{"id":3021,"date":"2021-01-02T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-02T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=3021"},"modified":"2021-01-01T07:31:00","modified_gmt":"2021-01-01T12:31:00","slug":"following-god-will-make-you-united-with-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2021\/01\/02\/following-god-will-make-you-united-with-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Following God Will Make You United with Others"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2 minute read<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"562\" src=\"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1.2-1024x562.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3022\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1.2-1024x562.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1.2-300x165.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1.2-768x422.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1.2-1536x843.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1.2-2048x1125.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Daily Reading:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Genesis%2034&amp;version=GW\">Genesis 34 GW<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Ephesians%202&amp;version=GW\">Ephesians 2 GW<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">God unites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jesus was Jewish.&nbsp; Born and raised with Jewish tradition, He knew all of the Old Testament laws.&nbsp; During His ministry, he confronted the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.&nbsp; Jesus brought truth into the world that still stands the test of time:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cHe brought an end to the commandments and demands found in Moses\u2019 Teachings so that He could take Jewish and non-Jewish people and create one humanity in himself.\u201d (<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Ephesians%202:16&amp;version=NIV\"><em>Ephesians 2:16 GW<\/em><\/a><em>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When you enter into a relationship with Jesus, He reveals the truth.&nbsp; As you apply His teachings to your life, He opens your eyes to things you can\u2019t see.&nbsp; We gain a perspective only seen through God\u2019s eyes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cSo now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.\u201d (<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Romans%205%3A11&amp;version=NLT\"><em>Romans 5:11 NLT<\/em><\/a><em>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jesus unites people through love.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">God\u2019s love for us is the connector to those we encounter each day, no matter what their position.&nbsp; Strangers aren\u2019t strangers; they are brothers and sisters in Christ.&nbsp; Skin color, gender, they don\u2019t matter.&nbsp; My mom always said, \u201cIf you turn us inside out, we all look the same.\u201d&nbsp; In other words, we all bleed red, just like Jesus did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let God\u2019s love unite you with others today.&nbsp; Find ways to share His affection with those who need it.&nbsp; Over Christmas, I gave away angel ornaments.&nbsp; When I gave one to the girl presiding over self-checkout in the grocery store, I loved her response.&nbsp; She said, \u201cThis makes me feel good.\u201d&nbsp; Make someone feel good today; watch how it unites you with people in love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"264\" src=\"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Prayer-2-1024x264.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2998\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Prayer-2-1024x264.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Prayer-2-300x77.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Prayer-2-768x198.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Prayer-2.jpg 1226w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lord, we are grateful the love you have for us unites us with others.&nbsp; As we move through our days today, let us unite, not divide.&nbsp; Help us to love those who are different from us.&nbsp; Give us extra measures of grace so we can agree to disagree.&nbsp; Let us reflect You well to all we meet.&nbsp; Help us encourage the oppressed, lift the lonely, and leave a legacy of love wherever we go.&nbsp; Only through You can we love at all.&nbsp; Pour into us so we can pour out to others. IJNIP. Amen<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Question for reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">What is an action of love you can do today to unite with someone?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2 minute read Daily Reading: Genesis 34 GW; Ephesians 2 GW God unites. Jesus was Jewish.&nbsp; Born and raised with Jewish tradition, He knew all of the Old Testament laws.&nbsp; During His ministry, he confronted the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.&nbsp; Jesus brought truth into the world that still stands the test of time:&nbsp; \u201cHe&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2021\/01\/02\/following-god-will-make-you-united-with-others\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Following God Will Make You United with Others<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3021"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3074,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3021\/revisions\/3074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}