Happy Saturday! I wanted to share a question that I asked my friend a few weeks ago as I was driving. I had this thought as I was listening to music in my car. One of the songs had me in deep thought on why I believe in God. It had me generate the deeper question of why do I/we believe what we believe?
As I have gotten older and my revelation of who God is has gotten clearer, I have been slowly but surely unlearning a lot of things that I would deem to be traditional and getting a better understanding about God by simply building that relationship with God for myself and spending time with God for myself. In return God has opened my eyes to so many things. Now to make things very clear this is not critiquing my upbringing and the ministry that I have grown up under or any other ministry that I have been blessed to sit under, this is me sharing what I've learned about God and the body of Christ overall. As it is very apparent that we are living in the last days it is also clear that there is even more deceit and confusion among believers and even non-believers. For me my focus has never been people. I have always went to church for my relationship with God and for me. Not for the people, not for the music, not for all of the "traditional things" that played a part. Strictly to learn more about Jesus. I say all of that to say that I believe a lot of us have been caught up by tradition and we put more weight and value on tradition than we do relationship. We don't have a true reverence and understanding of who God is because we lack relationship with Him. I believe this is why we lack the encounters with God that we long to see and have. It makes me wonder do we serve God out of tradition or out of true love for Him?
God is a God of love and He cares about His children. One thing that we have to understand is that God is a revealing God. His word even says that if we ask for wisdom and knowledge He will give it to us, but are we seeking it? Are we admitting our mishaps and misunderstandings? Are we asking God for clarity? In this day and time it's crucial to have a true understanding for who God is and it's not only for us but for those among us who are lost and are seeking a deeper meaning. We have to stop putting all of our faith in people and get to a place where our faith is only in God and God alone. Think about this, if God never gave you anything else in life would you still honor and serve Him wholeheartedly? A lot of us would answer yes of course, but are we answering yes because that's what we know to say or are we saying yes because we have seen the encounters and move of God in our lives to have enough?
What about faith? Is your faith activated in tradition turned deception or relationship? God wants to move on all of our behalves but a lot of us aren't doing the work for God to even do His part. I have mentioned this before in previous post. The bottom line is that the God that we pray to, sing about, and serve is the same God who did miracles, signs, and wonders 2,000+ years ago and is still doing them now. Are we reading His word for fulfillment and growth? The bible is filled with many imperfect people but it's also filled with people who did the necessary to see the move of God. So ask yourself why do you believe? What encounter or encounters have put you in the place of relationship and knowing that God is who He says He is. Maybe you'll think back and come to realize that you didn't have a relationship but more of a tradition with God and that's okay. It's okay to unlearn things and have a newer perspective. You have the power to change that. This is not to say to do away with the traditional things that we partake in to honor God. This is saying to unlearn the things that we have often used or done that has masked us from the true glory of God.
I see the body of Christ looking more and more scattered before my eyes. People are reading but their spirits are empty. People are quoting scriptures but there's lack of understanding. We have to use this time to create unity and quality within the body of Christ. Will people still fall? Yes. Will people still be imperfect? Yes. But what makes the difference is that in our humbleness, genuineness, and willingness God will be able to move how He wants because we have given Him permission and the authority to do so. We have given Him something to work with.
My prayer today is that we take time to evaluate our relationship with Christ. I pray that our eyes are opened to who God truly is. I pray that we will step into relationship with Christ and out of tradition/religion with Christ. I pray that we will experience God in ways that we could have never imagined. I pray that in our revelation many of those who don't know Christ will have a better understanding and will come to know Him. I pray that we will be vessels and lights among the dark and that wisdom, knowledge, and clarity will be ours if and when we ask.
With love,
-Yours Truly, Eb