In the apostle John’s gospel chapter 17 and verses 20 through 26 Jesus prayed for all believers (that’s us) that we would walk in unity so that the world would believe in Jesus. Paul exhorted us to: “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”, and to pursue the: “unity of the faith” (Eph 4:3, 13; KJV). He said: “Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Phil 2:2). In other words, we must walk in the unity the Spirit brings, walk in God’s love, and pursue peace and the one faith in Christ that we all have; be in agreement.

We should never grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30). Unity will only come as we humble ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit and to teach us from God’s word and change us.  In that beautiful Psalm of unity, Psalm 133, we are clearly shown that God loves unity and that the blessings of God come with unity.

In the early church, unity heralded the coming of the Holy Spirit, with signs, wonders and miracles. Many people were added to that early church, a church characterized by great grace and powerful preaching (Acts 2:46; 4:32; 5:12). Do you get the point?

We should search our hearts; do we contribute to unity or do we stand in the way? 

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"Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall." (2 Pet 1:10; KJV). The meaning of the Greek word diligence as used in the New Testament is to be zealous or to work hard for something, to make every effort and to exert oneself. In Hebrews 4:11 the writer exhorts us to be diligent to enter into God’s rest. King Solomon in his proverbs, (Prov 8:17) directed us to seek wisdom diligently and to (Prov 4:23) guard our hearts with diligence.

The apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans (Rom 12:11) admonished us not to be lagging in diligence but instead to be: "fervent in spirit". Fervent is a very similar word to diligence and it means to be burning hot.  

The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about diligence and the benefits of diligence are found in that book. If we seek wisdom with diligence, we will find it (Prov 8:17) and people who have a diligent approach to life will be successful (Prov 21:5; 13:4)   As Christians diligence should be part of our character. Effort is required to be diligent as it is the opposite of laziness but the effort will certainly pay off because the Bible teaches us that the amount of effort, we put into something determines how much fruit we bear (Phil 3:14).

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The Bible has much to say about our words. The first parts of Proverbs 11:9 and 26:22 describe conversations that are gossip: “An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour” (Prov 11:9; KJV); “The words of a talebearer are as wounds” (Prov 26:22).

Gossip produces strife and destroys the unity that God so loves (Prov 16:28; Ps 133). We are told that life and death are in the power of the tongue (Prov 18:21). The apostle James wrote about our tongues: “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature: and it is set on fire by hell” (James 3:6). Wow, strong words. Furthermore, the apostle Matthew taught us that the words that come out of our mouths reflect what is in our hearts (Matt 12:34) and that we will be justified or condemned by our words (Matt 12:37).

We need to restrain our words (James 1:26). We should stick to pleasant words that build up and edify (Prov 16:24). Someone once told me that if you are talking about a person to another individual you should ask yourself: 1. Do your words edify you and would God approve of them? 2. Do they build up and help the hearer? 3. Do they honor, help and edify the one you are talking about?

Let’s check our hearts and speak words in love and for a constructive reason.

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Prov. 10:24 (KJV). “The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desires of the righteous shall be granted. “The word “desire” there means to wish or long for. So, according to this, if righteous men or women have a strong desire for something (which would obviously need to be in line with God’s word) then God will grant that desire (1 John 5:14-15).

That reminds me of another verse along the same lines, Psalm 37:4: “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart”. There is a condition there though; we need to “delight” ourselves in the Lord. We do that by spending time with him; worshiping, praying, seeking him and spending time in the word.

In the New Testament we read that if we pray according to God's will, he hears us and answers our prayers (1 John 5:14). The apostle Luke assured us that God will answer the prayers of his chosen ones (Luke 18:1-8). If we pray to the Father in Jesus name the father will give us what we ask: “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:23-24). Wow, that our joy may be full. I like that, how about you?

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I encourage you to look at 2 Corinthians, chapter 1 verses 3 through 7 today. In verses 3 and 4 the apostle Paul writes that God comforts us in all our tribulations, troubles, persecutions and the pressures that we come under daily. The Holy Spirit is the comforter, helper or one who pulls alongside to assist (John 14:26).

In the world we will have tribulation but God has overcome the powers of darkness in the world and we can walk victorious by faith (John 16:33). In the passage we are studying (2 Cor 1:3-7), we are assured that as we suffer tribulation and affliction, we WILL, as Christians, receive God’s comfort. In verse 4 of our text, Paul teaches us that as we receive comfort in tribulation, we can share this encouragement with others by teaching them the word and introducing them to the Holy Spirit, the comforter. Verse 6 of our text is very interesting. Paul basically doesn’t complain about his trials but rejoices in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. He also rejoices in the fact that his trials and the comfort God supplies, can serve as an example and encouragement to others. Wow, what a great attitude. In persecution and suffering Paul’s thoughts were more for others than for himself. Can we learn from this example?

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Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to others.