A Threat to Our Intimacy with Abba

So many things change over time but as you look at the Word of God and even look at history there are certain truths or themes that emerge consistently.  Religion is one of those themes, many believe Christianity is a religion but the more you know the truth of the New Covenant "in Christ" you realize it is a relationship.  The root Latin word in religion 'religio' means to bind.  As I have meditated on John 1 the Lord has whispered in my ear to see how the Pharisees first responded to Jesus Christ when he began to be known (mainly through John the Baptist).  The Pharisees (not bad people but who represent the spirit of religion that Jesus would warn against) sent messengers out to examine what was going on with John the Baptist and Jesus.  Why is this a problem?  If they were a people that were truly connected to God would the Holy Spirit not bring revelation of the coming Messiah, yet the Spirit did alert others like Mary, Elizabeth (John the Baptist's mother), Joseph, John the Baptist himself, and many others.  Why would God leave out a group of people who represented Him on the earth at the time?  What the Lord began to reveal to me about religion is that religion is content to examine God from a distance but unwilling to make the necessary sacrafices to enter into a real relationship.  The Word tells us "His ways are not our ways", God requires that we enter into relationship with Him through repentence.  Repentence means not only a change of one's thinking but also the trust to actually go a different way based on this new thinking.  This is evidenced by John the Baptists message of repentance and water baptism, this would definitely be a departure from the traditional way a Pharisee would advise the people.  John the Baptist was not a Pharisee but one sent by God Himself to "prepare the way of the Lord".  Sometimes we turn people in the Bible into superheros and forget their humanity, John the Baptist was no superhero.  He was simply a man that was chosen by God to hear His voice, probably much the same way we hear Him today.  I will grant that his (John's) mother being visited by angel was beyond our normal Chrisitan experience.  My point in this is to help us see that the spirit of religion is still at work today, leading us to embrace a formless gospel that does not include intimate connection with a knowable God and also does not require repentence (change of mind and direction) resulting in life transformation.  I believe that God has called me to love the Body of Christ and lay down my life for her.  Yet I am concerned that so many in the Body of Christ have embraced a gospel of religion with a real intimate connection with Abba.  Religion is content to know about God but not to enter into personal revelation (greek word Rhema), thus there are many in the Body of Christ who don't know the Lord's voice.  There are even many who believe God does not speak today, He only speaks through the Bible.  This is a very damaging theology, since the invitation of the New Covenant is to experience Oneness and Communion.  How do I experience this Communion and Oneness when I cannot hear God's voice and have little understanding of the Holy Spirit's ways.  Who wrote the Bible?  You may list off authors but isn't the truth that the Holy Spirit is the author of the Bible.  The religious spirit makes it easier to listen sermons to know about God than to reveal to God the broken parts of my life allowing Him into the inner areas of my heart.  The religious spirit also makes it easy to sit in a Bible study discussing in-depth understanding of the text but walk away without a touch from the God who penned the book I just studied.  I am not attacking people or any denomination, to do so would be prideful and judgmental.  I am challenging us to be alert for the religious spirit in our journey to know Abba and to know it's influence in the people around us.  It seems people who are under the influence of the religious spirit (this mindset) are often the last ones to embrace how God is moving in the midst of His people and many under this influence never do open themselves to God.  In Matthew 16:6 we are told, "And Jesus said to them, "Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  I have wrongly believed that Jesus attacked the Pharisees and Sadducees but really from this passage we can see He was more concerned about leaven (seen as form of corruption).  I know that I have definitely been influenced by the spirit of religion, where I accept reading the Bible, listening to a sermon, or even praying without being touched by God.  How do we know we have been touched by God?  As we see evidence in the Word of God, everyone touched by God was transformed.  Many would have an incredible 'Awe Ah' experience and some would become more hard hearted.  People do not get touched by God and still remain neutral.  I believe one of the keys to encountering God is the anointing of the Spirit, there is anointing when a person has received revelation and experienced transformation.  This is a favorite song for soaking in the presence and love of God, receiving His grace and having my eyes opened to see Him.  May you not be deceived by the religious spirit but hunger for true encounters with your Abba.

In Abba's Love,
Bret