Matthew 18:18-20. “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
When you are facing crises in life, it may be God’s invitation to stop, turn your heart toward Him, and restore worship—simply enjoying His presence and listening to His Word. When you feel isolated or weary on your covenant journey, it may be time to recover the blessing of the church, where God has promised to dwell and work with power.
When the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, God did not first give them strategies to survive the desert. Instead, He commanded them to bring offerings for the construction of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:1–7), saying, “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8).
God’s priority was His presence. Once His presence was restored at the center, the wilderness could no longer define their lives. The same is true for us. When the reality of God’s presence is restored, the place no longer matters. Even in the wilderness, you rise above circumstances and begin to discover the hidden blessings God has prepared. That is the power of worship.
The same pattern appeared during Israel’s captivity. Through the prophet Haggai, God called His people to rebuild His house (Haggai 1:1–11), and with that command came an astounding promise: “I will once more shake the heavens and the earth… I will fill this house with glory… The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house… And in this place I will grant peace” (Haggai 2:6–9). Restoration of God’s house always leads to restoration of peace, direction, and glory, regardless of outward conditions.
Nothing is more urgent than restoring the covenant in your life. No matter where you are or what you are facing, return to the gospel—your true home. In the gospel, you find freedom from fear, clarity in confusion, and peace that the world cannot give. When Christ came, He promised that His church would be unstoppable, declaring that the gates of hell would not overcome it (Matthew 16:18). Before He ascended, He entrusted this church with the mission to reach all nations (Matthew 28:16–20).
When believers lose sight of the blessing of Christ’s church, they drift into religion and idolatry. The result is an age filled with darkness, spiritual disease, and repeated calamities. But the church God desires exists to set people free from their fundamental spiritual problems by the power of the gospel. This is not one mission among many; it is the only mission God has given His church.
What, then, is the church? Scripture says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells among you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). You are the church. You have been set apart for God’s work, prepared long before you were born. The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, lives in you and will be with you forever, empowering you to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth. Wherever you go, the church goes with you, because the Spirit of God goes with you.
When even two or three gather in the name of Jesus, He Himself is present among them (Matthew 18:20). In that moment, the church is established, and when that church prays in His name, the throne of the Triune God moves. Find someone who understands this mystery, and you will witness the living church of God being built—a church against which the power of hell cannot prevail.
Scripture gives us a clear picture of the kind of church God delights in: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). When the church holds firmly to the Word, lives in genuine fellowship, continually remembers and experiences the power of Christ’s death and resurrection, and devotes itself to prayer, God works in ways that transform lives and communities.
Pray for your church to be equipped by the power of the gospel—to heal those suffering from spiritual wounds, to break curses that run through family lines, and to block the disasters that afflict nations and the world. Remember that we are the church. Each of us is connected to Christ, the source of life. Let us live with that life, proclaim that life, and even stake our lives for the sake of the gospel so that others may be saved.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, God will call people out of darkness and bring them into His kingdom of light. Never forget that God’s power does not depend on numbers but on His covenant. As He promised, “The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the Lord; in its time, I will do this swiftly” (Isaiah 60:22).
Prayer. Father, establish Your church wherever I go today. Let Your presence dwell with me, and may the glory of Your church be revealed through my life to the ends of the earth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.