Daily Devotional for Monday April 3, 2017

Division in the Body of Christ

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

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Please Lord bless me and my family today. Help us to never forget to honor you and praise your holy name. Thank you for your blessings. Let us be good stewards of those blessings and never forget to reach out to others and be a blessing to those who cross our path each day. In the name of Jesus I pray...AMEN!

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 2.5 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 cannot 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!!!

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 myself 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!!!

In His love and service,

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller