Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] God's prayer is still echoing, Father, make them one as you and I are one. The world doesn't need more impressive people. We've got enough of those. We need more integrated believers. You don't show up doing something different and being somebody different. Depending on who's around, your healing and your influence and your peace, they flow out from this oneness. What if I told you Jesus didn't just die for your salvation, he prayed ultimately for your integration.
[00:00:32] John 17 isn't just a prayer before the cross, but it's actually the blueprint for your wholeness.
[00:00:40] Jesus prays this.
[00:00:42] Make them one, as you and I are one.
[00:00:46] Now, this is not a prayer about uniformity and assimilating, but it's actually a prayer about unity. So if I can, I'm going to drive this right down your lane and into your driveway.
[00:01:00] Have you ever felt fragmented?
[00:01:02] Like one version of you shows up at work, another version of you shows up at home. You're dealing with a whole completely different version of you when you are by yourself. If you fit this profile, then John 17 is speaking directly to you.
[00:01:19] And we're going to get right into it. Hey, listen, I'm Ryan Robinson. Welcome to Shifts and Ladders. We're going to jump into it.
[00:01:26] John 17. I'm going to get some context first. Jesus is about to be betrayed. And he is finished with teaching the disciples. Finished teaching them. He gave them everything he knows. Now he lifts his eyes to heaven and he prays. Not for miracles, not for success when he is completing his work on the cross. No, but he prays for oneness for the disciples. He says that they all may be one, Father, as you and me are one.
[00:02:01] Just paraphrasing John 17:21. But he's saying this. Let me bring it all together. It says, father, the same oneness that exists in the Godhead, bring that to the people.
[00:02:14] He's praying for integration, the end of separation between the divine and the human, heaven and earth, body and soul. So let me give you an example of this, this oneness. Here. The first example of oneness and unity is found, I believe, in Genesis, chapter 12 with the tower of Babel, right? So the Tower of Babel. The people thought that they could actually build a tower that was high enough to get to heaven.
[00:02:45] And then the Lord says, we need to stop them, because once they actually get on the same page, there is nothing that they cannot do. So then the. The Bible says that he scattered their language so they. They couldn't talk together because they knew and he knew how powerful oneness is externally.
[00:03:10] You know how hard it is to just get people to show up on time at the same place. But when it does, it's a powerful thing, like getting people in one room. You don't feel. You could feel the energy when people are applauding and people are celebrating something together. You know how powerful that is in movements at a concert. Now, how much more important is that kind of unity and integration for your soul, your mind, and your body? There's several examples, but you can fast forward to Acts chapter 2. When the Holy Spirit comes, it says, the 120 were in the upper room praying and on one accord. That's powerful. I need integration and unity in my voice right now. I'm struggling, but I want to get to this.
[00:03:55] Because oneness and integration are one and the same, because the effects of the garden and the sin of the garden actually created separation between God and his ultimate creation.
[00:04:08] So what Jesus does is he's restoring that oneness or integration back to him, and it's just more about community. But he is offering a life where there is no gap between who he is and who you are. And essentially also what he's offering, too, is the fact that the gap between who you are privately and who you are publicly are no longer separated.
[00:04:37] Because in God, there is fullness of joy.
[00:04:41] And you can't be full if you're separated. There's no division in your spiritual life and your everyday life. Now, let me. Let me break down the word division.
[00:04:54] Di, meaning two vision, means sees. So when you see division, you actually are seeing the thing that says two. Two visions. There isn't any division in God.
[00:05:08] Jesus says this. A house divided cannot stand.
[00:05:12] Which means if there is division, it ain't going physically and metaphorically.
[00:05:19] So if you have a fragmentation between who you are, your calling, your creativity, your career, you end up having these compartments that you have to manage.
[00:05:29] You know how exhausting it is to manage that. So that's God saying, Jesus is saying, I need integration.
[00:05:35] I want to bring everything together.
[00:05:39] So you're not living in compartments anymore. You're living in connection.
[00:05:43] So integration is not adding God into your life, is realizing that he is the thread and the thread and the glue that's holding everything together.
[00:05:56] Okay, But I'll tell you this, though.
[00:05:59] We live in places, we have spiritual goals, we have professional goals, we have relationship goals.
[00:06:08] And they are often competing goals that don't actually cooperate with one another. So that's actually fragmentation.
[00:06:18] I want to share this with you here for my life Personally, I've thought, let's talk about my inner house here. I'm just going to tell it like it is for me. I've had struggles in my life recognizing and understanding that oneness is not optional. It is actually essential for anyone who is of spiritual nature to experience this wholeness. Because what ends up happening is you end up having these people you have to manage. I've been in corporate world.
[00:06:48] My voice changes when I go to corporate world. Some people do that. If you do that, don't raise your hand. We're on. You're on YouTube.
[00:06:55] Sometimes we show up in a different way.
[00:06:59] We walk different. We end up thinking we have to show up different places. And really what people are looking for is real. And I'll be honest with you, I was not a very real person for a while.
[00:07:10] I had the corporate Ryan.
[00:07:12] I had Pastor Ryan, and then I had Ryan at home. But it's exhausting managing all of that, because sometimes that individual has different values, there's different expectations. Because actually there's maybe some things you're called to do or asked to do in a different space that your inner whole person is like. I don't really agree with that.
