Over the past few weeks I have been sharing with you about religion and relationship with God. Religion is of man and involves certain rituals.  That is why every time you fall, you may unconsciously revert to religious practices if you are not well grounded in the word. For example, when you tell yourself that you have to pray and fast for God to have mercy on me, these are religious beliefs.

Yet through Christ Jesus, you were delivered from this religious spirit, you have a personal relationship with God. Religion tells you to go back. Take heed when you go wrong to avoid the temptation to revert to religion. God’s purpose is a relationship with Him through Christ Jesus. That is where power comes from.That is where growth in your calling will come from; in having a personal relationship with God.

You know that you are serving God by His grace. If you are in religion, you may think that you have to fast and pray for days for God to use you. But for one with a personal relationship with Jesus, he’ll just believe and it will be done. A relationship with God says that through Christ Jesus all things are possible. You become a channel of demonstration of power or wealth not by works but by God’s grace. Fasting is good, as long as it is done in the right way.  One should not know that you are fasting, not even your neighbor.  Giving is good, as long as you do not go out boasting about it. The power of God is not demonstrated by what you are putting on, the anointing of God is not recognized through your height or size. A relationship with God is what will bring out a ‘nobody’ to demonstrate the power of God. The bible says the Lord uses the foolish things of this world…we are not against the intellectuals or professors but we are trying to show you that God is not for religion.

You can do all sorts of works and sacrifices but God still remains displeased. Religion will tell you that for you to hear God you have to go to a particular mountain.  But when Jesus came, he said you can speak to God from anywhere or any place. Some believe that they can only be children of God, by being baptized in River Jordan. But you can be baptized there and still remain a false brother in Christ!  That is why Paul says that both Gentiles and Jews we are one body in Christ. In Acts 15 there was an argument on circumcision but Peter says we do not want to put that burden on you. Genesis 15:6- Abram believed what the angel said and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Every time you believe the rhema word and act, you start to please God. In the book of James (2:23) we are told that Abraham became a friend of God.  When you believe the word spoken today, you will be free. Some think we became friends of God after Jesus came.

But here we receive a revelation of a man that became a friend of God even before Jesus came. God was not ashamed to be his friend. See yourself as a friend of God. You have Jesus in your heart, you are a friend of God.  When you associate with a powerful man you cannot remain the same. As a friend of God, he is rich and so are you, He is powerful and you are powerful too, He overcame the world, you too shall overcome the world.  Psalm 24:1 says the earth and everything in it belongs to God, so everything is yours. That is why Paul says “all things are yours” and you are of Christ, in the name of Jesus! In John 1:17 the Bible reveals to us that the law came by Moses abut truth and grace came through Jesus. That is why Jesus seemed to contradict the law, but he wanted to make people understand the law as they were handling it badly; He was bringing the truth.  We thank God for Jesus because in Him we can never fail in life.  He overcame and we too shall overcome. No situation is permanent; Jesus will see you through all the challenges.