“You Must Love The Lord Your God With All Your Heart, All Your Soul, All Your Strength, And All Your Mind.” Luke 10:27
Religiosity Makes For A Frozen Heart! Stiff-Ridged-Hard!
Religiosity made my heart stiff, ridged, self-righteous, judgemental, and it kept the Wholly out of my Holy. I was NOT Wholly-Holy God’s because everything I did was out of a tainted reverence, the reverence of works. My Christianity was all about surface appearance. Then Jesus freed me from the performance trap and I have fallen in love with HIM, Wholly-Holy! God melted my hard heart and now I am pliable clay in the Potter’s Hands and I am responsive to His touch as He shapes me throughout the all of my great God Adventures and leaves me wanting more of HIM.
Scribes and Pharisees: Why don’t Your disciples follow the traditions passed down to us? Why do they eat their bread with defiled hands? Jesus: Isaiah prophesied wisely about your religious pretensions when he wrote, These people honor Me with words off their lips; meanwhile their hearts are far from Me. Their worship is empty, void of true devotion. They teach a human commandment, memorized and practiced by rote. Mark 7:5-7 Isaiah 29:13
Religiosity Can’t Co-Exist In A Heart Filled With AWE!
The AWE I have of GOD now is not gained because of fear of not doing enough or not being able to do everything perfectly, but out of a deep respect, reverence and incredible wonderment of Who God Is and how excellently He Loves me. What I “do” now is out of the motive of WHOSE I belong to, Whose I am “being” for, of WHO I stand in AWE of!
For the word of the Eternal is perfect and true; His actions are always faithful and right. He loves virtue and equity; the Eternal’s love fills the whole earth. The unfathomable cosmos came into being at the word of the Eternal’s imagination, a solitary voice in endless darkness. The breath of His mouth whispered the sea of stars into existence. He gathers every drop of every ocean as in a jar, securing the ocean depths as His watery treasure. Let all people stand in awe of the Eternal; let every man, woman, and child live in wonder of Him. Psalm 33: 4-8 The Voice
“Happy The Soul That Has Been AWED By A View Of God’s Majesty.” Quote By ~ A.W. Pink
When Life Is All About Jesus, Then Life Is Good!
Life Is Good! It is all about Jesus now, my life, as I stand in AWE of HIM, as I stay in a vital-vertical relationship with HIM, led by His Holy Spirit, that lives in me, I am wholly-holy His. His perfect love has cast out all fear and replaced it with AWE of Him, a deep, reverent, wholly-holy love relationship! AWE-GOD! My Heart Is Wholly-Holy HIS!
We have experienced and we have entrusted our lives to the love of God in us. God is love. Anyone who lives faithfully in love also lives faithfully in God, and God lives in him. This love is fulfilled with us, so that on the day of judgment we have confidence based on our identification with Jesus in this world. Love will never invoke fear. Perfect love expels fear, particularly the fear of punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been completed through love. We love because He has first loved us. 1 John 4:16-20 The Voice
“We should be conscious of God’s love. It needs to be more than just a biblical fact for us, we need to experience it daily. During hard times and moments of insecurity, satan works overtime trying to convince us that God doesn’t love us—that if He did, either we wouldn’t be in this situation, or He would’ve delivered us by now. Even when it seems that absolutely nothing is happening in your life, He is working. Beloved, God has a good plan for you, and He’ll manifest it right on time.” Author Joyce Meyer
Selflessness Is An Obvious Trait Of A Servant Of God!
Religiosity living to “do” for God breeds a “churchianity” that is selfish and it does not produce a servant leader, a disciple of Christ, no, it yields a self-centeredness, a self-driven person who is only vested emotionally in themselves, and the direction of their motive is pointed at self-promotion.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:16-18 English Standard Version
“Believers today are realizing that if our hunger for intimacy is ever to be satisfied, we must have Him whose affectionate love is far better than “churchianity” or the best wine of earthly experiences and possessions. Like the maiden who cried, “Your love is more delightful than wine,” believers are coming to the point where they realize that money and material things are never going to supply the needs of our spirits.” Author ~ Mike Bickle
Religiosity Is Emotionally Vested, NOT Kingdom Vested! It is easy to be tricked into being vested emotionally with someone else instead of God, pleasing a person whose main objective is to drain you of what you have and take it to advance their reputation. This is what happened to me, someone played into my human deficiency of not being good enough and deceitfully flipped my salvation to one of works, using guilt and shame to make me feel like I was never going to do enough to be good enough. I worked harder and harder for them and they used my works for their advantage, not for the building of the Kingdom of God, but for the erection of their own personal, dysfunctional authority. This is the worst kind of religiosity, because it stomps on the investment Jesus made for us. Jesus gave His life for us, dying for our sins, making us “good enough”, once and for all!
So we stand firm in the conviction that death holds no power over God’s Anointed, because He was resurrected from the dead never to face death again. 10 When He died, He died to whatever power sin had, once and for all, and now He lives completely to God. 11 So here is how to picture yourself now that you have been initiated into Jesus the Anointed: you are dead to sin’s power and influence, but you are alive to God’s rule. Romans 6:9-11 The Voice
Because I’ve grieved and tasted bitter loss, because I’ve stumbled carrying my cross, because I’ve learned of Christ’s sufficiency, I’ll show His grace to others just like me. Quote By: Gustafon
Jesus’ Grace Stomps Out Religiosity! It Is Powerfully Able!
