WAITING ROOM

"Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord." - Psalm 27:14 (The Amplified Bible)

Waiting.

Everyone hates waiting. This is especially true in our high-speed, broadband, microwave culture. We want what we want when we want it and waiting for it is simply unacceptable.

This is the part where I go on a lengthy rant about our nation's culture of narcissism. Obviously our society has some pretty hefty issues that are not going to be eradicated by lawyers turned politicians or politicians turned power-crazed despots-in-waiting. Believe me, I could go on for a while (and did in a previous draft of this blog post) about the ills of our current American society...

But that's not what this blog entry is about...at least, not entirely.

This is about waiting on the Lord and the importance of patience in the service of our King.

You see, what I've personally learned about God is, He is fully aware of all of society's ills. Pick any scale you want to talk about. Local, state-wide, national, international, or global...God's got a handle on every complicated detail of what is going on in the world.

The thing is, God's plans for this planet are pretty succinctly detailed for us in His Word. Just start with the creation account and work your way through to the end of the world prophecies in Revelation and we can get a really good God's-eye view of His plans for humanity. If I can summarize those plans, I'd say they are fairly huge in scope, they are brain-meltingly awesome in nature, and they are eternal.

The last thing I'd say about God's plans for us is they are in direct contradiction to our sinful human nature.

That is why God spends so much of His time working to "redeem" and "transform" us from that sinful nature into a Spirit-filled, Spirit-led one. No matter how intelligent, educated, and talented we become, we are but pale imitations to the one who created us in His own image. We cannot see what God sees. We cannot know what God knows. We cannot do what God does.

This is why a relationship with God is so imperative to our participation in His plans. We will never, and I mean NEVER, realize the full potential of our God-given talents and Divine callings as along as we are calling the shots in our lives. God's ultimate goal is for us to become 100% submitted to His Word, His Will, and His Ways for our individual lives so we can used to fulfill his plans for this planet and ultimately His kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven".

So, what does all of this have to do with waiting on God? I'm very glad you asked.

Our personal level of patience is one of several litmus tests God uses to show us where we are in our walk with Him; specifically our level of submission to Him.  Patience is, by far, one of the more difficult fruits of the Holy Spirit to walk in because of our selfish human natures.

I repeat: we want. We want what we want. We want what we want when we want it. If we cannot have what we want when we want it, we tend to respond badly. This one concept is the very definition of immaturity. Every parent on the planet can testify of the frustrations inherent in the task of raising a 2 year old. There is no one more selfish on the planet that a two year old human child. No matter how much we love and adore our children, nothing pushes that devotion to its limits more than a toddler throwing a tantrum because they aren't getting their way. Just think of every child you've heard screaming in a grocery store and you know exactly how God feels when we do the same thing to Him.

Impatience is an observable proof of our spiritual and emotional immaturity. It also is what disqualifies us for any meaningful service to the King. Simply put, He cannot use us to the fullest extent of our potential so long as we are governed by our own passions and opinions. Imagine how different the Bible stories would be if the men and women God chose to use to fulfill His plans for this earth had the spiritual and emotional maturity of a two year old child?

How far would Noah have gotten in his 120 year ark-building project if he'd had the patience of a toddler? How much longer would Israel have suffered in Egyptian slavery had Moses walked away from the burning bush because he didn't want to lead Israel to their promised land? How many Jews would Goliath and the Philistines have killed had David been focused on his wants, wishes, and desires for himself instead of God's plans for him?

Waiting on God is a very difficult concept to sell in our modern American culture. Generally speaking, our culture is based on our feelings. We are taught from birth to 'follow our hearts' and 'do what makes us happy'. Even our nation's carefully worded founding documents declares we all have been "endowed by [our] Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

The American dream is the pursuit of whatever makes us happy. Concepts like 'freedom', 'liberty' and 'rights' have been transformed over the generations from ideas designed to free humanity from governmental tyranny into the rhetoric of narcissists. We proudly beat our chests and proclaim ourselves free to say what we feel is right, have sex with whomever we want to have sex with whenever we feel like it, and basically do anything and everything that will bring us pleasure, purpose, and personal satisfaction to the fullest extent of the law (and then some).

