Daily Devotional for Thursday August 16, 2012

The War within the Body of Christ

(Mark 9:38-40, John 17:21)

***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, One of The 10 Commandments is "Thou shalt not kill." Here is a most interesting, and challenging question. Since God has commanded us not to kill, yet He, Himself, by His own hand, has done that very thing, there must be justification in His actions. I cannot fathom God breaking His own Commandment to us?

ANSWER: The commandment to not kill, is speaking of the premeditated murder of another human being. Many claim this means soldiers should not kill, and in the purest sense it does. However, war has been a sad reality of fallen man, and nations do have a right to defend themselves. In the OT, God DID order his chosen people to kill. Sadly, there were people whose only goal was to wipe the children of Israel off the map, people who worshipped false gods and idols. The only answer was for the children of Israel to kill them before they were destroyed, and in the process purge the nation of the false gods and idols.

The disciples of Jesus were concerned over a man casting out a demon in the name of Jesus, and told him to stop since he was not part of their group. Modern translation: he didn't go to their church . . . they didn't agree with his doctrine . . . he didn't give to their ministry . . . any or all of the above. But what did Jesus say? He said, "DO NOT TRY TO STOP HIM." He also said, "Anyone who isn't against us is on our side." Let me repeat what JESUS SAID, "ANYONE WHO ISN'T AGAINST US IS ON OUR SIDE."

I will open a can of worms today that is LONG OVERDUE and needs to be said. One of the things that grieves the heart of God more than anything else is the war within the Body of Christ. It is a prayer of our Lord, just hours before going to the cross that we find in John 17:21, that has yet to be answered.

An unsaved friend of mine once shared with me that over the years, he has been approached by many of the cults in addition to Christians. He said that if 10 members of the same cult talked to him, they always said the same thing. However, if 10 Christians talked to him, they were each more interested in "selling" their particular church and had reasons why the other churches weren't as good as theirs.

Having personally preached in over 500 churches of every denomination over the years, I can attest that far too much time is spent condemning other churches and denominations. Liveprayer reaches over 2.4 million people worldwide daily, over 1/3 of those are not saved or in any church, and the other 2/3 represent every type of church and nationality that you can name. Sadly, too much of the email that I receive each day is in regard to the internal divisions within the Body of Christ.

ONE OF THE GREATEST WEAPONS SATAN USES IS THE WEAPON OF DIVISION!!! JESUS SAID HIMSELF THAT A HOUSE DIVIDED CANNOT STAND!!!

The wars, the way we have found to divide ourselves as the people of God are endless. Music. I personally love the old hymns, however, some people think that Contemporary Christian Music and Christian rock and rap are of the devil. The Bible. Some people say that you should only read the King James Version, others say that you should only use the Old Testament, while yet others say you should only use the New Testament. Race and ethnic origin. Too many churches are still segregated by race and ethnic origin. Denomination. Hundreds of denominations, and the now the ever popular non-denomination. Ministries. Para church ministries that specialize in every kind of need imaginable that people have.

ONE OF THE GREATEST WEAPONS SATAN USES IS THE WEAPON OF DIVISION!!! JESUS SAID HIMSELF THAT A HOUSE DIVIDED CANNOT STAND!!!

As for music, let me say that everyone has different tastes. God reaches some people thru the old hymns that would never listen to Contemporary Christian Music. God reaches others thru Contemporary Christian Music that simply don't enjoy the beauty of the old hymns. Still others God reaches thru Christian rock and rap that would never be reached any other way. Arguing about versions of the Bible is foolish since to compare English TRANSLATIONS makes no sense, because they are all derived from the original Hebrew and Greek text. THAT is what they need to be compared to for accuracy, NOT each other.

I realize that many churches are NOT purposely segregated, that it is due to the surrounding community they are located. But it should be a goal of ALL churches to reach out to people of different races. The denominations are interesting, since if you really study their doctrinal positions, they ALL hold the basic tenets of the Christian faith which is what makes them Christian in the first place. Specialized ministries are necessary since they are meeting the needs of specific groups of people. It is these specialized ministries that are used by God to help lead many people to Christ that the church is simply not equipped or able to reach.

ONE OF THE GREATEST WEAPONS SATAN USES IS THE WEAPON OF DIVISION!!! JESUS SAID HIMSELF THAT A HOUSE DIVIDED CANNOT STAND!!!

What I am trying to say is simply this. It is ONLY your faith in Jesus Christ coupled with God's grace that will get you to Heaven, NOTHING ELSE. The name on the church building that you go to can not save you, only faith in Jesus can. There are people sitting in the pews of any Baptist church that are lost, just like there are people sitting in the pews of any Catholic or Assembly of God church that are lost. Their church membership can't save them, ONLY faith in Jesus can.

