The Importance of Divine Connections

                                     

The Scriptures say, “Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate,” or as the old King James puts it, “put asunder” (Matthew 19:6). The phrase “joined together” in your English Bible comes from one Greek word, which literally means “to be yoked, or coupled with.” It is formed by two words speaking of “association, companionship, completeness, as a yoke, a couple, a pair, a team.”

While in this context it refers to marriage, in its broader application it speaks of anything or anyone that God has joined together and made one to further His plans and purposes. Don’t forget, these are the words of Jesus. He believed in divine connections, and He warned the Pharisees and the intellectuals of His day to beware not to break them. Some things in life are too holy to be touched.

Nowadays, divine connections aren’t in vogue. They definitely are not fashionable. And even though we may dream about them and want them, they don’t suit our freethinking society. Some even frown on them and consider them to be strange and unhealthy.

Nevertheless, the Holy Bible is full of examples of God joining people together in marriage, in partnership to accomplish His purposes, and as teams to do great things for Him. Though man may have shrouded divine connections with mystery and even intrigue, God considers them vital to our destiny.

In fact, I want to go one step further and say, no one can make it on their own. We need one another—we are social creatures and can’t make it alone—we were all born to be team players.

To be otherwise is to be dysfunctional. If you are planning on going any further than being a face in the crowd or perhaps a loner that never gets anywhere, you are going to have to acknowledge the importance of divine connections, go after them, and secure them at any price. Everyone needs to learn how to trust in God for their divine connections.

Allow me to share some potentially controversial examples of divine connections that God used mightily to accomplish His purposes. Consider the old prophet Paul, whom God connected to young Timothy. Their faithfulness to one another helped make Paul the great man he became. Timothy gave up all to stick with him through thick and thin, even to the execution block, because he knew his destiny was connected to that man Paul.

Allow me to go deeper. There is the old woman Naomi, a bitter person who had lost more than most, including her husband and two sons, and was reduced to poverty. Her one daughter-in-law, Ruth, recognized a divine connection there, and when her mother-in-law was going to go her way, used these incredible words to describe her connection with the old woman: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me” (Ruth 1:16,17).

These powerful words of commitment have been used down through the centuries by Christians as wedding vows, and yet originally they were spoken between two women, reflecting their commitment to a divine connection.

Let us go even deeper. There is David and Jonathan, whom God joined together to suit His purposes. Hear how committed Jonathan was to David. The Scriptures tell us, “Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul…. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt” (1 Samuel 18:1,3,4). Theirs was not a perverted relationship at all; it was a divine connection, holy and of God.

The greatest mistake Jonathan ever made was choosing to go with Saul against that divine connection, and it cost him his life.

There is more. There was the older prophet Elijah and his young assistant Elisha, who had a divine connection that was so powerful that the young man turned his back on his family and career and devoted himself to serving the old man as a servant to the end.

The list of divine connections is long. I could speak of the old prophet Eli and Samuel the boy, or of the prostitute in Jericho and the spies sent by Joshua, and then there was Jesus and His beloved John, of whom the Scriptures say, “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23). And again, referring to their special connection, “Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” (John 21:20). There was also the ex-harlot, Mary Magdalene, who poured  expensive oil on Jesus’ feet and washed them with her hair and caused an uproar among religious folks. The list goes on, and it includes wonderful people whom God joined together in special ways to glorify Himself.

I would like to refer to one last divine connection that is found in the New Testament Scriptures—it is between church members and their churches. Hear the words of Paul in this regard: “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10). The phrase here, “perfectly joined together,” is used again to speak of the importance of divine connections. They are irrevocably linked to your destiny.

To get the most out of them, you need to recognize that they are:

    God-given opportunities—holy

    Open doors to growth—full of purpose

    A key to your destiny—prophetic

    Heaven-blessed and attended to by angels—purposeful

    Always under attack—a threat

    Very necessary to your spiritual life—strengthening

    They call for sacrifice—giving to receive

    Teach us loyalty—price tag

I believe in divine connections, because they are of God and vital to your destiny and mine. This is why God hates those who create division, sow discord, speak evil of one another, or are too proud to be a part of a team and pay the price to support it.

This is also another reason why the New Testament Scriptures unanimously teach us to walk in love towards one another—you never know how important that person you are sitting next to may be in helping you fulfill your destiny. It is also why I believe in adding value to one another in our relationships, and building on them. I am always on the lookout for my divine connections. These connections deserve preferential treatment.

Written by Frederick Drummond

Dr. Frederick Drummond began ministering the Gospel of Jesus Christ soon after his salvation experience in the late sixties at 18. From that time, to the mission field in Swaziland, and later across the ocean to study the Scriptures in America, where he graduated from Sacremento Baptist Theological Seminary in 1981 with his PhD, he has been filled with a zeal for God and His Word that has only increased with time. Through it all, his passion for God and His Word has been evident in everything he has done, writing, teaching, and preaching for almost 50 years.

Today he has come a long way in his understanding of the New Covenant, and Jesus Christ's new creation message of love, grace, and the Holy Spirit's power. He is the Senior minister of the Church of the New Creation in Weston, Florida, has four grown children and seven grandchildren, and lives in South Florida with Lorraine, his beloved wife of 46 years.

H can be reached through www.frederickdrummond.com/