LET US JUST STOP ALL THIS RELIGIOUS NONSENSE AND BICKERING

I write the following for it has been on my heart now for a while.

In fact, I have meant to write about this for a very long time, but it seems the opportunity always slipped away. Such time is upon us …

I am talking about religiosity, or in other words, being caught up in religion that we miss the entire point that is all about following Jesus in Spirit and Truth. You see, I am exhausted with ‘believers’ being caught up in this religious game.

Let me give you an example. Of late, there is an article that question if we should say Amen at the end of the prayer. The “research” goes that Jesus never told us to say Amen and that in fact, Amen is derived from some or other Egyptian god! Really? You want to tell me every time I say Amen then I am worshipping an Egyptian god? Get real. The article also arguments for different forms of Amen, therefore the correct version according to the Hebrew/Aramaic. In fact, I find such religious nonsense offensive. Yet, this is the type of stuff that “believers” are wasting their time on and it is religion, nothing more. It is not relationship or something that has to do with our spiritual walk of faith.

And how about this constant argument if we should say Jesus or Yeshua (and by the way, there are many arguments how we should say or write the name of Jesus in Hebrew). You see, I have a living and real faith with my Lord, so it does not matter if I say Jesus or Yeshua or whatever other form of Yeshua. And trust me, I have done deliverance, and demons tremble when you say Jesus or Yeshua, because it is not about the pronunciation or the dialect, but YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR LORD. We walk in authority when we submit to our Lord Jesus or Yeshua whatever you prefer. It doesn’t matter.

What DOES matter is if you walk in a religious spirit. So funny enough, when you want to tell that demon to go and you are still stuck in religion (wondering what the correct name of Jesus is) then the devil will probably not flee! Why, because religion kills relationships and therefore authority for we walk in tradition and legalism. The demons knew of Jesus, naturally, and Paul. Jesus we can of course understand being God Himself, yet they also knew Paul because on the road to Damascus Paul was finally delivered from religion and tradition. When Paul was struck blind he was in fact blinded to his religiosity, and when his eyes opened he could then “see” and discern the Kingdom that comes by KNOWING THE LORD INTIMATELY! The Spirit gives life yet the letter kills, meaning our legalisms and traditions quenches the fire of the Spirit.

How about the arguments regarding versions of the Scriptures? You know, those people who will tell you to read the King James only, or maybe you should rather stick to the Amplified or the NIV? Or maybe according to some they are all evil and corrupt and we should stick to the Hebrew Bible! Come on. Whatever you read, it should be guided first and foremost by the Holy Spirit. So again, funny enough, if we read the Scriptures out of the eyes of religion we will in fact get stuck and confused and paranoid because religion quenches the flow of the Spirit! What will lead you astray is not the version of the Scriptures but your own religious mind-set!

And then you have the wonderful arguments over Sabbath, which has split churches right down the middle. You know, some call for a Sabbath on a Saturday, some on a Sunday and some just ignore it. In fact, none of us actually uphold the Sabbath as we should according to the Scriptures, even if you want to celebrate it on Saturday or Sunday. Here is another important news flash: Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, so if you follow Him (not religion) you are following and upholding the Sabbath! While we are so concerned about a “rest day”, we forget Jesus lifted the Law of Moses to a much higher spiritual standard. What we should be seeking now is the rest in the Lord (ceasing from own effort and strive and plans and from the Self), instead of being caught up with religious nonsense.

I hope you notice a trend here? Religiosity deals with the tangible, the natural, and the physical, not the spiritual. The Law has been fulfilled in Jesus in Spirit and Truth. What causes a divide among believers is really religiosity. Naturally, what should NOT divide is the Kingdom of God, His Truth, His Way and His Commandments.

You see what I am getting at? Those who want to do things so “right” and so “proper” religiously are actually the ones who struggle to flow in the proper order of the Holy Spirit for ultimately it is religion that dictates their mind-set and their spiritual walk and not relationship. And again, authority comes by relationship with God, and such relationship is not defined by religion. By the way, religion is nothing more than man-made rules, regulations and traditions. It is filled with man’s ideas of doctrine and dogma. When we walk in religion, we walk according to a man-made system, and thus deception. It is man seeking after his own idea of god, instead of God search for man.

