Recently, during the Quarantine, my family believed we were “safely” nestled into our home when unbeknownst to us, a series of reactions (we couldn’t see) began one by one to occur. A water pipe burst beneath our foundation. Our tankless water heater worked over time (due to the leak) causing the cap that secured the carbon monoxide to blow and leak a deadly unseen poison throughout our home.
My family, as a body, became extremely ill. I lay there so sick in my bed. At some point I began just speaking aloud Psalm 23. I would get to verse 5b which says, “He anoints my head with oil ” and each and every time, I couldn’t move past it. It was like a record skipping at that one phrase, “He anoints my head with oil.” In my mind’s eye, I saw Elohim: Father, Son and Holy Spirit pouring oil over each of my family members heads. I started to cry and heard a voice. It was not an audible voice but deeper…in the depths of my spirit.
It was familiar. The voice of my Shepherd Jesus saying, “Get up!”
I kicked back the covers. My robe was at the foot of my bed. I remember the power I felt just standing and girding that robe tightly around my waist. I got up and the Holy Spirit step by step brought what was hidden into the light.
A few days later, I asked the LORD, “What moved me? How did I even get up?” Again the voice that created me: “Love moved you.” In the Bible, who is Love? God is love. What moves God? Love moves God.
Today, a few months later, I read the headlines. I watch the news. I hear the anger, I feel the division. All reactions to a deadly poison that threatens to take the entire house down.
What will get us up? What will move us? Love. Jesus says in John 13:35, “ By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you LOVE one another.”
• It is time to put on LOVE—(a verb/an action)
• Reveal the deadly poison in order to be restored, unified and healed.
• Gird our waists with the belt of truth. Who is Truth? Jesus embodied. We move out and love in His power, might and strength.
I know this is a long Scripture for a blog but I couldn’t leave one sentence out. Read it and allow the Spirit to show you what the church “should” look like. We are not a building or a place, we are a people united and set apart by our love.
1 Corinthians 12:12-26 (ESV)
One Body with Many Members
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be?
As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
I want to close with this: A strange thing happened to me after wrestling with carbon monoxide….my long-term memory has been sharpened. I can “remember” with detail & clarity memories that I had long since forgotten.
A memory that came to me today. When I was a little girl, my Dad was the Offensive Coordinator of a winning 4-A High School football team first in McKinney and later in Sulphur Springs, Texas. We lived only a few blocks from the football stadium and on Friday nights, my family (alongside many other families) walked hand in hand to the sound of the band playing our fight song! We represented all colors—one united team—and I gotta tell you, it was wonderful!
Monday nights were film nights. My Mom would cook dinner for the players. Athletes filled our modest living room. Race didn’t matter—our team was one body, united with a common goal: to use their individual gifts and talents for the TEAM!
I vividly remember watching my Dad (side note to parents: your kids are always watching you.) Dad pointed to the film and to the plays that were successful and the ones that were not successful. Dad was an encourager to his athletes—He was setting them up to WIN! When my Dad died after a long battle with ALS, do you know who showed up at his funeral? His players and no one left that place without knowing, they were his family too.
Oh Team Jesus—let’s get our eyes on HIM and off of our differences.
Jesus is the greatest, most famous, most loving “Head Coach” to ever grace this planet and He showed us the winning component—the play that will never fail: Put on LOVE.
I love you,
Jill
Jill Garrett’s philosophy of “One Team-One HEAD Coach” emphasizes the importance of team unity and collaboration in achieving success. As a coach, it is crucial to foster a positive team environment where everyone is empowered to contribute their unique skills and perspectives. By emphasizing the collective over the individual, Garrett’s approach promotes teamwork and ensures that every player feels valued and involved in the team’s success. This philosophy is not just applicable to sports but can be applied to any team-oriented environment, whether in the workplace or in personal relationships.
Agree! Thank you for reading and for the great insight!