unity Archives - Laurie Hopkins

June 5 2020

One Mind, One Body, One Spirit – Why Separated Does Not Have To Mean Divided

One Mind, One Body, One Spirit - Why Separated Does Not Have To Mean Divided

Hello my dear friend! How are you doing? Really doing? I know I keep asking, but I only ask because I genuinely care about each and every one of you. These are difficult times at many different levels and in many different ways for each of us. It is important for us, not only to check up on one another, but to genuinely mean it. This is me, checking up on you!

I just want to say that I see what it going on in the world around us and my heart hurts at every level for the injustice I see. I am not unaware, or unconcerned. However, I do not want to be just another voice, adding noise or divisiveness to the conversation, just to check of the “to do” list of having “made a comment”. I choose, at this point in time, to invite everyone to the table, sit back and listen to what is being said. So, when I ask, how are you doing? Really doing? I mean it. You can reach out to me directly, in a variety of ways including by email at laurie@lauriehopkins.ca or you can feel free to comment in the comment section at the end of the blog. So, let’s get started! If you are new here, grab your favourite cup with your favourite hot drink and grab a seat at the kitchen table. There is room for everyone! This week we are going to chat about One Mind, One Body, One Spirit – Why Separated Does Not Have To Mean Divided.

Kingdom Mindset, Kingdom Builder

If we were to summarize all our chats since the beginning of the year, I would have to call that collection, “Kingdom Mindset, Kingdom Builder –Practical Christianity for 2020.” We have talked about ways of thinking that need to shift and we have talked about how to put it all together in a practical everyday manner. I would love to hear some of your thoughts about the last 5 months of blogs? What has it meant to you? What really spoke to you? What have you taken away from our chats at the table so far this year?

Building Community

Much of what we talked about around the table, over the last little while, has related to building community. Not just any community, but authentic, loving community. A really great way to build community is to invite others to the table to chat. So, in the spirit of putting into action, my own words of wisdom, I’ve invited a dear friend of mine, a new friend to many of you, to the table to share with us. I’ve asked her to speak with us about what the Church, the Body of Christ, needs to be doing practically in this hour.

Let me introduce you to my dear friend, Prophetess (Mama) Que Payne

Prophetess Que, affectionately called Ms. Que, Prophetess Que, or Momma Que by those she mentors around the country and the world is a wife and mother of two sons.

Prophetess Que Payne has been teaching and instructing as well as developing dance and banner bearer teams around the greater Chicago land area and abroad for over 25 years. She has ministered in dance for over 40 years.

She is the Lead Servant of For His Glory Ministry and Glory Fire Carriers Alliance. Prophetess Que Payne has developed a curriculum designed to shift worshipers as well as to develop the Levitical gifts both in the church and the marketplace. She is an accomplished songwriter with releases on Shekinah Glory Live CD and she published her 1st book entitled, “Preparation for His Presence” in 2011.

Prophetess Que has organized and instructed many praise and worship conferences as well as praise dance workshops, throughout the country and worldwide for community service organizations, as well as the body of Christ. She has led many mission trips and outreach services locally and abroad for many years. She has taught dance and prophetic sessions all around the country and is a member of the International Dance Council CID/UNESCO a world renown and recognized organization.

Best of all, she has become my dear friend and mentor, a mighty woman of God for whom I have great love and respect!

“Distance as one”

Prophetess Que Payne

I want to put this message together from a place of sobriety while at the same time dealing with the many different shifts and changes our world is in. But I want to deal with it from the perspective of ONE mind ONE body ONE spirit. As believers, we must maintain who we are as a foundation of people that serve a God that emphasized that through it all we should stand as ONE.

In the beginning from Genesis, The Father showed us the need to be united because divided we always fall. It doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter about our cultural differences, backgrounds other ethnicities it’s not even important or relevant to make note of our diversity of colour or faith. We all believe in something greater than ourselves and that is the message I want to leave today; the greatness I need is in you the greatness you seek He hid in me. The unity of faith bond according to Ephesians 4 in its entirety is the formula for our success as a human race. We are dealing with some things in our world that forced us to be separated it doesn’t mean we have to be divided.

There are several scriptures that deal with the power of unity that releases the purpose of being ONE mind ONE body ONE spirit. So I wanted to take that and break that down.

To be ONE mind it’s impossible to be divided- it makes us unstable. It was so powerful even in God’s eye that He said in Genesis chapter 11 how great they were as a people because they were in one accord; it was one language it was one purpose and there was one goal. The father did not separate them because of what they were doing, He scattered them into the earth because of the power they displayed. He did not want them to think more highly of themselves than they ought to.

