Matthew 12 is a Chapter in the Bible that is replete with confrontations of Jesus with the Pharisees and their religious traditions. The Pharisees were upset that the disciples of Jesus were plucking grain from the grain fields and eating them on the Sabbath because of their hunger. The Pharisees were even more incensed when Jesus healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. And then, Jesus healed a demon possessed man on the Sabbath and the Pharisees went crazy. They insisted that Jesus cast out demons by Beelzebub who is the ruler of demons.

Now, you might think that this is just an old biblical encounter with religious fanatics but you would be wrong. These encounters deal with us today. They provide us a picture of the struggle between the world (which includes the religious world) and the Kingdom of God. They provide us a picture of the struggle between works and grace and between sacrifice and mercy.

This principle does not just apply to religious matters. It applies to a lot of other matters like marriages, businesses (partnerships), and governments. My wife and I have been married for 52 years and we have found that unity equals power. When we agree about something, no devil in hell can successfully come against that. It is the same for businesses and governments.

What we need to all do is take a strong look at what is going on around us today. What is the state of our marriages? What is the state of our businesses? What is the state of our government?

The entire principle Jesus was trying to show us was it should always be about the needs of the people. When we get our eyes off the people and concentrate solely on what we want, then we miss the mark. When we concentrate on works rather than mercy and grace, we miss the mark. When we start calling people names and judging people (like when they said Jesus was of the devil), we miss the mark.

Hate, anger, and division is not from God. It is the thief (the devil) that comes to kill, steal and destroy and one of his chief tactics is to divide and conquer. If he can get us fighting each other then we will destroy ourselves because a house divided cannot stand.

Where are you in this fight? Are you looking for unity or are you looking for a fight?

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