Deliverance: Being One - David Mitts

“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism,” (Ephesians 4:1-5)

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Giving Opportunity Message

 

Deliverance begins with a release from unholy attachments, loosening and is fulfilled in a binding, a covenant of oneness. This is process is accessed through the keys of the kingdom.

“And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."” (Matthew 16:19, NKJV)

When we are fully integrated with the One who is One then we are free. It is our divided nature that keeps from coming into oneness. The Apostle Paul described this divided nature in Romans 7:15-21.

“For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.” (Romans 7:15-21, NKJV)

This is a great description of the condition of the unregenerated mind and heart of man. Paul explains the divide self at war with good intentions but unable to follow through as a united being. The central purpose of Yeshua is to bring back the possibility of unity, what the Bible translates as echad.

Echad, is the numeral one. In Ancient Hebrew, it is composed of the aleph, the chet and the dalet. Aleph is the character for strength, the picture of an ox. Chet is a wall or a fence and dalet is the character for a door. The composite meaning is unity. If we take the word pictures we see it is the strength that opens a door within the wall or fence that brings us into unity, oneness. Who or what is the key to the power of unity?

Psalms 133 tells us:

“A Song of Ascents, of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, As on Aaron’s beard, The oil which ran down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon

Coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For the LORD commanded the blessing there—life forever.” (Psalms 133:1-3)

This is a beautiful picture of the impact of echad, of unity. The first striking observation is it good for brothers to dwell together in unity. Dwelling or living together is a picture of a coming together over time. As we spoke last chapter “intimacy” is a process of discovery. We never truly know one another or even ourselves for that matter without an investment of time.

This is the power made possible through covenant. Dwelling together in unity is a product of covenant. The word to dwell, is from the same root as shabbat, or shev, which is the root for sitting together. Unity is not a lateral state of agreement. It is a vertical process of oneness. We come under one another, submitting to the other! What am I saying? Lateral agreement is like the United Nations, it is the realm of treaties, contracts. They require and exchange of promises and consequences. Covenant is totally different. It is vertical. When I enter your house through the door of covenant, I submit myself to your protection, your house, your word. When you receive me into your house through covenant you submit to my protection. You submit to being the source of my care, hospitality. In covenant there is no equality but an inequality by design. I yield my life to you, and you yield your life to me. This is greater than equality. This is oneness, echad.

This is what Yeshua was saying when He said:

“So, Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. “All those who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life and have it abundantly. “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” (John 10:7-11)

This is echad, oneness, covenant! He is the door. He lays down His life for the sheep. This is verticality. Think of it. He is God. Yet he shows us that He is willing to lay down His life for His sheep.

The fence, or the wall of echad, the contribution of the letter chet, is the protection of the Lord through covenant. The power of echad, the aleph is the word of the covenant maker. A covenant is a promise, like a marriage vow. It is inclusive and is given to the one who receives it by agreement.

Yeshua is the door, the dalet. He opens the word, the power source of the aleph. He is both actual Word, the firstborn and He is the doorway into the word. Through His Word we become echad, one.

Turn with me to John 17:5-8

“And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.” (John 17:5-8, NKJV)

This begins with a prayer for the echad which Yeshua expresses as glorification of Himself and the Father. The word translated as “glory”. Is the Hebrew word “kavod”. Kavod means honor or prestige, the weightiness of a matter. This is a way to express the ultimate purpose or manifest objective. Yeshua tells us He has manifested the echad, that He and the Father are one in manifest Presence. This manifestation draws the disciples into the echad. They arrive by “keeping the Word of God”. This is the amen, the agreement, the belief.

Yeshua says that this is how the disciples come to know that all things that are demonstrated are from the Father and have their reality in Him.

Skipping down to verses 20-23:

““I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. “The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved Me.” (John 17:20-23)

Yeshua’s prayer includes us. The goal is the echad, the doorway of power into covenant, within the fence of protection. This power is so evident that it even demonstrates to the unsaved world of the reality of the echad. This is the true glory, the true kavod, the value that transcends all worldly accomplishments and without which man is hopelessly lost in confusion and chaos.

The preeminence of the echad is revealed in the ancient prayer the sh’ma.

““Hear, Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! “And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-6)

God is love and we learn to love Him by opening our hearts and minds through listening with our heart. The echad is God’s nature. As we learn to listen, we learn to enter into that vertical alignment where we lower our needs and attend to His desires which include not only our love of Him but our love of one another especially those with whom we are out of relationship with.

“Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, ISRAEL! THE LORD IS OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ “The second is this: ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”” (Mark 12:29-31)

This all flows out of the echad, the call to unity as an expression of the glory. This is the place of blessing, as we read in Psalm 133.

Activation: It is easier to agree, to be echad with those who return the same. Yet Yeshua gave His life for those who were at odds with Him. Pray and ask the Lord to reveal to you those you are estranged from and ask Him what prophetic act you could do with no expectation of any particular return? Maybe send a card or a gift.