Then God comes along and says to this American dream, "I want you to submit to Me. I want you to exchange your dreams, goals, and plans for your life for MY dreams, goals, and plans for your life." It should be fairly obvious this concept is in total contradiction to the thought processes of most red-blooded, flag-waving Americans.

Is it any wonder why American Christianity has digressed into a materialistic message focused on health, wealth, and happiness, generally speaking? Does the popularity and growth of the so-called 'prosperity gospel' surprise anyone living in 21st century America? Transforming God into our personal concierge who is just waiting for us to 'speak into existence' our every want, wish, and desire couldn't be a more American theology if had been birthed by George Washington and preached by Benjamin Franklin.

There is a rude awakening awaiting most of God's people. The truth of God's word is much more blunt than most church attendees want to believe. The facts about our Potter's perfecting process have little to do with our personal pursuits of pleasure and everything to do with elevating Christ to His rightful place as King of kings and Lord of lords in our everyday lives. The gospel of Jesus Christ isn't just about saving lost humanity from eternal damnation, it is also about transforming redeemed humanity into God-led, Christ-centered, Spirit-filled members of the Kingdom of God who are "meet for the master's use".

A major component of that transformation is the presence of patience in the face of life's trials, tribulations, and tragedies.

Patience is not based on feeling. I confess, I still get frustrated when life does not play out it my favor. But patience is not the absence of frustration when we're forced to wait for God to move in response to our prayers. Patience is the choice we make to submit to God's will for us. God's timelines are not ours. His desires for us are not the same as ours. His plans for us are certainly not the same as ours. The choice before us is to either submit to His plan, His desires, and His timeline for us or to reject all of that in favor of our own.

Choosing to go our own way means we are depending on our own abilities and knowledge to meet every challenge and handle every situation that will come upon us; good or ill. When we go our own way, God is relegated to pedestrian observer rather than the source of our strength. Choosing our own path for ourselves restricts God to a very limited role in our lives; not by His choice but by ours. In this reality, patience becomes a virtually unattainable virtue. It becomes an ethereal concept that seems just out of reach. We all claim to want more of it but few of us actually do what is necessary to attain it.

So, how does one get more patience?

Oh, I am so glad you asked that...

To Be Continued

I WILL GIVE YOU REST

"Remember, O Lord, what has come upon us; look, and behold our reproach! Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, and our houses to foreigners. We have become orphans and waifs, our mothers are like widows. We pay for the water we drink, and our wood comes at a price. They pursue at our heels. We labor and have no rest." - Lamentations 5:1-5

The book of Lamentations has become one of the most relevant books in the Bible to me. I hardly read from it in my pastoring years. But after what I have experienced over the last half decade, this book has become one of the most powerful books in the entire bible to me.

If you don't know what this book is about, I'll give you the very brief nutshell summary of it:

The prophet Jeremiah is lamenting over Israel's physical and spiritual condition following Jerusalem's destruction by Babylon. What was once considered impossible by God's people is now a nightmarish reality and the great city of Jerusalem stands in ruins. The entire book of Lamentations is Jeremiah's divinely inspired reaction to the aftermath of God's judgment on His stiff-necked and hard hearted people.

As I said, this book has become particularly personal for me. In fact, it was a single verse in the first chapter of this book that started me on my return course back to God.

If you were to look up the definition of the words "stubborn", "stiff-necked", or "hard-hearted" at any time over the last 10 or 15 years, the only descriptives for those words would have been my picture. As I look back at my attitude and perspective during my final years in full-time ministry I am constantly amazed at how blinded I became to my pride and selfishness. One of the worst things that can happen to a child of God is for them to become a victim of another believer's carnal actions. As a young pastor, I had plenty of reasons to play the victim card and I did at every opportunity.

