In Matt. 28:19 Jesus instructs His disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…”
But that verse has been revised by modern religions today to mean…Go therefore and make Catholics of all the nations… Go therefore and make Baptists of all nations….Go therefore and make Pentecostals of all nations, etc. In so doing discipleship becomes servant to denominationalism….i.e., as was argued in the early church…whose disciple are you? I am of Peter….I am of Paul…I am a disciple of the Methodists, etc. So just when did the disciples get labeled other than with the label of “Christian?” Just which one of the now over 300 denominations did God establish? Can all of them be the true worshippers of the Christ? Which denomination does God endorse today? Which ‘religion’ today has the most God?
“Flee from these things (controversial questions and disputes about words and constant friction between men deprived of the truth) you man of God; and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness…take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…I Tim. 6:11-12.
Silly questions are one reason why I swapped out of traditional religion and sought a personal relationship with my heavenly Father. Many of the traditions of religion are a stumbling block to God’s heart. When you are in an intimate relationship with the God of the universe, with God dwelling in the temple of your heart, these questions are answered. They are moot and no longer worthy of argument. In the presence of the Lord, as He comes in and makes His abode within us, a new light is shined upon the things pertaining to this world. His light allows us to see with spiritual eyes. Even our ‘walk’ in this world becomes entirely different. The Holy spirit comes in and cleans out all that worldly crap. He creates in us a clean heart and a new, renewed mind that is reset upon the things of God…every pure and decent word, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is lovely…our minds will dwell on those things (Phil 4:8). The need for more of man’s self serving dogma disappears as the Holy Spirit replaces the natural with the spiritual. Church services are a poor substitute for intimate relationship, and often leaves many hungering and thirsting for a real presence of God.
A.W. Tozer wrote about this in his book, ‘The Pursuit of God”…about seeing God’s children starving
while sitting at the Father’s table. “For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself. There are many millions of people today who hold a knowledge of God, and ‘hold right opinions’ of His Word. Yet Tozer wondered if there was ever a time in history when true spiritual worship was at a lower ebb. In many churches the art of worship has been lost entirely, and in its place has come ‘the program’.” But programs carry with them no personal experience with God, and without intimate relationship, no true worship takes place….just the motions. “But in vain they do worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men” (Matt. 15:9). How do true disciples worship their Beloved…”for the hour NOW IS when true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshippers” (John 4:23). In the presence of God one learns how to worship in spirit and truth.
1 Peter 1:3-4 says, “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us…for by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them we might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” This scripture tells us that we already have everything we need right NOW to partake of His divine nature and live above the corruption of this world…i.e. to walk in the light of His Kingdom which is found in His presence. For in His presence is the power of the Holy Spirit, that enables us to rise above worldly lusts. It has already been granted to us! We already have it!!! Too many believers are mired in the mud of this world, our minds not ever being renewed to understand Kingdom principles….like what is it to be a true disciple of the Lord, to really worship the One who creates by a spoken word? We have become comfortable and complacent in our warm religious mud. Or, maybe we are just afraid of a real move of the Holy Spirit. It is amazing to realize how many of Jesus followers are afraid of His Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who makes the best disciples of Jesus Christ. Without a surrender and move of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, don’t expect the years ahead to be any different from the years past in our lives.
What senselessness comes from the un-renewed mind of man. We strive for that which has already been given….that which we already possess. In the presence of God the Father, the Holy Spirit sets our souls free from the man made traditions and errors of religion. We have already been set free if we are true believers. We cannot get any freer than we are right now. Our Father cannot do anymore than what He has already done at the cross to free us to be His children, to become His temple, to live in His Kingdom now, to be His disciples, and to worship Him in spirit and truth. “A spiritual kingdom lies all around us right now, enclosing us, altogether in reach, waiting for us to recognize it” (Tozer). If we are not living this reality now the fault lies with us.
I live by a very simple prayer that I pray each day…More of God, Less of me! More of God washes away a lot of what has been erroneously sown into my spirit over the years. Less of me allows more of Him, and this is profitable both in this life and the life to come. In Him I move and have my being.
Live like conquerors and over comers, like men and women of valor, without fear. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline (2 Tim 1:7). It is time for the redeemed of the Lord to come out of their religious closets and begin to act like His disciples, to teach others in the example of Jesus…to worship the Great I AM, the Elohim, Adonai, Jehovah, Yahweh and Ancient of Days.
The timid do not possess the promises.
Baruch Haba B’shem Adonai.