“Our greatest fear should not be failing, but rather succeeding at things that don’t really matter…”

– Francis Chan

I think we can all relate to the struggle we face dividing our time and not letting our schedule dictate our lives.  I am convinced the easiest and simplest tactic of darkness is to simply distract us with being busy so we do not invest in what brings us life and glorifies our Father in heaven.  There are thousands of great ideas, but we hunger for God ideas.  If the enemy keeps us scheduled to the hilt then we will pursue some good ideas but miss what brings us, and the world around us, life.

One stark truth the bible reveals (2 Corinthians 4:4) is that Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers.  The term unbeliever naturally leads you to think about the lost.  The lost are certainly unbelievers.  I also see many Christians that are unbelievers to some extent.  In 1 Peter 5:8 we learn that Satan prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.  The enemy is trying to imitate the Lion of Judah and when we believe that God is against us, or trying to devour us, then we have a real problem of unbelief.  For over and over the goodness of God is revealed in scripture.  Romans 12:2 tells us God’s will is good, perfect, and pleasing.  There is no devouring people in that, yet people still wrongly hold beliefs about God that are false and end up leaving them in bondage and fear.  Unbelief will kill you.  Remember the man in Mark 9 who told Jesus, “I do believe, but help my unbelief?”

Help us Lord with any unbelief in our hearts.  What is your part or “how?” is a natural question that should come to mind.  What is our part and how do we respond in a right way?  In Matthew 16 Jesus warned the disciples to guard themselves against the yeast of the Pharisees.  The yeast of the Pharisees is their teaching.  It is lifeless and worse it renders, like yeast, the whole batch lifeless.  I define the term “religion” as taking the Spirit out of God’s truth and leaving only a lifeless shell.  Outward appearance looks fine but produces no life, no love, no fruit.  There is an air of pride at how good we are.  There is a void of freedom, and of love, which is a void of God’s presence.  Religion is acts void of God trying to reach out to God.  Confused and lifeless, people either decide to leave and go about their life or grind it out in the name of faithfulness.  You have seen them, or maybe you’re one of them, they do the same thing for ten, twenty, or thirty years and scowl at anyone who suggests a change because they are faithful!  It is really very, very, sad.

Religion takes a hold of God’s truth and twists it just enough that it actually brings death.  The Pharisees had the very same ancient manuscripts that Jesus had.  Jesus stands to read from the Prophet Isaiah (Luke 4) and they are amazed at the power and authority they witness in Jesus.  He didn’t read anything they hadn’t heard before.  He read it without mixing it with the same yeast that affects the whole batch of dough.  I think of it this way.  It is like sitting down to a Thanksgiving dinner and putting Novocain on the mashed potatoes.  In no time, you can’t taste anything.  This is a dangerous place to be, for an enemy can dish up a spoonful of anything.  Numb and unable to taste the difference people just eat up.

The charge to us is to guard against the twisted teaching of religion.  The enemy wants to deceive well-meaning saints into mixing just a little yeast, religion, or Novocain in to the teaching of God’s word.

We have to be able to tell the truth to each other or we might as well quit.  There won’t be any sense trying to tell the world we’re speaking the truth when they can clearly see we won’t tell ourselves the truth.

The question that should be burning in your heart and mind right now is “If religion uses the same scripture Jesus did then what is the difference?  How can I not fall into the same trap?”  That is a question with a very simple answer.  Jesus was motivated by LOVE.  God is Love (1 John 4:8).

The moment the enemy entices us to act for any other reason than love then we have fertile soil for a spirit of religion to grow.  The outside appearance becomes the focus, wrongly thinking this has any effect on our heart.  Religion then is off and running.  Isolation and going through the motions while wearing a smile are the results.  I see it all of the time and I have worn the mask more than most.  Thank God Jesus is setting us free from a spirit of religion.

Jesus was not about isolating himself from society or from the synagogue.  In fact, he embraced both and they were changed by His Love.  God’s motive is love because God is love.  Jesus became the greatest act of love in the history of the world.  He said, “Do this” meaning sit down and revel, remember, celebrate, my love for you that sets you free and makes you a child of God, for Jesus became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God!  Friends, it is time to sit down and commune.  It is time to remember what He has done and relationally worship Him.  A time to grow together as His body.

We must love each other before we can love the world.  We must love and let God, who is love, live through us as we choose life and blessings.

The ultimate problem is the way we in the church define ourselves. We can listen to the world and the god of this world, the devil, or we can listen to Almighty God, the Living Word, and His holy scriptures.  He is love and His church is the ecclesia—His called-out ones, His government on the earth.  Called out to love and bring life to a hurting, dying world.  Not called out to be another religious institution that does good works but rings hollow lacking in love.

Mark this day by speaking blessings over those in your life according to His love.  This is simple; when you think of a blessing for someone then act.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  Complete this and your life may be busy but it will be full of life.  It is food for your soul when you do what He says.  Well done!