Unveiling the Spirit of Religion
I am so grateful to The LORD for walking in my life through the Holy Spirit and being my teacher as I walk through life.
He is so faithful, kind, and patient with me and I am so grateful of how he is revealing the spirit of religion.
Religion is a return to bondage. Religion is a very dangerous spirit especially to the new convert and others who get sucked up into its core belief system based on our works and not the finished work of Christ.
When Jesus walked the earth, his greatest rebukes were given to the religious leaders and religious system of His day.
Like Jesus, we must stand against the spirit of religion as it desires to defeat us in our walk, bringing us into religious bondage and in many true conversion experiences’ that are based on God’s love through Christ once and for all sacrifice.
The spirit of religion comes to new converts by binding them up in chains by deceitful lies. The basis of religion is that we must perform to keep what Jesus has already kept.
The true Christian is kept by the power of God. I imagine many of you, have experienced such heresy and found the truth concerning this as I have.
“2Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time,” 1 Peter 1:2-5 KJV.
I finally left those types of Churches many years ago. Yes, I lost a lot of friends years back that I dearly loved, as I imagine many of you have too.
When I took this stand for Christ alone being the beginning and the end of my salvation, I found out religion or religious spirits became provoked.
I noticed these types of people are miserable, they have no joy and you can see it on their faces. If truly known, they live a double-minded standard of hypocrisy and they really don’t want to be miserable but they truly believe they must be miserable and burn out for The LORD.
That sounds really good to the flesh, “to burn out for God” but the problem is just that. The flesh cannot inherit The Kingdom of God.
In my journey, I have found that because of the stand I take, I would rather have a few real Christian friends instead of many religious ones. “Beloved we need to learn how to ‘discern’ The LORD’s body.”
Religious spirits through people are so sad to watch. Many are mean and totally intolerant.
These demands the people to play the game, “can you top this?” Thus, making the liberating salvation that makes us free into a competition.
Many cover their faces with masks. They are two-faced and double-minded, causing instability in all their ways.
The religious make themselves feel perfect and demand others to be like them so they climb up and over man’s religious acrobatic successes!
They climb over anyone and step on any head that is in their way towards that pinnacle of religious success. However, once reached they find there is nothing there. It is through this process that many do indeed burn out and fall a long way down landing at the bottom only able to look up.
That sounds bad, but beloved when we finally figure out our salvation is not measured by our success in religious terms can be a major turning point in our lives!
It’s a journey for the religious to come out of that condition. Even Moses went from self on the throne while he assumed he was their savior at the beginning, and you know the rest of the story.
He was refined, defined, and in-line with God once he was broken and had no pride left. Moses was the meekest man that ever lived.
Just think about what that mantel cost him. To go from murdering an Egyptian to the leadership of the people of God in meekness took years of preparation in the desert, but God prepared him.
True ministry doesn’t appeal to the flesh of man, but to the death of picking up our cross and following Christ.
What are our motivations, do we want to see our name in lights? Beloved, it is all about laying down our lives to serve.
Compare this to the Hollywood Christians who have tremendous egos to measure themselves by themselves.
Also, they have been driven by popularity making leadership appear as the worldly way that is measured by competition and the carnally-minded expressions that seek notoriety.
There are more than we see and know who seek to be famous! Without the proper training and being built up in humility to serve the body of Christ we build on a faulty foundation.
All rank in the kingdom is based on love and service with most evident, humility. The evidence of brokenness makes us tender as we truly lay down our lives and we are marked by humility.
Those who follow after such evidence must be mindful to guard our heart, for out of the heart the mouth will speak. There will be evidence beloved.
The wrong mindset seeks to be honored and promoted without being purged of pride and whose motives are concocted by seeking great things for self and as a novice must not be given leadership over others. Many other fruits of character will be made manifest and tested.
This is happening with a lot of people who are called into ministry. We are NOT supposed to be of this world and promoted by exterior methods and measurements.
Large portions of today’s ministries are filled and fueled by religious spirits and pride! This is rampant in this day and age.
Religion keeps us bound to false agendas and experiences instead of our own God-filled experiences and God’s purpose in us.
“Thus saith The LORD, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch; Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for The LORD hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest. Thus shalt thou say unto him, The LORD saith thus; Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land. And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith The LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest,” Jeremiah 45 2-5 KJV.
We must learn to abide in Spiritual Goshen, we must learn Kingdom Relationships and Principals for our futures.