God loves the power of unity. He even showed us his love for the power of unity by giving himself to us as the FATHER, as the SON, and HOLY SPIRIT.

The times and seasons that we are in now we must be as the children of Issachar, they knew the times and seasons. The Bible tells they were able to understand what was going on around them and took heed to what they needed to do collectively to overcome the thing that had presented itself as a threat to the greater good of the people. They did not have this anointing or position to boast of themselves, nor did they try to be or act superior. They realized or recognized the power of service. The anointing or ability the children of Issachar had was the ability to see and discern the times. And we must see in this season the times that we are in and that we are better together than apart. Why you may ask. Because the whole body can only be fit if we are joined together, one supplying to the other what is needed. Therefore we must be ONE body with ONE mind serving the ONE God because He is spirit and He is in each of us and we must endeavour to find the power/light of that piece to be united to really have the power.

The outer core of man is but the shell of the greater gifts hidden in it. The gift of life in the present is to learn to appreciate that no matter what colour what culture or where we live that’s not the priority, the priority is in finding “IT.” What is that “IT”? It is the Spirit of God alive in every living thing. We are weakened without that knowing and receiving.

The truth of our strength is unity, love and the bond of peace. We cannot allow the dark spirits of discord, division and ideological separations to enter into the process of life. With all that is going on in our very fragile world, the strength of that world is the people that live and have dominion. This is the time to Arise, shine and stand as ONE; not to build a tower, walls or barriers.

It’s NOT time to cause separation of land divides, cultural differences or even different levels of belief, we must endeavour to stand as ONE to believe as ONE to grow as ONE and to conquer the issues of our world as ONE no matter where we may land in the earth. Remember the earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof the world and they that dwell therein.

Unity is a power the purpose of God gave us. Dominion in the earth is our strength, what we do with it is now up to us. We have been given a gift of time and reset to recalibrate and work together as ONE. United we stand against the wiles of the devil and the evils released in this world, divided we are conquered and overtaken.

WE CAN AND WILL SURVIVE, REBUILD AND RESTORE as ONE!

Prophetess Que Payne

What I Know

Ephesians 4: 14-16 tells us “That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

I love this phrase, “joined and knit together.” What a beautiful picture of what the Body of Christ needs to look like in this season! “Joined and knit together”…..”every part does its share”……unity in action…..One Mind, One Body, One spirit!

What I know, for sure, is that true unity will be achieved when we learn to love like Jesus.

1 Corinthains 13 really brings that home.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Until Next Time

Well, my friend, our time at the table is coming to an end. My tea cup is empty and it is time to go out into the world and put our conversation into action. A big thank you to our dear friend Prophetess (Mama) Que Payne for joining us at the table! Her words have been truthful and impactful – now let’s put them to work in our lives!

Your Turn To Comment

As always, there are many ways to stay in touch. I would love to hear from you! Let me know how our chats around the kitchen table are going and drop a note about what things you would like to chat about.

Email laurie@lauriehopkins.ca

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Comment section at the end of each blog

Until next time,

From my heart to yours!

Laurie

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June 24 2019

My Journey, Your Journey (Sharing Our Stories)

Hello my friend – you know the drill – grab a cup of something hot in a fabulous mug and take a seat! How was your week? What exciting things were you involved in? Were you able to find time to check out the last post on Time as a Mindset? If not, scroll down further and you’ll see it there! I have been thinking a lot this week about My Journey, Your Journey; about sharing out stories and the challenges and benefits of doing so.

What stories do you have to share? What stories do you want to really listen to? The sharing of our stories is an anchor of hope and unity in the Body of Christ. If I can be real and comfortable in telling my authentic story and you can be real and comfortable in listening to my authentic story and vice versa – then we can begin to connect at a deeper and more meaningful level. Community and unity will follow.

We All Have A Story

We all have a story; every single one of us. As a matter of fact, each one of us has numerous stories that add up to the one large story that serves as a map of our journey. Most of us understand that we have a story, what many of us struggle with is not whether or not we have a story, but rather the significance of that story. We wonder if we have a story worth sharing. Sometimes we even understand that our story is worth sharing, but then we lose sight of the importance of stepping out and sharing that story.

Why Share Our Stories?

Why should we bother to share our stories and listen to the stories of others?

1) The sharing of stories brings significance to our lives.

