Religion Is Not God

Religion has a list full of dos and don’ts. It has a lot of requirements that it takes from people. It seems as though it will never be satisfied with what people accomplish to tame its decrees. It kind of reminds me of what Proverbs says about selfishness, it is and will never be satisfied. Do you think that religion exists for the only reason to fulfill its own desires and commands in a person? Does that really have anything to do with Christ? It doesn’t seem so. Religion seems like a counterfeit or substitute from who God really is and how he wants to live out in our own lives. The reason I think it is so hard to ‘unlearn’ religion, is because it trains us to bow down to it and relay on it when we don’t know anything else. If this is all that we have known through our entire lives, it makes it much harder to see the lies and ugliness that it really holds. Its like a spiritual mask or delusion that we follow, and we think if we do what it says and live the way it wants, God is more pleased with us and finds favor in us more than someone who doesn’t live a religious lie. In this religious reality you can tell who sits in center stage, it isn’t the relationship that you have with God, or God himself, but religion and its customs-(SELF).

What it does:

Convinces -
Controls-
Hard Working-
Manipulates-
Deceives-
Punishes-
Betrays-
Hates-

It is easy to over look these aspects of religion and how it defines us as people! It can easily lead us astray from the truth and the love that Father wants to give us freely in a relationship with him. See, the focus of religion is not on love and being in a relationship with Father, it’s all about what is listed above. The Old Testament is full of this, and proclaims that religion is God! But that isn’t so, since Christ died for all of us and set us literally and spiritually free from religion and sin, it is now easy to see that God isn’t here to: convince us, control us, work us to death, manipulate us, deceive us, punish us if we blow it, betray or condemn us, and to hate us. I know God’s truth and show us himself by his love and relationship he longs to have with us, but I think it really boils down to a HUGE misunderstanding, a lie that leads us to believe that religion is God! Maybe Father allowed this misunderstanding to take place in order to show himself to us individually and in his own way. There are so many things written in the bible that seem controversial and confusing when compared to the freedom I now see and believe, but I think Father had a reason for it to be that way, so that He himself would make himself real to us in his own way and not let the laws, and decrees and all of the above stuff, (religion) take control. He may allow it to happen in many peoples lives, but now that I have a better understanding of whom Father is, religious obligation doesn’t have a hold on my life.

Big Religion and Big Government

I am probably going to be stepping on some toes in this post, but I just couldn’t help it. After watching the outcome of Super Tuesday it got me all fired up for some reason. Usually when one talks about religion or politics there is usually smoke in the air from the flames coming from some peoples heads, but if you talk about both, politics and religion in the same conversation, warning, their may be a forest fire starting very soon.

As I use the term (big government) I probably give away that I am a republican and believe in small government vs. government control because I believe that we the people can make decisions on our own without the governments input. It isn’t the government’s responsibility to take that away from the people who have rights to decide what is right for them (us). If we give the government an inch they will take a mile or more and that to me is a real problem and that scares me. I blame my husband for such conviction and thought when it comes to politics because he is a real hardheaded republican and gives it much attention. For a while, I would just sit on the sidelines not really having an opinion or giving it much thought, but my husband influence has driven me to the point of actually writing about politics on my blog (go figure).

Religion can look scary to me as well, it portrays to me bondage that deprives me from the liberty that I can have with God. It’s a certain bondage that doesn’t allow freedom in having a relationship with Father and succumbs to obligation or bondage to any laws that reign or take precedence over sharing a relationship with Father. Religion is all about the “me factor” and how well “I” am doing to gain more points in God’s eye than just being who I am for God without keeping track of points and sins. Religion also portrays a sense of having to be responsible for our fellow brothers and sisters. Having accountability partners so man can keep me inline instead of God and having to take on the responsibility to keep an eye on Christians just in case they slip up.

Religion is a lot like the Federal Government. They both are control freaks. They want to take as much away from a person as they can and declares that “they” know best. They portray a sense of wanting others to have a full dependency of trust in the laws they proclaim to be laws and what is or isn’t illegal. Religion or the Federal Government aren’t looking out for my best interest but in the interest of them and takes all the honor and power away from God. Religion and Government in every turn from this point on has rubbed me the wrong way, and will continue to do so.
How does this rub you?