Live, learn, be free

Following Religion or God?

It is very easy to fall into a pattern of following traditions in our churches.  We get used to doing the things our parents and their parents did in church.  We start to believe that we are following God just because we are following a list of things to do.

If we choose to follow God it is the only thing that matters to us.  Nothing gets in our way of following God.  We stay focused on what matters, God.  We show others we follow God and not religion by the way we live our life.

Following religion will lead us to distraction and take us off track.  Following God leads us to the feet of Jesus.  Following religion can be complicated and rigid.  Following God is simple and brings glory only to God. 

We live in a country where we have many options for the type of church we want to attend.  Pray about where you attend church.  Does your church lead you to the feet of Jesus?  Church should not be about religion but about God. 

Take time to pray and ask God to show you if you are following religion or God.  Take a look at the way you live your life.  Are you showing others you are following God or religion?  God is about love, grace and freedom. 

Busy for Jesus

I will admit I have busied myself with the things of God and my relationship with God has suffered.  It may sound weird but sometimes we get so wrapped up working for God that we forget to spend time alone with God. 

God wants to know us intimately.  In order to do that we need to put down some of the things we are doing for God in order to spend more time with Him.  I realize this seems counter intuitive but it is true.  When we over volunteer for the kingdom our intimacy with God suffers.

As Christians we are the  body of Christ, we all have a part.  Each person needs to step up and do their part.  Just because we see a need does not mean we should fill it.  We need to be a little more selective in what we do for God.

I am guilty of having done this in the past.  I over committed myself at church and my time with God suffered.  I didn't have time to spend with God because I was too busy doing the work of the whole church.

Are you doing too much for God right now?  Take some time to sit and evaluate what you are doing.  Is God calling you to do all those things?  What do you need to say no to in order to say yes to God?  If you are too busy for Jesus than you must take some time to build that relationship back up.

If you are looking for a way to work on building intimacy with God, please check out this link.  It is a book I wrote called In Pursuit of God.  It is a study guide and journal.  It will give you information on the spiritual disciplines.  Whatever source you use remember: working for God and and working with God are two different things.

Spiritual Inventory

An inventory usually takes stock of what you have and don't have.  Stores, businesses and factories take inventory.  But we can also use inventories to take stock of our spiritual lives.

We start our inventory by looking at what we have.  Look at your family, friends, home, job, children.  You can also look at your possessions, your talents and even your relationships.  You won't probably be surprised with what you come up with for these inventories.  Most of us know what we have in these arenas. 

Sometimes we start to look at all the things we have and we start to think we have done alright for ourselves.  We think we have done all this for ourselves.  We are wrong to think we got everything we have on our own.

When we start to take stock of what we don't have then we will really be surprised.  We can soon realize that we don't have it all.  Take stock of your security, happiness, contentment, patience, trust and peace.  What do you see?  Is this inventory list empty, or do you have some of these on the shelf?

Sometimes the things we don't have tend to outweigh the things we have.  We know we don't have a right standing before God.  Our relationship with our Heavenly Father is suffering.  Don't let pride get in the way, take inventory of the right stuff.  God wants to have a relationship with you don't shut him out.

Writing Your Story

Do you like to tell stories?  When our kids were younger they always wanted us to make up stories instead of reading them stories.  It was hard sometimes to come up with something fresh and exciting for them.  I heard a great sermon series about life stories at church recently. 

I attend Browns Bridge Community Church in Cumming, GA.  Our lead pastor is Andy Stanley, he does a great job communicating God's word to us.  His series was about decision making.  In the second sermon Andy talked about what story you want to tell.  It makes you really think about the decisions we make.

We pay closer attention to the decisions we make when we know someday we will have to share those stories.  We have all made decisions we wish we hadn't made.  We all have things in our past that we may be a little reluctant to share with others.  This motivates us today to make the right decision in our life today.

When we trust God and we continue our intimate relationship with God we can make decisions more clearly.  We will not be tempted to censor our own life story.  Do you want to tell your whole story or will you have to edit your story.  You see our children's story begins with the end of ours.  How do you want your children's story to begin? 

In Pursuit of God

People ask me all the time, how can I develop intimacy with God?  They want to know how to get closer to God.  It always makes me happy to know that people want to get closer to God.  He created us to want to be with Him, but we have to choose Him.  The best part is that He has already chosen us.  He wants to have a relationship with us. 

There are many things we can do to grow our relationship with God.  When we think about our best earthly relationship we realize that communication is the best part of that relationship.  God wants us to talk to Him.  He already knows what we are thinking and feeling, but he wants us to want Him to know.  Share with Him our inner most thoughts. 

We need to be honest with God.  Sometimes we are just angry about what we see happening around us.  We need to understand that it is ok to be upset with God.  He wants us to share all our concerns with Him.  Journaling is a helpful way to help us express what we are thinking and feeling towards God. 

In my new book, In Pursuit of God, I discuss all the areas we can work on to help us run after our Heavenly Father.  Don't become overwhelmed with trying to do work on all eight areas at once.  Take it one at a time and build upon that.  You will be pleased with the your relationship with God when you take the time to get to know God by working on different areas of your walk with Christ.

Fasting, praying, giving, memorizing His word, God sightings, prayer requests, time with God, and Bible reading are the things we need to focus on.  Develop discipline in these areas and you will be blessed in your walk with God. 

Prayer and Fasting

Prayer and fasting, these are things people get hung up on in their walk in Christ.  It's actually as simple as it sounds.  Prayer is just talking to God.  He's your Father, just talk to Him.  You may be one of those people thinking, if God already knows everything then why do I have to tell Him again. 

God wants an intimate relationship with you, he wants to know that you trust Him.  It actually is very helpful for us to verbalize our thoughts and requests to God.  I know it may feel weird at first to talk to what seems like yourself, but you get used to it.  After a while it seems natural, the words come flowing. 

Fasting can be a little scarier for many people.  Fasting is putting aside food or any other hindrance to get closer to God.  It is in these times when you are alone and clear minded that you can hear God speak to you.  I have never had a time when I fasted and did not hear from God. 

Have you ever closed yourself in a room to be alone and think clearly, fasting is nearly the same thing.  You just eliminate food as a stumbling block for a time to be alone with God.  Deuteronomy 8:3 tells us, "man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."  We learn to feed ourselves the word of God. 

Give prayer a try and you will see the fruits of your trust.  There are many ways to fast.  When trying fasting for the first time skip just one meal, then increase from there.  Make prayer and fasting a regular part of your walk in Christ and you will be blessed and the Lord will be pleased.