This morning as I logged onto Facebook to begin posting my daily devotional to my "Masters Servants" ladies prayer group, I noticed that one of my dear Facebook friends, Sandra, had posted a picture on the page about her relationship with God being about her relationship with Jesus, not a religion. I've posted many similar things myself over the years on Facebook, Twitter and Google. Bravo, I thought to myself and liked the comment myself with an Amen. Thanks for the reminder, dear Sandra.
As I sat thinking about that, I realized how many of my secular, non-Christian friends just don't get it. Religion is something man made, a relationship with Jesus, is of God. When you begin to add rules about how and what will get you into Heaven, you've crossed the line into religion.
You have to go to church so many days a week, you have to attend certain classes, you have to work you way into Heaven by performing different works on earth. You can't eat certain food on certain days, or drink caffeine or dance? So many rules, pick the religion and they can most likely name their rules to you. If having to follow all the rules were the case, would God's Grace be totally sufficient for any of us? What is the point of His Mercy and Grace if we have to work our way into Heaven by following a set of rules laid out before us.
Not that all of the rules are bad. It's wonderful to attend biblical classes and to grow in the Lord's word, but neither God nor Jesus require you to do that to be accepted into Heaven. You must do one thing Romans 10:9 tells us "If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Once we are saved, we are saved, and there is nothing WE can do to improve upon that. Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us " 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."
God's amazing Grace saved us, there is nothing we can ever do to improve upon that. Notice how the verse in Ephesians says that our Salvation is a gift from God, not by our works, so that that we can never boast about it. God doesn't want any of us boasting about how we made it a little bit better by what we did. It has nothing to do with us, it has everything to do with Him.
That is why religion always falls short of God's Glory. Religion is all about legalistic rules. Our Lord God has ONE Rule, and that is you must confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and was raised from the dead. He makes it incredibly easy for all of us, doesn't He?
When I think about all the different people all over the world who have accepted Jesus Christ from a sermon on TV, or a missionary that had a revival in their country or met them in a field in their country. Our loving God made it so easy for us to be accepted by Him into His glorious Kingdom. Stop and really think about that. Many people will never attend a church service in their lives, yet they are still children of the Living God the minute they accept Jesus as their Savior. That is all God, and that is All God's Grace.
So now, I ask you~~ Are you following the rules of man or the rules of God? Who are you bowing to? Are you listening to the "rules" of your religion, or abiding by God's only rule? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Take a hard look at your "religion" and see if anywhere in the Bible it says anything about having to complete anything before you can gain entrance into Eternity. I sure couldn't find it. If you can, please point it out to me, I'd love to look that up and I will stand corrected.
As I said before, it's very meaningful and often traditional to be baptized, confirmed in your faith, and attend classes, Sunday school and church sermons to better understand the Lord's word, but no where that I've found in the Bible does it say that is a necessity for a Holy and Righteous God to accept you. There is but one thing you need to do "Confess your sins, Believe that Jesus is Lord and God raised Him from the dead." Period. End of discussion.
That is how the lowliest sinner can be accepted on the Cross next to His Savior by confessing with his mouth that Jesus is Lord. Many souls have been saved in the last minutes of their lives by confessing their sins and turning to God. That's what His Mercy and Grace are all about. It's never about works, it's always about God's Mercy and Grace. Praise His Holy Name~
My verses for today are above in red.
My Prayer for today:
Dear Heavenly Father:
Thank you Lord for making it so incredibly easy for all of us to spend Eternity with You. Thank you for accepting us into your Kingdom with no rules just our confession and our belief that Jesus died for us and is sitting at Your Right Hand. You are amazing and we are so Thankful for everything you continue to do for us each day we live on this earth. Thank you Father for Your Grace and Mercy. We are so unworthy.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
