Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You've worn me out! I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning.
When you put on your next prayer-performance, I'll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I'll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you've been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don't have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong.
Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless. Let's Argue This Out!
--God, Isaiah 1: 13-17 (the Message)
3 comments:
Guy,
"These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ".
How sad that we, for so long taught believers to chase shadows of the real thing, a relationship with Jesus. Jesus is the substance of grace and yet the church, in general, led, and still leads people to chase the substitute for grace, an unknowable shadow.
Imagine! Intimacy with a shadow?
John,
Interesting way of putting it--intimacy with a shadow--yet that is what we substitute for the real thing.
lYesterday, my youngest son was mad at God. I held him in my arms and talked to him about who God is, how His ways are always bigger than we can see, I could not have done that without intimacy with Him who holds me and keeps me. This intimacy caused me to comfort my son in a time of great pain as I told him about Abba who is always perfect. He sometimes does not answer the way we want but He is always perfect. As I did this could feel the Holy Spirit come and comfort my son. I did not defend God. I did tell my son that God will do what is His perfect will and He has that right. It was a time of intimacy between us and God. The Substance is always the Lord Jesus Christ. He is not fire insurance but life itself. Part of why we have not had a harvest is we had tree of good and evil type knowledge of Him. We tried to sell fire insurance not LIFE. Jesus is Life and life more abundantly. We have lived with shadows too long, the Church must have Christ Alone, for what else is there!
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