2) Framing and sharing our stories builds courage, vulnerability and resilience within us

3) Our stories encourage others

4) The sharing of stories creates community leading to unity

5) Sharing our stories teaches us to be listeners as well as talkers and receivers as well as givers

6) Character is built through the reflective process necessary in the framing and subsequent sharing of our stories and listening to the stories of others

Past Experiences With Sharing Our Stories

What has happened in the past when we considered sharing our stories? We often wait to be asked to share out story. Some of us have never been asked to share our stories. This may have happened for a number of reasons. People can get caught up in their own stories. They may believe/assume that they already know our story. Or, they may want to listen to our story but they don’t know how to ask without coming across as intrusive.

When it comes to listening to the stories of others, sometimes we haven’t really known how to listen, receive, or respond. This has resulted in discomfort, because although there was an effort on both parts, to tell the story and to listen, both of us walked away feeling uncomfortable and unwilling to go there again.

Changing Our Experiences - Authenticity and Framing

The first step to a positive experience in sharing out stories is to begin living and then sharing from a place of authenticity. Our stories are easier to share when they come from our authentic lives, not lives that are built up and covered up.

Then we need to learn how to frame our stories. We need to become courageous and brave enough to dig deep for the real in our lives – to find the real essence of who we are and the stories that support that.

Once we have begun to frame our stories, we can begin sharing. A big piece of sharing our story is carving out time to allow sharing to happen. Time is of the essence. Not allowing the time and space for sharing to happen can be one of the biggest barriers to effective sharing and listening of stories. If you haven’t read last week’s blog post on Time as a Mindset that is a great place to start!

Changing Our Experiences - Encouraging And Listening

While we are preparing to share our stories, we can start encouraging those around us to share their stories. When they see us living from a place of authenticity and digging deep for real in our lives to begin framing and sharing our stories, they will be encouraged to begin on their journey to do the same.

We can also begin really listening to the stories of others. We must be mindful to never get so caught up in our own stories that we neglect the stories of others. Having the opportunity to listen to the stories of others is a gift and a privilege. Hearing is a passive process. Listening is an active process. If we begin to really listen to others, receive their stories with grace and actively engage in the exchange, the sharer of the story will feel cared for and will be more likely to step out and share their story again and again.

Why Does It Matter?

Why does it matter? Is it really necessary to share our stories and hear the stories of others? YES! Life is a blank book full of pages waiting to be written on. We often consider the living of our life all that is necessary to fill in those pages; but in reality, until we have shared that life, those pages only tell half the story! When others only watch our life and never have the opportunity to hear our stories that leads to assumptions and misunderstandings. Assumptions and misunderstandings about our life encourages us to build facades to make things look better and walls to keep others from getting too close to see the cracks.

The telling of our story encourages authenticity, transparency and clarity around who we are, where we’ve come from and where we are going. The hearing of our authentic story encourages a deeper and truer understanding of the same.

Future Possibilities

When people come together and tell their stories and listen to the stories of others, new stories and future possibilities are created. There is power in coming together and sharing. Coming together allows for the power of creativity and ideas, the power of validation, the power of collaboration and the power of support and encouragement.

The listener is encouraged and the sharer is validated. Both have a good experience and they feel empowered to go out and engage in the process again. There is a more accurate and gracious understanding of one another. Community and unity are created and grow. And the process continues. People began to connect in a meaningful and deep way. People began to carve out the time and space necessary for continued connections. The future possibilities are endless.

What Next?

Would you like to learn more about writing, telling and sharing your story? Would you like to learn how to really listen to the stories of others?

Let’s get on board and become fabulous storytellers and expert listeners – we live the material everyday – let’s begin to frame it, let’s put it on paper, let’s put it to hearts and minds and in doing so, build a community that lives in unity and can’t easily be pulled apart.

I would love to hear from you! Drop a comment below. Tell me about your experiences with sharing your stories and where you would like to go from here!

Until Next Time!

Well, my friend, I can see the bottom of my tea cup which tells me it is just about time to go. I am sure happy you took the time to drop in today.

See you again next week, same time, same place!

This week, begin to think about your experiences with telling your story and listening to the stories of others. There is more for all of us if we commit to changing our past experiences and move into a future of possibilities through sharing out stories!

If you are interested in more Devotional reading, head over to my Facebook Page where you will find a Weekly Devotion early every Monday morning. Click here to go directly to Weekly Devotions with Laurie.

Until next time,

From my heart to yours!

Laurie

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