You see my friend, when you die, there will only be two lines, one for the lost and one for the saved. There will be no line for Protestants and another for Catholics. There will be no line for Methodists, and another for Presbyterians. There will be no line for blacks and another for whites. There will be no Asian line and no Anglo line. When you die, the ONLY thing that will matter is whether you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

ONE OF THE GREATEST WEAPONS SATAN USES IS THE WEAPON OF DIVISION!!! JESUS SAID HIMSELF THAT A HOUSE DIVIDED CANNOT STAND!!!

God uses MANY unique and marvelous ways to bring a person into that everlasting relationship with Himself. I can assure you that there are people He uses me to reach, that possibly would not be reached otherwise. By the same token, He uses others to reach people that would NEVER be reached thru a ministry like Liveprayer. EVERY PERSON HAS THEIR OWN SPIRITUAL HOT BUTTON.

I can tell you by the email I get daily, that there are some people think Liveprayer is from the pits of hell. They think the Internet is evil and nobody can really be touched by God through websites and email. Over my 20 yrs in the ministry, I have come to the point where I simply will not criticize what someone else in the body of Christ is doing as long as they are preaching Christ, and Him crucified and not compromising the Truth of the Bible or building their own kingdom instead of God's! They will one day have to answer to God for their work just like I will.

ONE OF THE GREATEST WEAPONS SATAN USES IS THE WEAPON OF DIVISION!!! JESUS SAID HIMSELF THAT A HOUSE DIVIDED CAN NOT STAND!!!

I love you and care about you so much. I say often that man really has not changed since the Garden of Eden. What a great example of this in today's verses. The disciples of Jesus were concerned over a man casting out a demon in the name of Jesus, and told him to stop since he was not part of their group. Modern translation: he didn't go to their church...they didn't agree with his doctrine...he didn't give to their ministry...any or all of the above. But what did Jesus say? He said, "DO NOT TRY TO STOP HIM." He also said, "anyone who isn't against us is on our side." Let me repeat what JESUS SAID, "ANYONE WHO ISN'T AGAINST US IS ON OUR SIDE."

I will pray for you today to really examine your heart in regard to this issue of division within the Body of Christ. I realize that by exposing this sin of division, I have opened my self wide open to be attacked. That is OK. It is a LONG OVERDUE word that needed to be brought. WE ARE ALL GUILTY OF BEING PART OF THIS DEVICE OF SATAN IN SOME WAY.

There is a world out there that is lost, hurting, and a large percentage of them are currently standing in the line marked "lost." If we took all of the time, energy, and effort that we use to divide ourselves, and really came together as one unified BODY, we could make a global impact almost overnight that would be mind boggling. May the prayer Christ prayed in the Garden finally be answered, that we may be ONE!!!

***PLEASE PRAY ABOUT SOWING A SPECIAL GIFT TO LIVEPRAYER DURING OUR ANNIVERSARY MONTH. MANY HAVE BEEN BLESSED BY GOD'S WORK HERE, BUT HAVE NEVER GIVEN TO HELP US. ACTUALLY, LESS THAN 1/4 OF 1% OF THOSE WE REACH EVERY GIVE A DIME TO SUPPORT GOD'S WORK HERE. ALL WE HAVE DONE OVER THESE 13 YRS, IMPACTING LITERALLY TENS OF MILLIONS OF LIVES WORLDWIDE, HAS ONLY BEEN POSSIBLE BECAUSE FRIENDS LIKE YOU PRAYED AND MADE THE SACRIFICE TO HELP US BE HERE EACH DAY FOR THE HURTING AND LOST.

MOST EVERYONE CAN SEND SOMETHING. LET ME CHALLENGE YOU TO GIVE A GIFT OF $13, $130, $1300, OR FOR SOME, $13,000. THAT IS $1, $10, $100, OR $1,000 FOR EACH YEAR OF SERVICE. GOD WILL MULTIPLY YOUR GIFT EXPONENTIALLY IN THE LIVES AND SOULS OF THOSE WE REACH WITH HIS TRUTH AND THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!

TO GIVE A GIFT TO LIVEPRAYER, you can use your major credit card on our secure server at: www.liveprayer.com under the "Donation" link, you can give using your PayPal account using my email address: bkeller@liveprayer.com,or you can mail your gift to: Liveprayer, 6660 46th Ave. North, St.Petersburg, FL 33709. All gifts to Liveprayer are 100% tax deductible.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE, YOUR PRAYERS, AND YOUR SACRIFCE. THESE 13 YEARS HAVE ONLY BEEN POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF YOU, AND I THANK GOD FOR YOU EACH DAY. KNOW YOU AND YOUR FAMILY ARE IN MY PRAYERS. WE PRESS ON TOWARDS THE PRIZE!

In His love and service,

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller