He Has You

True and lasting unity can only originate from and be given by the Holy Spirit. As hard as you try, your flesh wants to be independent and self-centered. It’s only by the power in the peace that the Holy Spirit gives us that can help us to have unity with one another.

The Devil’s strategy to destroy is by simply encouraging disunity, so that Christians would turn on one another. Stop justifying condemnation by calling it discernment. “Always be humble, gentle and patient, bearing with one another in love, and making every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit gives through the binding power of shalom” (Ephesians 4:2-3 CJB).

If you want to have unity with others by the power of the Holy Spirit, you must first have unity with the Holy Spirit yourself. There is nothing more you must do to achieve this but to have Jesus as your Lord and to welcome the Holy Spirit into your life.

Don’t be the limit of you, let the Holy Spirit help you. Jesus promised, “Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you” (John 14:16 CEV).

When the Holy Spirit fills you, then He will start to change you. He will start to lead you and see if you will follow. If you want to be one with the Holy Spirit, then you must go where He is leading you. To be one with Him means He must remain in you.

The greatest accomplishment you can do in your life is to let the Holy Spirit change you. “Let the Spirit change your way of thinking and make you into a new person. You were created to be like God, and so you must please him and be truly holy” (Ephesians 4:23-24 CEV).

This unity with the Holy Spirit is something that you can learn to grow into. It is a journey, and it will take you through many lessons. You will sometimes fail, but if you let God help you, then He most certainly will.

To the degree we want things our way, we lack unity with God. The Lord Jesus taught, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23 NLT).

Growing in unity with the Holy Spirit is not about you becoming stronger, but rather you becoming more surrendered to the promptings and the leading of the Holy Spirit. The one who goes furthest with the Holy Spirit is the one who is willing.

The Holy Spirit will change you as much as you’re willing to let Him. “Beloved friends… surrender yourselves to God …be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes” (Romans 12:1-2 TPT).

Our next great spiritual test of maturity is in whether we are united to other believers by the power of peace that the Holy Spirit can give us. He will most certainly give it to us, but we are called to make an effort to preserve it in our relationships.

Unity requires sacrifice. “Through the peace that ties you together, do your best to maintain the unity that the Spirit gives” (Ephesians 4:3 NOG).

If you want to have peace with other people, you must first have peace with God. Jesus alone can make you right with God, and the Holy Spirit alone can start to change you from within. Jesus gives us this peace, and the Holy Spirit keeps this peace within us.

God’s children will have unity when they are simply following the same Jesus. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27 NKJV).

I can often tell how spiritual someone is by how willing they are to be united in peace by the power of the Holy Spirit. When you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, you will be most willing to be joined with another who is in the same condition.

Unity is not found in agreeing on everything, but in respecting others with whom you disagree. “…your new life should be like this: Show mercy to others. Be kind, humble, gentle, and patient…the most important part of your new life is to love each other. Love is what holds everything together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3:12,14 ERV).

It is the flesh that wants to oppose flesh, and it is the Spirit alone who can bring true unity. When your flesh is rising up to turn you against someone, let the Holy Spirit sit you down and remind you of what God’s Word teaches us on how to treat other people.

The Spirit seeks unity, whereas the flesh seeks position. We should be “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3 NKJV).

You won’t truly desire unity unless you are first humble. It takes humility to give up our individuality, and it is the pride of man who rejects the idea of unity. Always be humble, and then you’ll never be proud, and from there the Holy Spirit can change you.

People want to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit without walking in humility. But you cannot have the one without the other. “Always be humble…” (Ephesians 4:2 CJB).

You won’t keep unity unless you remain gentle, because it takes only a single harsh word to break the bonds of unity. A gentle spirit is a humble spirit and is what we need when we seek to be united together. A gentle word is all it takes to bind two souls together.

“Always be…gentle…” (Ephesians 4:2 CJB). Be firm in your faith but gentle in how you express it. “Let your gentle spirit [your graciousness, unselfishness, mercy, tolerance, and patience] be known to all people. The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5 AMP).

You must have a patient heart so that you can remain united even when there are reasons you can find not to be. Patience waits, and patience calms all those emotions that would take us down a different path. Patience is a product of peace.

“Always be…patient…” (Ephesians 4:2 CJB). Patience is more important than effort when doing kingdom work. “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient” (2 Timothy 2:24 NKJV).

Never underestimate the power of peace as given by the Holy Spirit. Not only can it be effective for you, but also for those you want to be united with. It will be in unity where the power of the Holy Spirit is multiplied through those who come together in the Spirit.

The Church was meant to have the unity of the Spirit, not the divisiveness of man. “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1 NIV).

There is power in the peace that the Holy Spirit can use to establish and maintain unity among a diverse group of people. It is a power that can overcome any obstacle in the natural so long as you’re willing to let the Holy Spirit help you.

“the unity the [Holy] Spirit gives through the binding power of shalom” (Ephesians 4:3 CJB). To the degree you focus upon God, His peace will be upon you. “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).

There will be some who will refuse to have unity with you for a thousand different reasons. God wants us to seek unity, but never said we will always find it. The Word of God says for us to do what we can do, and that is all we are held accountable for.

Sometimes, the best way to keep the peace is to keep your distance. “If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18 AMP).

I’ve found the greatest enemy of unity is the dogmas of doctrine that people hold onto. Their position may be right, but their methods are surely wrong as they attack others so strongly that they hurt the faith by being the doctrinal bullies of the church.

You can only be carried away by the winds of false doctrines if you have no anchors in the simplicity of God’s truth. Beware the teacher who divides. We need to be fed, “till we all come to the unity of the faith… that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men…” (Ephesians 4:13-14 NKJV).

Blessings to you always,

Paul Balius