My Reason for my Musing.

The Gospel of God's Mercy and Grace is so rich and powerful, I desire that all God's people would come to know it and live it in its purity. If the truth of the Gospel of Grace gets into the heart of His people the religious world would be turned upside down from the side that is up now...meaning that it would be turned right-side-up. In the book of Acts it is stated by the religious zealots that; "those that have turned the world upside down have come here also". Why were these people concerned...because now their perceived religious correctiveness is about to  be turned upside down because of the message of Christ.

My intent is not to offend anyone who may read the content of my musings, it is simply to inform what the Spirit of The Lord has revealed in my heart to which I have yielded to.  Or at least I perceive it to be the Holy Spirit...you may deem it to be another kind of spirit.

When it is suggested that all is not well in the camp of religious orthodoxy causing our relationship with God to be somewhat less richer than Jesus died for it to be, it is easy for us to become defensive and fight tooth and nail against the thing that would turn the orthodox camp upside down. We don't like to deal with such things because it moves us out of our comfort zone where things are orderly and adgendaized, to the messiness of daily living in the down and dirtiness of people living their lives instead of being in the comfort of a weekend constructed and controlled meeting where at the end we return to our selfish living until the next meeting. In order to move from the christianized philosophized and compromised zone to being energized and empowered because of the power of His Gospel to turn the world upside down, we must rethink our accepted view of doing church.

I know that what I write comes across as radically unorthodox, especially if the reader is unfamiliar with this kind of perspective of Church as kingdom living in daily living instead of performance living for 2 hours on a weekend.

Let me be clear, my objective is for us to get our focus back on Jesus as the centrality of the gospel and not religion as it now is. I am in the process of waking up to many things that has blinded me to the reality of His Gospel and His plan for humanity. Some of this blindness is my own doing because of my not yielding to Holy Spirit teaching and promptings, due to my holding to the accepted doctrines and practices within the realm of the institutionalized church system of programs that were invented and ordered by men as being truth. 

God is shaking me and breaking me (and healing me). Some of it is painful but God's grace is sufficient and I cannot express the joy I have in knowing that He is walking through all of these things with me! God is setting me free from the blinders of religion and stirring a fresh desperation for Him like I have not known.

I really want to encourage you to not allow yourself to become content with merely practicing religion! I won't lie to you; pursuing intimate relationship and choosing to pursue truth is sometimes more difficult. It means you have to stop placing so much confidence in men and lay all your cares and insecurities before Jesus. It means you have to face the cross and allow the Spirit of God to have His way in your life rather than conforming to religious rules and regulations. As that transpires, sometimes what people view externally may not look quite as pleasant as the performance show people manifest on a Sunday morning church service. But God isn't looking for a religious show and He isn't offended by our flaws. He wants our heart, manifested with all sincerity before Him. There are many accounts in the New Testament of God accepting humble sinners because they didn't hide their sins but came honestly before the Lord with fear and trembling. These went away justified while those who stood pious and proud of their own righteousness were rejected by God. In fact, Jesus even boldly told the religious leaders of His day that many corrupt tax collectors and harlots would get into His kingdom before they would because they believed in Him and chose to follow Him despite their hangups and imperfections.

Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a dishonest tax collector. The proud Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: "I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that tax collector over there! For I never cheat, I don't sin, I don't commit adultery, I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income." But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, "O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner." I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For the proud will be humbled, but the humble will be honored (Luke 18:10-14).

"...I assure you, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. For John the Baptist came and showed you the way to life, and you didn't believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to turn from your sins and believe him" (Matthew 21:31-32).

And he said to his servants, "the wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren't worthy of the honor. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see." So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests (Matthew 22:8-10).

We must pursue TRUTH (Jesus) rather than religious approval.

Those who think that they have God figured out and He is as He is viewed through religious spectacles will have plenty to angrily say about the musings of people who are not afraid to be honest about things and still pursue The Lord. They will try to discredit us, mock us, point out our flaws, and mark us as rebels, dissenters, deceived and wounded souls, but it does not matter. Let them rant on. Through such sufferings God will even use these to keep us humble, walking in forgiveness and reliant upon Him. And as we keep our hearts tuned with His Spirit, He will faithfully fill our lives with Himself and He will supply a fresh understanding of our purpose in life with opportunities to live out that purpose as we walk in relationship with Him! 

So the next time you hear  religious person judge, criticize and condemn you for not agreeing with their religious philosophy, remember: God is interested in a heart that is sincerely submitted to Him regardless of your circumstances, the way other people might view you, or your imperfections. God is not offended by your lack of perfection. If you are His child then Christ's righteousness has been imputed to you and the Father sees only His righteousness. But the moment you try to conceal things with a religious facade, you are stepping outside the boundary of His will. We must remain humble and submitted to His instruction and the work of His Spirit in our lives. There is much about the cross that is not pleasant to endure, but the reward of intimate relationship with Jesus and the abundant life He gives far outweigh the pain of leaving behind the false religious system.

If you are in the religious system but the religious system is not in you...then work with God in the system and to allow the light of His Gospel to illuminate its darkness.

God bless.