Don't Hate, Appreciate

If there was something Jesus detested it was religion. There was one group in particular who was really into it though. The Pharisees brought down God’s perfect law to the level where they thought they could keep it. And Jesus always put them in their place. In fact Jesus called them “whitewashed tombs” and a “brood of vipers”. Why was Jesus so angry at them? Because they were self righteous? Yes. But more than that, because they “put loads on people’s backs but do not lift a finger to help them”.(Matt 23:4 and Luke11:46) They disqualified people from God with their added rules that only they could keep. The same people Jesus wanted to reach out to and just love on- were afraid to go near Jesus because of the religious hypocrisy and the fear propagated by these Pharisees. That culture is still alive today. And it STILL stops people from drawing close to God.

Even in “the Kingdom”,  there are many “christians” who have a jealous spirit. The spirit of the Prodigal Son’s older brother- jealous that the Father was gracious and merciful. Would he prefer that the Father was mean? Who then would bother returning home? The spirit of the ones who worked early in the vineyard, jealous that the ones who came late got the same. They are the 99 who were left behind because the shepherd was looking for the 1. They don’t identify with the “1″ that was lost. They don’t think they were ever lost, and they forget that they only stand by grace too. They think they are “the first”. They are Martha, angry at Mary for resting at Jesus’ feet. They lose out on the “better part” because they forget that only “one thing” is required. Faith!

If you would just believe.. Thats it. Don’t miss out on what he died to give you. Don’t listen to people who add things to something that is yours for free. Don’t think that God wants to save your soul from hell, but also wants to give you a life that’s full of “trials and tribulations” to some way “prepare you for heaven”.  The Kingdom is Here. If you are in Christ… you have everything that he gave on the cross- his life, his righteousness, his health, his wealth, his standing with the Father, his beauty, his mind and his heart. It’s already there, and the beauty of life this side of heaven is learning about what he have in Him, and not what we need to earn without him… Who we are in him, not who we have to become in order to receive his approval. We are new creations- HIS new creations. He did this to us.