Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! (Psa. 133:1)

We are all well aware that God wants brethren to live together in unity. The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines unity as “the state of being in full agreement”. When there is unity, people are not only in agreement but act together to achieve a particular purpose. Who is it that should dwell together in unity? – brethren. As far as God is concerned every believer is a part of His family and therefore fall into the group called ‘brethren’. All believers are spiritual brothers and sisters. Why then is there so much division within the Body of Christ? Is this not in opposition to God’s will? It certainly is! And who has orchestrated this division we know as denominations within the Body of Christ? Man has, under the influence of the great author of confusion and disunity himself – Satan. The only division we see in the early church came about only because of geographic location but there is no mention of denominations within the early church. There is also no instruction given for such division to be implemented.

Satan, the master strategist, has wielded his spirit of deception and has used the same tactic of “Has God said?” he used in the Garden of Eden to bring about opposition and competition within what should have been one Body of Christ. God is not pleased!! He says we have fallen prey to the enemy and continue to partner with him in divisiveness in direct opposition to His Word. We ask, “why is the church so powerless and unable to do the exploits that Jesus said we would do, that would be even greater than He did?” One of the reasons the Lord has revealed is that we continue to walk in this sin of divisiveness. He has given to His Body the ministry of reconciliation to the world (2 Cor. 5:18) and we cannot even reconcile our own differences!! He has said in John 13:35 “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The fracture within the Body of Christ has brought about confusion in the minds of unbelievers and has reduced the power of the gospel of the kingdom of God. As saints of the Living God we need to intercede for our church leaders for the release of conviction of sin and that repentance would lead to unity within the Body of Christ. We need to focus our attention on the real enemy and join hearts and hands together to take back territory for God by pushing back the spiritual forces of darkness arrayed against this nation!! We cannot win the victory with a fragmented army. I cry out for the army of the Living God to come together so that our power can be increased!!

The Lord revealed to me that each church is trying to be all things to all men. That was not His intention. We have applied the scripture in Ephesians 3:16 only to our own local church but God meant it in reference to the whole Body. We each have a special mission and He has placed special giftings within each local church for that specific part of the mission. The intention is that we would get support from other local churches around us to provide the giftings that we lack. In this way, we would be joined and knit together. Instead, each local church is spreading itself so thin that it is being ineffectual. Let us reach out to each other and be an example to the world of what true love and caring is all about. We will never grow up into all that God the Father desires until we edify ourselves in love and become one Body in Christ. Leaders the ball is in your court!!

Shalom.