The story of the angel visiting Mary in Luke 1, captures the awe-inspiring moment when Mary is told she will bear the Son of God. The angel’s words remind us that God’s plans often surpass human understanding, and His power works in ways we cannot comprehend! …
When Elisha was faced with opposition, he prayed for his servant who was fearful of the opposition built up against them. Elisha prayed, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” This is a beautiful prayer to pray for ourselves and others when faced with opposition. Elisha wasn’t concerned because he saw in the spirit realm. …
When our focus is people’s perception of us rather than our genuine relationship with the Lord, we are in danger of playing religion. …
How do we know if our relationship with the Lord is becoming religious!? There are some indicators that we can use to assess our relationship with the Lord.
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We need to examine our relationship with the Lord from time to time to ensure we are not becoming religious.
This is the continuation of the ways that we can become religious.
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Galatians 3:1-4
Jesus has set us free and one of those freedoms is not to do things because we fear man but because we desire to please God and be led by Him! When we fear what people think of us or our family we become religious. Our focus shifts to how to avoid other people’s displeasure or judgment. This can be an indication that we are losing our intimacy with the Lord and that we don’t have the convictions we used to have. We rely on others to correct us rather than letting the Holy Spirit nudge us in the right direction when we need it.
This makes our children to live up to others’s expectations as well, and it causes confusion about how this is a relationship rather than a religion.
We need to have the courage to measure everything according to the word of God and not live in fear of others’ judgement.
We learn and grow in honoring Godly people and Godly leaders, but somewhere along the line, we find that some of these people take a prominent role in our spiritual life. Christians can quote these individuals better than quoting a scripture.
We may tell others about a personal relationship with Jesus but ours has diminished to a personal relationship with a person. Christian leaders should never take the place of the voice of the Lord or the word of God. While we learn about the Lord from others we should know the Lord personally and have our own revelation of Him. People’s voice in our lives should be only a confirmation to what the Lord has already spoken to us.
There is a danger in our relationship with the Lord, if we are constantly seeking people for the “Word of the Lord.”
A denomination is man’s method of defining the mission and the vision of the church and putting boundaries around the beliefs of the organization.
A denomination is a small subset of the Kingdom of God. Jesus will come back for His bride, which is the body of Christ, not for a denomination. If we are too proud of our denomination or organization, it will isolate us from others thinking that we are right and others are wrong. It will also cause us to miss out on some things that we could be learning from other believers. Furthermore, it can affect the unity of the body of Christ.
We should always be discerning of teachings and beliefs that people share with us and measure it against the Word of God, but this does not mean that we should isolate ourselves from other believers who are not part of our denomination.
Many of us celebrate Jesus’s birth during Christmas, but we don’t focus much on his miraculous birth! Jesus is the only one whose birth came through a virgin. The virgin birth is the great differentiator between religions, and its significance cannot be underestimated! …
Sometimes we confuse being attached to someone with being committed to them. Jesus walked with His disciples for 3 1/2 years. He was committed to them from day one, but He didn’t allow ungodly attachments in His relationships. His relationship with His disciples changed over time. The truth is that commitment looks different in different seasons and so should the attachments.
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While many see the temple of God as a building, the New Testament tells us about God’s everlasting temple! …
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples for forty days before he was taken up to heaven. The charge He left with the disciples changed them and changed the world! …
Philip courageously approached an Ethiopian official’s chariot and asked the Eunuch if he understood what he read in the book of Isaiah. Many read the Bible but they do not have a clear or correct understanding of the Bible. Will we have the courage to ask people if they understand what they are reading!?
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