God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)
God only accepts us when we come before Him in spirit. This is why Jesus said that we “must worship him in spirit and in truth”.
But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)
Religion is based on man’s attitudes and not the Word of God. It will always emphasize the external. The extent of this truth became reality to me several years ago while attending a school for local pastors with a major denomination in the United States. We were in session with the District Superintendent from my District and the subject was sermon preparation. He actually provided recommendations for reducing a sermon to less than ten minutes to get the “meaningless” part of our services out of the way!
Religion focuses on our efforts. It does not emphasize an approach to God based on who we are in Christ as the Word of God does. Man’s traditions are always focused on external works and actions. True Christianity is focused on what God has done for us and not on what we do for Him.
Most churches are focused on checking the right boxes. Many are so focused on the external that the following little poem would apply to their Sunday servics:
“Mary had a little lamb that would have become a sheep. It joined the local church instead and died from lack of sleep!”
It is possible to become so busy doing something for God that we do not have time for Him! One minister I listen to calls this being “human doings”.
Christianity is about who we are in Christ Jesus. When a person is born again they become a brand new Christian. They are sealed into Jesus by the Holy Spirit and they are made righteous.
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Ephesians 4:24)
People look in the mirror to determine their level of righteousness. Our physical and appearance and emotions will never provide a reliable indication of our spiritual condition.
We can only access our spirit and all that God has blessed us with through the Word of God. People often talk about feeling God’s presence but it is not possible to “feel” the Spirit moving. The only way to accurately discern the Spirit’s presence is through the Word of God!
The average Christian thinks that they were forgiven of all of their pasts sins when they accepted Christ and were born again but not of all their future sins.
- “I didn’t study the Word enough.”
- “I am not praying as much as God would like.”
- “I did not walk in love with my spouse today.”
- “I did not think about other people more than myself today!”
If we are not careful we will develop a sin consciousness that is more focused on our failures than Jesus’ victory! We will stumble and we will sin but will be just as righteous when we do as we are right now!
God’s love for us does not fluctuate based on our level of commitment to Him. He does not love us less if we sin than He does when we are doing everything right.
Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. (Mark 7:13)
Many Christians are being held in captivity to religious tradition and will never experience His power until this is broken in their lives.
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. Thank you for stopping by today. If this post has been a blessing please share our blog with your friends and family. (Isaiah 59:1-2)
Isaiah penned these words long before Jesus went to the cross but sadly many Christians have had them ingrained by well meaning ministers. As a result it seems that the majority of Christians believe that God is not able to fellowship with them because of the mistakes and sins they commit.
“God is not going to bless me because of my addictions.”
In my experience it seems that one of the most common traditions taught is that we have to get everything in order for God to move in our lives. It is not what the Word of God teaches. Over the next several posts I am going to share some Scriptures with you that will challenge these traditions and that I believe will shed light for us to walk into the freedom He has provided.
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