The problem with living our lives as a professional victim is it is impossible to have any kind of meaningful relationship with anyone. We're all about us when we embrace a victim mentality. No one has hurt like we have hurt. No one can feel what we feel. No amount of sympathy or empathy can match our pain. No other perspective than ours has any value to us. We are hurting and we don't want to hear anything from anyone that does not empower us to continue wallowing in our hurts and pains. At the risk of being cold and blunt, professional victims are the most selfish, self-centered narcissists on the planet; of whom I was chief.

At the core of my hurt was my assumption that God had lied to me. I believed whole-heartedly that God had abandoned me in the hour of my greatest need. That assumption and the disillusionment that followed was devastating to my faith; to say nothing of any meaningful relationship with Him. The more I gave myself to my anger and bitterness, the more marginalized God became in my life until He eventually entered mythological status in my heart and mind.

That's right. A pastor of Jesus Christ found himself at a point where he did not believe in the existence of God anymore.

The scripture I've quoted above has a phrase in verse five that I want to focus on with you for a bit. The phrase is "we labor and have no rest". If I could encapsulate the last 6 years of my life in one sentence, the last six words of Lamentations 5:5 flawlessly capture where being a professional victim brought me.

Since stepping down from full-time pastoral ministry in 2009, I have worked in four different secular positions. Without exception, I have not worked harder for less personal benefit than I have in each of these positions. From 2009 to now, I have never been this financially strapped in my adult life. I have literally not stopped working over the last 5 years. I have had no leisure time, no vacations, or any rest for over half a decade. Each of these years has been a grind unlike anything I've ever experienced in my life.

Now, before any of you conclude I'm whining about losing my gravy-train job, I want to take you back to the setting of Lamentations. The reason why Jerusalem stood in ruins wasn't because of Babylon's superior military strength. Israel's history is pregnant with tales of their overcoming superior forces by the power of God. The reason why Babylon was able to destroy Jerusalem was because of Israel's hard-hearted choices and stiff-necked decisions to reject God and embrace their selfish, pride-filled lusts.

Jeremiah isn't whining about Israel's military defeat or the hardness of losing a military battle. Jeremiah is lamenting the loss of Israel's identity as God's people. Jeremiah is weeping over God's absence from Israel's hard-hearts. God's prophet is crying over the broken relationship between God and His chosen people.

This is what playing the victim card produced in my life. I lost my identity as a child of God. Please understand, I'm not saying I lost my position as His child; losing our salvation is impossible (if you disagree with that point, save your emails. You won't win this one with me).  I'm saying I lost my identity. My pain and bitterness had so consumed me that I completely forgot who I was. I lost sight of the fact that I am a child of the King of kings and Lord of lords. I was so focused on my victimhood that I forgot my priesthood as a member of God's courts. I was so committed to protecting myself from any future hurts that I stripped myself of the armor God provides us and entered the wilderness naked. In short, I became lion food, not because of the actions of those who hurt me but solely because of my choice to stay angry at them.

Because of my decision to stay a victim, I entered a restless season of hardships and destruction that threatened everything I have; including my relationship with my family. What I once thought was impossible had become a nightmarish reality and my family stood in ruins...because of me.

Jesus made an amazing statement during his teaching ministry that I want to conclude this blog entry with. At the end of Matthew 11, Jesus prayed a prayer of thanksgiving to His Father for hiding his teachings "from the wise and prudent" and instead revealed His truths "to babes". He then makes an incredible proclamation about divine revelation that God's people would do well to dive into and meditate on.

Finally, Jesus introduces a concept that most tenured church attendees are very familiar with. Jesus instructs His disciples and anyone who will listen to him to "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." It is this divine rest that I want to speak to you about. The old saying "you never know what you have until you lose it" has never been more relevant in my life than in discussing the rest God provides His people.

I'm not talking about a cessation of activity. If you look closely at the very next verse, Jesus speaks of yoking up with Him. A yoke is a symbol of work. There is no other purpose for a yoke than to join beasts of burden together for the purpose of plowing a field, pulling a wagon, or any number of labor-intensive things.

