Friday, July 06, 2012

Friday, July 06, 2012

Isaiah 29:13 – The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their
mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men."

In my short walk with the Lord, I've certainly fallen into this trap.
When I first came to the Lord, I was broken and quickly became
passionate about following hard after Him because I had experienced
His grace. As time went on however, I started experiencing times of
complacency. This complacency was the result of life getting so good
for so long that I had begun to forget the hole that God had lifted me
from. In these times when I forgot my past, I would forget why I
praised God. Suddenly, worship was a chore. I would come to church and
honor God with my mouth, but my heart would be far from Him. I was
going through the motions. In my short walk with the Lord, I've also
learned that going through the motions is dangerous business.

Think about it – going through the motions is the result of your heart
being far from God and forgetting His grace. If your heart is far from
God, then you don't have the heart of God for people. If you have
forgotten about His grace, then you look at people through the law
instead of through grace. Once you've reached this point, you're
capable of acting like a Pharisee. Once a Pharisee, you'll speak the
religious words we read today, "Do and do, do and do, rule on rule,
rule on rule; a little here, a little there" (Isaiah 28:10). Don't get
caught up in rules and become a Pharisee. Remember where you came
from; we're all sinners. Remember, "For it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift
of God – not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). I
also like what Pastor Scott said in his journal today:

"In the end religion is a way for people to earn their salvation. But
the gospel teaches us that we can never keep God's laws. We can never
'DO' enough to earn it. The law shows us our complete inability to
achieve perfection. This law is something we should always strive for
but also realize we will never reach. The recognition of the great
distance between God and us can only be made up by grace. Rather than
put our efforts into 'DOING' we trust in what God has 'DONE' on the
cross."

With all this in mind, let's honor God with our hearts today. In doing
so, we will have His eyes and heart for people. We will see people
through grace, instead of through the law. Jesus demolished religion
to establish relationships. Let's do the same. Love changes people,
not religion.

God Bless,
Anthony