Jesus shared the ALL of God’s grace with us that completely covered all our lack! God is invested in us, for our good. Therefore, the wisest choice between serving God in a wholly-holy relationship or serving man through religiosity, is GOD! It is a good day when we dethrone self and rote human doings and a better and best day when we enthrone God and become wholly-holy His!
If you find any comfort from being in the Anointed, if His love brings you some encouragement, if you experience true companionship with the Spirit, if His tenderness and mercy fill your heart; then, brothers and sisters, here is one thing that would complete my joy—come together as one in mind and spirit and purpose, sharing in the same love. Don’t let selfishness and prideful agendas take over. Embrace true humility, and lift your heads to extend love to others. Get beyond yourselves and protecting your own interests; be sincere, and secure your neighbors’ interests first. In other words, adopt the mind-set of Jesus the Anointed. Live with His attitude in your hearts. Remember: Though He was in the form of God, He chose not to cling to equality with God; But He poured Himself out to fill a vessel brand new; a servant in form and a man indeed. The very likeness of humanity, He humbled Himself, obedient to death— a merciless death on the cross! So God raised Him up to the highest place and gave Him the name above all. So when His name is called, every knee will bow, in heaven, on earth, and below. And every tongue will confess “Jesus, the Anointed One, is Lord,” to the glory of God our Father! Philippians 2 The Voice
“Rote? Is Your Religion A Rote Habit Without Internal Connection With A Living God? Are you living out of a mechanical or habitual repetition of something to be learned, often without full attention or comprehension to what you are growing through? Just doing it rotely, not being heart genuine?!” KimberlyMac
Religiosity Is Transformed Into Glorious Ruins By GOD!
The reason we can be wholly-holy God’s is because we know our GOD is able to take the ruins of our human condition that has been touched by the consequences of our sin of religiosity and change us, gloriously so! God can transform the characteristics of our human nature that has been influenced by a fallen human condition. Our AWE-God can take our finite religious ruins, and HE CAN make them into Infinitely God-Glorious ruins. Today, we can shake off religiosity and be wholly-holy renewed in our soul by our AWE-GOD! We can BE found in Him.
“Your Life Can Be What You Think Of As “Ruined” By The Choices You Have Made, BUT GOD Can Transform Ruins, There Is No One Outside Of His Reach. There Is No Mess That He Can’t Make Into A Glorious Message For The Glory Of His Kingdom.” KimberlyMac
Back to Saul—this fuming, raging, hateful man who wanted to kill every last one of the Lord’s disciples: he went to the high priest in Jerusalem for authorization to purge all the synagogues in Damascus of followers of the way of Jesus. His plan was to arrest and chain any of Jesus’ followers—women as well as men—and transport them back to Jerusalem. He traveled north toward Damascus with a group of companions. Imagine this: Suddenly a light flashes from the sky around Saul, 4 and he falls to the ground at the sound of a voice. The Lord: Saul, Saul, why are you attacking Me? Saul: Lord, who are You? Then he hears these words: The Lord: I am Jesus. I am the One you are attacking. Get up. Enter the city. You will learn there what you are to do. These are shocking, unexpected words that will change his life forever. His other traveling companions just stand there, paralyzed, speechless because they, too, heard the voice; but there is nobody in sight. Saul rises to his feet, his eyes wide open, but he can’t see a thing. So his companions lead their blind friend by the hand and take him into Damascus. He waits for three days—completely blind—and does not eat a bite or drink a drop of anything. Meanwhile, in Damascus a disciple named Ananias had a vision in which the Lord Jesus spoke to him. The Lord: Ananias. Ananias: Here I am, Lord. The Lord: 11 Get up and go to Straight Boulevard. Go to the house of Judas, and inquire about a man from Tarsus, Saul by name. He is praying to Me at this very instant. 12 He has had a vision—a vision of a man by your name who will come, lay hands on him, and heal his eyesight. Ananias: 13 Lord, I know whom You’re talking about. I’ve heard rumors about this fellow. He’s an evil man and has caused great harm for Your special people in Jerusalem. 14 I’ve heard that he has been authorized by the religious authorities to come here and chain everyone who associates with Your name. The Lord: 15 Yes, but you must go! I have chosen him to be My instrument to bring My name far and wide—to outsiders, to kings, and to the people of Israel as well. 16 I have much to show him, including how much he must suffer for My name. 17 So Ananias went and entered the house where Saul was staying. He laid his hands on Saul and called to him. Ananias: Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, sent me so you can regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. 18 At that instant, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see. So he got up, received the ceremonial washing of baptism[b] identifying him as a disciple, 19 ate some food (remember, he had not eaten for three days), and regained his strength. He spent a lot of time with the disciples in Damascus over the next several days. 20 Then he went into the very synagogues he had intended to purge, proclaiming,
Saul: Jesus is God’s Son!
Acts 9 The Voice
You never know what meal topic you might find on this Smorgasbord Table in The Bridegroom’s Café. Jesus likes to talk about so many things and it is great to sit and listen to Him. In fact your life can be an adventure that leads you to many different journeys in your constant conversation with God. To Dig Deeper check out these posts also: Shed Self-righteousness; Pride-Less; Exchanged. Enjoy. Please also share this post with all of your social media by using the buttons below and leave a comment, it is always good to add your wisdom to bless and encourage others. God bless you MUCH! KimberlyMac