So God's offer is not to give us a life of leisure and ease. What He wants to provide us with is a labor that benefits everyone involved in the work. Rather than becoming an employee of a company where our labors bring the most benefit to the company owners, God wants to send us into His kingdom fully equipped to do "the work of the ministry" that He has called us to. He wants to give us our purpose and send us into the world not to just perform labor but to fulfill our calling. God wants to do more than give us a job; he wants to give us the reason for our existence.

Does any of this sound like something you'd be interested in? If it does, you had better pay attention to Matthew 11:29. We will never, and I do mean NEVER, discover our divinely revealed purpose without first yoking up with Christ. I'm not talking about church attendance or busy work in a church setting. All of that is fine and good, but in time busy work becomes a chore to perform and church attendance can become a duty to endure.

What Christ offers is the gift of His grace and favor on whatever we put our hands to do because we are doing what He is blessing instead of asking Him to bless what we are doing.

What Christ is talking about is developing a relationship with him that goes beyond church attendance, beyond ministry work, beyond anything we've ever experienced before.

What Christ wants to do is teach you how to literally follow Him. He wants to empower us to do battle with the enemy of our souls. He wants to equip us to walk worthy of the vocation He has called us to. He doesn't want to just employ us, he wants to deploy us.

But He cannot do any of this until we have 'learned of Him'. He will not deploy poorly trained soldiers into the field of battle. He cannot use selfish, pride-filled saints who don't know how to listen to His voice or obey His commands. He knows as much as anyone what selfish saints become over time.

They become victims.

There is nothing more deadly to a believer's faith than becoming a victim.

There is nothing that will destroy your world faster than letting the enemy transform you into a professional victim.

There is nothing more exhausting than selfish living. I know. I've got over a decade of experience laboring without any rest.

But praise God, for those of us who choose to yoke up with Christ and refuse to harden our hearts, there is something that every one of us desperately needs waiting for us...

THE BOOK ON JUDGES

"But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me and every tongue shall confess to God. So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore..." - Romans 14:10-13a

Joel Osteen

There hasn't been a more polarizing name within evangelical Christianity in my lifetime. You would be hard pressed to find anyone inside or even outside of the Body of Christ who hasn't heard of Joel. You certainly can't swing a dead church anywhere in Houston, Texas without hitting an ocean of opinions about Joel, Lakewood Church, or the ministries birthed from that church.

Okay, here's where I put my disclaimers:

I do not know Joel Osteen.
I've never met the man.
I've never spoken to him.
I've never read anything he's written.
My only experience with Joel Osteen are the few times I've stopped my channel surfing to watch and listen to one of Lakewood Church's heavily edited 30 minute programs.

I have my opinions about Joel Osteen's preaching style, sermon content, and physical appearance. That and $5.00 will get you a big cup of Starbucks.

My reason for invoking the name of Joel Osteen is to discuss a disease within the Body of Christ that has been running rampant for generations. In fact, this soul sickness has been around since the enemy of our souls introduced doubt about God's Word into man's thought processes (Genesis 3:1).

This disease is at the root of the mass exodus of many modern church-goers. It is the primary reason for the birth and existence of all of Christianity's denominations and sub-denominations. It is a foundational cause for all of the church fights, church splits, and pastoral vacancies.

The disease is pride and its manifestation as ungodly judgment between God's people.

Pride's impact on humanity began in Eden and has carried its viral destruction across human history. Pride is insidious, deceptive, nearly impossible to self-diagnose, and its impact on the Body of Christ at large cannot be overstated.

Think I've entered hyperbole-land?  Here's a fun exercise. Drop Joel Osteen's name on your Twitter feed or your Facebook page. It doesn't matter what light you paint him in. You can be negative or positive in your post. Just type Joel Osteen's name and wait. I guarantee, before the sun sets, your Facebook/Twitter feed will be filled with positive and negative declarative statements from pride-filled people about a man they have never met, never spoken to, and know absolutely nothing about save for what they've seen, heard, or read from his ministry output.

Does anyone see the problem with that scenario?

Opinions are fine. Everybody's got them and I'm certainly not advocating the abolition of sharing opinions about any given subject. If I were to do that, I'd have to shut this blog down and stop preaching, teaching, or basically speaking out loud to anyone.  Forming and sharing opinions is not the problem.