There has been a place of protection for His people in the midst of judgment and at first, it seems like things are getting worse by having to do more work with fewer provisions. This is the Church’s finest hour! (Study Exodus)
We have cried out to see God move, we have cried out for revival and to have more supernatural experiences. What will we do when that happens?
It seems to me that a great part of the Church are addicted not only to drugs, alcohol, sex, food, and many more addictions, etc. but something more sinister, the Church has an addiction to being amused.
In the height of Roman rule, they were notorious for being amused as it was part of their culture.
The passion of the Roman culture for entertainment was enormous. During the reign of Claudius, 93 days each year were expressly devoted to games and spectacles, by the end of the second century, the number had risen to 135.
The Roman coliseum was an arena of butchery. It was in this coliseum that many of our brothers and sisters were given to the lions and other forms of torture.
The brutalizing effect of the arena on Roman society was hard to comprehend. How could so many people of “culture” fail to condemn this practice? Just think of what it was like then to be a Christian. In America, we are so spoiled. Just think of being a Christian then.
We have an amusement park atmosphere within many religious houses, especially in America. I have been seeing over a period of months, visions of Carousel, and Ferris Wheel, Tilt-a-whirl, and I been hearing the type of amusement park music.
Do we want to see souls saved and people delivered, made disciples and launched into their own ministry?
Are our lives truly motivated by the love of God or for selfish motives and ambitions? Truly, none of us know our own hearts. We must ask and pray that God deals with our hearts.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I The LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings,” Jeremiah 17:9-10 KJV.
It seems like people want “Holly-Wood Christianity” with all the Church house celebrities in whom the notoriety goes to their head and Jesus is not glorified. Holly-Wood has nothing holy about it!
Yes beloved, it is time to connect and make a chain in the land, but we must also move with the glory cloud to link up and sow into the “NET” Works as you have sown in local Church houses, the cyber Church is a valuable cutting edge “NET” to reap in the souls and to keep those who fail and fall by keeping them from falling through the net.
Truly, our connections are linking with international worldwide results. In being part of God’s last harvest before he returns we must support the great “NET-Work Worldwide!
Never in a time in history has it been said that in seconds we can be in Israel while in America.
Truly the Great Net is a huge governing tool, for witnessing, and teaching disciples is a medium in the airwaves. We overtake the prince of the power of the air, we take back our communications.
Satan is in a mad dash to corrupt the minds of the simple for we shall see the earth shake, quake, and rattle, however, this will lead us, ‘the remnant’ quickly to find each other.
Spiritual Goshen is a place where we can abide with other Spiritual minded folks. When judgments fall upon the earth, we are safe in the arms of The LORD.
We are a Kingdom Triumphant and we must fight for Earth to give up all the benefits to God’s kingdom. The wealth of the sinner has been laid up for the just!
Being religious has evidence. It is so sad what people go through to ‘make themselves’ think they are fit for the master’s use.
It’s a journey for the religious to come out of that condition. Even Moses went from self on the throne while he assumed he was the Israelite’s savior at the beginning, and you know the rest of the story.
He was refined, defined, and on-line with God once he was broken and had no pride left. Moses was the meekest man that ever lived.
Just think about what that mantel cost him. To go from murder to the leadership in meekness took years of preparation in the desert, but God prepared him.
True ministry doesn’t appeal to the flesh of man, but to the death of picking up our cross and following Christ. What are our motivations?
Do we want to see our name in lights? Beloved it is all about laying our life down to serve.
Compare this to the Hollywood Christians who have tremendous egos to measure themselves by themselves.
Also, they have been driven by popularity making leadership appear worldly. Religion is measured by competition and the carnally-minded expressions that seek notoriety seeking to be famous without the proper training and being built up in humility to serve the body of Christ.
In closing, all rank in the kingdom is based on service with evident humility. Those who follow after such evidence must be mindful to guard our heart, for out of it come the issues of life.
There will be evidence beloved! Religious mindsets seek to be honored and promoted without being purged of pride, and many other fruits of character will be made manifest and tested.
This is happening with a lot of people in ministry today. We are not supposed to be of this world and promoted by a large portion of today’s ministries.
The evidence of brokenness makes us tender as we truly lay down our lives and pick up our cross and follow Jesus! In this, we are marked by humility, In Jesus’ name!
In HIS Grace and Mercy,
~ Sherry Edwards Mackey
Sherry Edwards Mackey
Please Note: Publications and or prophecy taken from this may be used to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ. The articles taken must be used according to it’s entirety with credits. Thank you kindly!
Absolutely phenomenal. Thanks a lot sister.