Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of divisiveness in the church. People getting jealous of one another, accusing each other of foul play, making it their personal mission to destroy one another's reputation, gossiping about fellow brothers and sisters, spreading divisive rumors, hating on other believers, and so on. The Bible has this to say about a divisive person: "If people are causing divisions among you, give a first and second warning. After that, have nothing more to do with them. For people like that have turned away from the truth, and their own sins condemn them (Titus 3:10-11)."
Beloved, now, more than ever, we NEED to be united in Christ, in the power of God, to see the miraculous, to see the breakthrough, to see the victory. But yet, I’m watching other believers ignorantly attack other believers, without realizing that we ALL have something to bring to the table. Are we all Apostles? Are we all Prophets? Are we all Evangelists, Teachers, Pastors? Why be jealous of one another when you have your own set of spiritual gifts and a unique mantle? Why partner with the devil to accuse other believers, when you need to focus on the purpose and calling on your life? Stop obsessing over a speck in your brother’s eye, when you need to check to see if you have a plank in your own (Matthew 7:3).
Church, let's be real. To the world, we look like fools, quarreling and arguing incessantly amongst ourselves, which by the way, we’re told not to do. In the words of 2 Timothy 2:23: “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels." Now let's look at the whole passage in Titus 3:9-11 from above, which says, “But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissuasions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.” Ouch. That’s harsh, but that’s what the Scriptures say. A divisive person is not someone to just ignore, agree with, or even entertain.
So unity. Divisiveness.
Why is there a constant war between the two anyway?
Perhaps, could it be true that we are actually fighting a war in the Spirit already? It might not currently be World War III, but we are already in a war between good and evil in the spiritual, supernatural realm. This is war and this is real!
Remember, we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, but against spiritualities and principalities in heavenly places. The Bible says it like this: “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12) What does this all mean? It means our battle is actually against the powers of dark spirits. Simply said, people are not our true enemies. But the devil sure would like you to think that this is the case.
If we don't understand this, we're destined to fail. For the enemy wants us to tear each other apart. More specifically, he wants Christians to destroy one another. He wants us to quarrel and gossip, and slander and hate, and condemn. He wants us to partner with him, in accusing the brethren, and do more damage than good. He wants us to believe his clever lies about a person and make it our mission to tear that person and/or their ministry down. He wants us to be bitter, resentful, divided.
For he knows, a house divided cannot stand. Remember, we are the house (temple) of the Holy Spirit. The Church is meant to be the home, where the Spirit of God resides. So, needless to say, Satan wants to rip apart the Church, the body of Christ. He wants to crush us, mock us, steal from us, beat us up, and ultimately take us out. Why? Because he is pure evil. There is no good in him. He hates us. AND, the reality is, that place in Scripture that talks about a house being divided, is referring to the devil and his demonic kingdom. Let’s take a look in Matthew 12:
“Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters (Matthew 12:22-30)."
Do you see it? Satan knows his kingdom will fall. He knows he will lose in the end. One day, all his darkness will be defeated once and for all. So until that day, his mission is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). People are his enemies, not ours. That is exactly why he uses ignorant and blind souls to target other human beings. He sends his demonic army to possess people, who don’t know any better and that open a door to let him in. He uses people to ruin other people. He uses nonbelievers to target Christians. He uses world leaders to destroy cities, nations, lives. Sadly, remember, he even uses supposed “Christians” to try to hurt others.
See, the method is not the main thing. Doing the greater works (John 14:12) by following the example Christ set for us is (like casting out demons), but Jesus doesn’t tell us how, just that we should. The Pharisees seemed to have a form of godliness but they denied the power of God (2 Timothy 3:5). They seemed religious and holy on the outside, but man looks at the outside and God sees the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Jesus rebuked them and told them to worry about what was on the inside not the outside (Matthew 23:25-28). It's worth reading this scripture.
We also see that even the disciples themselves, had a moment of weakness as found in Mark 9:38-40: "John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. For the one who is not against us is for us." Wow! This is perhaps one of the most profound verses, in my opinion, on this subject. If they are not opposed to us, they are on the same team as us!
Guys, the point is that if we see other humans as the enemy, we will always fail. We will give the devil free rein to use us to accomplish his evil purposes here on the earth. If we do not stop it, have a change of heart and mind, and turn around and walk in the other, Godly way (repentance), it will not end well for us. Demons purpose on earth is to destroy our lives. They are deployed by Satan to try and get as many of us to Hell, as possible. Demons and the Devil are NOT our friends. They constantly mislead. But now, let’s turn the tables for a moment...