The problem is when we believe our opinions are divinely inspired and profitable for reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.

I find it humorous that whenever the subject of ungodly judging comes up in an instructional setting, those that feel they have the right to sit in judgment of their fellow believers usually run to their favorite justifications for their actions:

Judging Justification #1: God's word tells us to judge one another. I'm just obeying the scriptures.

Judging Justification #2: There are wolves out there devouring the sheep. Somebody's got to warn them before it's too late!

Judging Justification #3: You telling me I'm being judgmental is judgmental. You're a hypocrite and I don't have to listen to you anymore.

To the first point, I will agree God's Word does indeed give instruction for saint-on-saint judging (1 Corinthians 5:12, 6:1-5; Philippians 1:9). However, in the context of those scriptures, there is the understanding that the individuals charged with judging be "filled with the fruits of righteousness" (Philippians 1:11). In other words, judging has requirements beyond owning a Bible and possessing the ability to form thoughts and opinions about any given subject.

To the second point, I agree there are wolves seeking to devour the sheep. However, I would also add that it is very difficult to discern wolves from sheep without God's involvement in the process. It has been my experience that many who are on the hunt for the wolves do so from an intellectual, human perspective than a spiritual one. If you doubt this statement, you haven't been on any of the Christian forums found on the internet.

To the third point, I would ask a simple question. What was the difference between the Pharisees calling Jesus a heretic and Jesus calling the Pharisees hypocrites and vipers?  Judgment was invoked on both sides but only one side was using 'godly judgment'. The other side (see: Pharisees) were using what Christ described as judging "according to the flesh".

I could write on this subject for a while, complete with a lot of personal anecdotes.  The plain truth is, we all struggle with understanding the difference between our personal opinions/preferences and Holy Spirit-led discernment. God knows I've misjudged many people and situations over the years because I was blinded to my capacity for pride-filled, ungodly judgment. The stories I could tell of mistakes I've made on this front could fill several books.

On the flip side, I've also been the subject of many people's judgments. In every case those who judged me and my family were firmly convinced of their infallibility in correctly identifying error and sin in my and my family's lives. They could not have been more wrong.

The truth of the matter is, when we speak words of judgment on other believers, we are speaking on behalf of God. This cannot be overstated. Speaking on behalf of God carries a great deal of responsibility, including penalties for failing to represent Him properly.

Not just anyone can hold the title of 'judge'; not on Earth nor in Heaven. Judges must be appointed and that appointment only comes once the appointee has met the requirements for being a judge. No one with any measure of sanity would consider it appropriate for someone to walk into a court of law, grab a black robe, take a seat in the judge's chair, and start presiding over court cases. Yet most of God's people have no problem appointing themselves judges in God's kingdom because they have tenure and/or title in a church, have sat through a number of Bible studies and/or sermons, and have a copy of the Bible in their possession.

It takes more to be a judge in God's kingdom than a collection of memory verses and a pulse.

At the risk of being misjudged as insulting, I will spell out the biblical requirement for godly judging for you:

Godly Judging Requirement: The godly judge must be submitted to the Lord The Righteous Judge.

That's it. That's the requirement.  Of course, elaboration is needed lest any be deceived into thinking they automatically meet this requirement because of their church attendance or biblical knowledge.

"Submitted" means more than a token excursion into the spiritual realm whenever we feel like attending church or have to pray to God when there's an emergency. "Submitted" also means more than a duty-bound, legalistic approach to serving God wherein our pride is 'puffed up' by our collection of spiritual merit badges earned by every act of compliance to a man-centric form of church service.

Submission means complete 24/7 sacrifice of our will and ways to God. If we are not willing to truly make Christ the Lord of our lives, we have no business speaking on His behalf; ESPECIALLY in the area of judging others.

If we are not obeying God in our daily 24/7 lives, we are not qualified to question anyone else's obedience of God. To do so is to enter into the hypocrisy that Christ spoke against throughout His earthly ministry (John 8:15).

