Be a blessing
He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Matthew 12:30
You don’t have to have the title of Missionary to gather people into the kingdom of heaven. You can do it wherever you are. You can talk about the love of Jesus every where you go. Whether at work, school or in your own town and neighborhood, you can share the good news of salvation wherever you are.
The same is true about confusion. You can be the kind of person who plants seed of joy, peace and rest, or you can be the type that sows the bad news with gossip, strife and chaos. You can even be someone who thinks they are sharing the message, but with a heart of condemnation and pride, just to be the one with the last word. You don’t really care about people; you just want others to know that you are smarter because you know the way to salvation.
Jesus talks about these two types of people in today’s reading, in fact, He was actually talking to these two types. There were some that had come to Him for help and healing, but the Pharisees were there too. They were there because they wanted to discredit Jesus and tell the crowd that He was using the power of the ruler of the demons. They wanted to be the ones that were drawing the crowds that Jesus did, so they constantly tried to make Him look bad.
Jesus’ response? He said before you can be effective in the kingdom of darkness, you have to first bind up the one that is causing the trouble (the devil). Then He tells the crowd, including the Pharisees, “if you are not with Me, you are against Me and if you are not gathering others in, you are scattering them abroad.
This is an extreme accusation and worth considering even today. Am I with Him, helping to plant the seeds of His goodness, grace and mercy? Or am I just expressing my frustrations at other people’s lack of competency? I find myself falling into the pit of criticizing and complaining about others whom I don’t understand. Instead, my reaction should be one of love and compassion for those who may not know how much God loves them.
Today I want to encourage you to be patient with those in your life. When frustrations with others come, and they will, make the decision now to love them and bless them with the God kind of love. Pray for others to know the great gift of salvation that Jesus died to give us, and be the one who bring peace and unity into every situation.
Today’s scripture reading: Matthew 12:22-30
22 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.
23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”
25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.
28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29 Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.
The Daily Dose 