[00:07:36] But because you've put on this facade and this mask, you end up assimilating to something that doesn't necessarily agree with you in your spirit, internally and eternally. So you end up becoming this person that you're trying to figure out, who in the world am I?
[00:07:53] There's too many of these. It's. It's way too much. And I found myself crashing out. I know that word's used a lot these days, but it's real. You find yourself falling apart because you have broken yourself into so many pieces, you don't know which one's which.
[00:08:09] And that was me not too long ago. So what does integration look like? Well, I'll tell you.
[00:08:17] It is a process of actually becoming.
[00:08:20] It's a process of healing. It doesn't happen by accident. It's a process. So I would tell you, Jesus actually models it. And I'mma bring it up into three pieces. First is surrender.
[00:08:32] We go back to the prayer, the model prayer. The Our Father says, not my will, but yours be done. You have to release control. You have to release control. You have to release people's expectation of you. You have to release the idea that you can control your own narrative newsflash. People are going to have their own opinions about you regardless.
[00:08:54] You have to surrender it to God's will. Number two, you have to have alignment. So you have to bring your thoughts, your emotions, and your actions to one truth, which is the word of God, not just your truth. There's some things that are unique about you because you have this level of creativity, the way God has uniquely designed you. But understand this. All of those things should line up to the ultimate standard, which is God's word, the number three. You have to be the embodiment. You have to live out that truth in every single space you are in. The way you work, your relationships, your art, your creativity, your conversations, everything needs to line up. Because if you show up in different spaces, in different places, you're actually not fully being you.
[00:09:46] And this is how what I call the integration method mirrors what the Gospel is saying. Because what we think, our sanctification and process of becoming more like Jesus, we think it's a behavior modification. That's what Pharisees do. God is looking for some inner work. He's looking for some inner identity and spiritual unification. That looks way different than me doing something different. I need to be somebody better. God's almighty. Where's the cork?
[00:10:16] All right, so let me tell you what wholeness feels like. Okay, a little bit. I'm still in process. We're all getting there. But wholeness feels like having peace without pretenses. It's like waking up, not needing to switch Personas, not asking who needs to show up. Today, it's creating and leading and loving from one source. So when Jesus says, I in them and you in me, they may be perfectly one.
[00:10:50] And Jesus says this several times in John, chapter 17. This is actually verse I want to say it's 23.
[00:10:57] He's inviting us into a divine flow where everything that you do springs from everything you are.
[00:11:07] No more dividing the sacred and the secular between your worship and your work. Your worship is your work. Who you are is sacred, and it is sacred all at the same time.
[00:11:20] It is you.
[00:11:22] Jesus says to come boldly to the throne of grace, not with your perfections, but just who you are. God never has changed his thoughts about you.
[00:11:33] Now, if God hasn't changed his thoughts about you, how are you going to change who you accept about you?
[00:11:41] And this is the thing, y'. All.
[00:11:44] God knows your mess and he still loves you anyway. I hope that blessed somebody that blessed me, good God of mercy. So today, God's prayer is still echoing. Father, make them one as you and I are one.
[00:11:59] The world doesn't need more impressive people. We've got enough of those.
[00:12:05] We need more integrated believers, people who have inner and outer lives. That tell the same story, that you don't show up doing something different and being somebody different. Depending on who's around, your healing and your influence and your peace, they flow out from this oneness. So if you aren't healed to be one, you can never explain or heal somebody else because you don't know what the freedom looks like to be whole. So maybe the question is, what do I need to. Maybe the question is, what do I need to integrate so that I can be whole again? Because the more you become one, the more.
[00:12:45] The more you start to reflect the one, the only God Almighty Himself.
[00:12:53] Now help me. I want to tell you this. If this message has spoken to you, take one step forward toward integration today.
[00:13:01] Reconcile an area of your life that you feel disconnected. It could be your faith, it could be your finances. It could be your purpose. It could be some pain.
[00:13:10] You. Examining that area is actually the first step of wholeness. Being willing to lift the COVID and the veil and be like, I don't know if I like that one.
[00:13:19] And instead of covering it, lifting it up, seeing what's fractured, see what needs to be reset, and see what needs to be submitted unto God because we want to be whole like Jesus and God are whole.
[00:13:37] And I'm telling you, it will change the way you show up. You won't have tense, tense shoulders. Your neck will be fine, your back won't hurt. You will be the same person in every room. And you know what? Whether they accept you or not is actually none of your business. But between you and God, you can live with the confidence, knowing you showed up the way God made you.
[00:14:03] All right, this is Shifts and Ladders. I'm Ryan Robinson. If this blessed you, share this with somebody.
[00:14:12] Wholeness isn't perfection.
[00:14:14] It's about God's presence being present in your life.
[00:14:18] So I want to offer something to you. I have something on my website, ryanrobinson.com, it's called Declutter your soul. I would love to bless you with some steps to help you become a whole and integrated person. In the next podcast, we're just going to talk about this method that I put together called the integration method, based on biblical principles that can actually help you walk through the healing journey of what it looks like to be a whole person everywhere you go.
[00:14:48] All right, if this blessed you, like, share, subscribe, and we'll catch you in the next one.
[00:14:55] Be blessed. Peace.