If we are bringing judgment against sinners who commit sins we are not guilty of but are doing nothing to purge ourselves (2 Timothy 2:21) of our own sins and weaknesses, we have no credibility as a 'righteous judge' and as such our judgments become 'obstacles' and 'stumbling blocks' instead of spiritual correctives. (Romans 14:13b)

I realize these statements are not popular, especially among those who have placed themselves in the position of judging others. But the truth is if we haven't met the qualifications for speaking on behalf of God in the form of godly judgment, we need to sit down, yoke up with Christ, and learn of Him (Matthew 11:29).  If you don't know what those qualifications are, you REALLY need to yoke up with Christ before you engage in any judgmental activities.

My reason for approaching this subject is at the core of my being. It isn't just my personal experience in ministry or my tenure in church that drives me to bring instruction on this controversial subject. It is my passion to see God's people matured into Spirit-filled, Spirit-led vessels of honor that drives me. I am eager to pass on what God has been teaching me about the Christian lifestyle. I am filled with this singular passion and it is this passion that has brought me to a level of relationship with Christ that I never knew was possible on this side of eternity.

It is in the bowels of Christ that I have learned and am still learning how to see this Earth through His eyes. It is during an extended season of being yoked up with Him that I have begun to see and understand the difference between leaning on my own understanding and leaning on His everlasting arms.

God did not call us to be wolf hunters. He did not instruct us to identify and remove the goats/tares from the sheep/wheat. We are not put on this earth to seek and destroy those who do not preach like we would preach, teach the way we would teach, or serve the way we would serve.  What God wants us to do is walk in humble obedience with Him and let Him lead us into all truth. He wants us to live a sanctified, submissive, sacrificial life. He desires us to make Him Lord over every aspect of our lives.

When we succeed in consistently and habitually living as a vessel of honor, then we are qualified to speak on His behalf.  That includes many different types of manifestations, including divinely guided discernment and judgment.

Filled with God, we can and do operate supernaturally.

Filled with self, all we have to lean on are our five senses and the knowledge we've collected over the years.

I'll let you judge for yourself which way is preferable to our King...

A VERY PRESENT HELP...

"God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in time of trouble.

Therefore, WE WILL NOT FEAR,
Even though the Earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling.          Selah.

There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.

The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

THE LORD OF HOSTS IS WITH US!
THE GOD OF JACOB IS OUR REFUGE.                 Selah.

Come, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has made desolations in the Earth.
He makes wars cease to end of the Earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariot with fire.

Be still and know that I am God;
I WILL be exalted among the nations,
I WILL be exalted in the Earth!

THE LORD OF HOSTS IS WITH US;
THE GOD OF JACOB IS OUR REFUGE.                  Selah."

- A Psalm of the Sons of Korah to the Chief Musician. (Psalm 46)


Fear is rampant. Terror has saturated our national consciousness. Civilization is under attack by evil men who have bastardized the concept of religion (regardless of the specific tenets) and twisted the idea of submissive commitment to a deity figure into a vile and disgusting abomination baptized in the blood of innocents.  With every terror attack by fundamental extremists in the name of their gods, the cry against religion in all of its forms grows.  It's a natural reaction; especially with the 'blame-game' mentality that our culture has become immersed in within my lifetime.

This is the part where I come to the defense of religion as a concept.  If that's what you're looking for, you'd better keep surfing.  Anyone who knows me or has heard me speak on this subject knows my viewpoint on religion is not a positive one.  That may sound strange coming from a professing Christian minister. After all, preaching and religion go together like bacon and eggs, peanut butter and jelly, politics and corruption, death and taxes.  I can keep going if you wish; I've got a million of these.

Allow me to define the word 'religion' for you.  Webster's dictionary defines religion thusly:

Religion (noun) - 1. The belief in a god or in a group of gods.  2. An organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or group of gods.  3. An interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group.

I've looked up the word 'religion' in every dictionary I can find. They all basically say the same thing. Religion is a system of traditions, rules, and ceremonial activities used to worship a deity figure or a group of deity figures.

Doesn't that definition make you want to rush out and find the nearest church of your choice?

