Becoming one in more ways than one..

 

   Becoming one in more ways than one...

Yesterday evening I had a great opportunity to meet with several men from different parts of the United States who serve in the Influencer ministry. One of those men was Gary Steffes out of Florida. He was our highlight speaker who shared words of encouragement. Gary read two passages and referenced another. The first one Mark 12:30

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your

mind and with all your strength.’”

Gary explained to us the impact of this verse on his life and what God has revealed to him over the years. He said the order of  the words in the verse are exactly how they should be experienced; Love God, heart, soul and mind. The rest of the men added to Gary's testimony with their own personal experiences of how God has shown them the importance of that same order of words . The second passage Gary brought to our attention was John 15:5

‭“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him,

he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

He then emphasized a part of the verse that really required us to understand in order to love God in the way that Mark 12:30 requires from us. That is, “whoever abides in me as I in him.” explaining we must be in Christ and Christ in us and to be one. Not doing it on our own.  Then he summarized John 17:22-23 the priestly prayer of Christ to His Father

“The glory that you have given me I have given to them,

that they may be one even as we are one, I in them

and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the

world may know that you sent me and loved them

even as you loved me.”

The other men took more opportunities to confirm their gratitude to God for how Influencers and the  Journey groups helped them discover and experience the truth in what Gary was bringing to the table this evening. The gathering came to a close quickly and we had a prayer of encouragement and affirmation and then we all closed out our laptops and phones. 

But this was where my mind started to stir in the thought of what it would actually look like to be “one with Christ?” After a few of the guys' testimonies of their experiences in being part of Influencers reminded me of mine. I believe it is what brought me to the realization and understanding how I could get closer in abiding in Christ. My first serious experience with this ministry was two years ago at a two day retreat  called Souly Business  up in the San Emigdio Mountains just west of Frazier Park Ca. I won’t go into the details of the retreat but what hit me that weekend was a question that God brought to my attention. The speaker asked, “Have you been an Ephesians 5 man?” I knew what was in Ephesian 5 and I didn't give much more thought to the question until the speaker took us there.

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave

himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her

by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present

the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such

thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same

way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who

loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes

and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members

of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and

hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery

is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the

wife see that she respects her husband.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5‬:‭25‬-‭33‬ ‭ESV‬‬

At the time of the retreat the first part of the verse made me ask myself, "Am I being an Ephesians 5 man?" Was I truly loving my wife and demonstrating in the ways Christ loved the church? For the next 2 years what God showed me that day caused me to dig deeper into His words with a clear agenda to be as close to Him as humanly possible. This started a spiritual journey in changing my perspective of life, my relationship with my wife and my relationship with God the Father, God The Son and God the Spirit. I won't go into the details of this particular journey. I will save that for another time and to God’s glory what He showed me over those years and still doing is unbelievable and I look forward to sharing that with you in the future, God willing. But what God did show me was in order to get closer to Him I must first begin the journey of being an Ephesians 5 man.

Now fast forward to what Gary brought up tonight in His encouragement. He stated that we must be one with Christ to understand and to be able to maintain the level of our love for those around us. This is where the second part of the Ephesian 5 man plays a role in being one with Christ and abiding in Him.

"In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

If we put our emphasis on the theme of “being one” and being one in Christ.  Then we must include the building up, encouraging and praying for our spouses nourishment and training in their love for Jesus. As men of God we cannot bring just half of ourselves to Christ we must bring all of ourselves to abide in Christ. And the two shall become one!!!

Men please know that Ephesians 5 is not a journey that has an ending, it’s a  continuous  journey in learning to love your spouse in the way Christ loves His bride. I want to encourage you to always be reminded that your wife is not yours, she is God’s child, God’s daughter and she has been given to you with great responsibilities. There will be a day that you will return her to her Father. The question you need to ask yourself now is, "Are you doing your best in returning  her to her heavenly Father in knowing the love of Jesus more than before she met you? Are you making every effort to wash her in the Word of God? Those are straight up hard questions to ask ourselves as men of God. But just be reminded that in this this journey God gave our wives to us as our helper no less in value but priceless in the role of bringing a man of God closer to His Son, Jesus.