The only way we can be one with God is to be joined in the Spirit.
If we look at a crowd of people they are many, not one, because they all have separate minds which can differ immensely according to what thoughts are in those minds. If we look at a cloud of smoke, if it separates into many pieces by being blown by the wind in various directions it is still one, as it does not have the same issues.
This is an example to me of the difference between the carnal mind and the mind of Christ.
Something that speaks of God's promise in the scriptures is the rainbow.
In Genesis ch. 9 vs. 15-17 God says:-
'and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.' And God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.'…
We now have a new covenant which is God's promise of eternal life if we believe in Jesus being the Word of God made flesh, Who became the sacrificial lamb that enabled us to become children of God, and act on what is spoken to us daily from that Word as we work out our salvation.
I was looking out of the window of my workroom yesterday, down onto refuse bins in the street. On top of the large bins are house numbers. There were two on opposite sides of the road, a number 6 and a number 7. Number 6 in the Bible symbolizes 'man', and human weakness, while number 7 represents 'completeness'. The large number 7 on the one bin was made up of rainbow colours, and I immediately saw a message here.
It is no good relying on sinful man to get rid of the spiritual rubbish inside us, we need to rely upon the promises of God (symbolized by the colour of the rainbow on the bin), which are all 'yes' in Jesus (2 Corinthians ch.1 v.20), to get rid of the rubbish inside us.
Paul the apostle said in 2 Corinthians ch. 1 vs.18-22.
'But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.'
There is a warning in Colossians ch.2 vs.8-12:-
'Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him, Who is the head of all principality and power: In Whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, in which also you are risen with Him through the faith of the working of God, Who has raised Him from the dead.'
The two previous verses in this chapter -Colossians ch. 2 vs. 6 and 7 read:-
'As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.'
'Walking' in Jesus is a process that we have to work out gradually as we learn God's ways in Him through the Holy Spirit Who leads us into all truth (John ch. 16 v.13), and although we can error as we travel on this journey (sometimes through the trickery of the enemy) God is merciful and understands we are flesh. This was portrayed to me through an incident in my life recently.
I had been to a church about five miles away and was returning home. As I am not used to the roads here yet I accidentally missed a turning and carried on down the road. I came to a turning which I thought was the one which led back to our house and there was a sign saying 'Diverted traffic'. I thought 'Oh, the road must be closed for some reason'. I carried on down the country road following more signs saying 'Diverted traffic' and finally came to a seaside town. I asked a man how I could get back to where I lived and he gave me directions.
This incident reminded me of how we can all make mistakes on the road to salvation by missing what the Lord is saying to us sometimes. There can be two types of diversion. One can be that the Lord diverts us away from sin, but the other can be that the enemy diverts us from the Lord, and this is why we have to learn God's ways. Our mind is being renewed in Christ and this is a process, not an immediate action. However, we are all given gifts of the Spirit in the Lord and they are for a reason.
1 Corinthians ch. 12 vs. 4-11 tells us:-
'There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.'
When one of us makes a mistake, as we all do on our spiritual journey 'through the wilderness to the promised land', then just as I was physically directed back to the right road by the man who knew the direction I needed to go on my journey home from the church, we can all be directed spiritually back to the road to salvation by one another through each of us activating the gifts that God has given to us. The gifts must all be used to build one another up.
