This may be of a shock to you, but our Heavenly father truly hates religion.
What? How can this be? Isn't God all about religion?
Not really. Religion is what we can do to be approved by God. That's not how our
Father works. He is about relationship, not religion. He is the One who did
everything to be with us so that we can have a purpose in life, so that we can
be accepted by our Father, not for what we have done, but because of what He has
done for us.
Religion makes our "hands" "bloody", for not portraying the truth about our
Heavenly Father. Why would He care about our meaningless meetings and our
religious performance? He wants us to be genuine in our abundant love, not only
towards Him, but also towards everyone we encounter. Anything else is
superfluous: "My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love
comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship
with God." (1John 4:7, MSG)
Interestingly enough, those who are "religious" like to stress their doctrines
about sin. They are specialists in that area. Don't take me wrong, sin
separates us from our loving Father. Through Him, however, and thanks to Him, we
will become victorious over sin. Instead of focusing on the problem, we should
focus on the solution: our Heavenly Father Himself whose son willingly died on a
cross so we could experience victory on all fronts!
I am saddened when people email me about joining a church that claims to be
experts on sin, but they don't believe in the power of the Holy Spirit who God
sent us after the resurrection of Jesus Himself: "And these signs will accompany
those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new
tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly
poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick
people, and they will get well." (Mark 16:17-18, NIV2).
They believe that healings and driving out demons were only for first century
believers. We are beyond that now.
But wait a minute. Since when is God not God? Miracles happened in the Old
Testament as well as in the New Testament. Why would He stop now?
Sadly, some churches focus on rapture theology. They cannot wait for Jesus to
return and bring them to heaven. In the meantime, they bring people into their
church where they don't even believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus had
promised to us: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another
advocate to help you and be with you forever - the Spirit of truth. The world
cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him,
for he lives with you and will be in you." (John 14:16-17, NIV2)
How can they be from God if they "cannot accept the promise given to all of us"?
How can they attend church, if they don't "know him"? They are no better than
the Pharisees in the first century, who also didn't believe in the healings of
Jesus, proclaiming that He was sent from the devil Himself: "It is only by
Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow (Jesus) drives out demons."
(Matt 12:24, NIV2)
Did God approve of these Pharisees? Would He approve of a church in our day that
doesn't even believe in His power and love?
"I've had it with you! You're hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees!
Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God's kingdom. You refuse to enter, and
won't let anyone else in either." (Matt 23:13, MSG)
"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway
around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a
replica of yourselves, double-damned." (Matt 23:15, MSG)
"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You're like
manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down
it's all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at
you and think you're saints, but beneath the skin you're total frauds." (Matt
23:27-28, MSG)
Truly, God hates religion that leads nowhere. God is after relationship, genuine
love that encourages everyone in the church to be proactive, to reach the lost
with love, to heal the ones who have no hope, to free those who are in bondage.
We are encouraged to do as Jesus did: "Anyone who claims to be intimate with God
ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived." (1John 2:6, MSG), and His
mandate was: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to
proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the
prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to
proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19, NIV2)
We should be harvesters, bringing others to the realization that our Father
loves us so deeply that not only does He want to save us, but He also wants us
to be healthy and have a worthwhile purpose in life. After all, Jesus' focus in
prayer was that: "your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in
heaven." (Matt 6:10, NIV2). How can we be doing His will when we don't even
follow His mandate?
What good is a religion without power? How can the world believe solely in
bla-blas? Even politicians do that, but where does it lead us? A church that has
no power will leave us wanting, just as the promises from politicians.
The world is "on fire" right now, and we have a mandate to rescue the lost.
Think about it: What should we do when a house is on fire? Should we sit around
and conclude: "There is nothing to be done. This is the end"?
Maybe we can learn a thing or two from cats. One night a Connecticut cat woke
up startled. She sniffed fire in her home. She could have easily escaped from
this fire, but she remembered her owners. She ran into the room of her owners,
jump on dad's bed and used her paws to wake him up. Imagine being woken up that
way! Thanks to their cat, the whole family was saved from this raging furnace.
Why would anyone prefer to be a couch-potato when the fire has already started
all over the world? This is why we are urged by Jesus Himself: "Go into all the
world and preach the gospel to all creation." (Mark 16:15, NIV2), and that
gospel message includes Jesus' mandate to go in the power of His name and His
Spirit and bring people to Him with signs and wonders.
What will we do about this fire?
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
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