TEACHING

Don Atkin

HOW TO CONNECT IN CITIES AND REGIONS

That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. - John 17:21.

Neither philosophical expressions about the global oneness of the body of Christ, nor theological/theoretical pronouncements of the same, produce fruit. The practical unity of believers (beginning with the example of their servant-leaders) must take place at the local level.

It is time to move from theory to practice! Theory is easy. Practice is more difficult. In fact, practice is impossible, apart from recognizing and submitting to God’s supernatural placement. This requires us to operate at heart levels:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. - Proverbs 3:5-7.

I. RELATIONSHIPS

We must be rightly related to the Lord before we can hope to be rightly related to one another. (Don’t rush too quickly through this section!)

A. Whose church is it?

B. Who is the Head of the church?

C. Who is building the church?

Now, before you answer too quickly, allow me to call you up from theory and theology to the realm of practice. Come away from your own understanding, and tell me what is really going on in your heart. Who is directing your paths? These are actually survival questions for those with responsibility in today’s church! (For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God).

Those who are still building their own kingdom, their own following, their own security, etc., are not ready for what is being taught here. Those who are yet wise in their own eyes are not ready to go where God is taking His church. Those who are sidetracked by their own ambition and desires are not ready to enter into spiritual relationships with others in their community for the common good and kingdom expansion.

God is not waiting. He is moving ahead in the hearts of those whose conversion and maturation have prepared them to move toward the manifestation of His glory in their cities and regions. Others may join them as they come forth out of the wilderness of their own making. And, we stand ready ~ when the time comes ~ to fully embrace them with thanksgiving in our hearts!

II. RECOGNITION

Seeing into the hearts of others is a basic aspect of the discerning of spirits which is universally available in the body of Christ. We must be walking in the Spirit and asking God’s help. God will let us see into hearts when we genuinely care to know others after the spirit, with a sincere willingness and intent to submit to them,.

Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (I Samuel 16:7).

This was an Old Testament word to the prophet Samuel, regarding the natural man. Paul disputes this human limitation in II Corinthians 10:7 He contrasts those who are natural with those who are spiritual, concluding that we have the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:9-16).

Because we are after God’s heart, and He abides in us, it is His will to answer such prayers and give us discernment about what is in the hearts of those with whom we are called to walk. This facilitates the knitting of our hearts and lives together in His kingdom purpose.

Humanly devised unity movements have failed to produce the fruit of the Spirit. Oneness with and in the Father and Son actually produces oneness with one another. That is, if I am in the Son, and you are in the Son, then we are together in the Son! That fact only needs to be recognized, not organized.

Here is "the bottom line:"

And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one; I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. - John 17:22-23.

Unity does not produce the glory of God. The glory of God produces unity!

We see the glory of God when we (by the Spirit) look upon the hearts of one another. We recognize one another’s identities in Christ ~ who we are in Him ~ yield, submit, to the Christ anointing upon one another, and speak:

Speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ - from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart. - Ephesians 4:15-18.

III. RESPONSES

Those who are serving God in the outer court, the futility of their mind, are still a distance from the life of God that can be mutually embraced by others in the body of Christ. They are unable to recognize others after the Spirit, to see the glory and anointing of God upon them, because of the blindness of their hearts.

Therefore, they are unable to be builders together with God and with others. They are in need of our prayers, not our rejection. We can bind the blinding denominational and sectarian spirits that keep them from the rhema, revelation knowledge, of God who is Love. We can pray for them Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23.

Don’t waste time with carnal dialogue. Bathe them with the fruit of the Spirit. Then, invest yourself and your time in those who are hearing what the Spirit is saying to the churches. There are those who have eyes to see and ears to hear ~ the eyes and ears of hearts which are tuned to heaven’s frequency.

IV. REFORMATION

The reformation that God launched through Martin Luther is being taken to new levels. Willing participants in this new apostolic reformation must have hearts that are both discerning and discernable. That is, we must be open-hearted with one another. (Simply being open-minded hasn’t gotten the job done!)

Heart connections may be made with men and women who are currently serving in paradigms that we may not embrace. Don’t be stumbled Don’t be distracted. Follow your heart! (That’s where God lives!) We can fearlessly embrace those whom God embraces.

It is disturbing when those who have embraced new paradigms, stop embracing anyone who does not share in their new paradigm. Does that really sound like God?

Reformation is a process. We are in that process. We are at differing places in the same reformation process. Let’s walk together, heart to heart ~ three steps forward, two steps back. Three steps forward. Together. Heart to heart.

There is a church in your city/region. Open the eyes of your heart. See it.

The just shall live by faith.