effectively. We see the response to the Spirit being sent. All of these reflect back on Jesus' prayer. And even today, as we are those who believe because of the faithfulness of that early Church, we see our unity with the Lord grow into our unity with one another.
What connections are you making?
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
-Acts 2:44-47
At the heart of Jesus' prayer is a prayer for unity. The desire is for the believer to be unified with the Lord, and in being unified with the Lord, being unified with one another. In His prayer He is not so concerned with their physical safety as He is with their spiritual. Unity has a major part to play in that.
As you can see in the passage above, deep unity was something that could be experienced by the believer. Not only could it be, it was something they did experience. What was the result? The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved (v.47). The importance of this message continued to make its waves through the Church as well. As Paul writes to Ephesus and Corinth, he again emphasizes the importance of unity. In fact, we are instructed to endeavor to keep the unity of the saints. In the face of persecution, hatred, contentions, false teachers, and those who sow discord among brethren, we do see unity being preserved in the Church as we continue in reading Scripture.
More than the unity between man, we see the faithfulness of God pulling through as the believer is unified with the Lord. We see the Lord continuing to direct the Church through the book of Acts. We see the mission of Jesus being carried out fruitfully and effectively. We see the response to the Spirit being sent. All of these reflect back on Jesus' prayer. And even today, as we are those who believe because of the faithfulness of that early Church, we see our unity with the Lord grow into our unity with one another.
What connections are you making?
Posted in John
Recent
Archive
2026
January
John 14:22-31 | What's the lesson for me today?John 14:22-31 | What am I going to do about it?John 14:22-31 | Prayer PromptsPassage of the Week: John 15:1-11John 15:1-11 | What's happening (and who's involved)?John 15:1-11 | What's the connection?John 15:1-11 | What's a lesson for the original audience?John 15:1-11 | What's the lesson for me today?John 15:1-11 | What am I going to do about it?John 15:1-11 | Prayer PromptsPassage of the Week: John 15:12-27John 15:12-27 | What's happening (and who's involved)?John 15:12-27 | What's the connection?John 15:12-27 | What's a lesson for the original audience?John 15:12-27 | What's the lesson for me today?John 15:12-27 | What am I going to do about it?John 15:12-27 | Prayer PromptsPassage of the Week: John 16:1-15John 16:1-15 | What's happening (and who's involved)?John 16:1-15 | What's the connection?John 16:1-15 | What’s a lesson for the original audience?John 16:1-15 | What's the lesson for me today?John 16:1-15 | What am I going to do about it?John 16:1-15 | Prayer PromptsPassage of the Week: John 16:16-33John 16:16-33 | What's happening (and who's involved)?John 16:16-33 | What's the connection?John 16:16-33 | What's a lesson for the original audience?John 16:16-33 | What's the lesson for me today?John 16:16-33 | What am I going to do about it?John 16:16-33 | Prayer Prompts
2025
January
Proverbs 27:5Proverbs 27:6Proverbs 27:7Proverbs 27:8Proverbs 27:9Proverbs 27:10Proverbs 27:11Proverbs 27:12Proverbs 27:13Proverbs 27:14Proverbs 27:15-16Proverbs 27:17Proverbs 27:18Proverbs 27:19Proverbs 27:20Proverbs 27:21Proverbs 27:22Proverbs 27:23Proverbs 27:24Proverbs 27:25-27Proverbs 28:1Proverbs 28:2Proverbs 28:3Proverbs 28:4Proverbs 28:5Proverbs 28:6Proverbs 28:7-8Proverbs 28:9Proverbs 28:10Proverbs 28:11Proverbs 28:12
February
Proverbs 28:13Proverbs 28:14Proverbs 28:15Proverbs 28:16Proverbs 28:17Proverbs 28:18Proverbs 28:19Proverbs 28:20Proverbs 28:21Proverbs 28:22Proverbs 28:23Proverbs 28:24Proverbs 28:25Proverbs 28:26Proverbs 28:27Proverbs 28:28Proverbs 29:1Proverbs 29:2Proverbs 29:3Proverbs 29:4Proverbs 29:5Proverbs 29:6Proverbs 29:7Proverbs 29:8Proverbs 29:9Proverbs 29:10Proverbs 29:11Proverbs 29:12
No Comments