What if we realized that we are ALL on the same team, as Christians? Even as humans, we all have that in common. We all have hearts, brains, bodies, and souls. We are all people that Jesus died for, made in the image of God, whether or not we ever accept His free gift of grace. People were worth dying for, in the eyes of the Lord. Jesus didn’t have to give up His life for us: undeserving, selfish sinners, but He did. Not just that, He gave up his Earthly life in the most painful way possible: humiliated, rejected, stripped naked, suffocating, spit on, mocked, dehydrated, whipped almost to the point of death, with a crown of thorns piercing his skull, and nails hammered into his hands and feet. He went through ALL of that for you, for me, for every person alive. I guess He thought we were worth it. 🧡
So then, are we still blind and deaf to the truth? The truth is that we are stronger together and we MUST stick together. The War in the Spirit's even more deadly and dangerous than the one we can see with our natural eyes. We wrestle against demonic forces who seek to steal our lives. But God is our Creator, He is our Maker, He is our Father if we’ll accept Him. He's the one who died for us. He's the one who paid the price for every sin we’d ever commit: past, present, future. He gave us life to begin with! He allowed us to come into the world and gave us a purpose, gifts, a name and a future. He loves us more than we know; He is Love.
He is also the boss. He's in charge. He's Lord of all, Alpha and Omega, beginning and end. He's the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. He's King of Kings! He’s the Commander of the Angel Armies, the Great I AM, and if we join His team and learn to work together, all as fellow soldiers of Christ, then, and only then, can we overcome evil and inherit a Heavenly reward far greater than anything this world has to offer! But we have to stop listening to the devil, disguised as the “Angel of Light,” deceiving us left and right. We have to seek the truth of the Word of God, learn to hear His voice, read the Bible, pray without ceasing, and follow and obey. Please stop calling good evil and evil good. Stop being a false witness, because it’s not your job to go crazily looking for false prophets and false teachers, friends.
Did you know the Lord detests a false witness according to Proverbs 12? It says: "There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers." (Proverbs 12:16-19)
Family, if you truly have the Spirit of God alive in you, you will have the gift of discernment and be able to distinguish between good and evil, truth and lies, light and darkness anyway. If you stay close to God, you will only follow His voice because you will recognize it and the stranger's (enemy), you will not follow (John 10:4-5). We can't afford to follow any man either more than Jesus. We need to be baptized and filled with Holy Ghost fire to be led by His Spirit in all things.
The voice of God, via The Holy Spirit, will guide us into all truth (John 16:13). You don't have to be fearful of being misled or deceived when you stay close to the Lord. Spend time alone with Him until you really get to know Him well. He desires an intimate, personal relationship with every person on this planet. He loves us that much. He doesn't want to leave us in the dark or let us be carried off into delusion. He wants you to know the truth that sets a man free. He wants you.
He wants your heart, He wants your mind, He wants your body, as a living sacrifice poured out on the Altar of God to live for Him, because He died for you, beloved! He wants all of you. Don't hold back. Don't think another human has ALL the answers. Go to God yourself. Pray to Him nonstop. Listen to Him. Trust Him. Follow His lead. And respond in obedience because He knows what's best for you. He knows what you need before you even ask for it. He knows you better than you know yourself. When you really know Him, you'll totally surrender and really trust Him all the way because you understand He is perfect love and He actually cares.
He wants good for you, not evil. He plans to prosper you, not leave you as an orphan. He desires to bless you, not curse you. He hopes to promote you in His Kingdom, not leave you behind. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. Let Him in, entirely. Let Him have every part of your life. For the end draws near; it is not time to back down, hide, or run away from Jesus anymore. He is pursuing you with an endless, unstoppable, unchanging love. He wants to show you the way to eternal life, starting today. He can give you Heaven on Earth. Don't be afraid.
Don't be fearful of losing your way because if you stay near to Him, He will always stay near to you. Draw closer, because He's already there. He's with you in every moment of every day. He's as close as your breath. He's not displeased with you or waiting to just punish you. No, He calls you. He wants to choose you. He's asking you to choose Him, so that you can have life, not death. He delights in giving you the Kingdom of God with peace, joy, and true righteousness. Have faith friend.
Have faith. For I close with this. It's true, in the end many will be deceived because they do not know Him. They will harden their hearts to God, be prideful (much like the Pharisees), and reject the love of Christ. They will do as the Israelite people did at Mt. Sinai and choose religion over relationship (Commandments over closeness). They will be scared of a Loving Father, who wants nothing but good things for them. They will be confused and tossed around by false doctrines. But don't worry. Remember, if you talk to God and listen to Him, that won't be you.
A relationship with the Creator will never fail you. You might make a mistake, slip up, create a mess, or more, but at the end of the day, if you maintain an authentic relationship with the Lord of Lords, you will not be disappointed. You will not fall. You will rise again. You will inherit eternity in Heaven with the King. Stay close to Him. Again, I repeat, stay close to Him, because now is the time to stay on alert. The devil does roam around like a sneaky lion looking to devour people (1 Peter 5:8). But if we stay near to Jesus and stay connected to the Body, we'll be okay.
For the enemy does not want us together, because of our strength in numbers. Like a wolf, he hunts the one prey that got separated from the pack. So, only be isolated when you're spending time alone with the Lord in the Secret Place. Otherwise, stay linked up to fellow believers. We really do need unity now in the Church. We need closeness to our Savior. We need both. Love God and love people is now the Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:34-40). That's how the world will know we are His, by the love that we have for each other (John 13:35).
I finish with this:
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:1-7)
So, let's do better, so as to not be included in this group of people, Church. We must remember this verse: "I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought" (1 Corinthians 1:10).
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