If that doesn't do it for you, perhaps this sample of a typical religious service that most people associate with the word 'Christianity' will convince you of the power of religion.

Please understand, I'm not attempting to slag any particular denomination in favor of a different one. What I'm stating here is religion, as defined by the dictionary, practiced by most churches, and hated by a growing number of people is as far removed from what God intended for His people as the Earth is from the end of the universe.

Generally speaking, religion is quite often an empty, vacuous exercise designed by man to control the masses with guilt, fear, and threats of divine judgment.  We've already taken a look at God's desires from mankind; but to put it simply, God did not create mankind for the purpose of inventing religion.  He created man to build a kingdom founded on a relationship between the King and His people.

Take a look at the psalm quoted above.  What you are reading are the heartfelt words of people who desperately need God to defend them against their enemies.  They are not praying empty words of religion.  These words are not part of a powerless and boring ceremony that will be forgotten before the final 'amen' is whispered in the congregation. This psalm was not written to fill some book of religious liturgy to be read and chanted in a church service.

These words are the faith-filled cries of an oppressed people who have come to know God at a deeply personal and experiential level.  These words are not words of a faithless hope that some mysterious power out there in the celestial realms will hear them and act on their behalf.  These are the words of a people who KNOW who they are talking to and declaring what they have already experienced with Him.  These are words of relationship; not religion.

The travesty of religion is its power to render God powerless in our daily lives.  For far too many people, religious ceremony has replaced developing a relationship with God. The attitude of many church attendees is not unlike the attitude of those called to go to jury duty. Church attendance is seen as some sort of obligation to stay on God's good side 'just in case'. Instead of becoming the source and the foundation for our lives, God is often viewed in the same light as the fire or police departments. He's our first responder in times of trouble and our religious practices are our 'get out of jail free' cards.

Now I realize I'm painting with a very broad brush here. I do know of people who benefit greatly from a tradition-heavy, regimented church service. If that sentence describes you, then rejoice in your walk with God. Again, my purpose in writing this blog is not to put one type of church service over another. The point of this blog is to identify a huge gap between honoring God with our religious activities while keeping our hearts far from Him.

God's desire for us go far beyond our Sunday activities. His plans for us have little to do with what church we attend or what denomination we affiliate ourselves with. When we stand before our creator at the end of our days, He will not be quizzing us on our religious activities. He will be looking at our investment in His kingdom.

In other words, God's priorities and ours are not the same.

If your faith in God is based on your religious activity, then when you find yourself in a "time of trouble", chance are pretty good that you will not be able to rest in your experiential knowledge of "The Lord of Hosts".

When the Goliaths show up in your life to destroy you, it's a safe bet that your religious experiences won't have the same affects on your faith that a relationship with God will have.

When you find yourself in need of a savior, it won't be the prayers you prayed, the songs you sang, or the sermons you heard in a church service that saves you.  It will be your relationship with your "refuge and your strength".

What am I saying?  I'm telling you from personal experience that knowing ABOUT God is powerless in times of trouble. It is only in knowing God from a practical, experiential relationship with Him that we find out just how accurate the Bible is. It is only when we know in whom we have believed that we understand what the psalmist was talking about when he declared "The LORD is my refuge and my strength..."

It is only when we embrace a relationship with God that the words in the Bible truly become The Word of God.

The world is a scary place. If you have any tenure on this planet you know the need for rescue from overwhelming problems. The world is begging for a human leader to rise up and save us from all of our social, economic, and political problems. If you're looking to a politician to be your refuge and your strength, you need to prepare yourself for eternal disappointment.  Man cannot fix the mess our world is in; they can only add to it.

There truly is only one source for happiness for our lives and it isn't at the bottom of a liquor bottle or the end of a needle. There is only one source for the solution to our needs and it isn't with doctors, lawyers, or politicians. There is only one place where you can truly find refuge and strength in the middle of the worst that life can throw at you and it isn't at a bar or a casino or even in most of our churches.

There is only one present help in time of trouble. Do you know Him or do you just know about Him?

The answer to that question is the difference between life and death...

Selah.