HSD: Religious Spirit or Love for Christ?

Come here. Come take a walk with me.

I want us to consider the Pharisees and High Priests discussed throughout the New Testament. Remember that in terms of worshipping God, they were supposed to have set the standard. They knew the Scriptures; they upheld The Commandments, and they forced accountability upon the community of believers whenever and wherever they deemed the cause necessary. They should have been the most pleasing to God then, right? Wrong. These same religious leaders were so focused on following tradition, commandments, and their own interpretation and application of The Scriptures, that they completely missed the heart of it. So much so, that God was staring them right in the face, and they missed Him. Just could not see Him. And even worse, attempted to kill the same God they believed they were defending.

Now I want you all to consider who you become when you are in love, or when you love someone deeply. Do you have to be reminded to call him/her, or does your day somehow accommodate that natural desire to speak with him/her? Do you feel a natural inclination to be near to the object of your love? Do you talk to him/her about both trivial things and important things? Do you treat spending time with them as an obligation? Something to check off once it is done, or do you plan for it like it is the best part of your day? When they tell you what they like or what they do not like, do you have to constantly remind yourself careful not to violate their love language, or do you go beyond to make him/her feel cared for, appreciated…needed? Do people have to keep prying to get information out of you about this love, or are you eager to talk about them, steadily proclaiming this love and spreading the truth about your love to anyone willing to listen? Maybe you are different. Maybe you keep this love close to chest until you feel safe, but with those you love most, you share how you feel when the timing is right?

Is this how you feel about Jesus? Or are you more like the former—you treat your relationship with God as an obligation? Are you busy going to church in “followship” of what you believe is the right thing to do based on upbringing or peer involvement, or are you going to church in fellowship of your Love for Christ? Are you excited to get a moment alone with Him just to tell Him about your day? Little annoyances? Little encouragements? Do you meditate on His love letters to you as often as possible (the Word) to make sure you understand His Love Language and that you honor it? Are you going to Him when you are broken, strong, happy, discouraged, angry, confused, or are you speaking to Him on an emergency basis? Are you leaning on yourself, your friendship group, or your family for advice and reserving your conversations with God as a necessary formality when you have already determined what you are going to do about your situations with everyone else but Him? Do you routinely decide to “give it to Him” after you have given the circumstance to everyone else in unnecessary “venting sessions” and external validation pursuits? Are you compromising His likes and dislikes to hold on to selfish desires?

Are you in love with Christ? Do you deeply love Him? Or are you using your own strength to follow rules incognizant of the fact that your ability to please Him is in direct relation to how well you know Him…?

Are you operating under the Spirit of Religion or under the Love of Christ?

Are you a Pharisee or are you a Disciple?

The Holy Spirit has led me to distinguish a few concepts here. Matthew 7:21-23 KJV reads, “21 Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

This lesson is especially important because it speaks against lukewarmness, self-reliance, self-righteousness, and presumptuous following. James 2:29 KJV says, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” Both scriptures speak to the same issue: just because you are following tradition, this does not mean you are nourishing an intimate relationship with Christ. He weighs your heart, not your works. Are you in attendance at church every Sunday? Fantastic. How intentional are you about spending time with Him during the week? Are you resting in Him? Does your life work around your relationship with Him or do you fit Him in your schedule? Is He your life or is He a part of your life?

The Holy Spirit grieves in this fact: Today, there are way too many Christians and not enough devoted Disciples of Christ. Jesus is not only seeking your belief in Him. He is also assessing the application of your belief—the workings of your faith.

As someone who used to walk in lukewarmness, it is extremely dangerous. In fact, the enemy thrives off this state. The way the enemy figures it: if he can just get you to not be devoted, to keep one foot in and one foot out, to be deluded by your own compromising of the Word of God, to do the bare minimum without seeking a deeper, authentic and non-performative relationship with Christ, that’s more than enough to work with until Judgement Day. That is enough for The Lord to say, “Depart from me. I never knew you” on the day of His return. That is enough to get you stuck with the enemy for good.

Jesus is seeking true devotion. He does not want you to be so caught up “being a good person” by your own standards that you miss the bigger picture. The bigger picture here is that none of us are good people without knowing Him. Not one. The religious leaders who rejected Him will feel the true weight of their decision against discipleship and commitment to self-reliance on the day of The Lord’s Return.

In Jesus’ name, I pray you feel that weight sooner.

And remember, do everything with Love.

Holy Spirit, we thank you for your love, your guidance and your daily revelations. Please allow this word to reach those who need to hear it. We worship You, Father. In the Name of Jesus we pray. Amem