And then of course you get all the religious nonsense pertaining to prayer, such as if you must stand, or sit, clasp your hands or lift them up, or keep your eyes open or closed. Then we get to the church service – drums or no drums, ties or no ties, hats or no hats, to clap or not to clap? So the list goes on … All religion! Not relationship, just man-made rules and regulations that actually kills relationship!

Here is a HOT tip: DO AS THE LORD TELLS YOU TO DO! IF YOU OBEY AS THE LORD COMMANDS, IT WILL THEN NEVER BE RELIGION OR TRADITION!

And I love it these days when the “religious” folk are trying their best to prove that we are not called to speak in tongues, or to be slain in the Spirit or that you cannot dance or sing or laugh in the Spirit. News flash. You have therefore not yet met the Spirit, or never moved in the Spirit or have even known or submitted to the Spirit. Again, religion, tradition and legalism kills our relationship with God, making us paranoid and it destroys spiritual vision, insight and understanding.

There is life in relationship, yet death in legalism, tradition and man-made instructions. Jesus came not to establish a religion, but to show the true way to life. Yet mankind decided to create a religion called Christianity where man has made the rules, determined the truths and governed the people via hierarchical systems of leadership.

It is a sad system of spiritual abuse and neglect that has caused the religion to disempower people, to demilitarize the masses and cause spiritual death to creep in. Think about this: God empowers, religion disempowers. God enthrones, religion dethrones.

God wants us all to have a pure relationship with Him by following Him in Spirit and Truth. There is a difference between those who follow Jesus by being led by the Spirit and those who simply believe in His divinity. One is the true believer who worships in Spirit and Truth, the other ends up following a religion designed to worship Jesus.

Jesus came face to face with the religious spirit in the form of the Sadducees and the Pharisees. They were blind to the Truth that stood before them, their hearts were calloused and their ears stopped. Such is the work of the religious spirit. It blinds us. It stops up our ears. It leads us down the path of the flesh and the world. It sets no one free, but captivates. It liberates us not, but enslaves us. Religion speaks of legalism, and legalism speaks of human nature and enslaving traditions. Religion actually shuts the gates of heaven!

Remember the woes of Jesus (Matthew 23)? His extreme sorrow and deep anguish is revealed to us as He addresses the religious scribes and Pharisees. These scribes and Pharisees are types of modern-day carnal religious people that possess a religious spirit. Many people fail to recognize that the Word of God exposes the wolves (Acts 20:29, 30), the dogs (Philippians 3:2), the deceitful workers (2 Corinthians 11:13) and, in the Gospel according to Matthew, the religious spirits. The woes themselves give us clear insight into the major characteristics of the religious spirit.

The woes teach us that religious spirits…

• Shut up the Kingdom of heaven.

• Raise false sons.

• Are blind guides and fools.

• Are legalistic hypocrites.

• Are full of extortion and excess.

• Possess a murdering spirit.

You see, we are called to walk in relationship, and if we do so, then all this nonsense of what to call our Lord or what version of the Scriptures to read will cease. Jesus is the Way, Truth and Life; those who know Him will know His voice; He is the only Shepherd and He is the only way to the Father.

Oh glorious Jesus, you are all and everything, for all has been made for you, unto you, through you, in you and all is upheld by thee! God does not call us to build on any other foundation but on the only foundation of Jesus. When the people are led back to the throne room of the Lord, there will be praise, there will be worship, there will be a humble heart and a contrite spirit, there will be truth and there will be victory!

And by the way, I love point four … legalistic hypocrites. We need to sop being so religious, so hypocritical, and so narrow-minded as we choke on tradition. Instead, just follow Jesus in a real, true and meaningful relationship!

So please, let us stop all this religious nonsense!

Can I hear an AMEN!