Religion vs. Relationship

Imagine having a loved one caught in addiction, and they are homeless. You convince your family member that this particular ministry can help them defeat their dependency on their drug of choice. They agree with you and begin the year residency program. On one of the visitations, your loved one tells you that they live at the mission as a service to God. In other words, they see themselves as a worker and not a resident. Do you think the program will work for someone who does not see themselves as needing recovery but instead see themselves as providing for the other residents?

The above issue is the whole religion versus relationship with Jesus. Repentance brings us to an understanding that we need God’s salvation into our lives. Religion deceives us into thinking service to God will bring salvation. Needing God is a humbling event that requires us to rely on God’s grace by faith. Performing for God is done out of arrogance because the thought is human works can make one holy. Satan shadows or mimics God in all things; that is why deception is prevalent. Anybody can tithe, feed the poor, visit the sick, be an encourager, or pastor a church. God specifically said you would know Mine by their love. Stop looking at performance and labeling it godly. Love invest in people not preen for their next selfie. Love has the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good, not make one up for a show. Love sacrifices so that others might see the glory of God in their lives. I think you get the point.
“They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error” 1 John 4:5-6.

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L. Kathleen Cline

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