Replacing God
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
One of the tragedies that we see in our nation every day is that we have forgotten the Lord and have replaced Him with our activity. Think about that for a moment. Many people want to do the activities of religion, rather than actually knowing the Lord intimately.
They would rather talk about Him than talk to Him. They would rather do things to serve Him than to bow before Him. It is like this: we are focused on the product of spiritual awakenings rather than being focused on the producer of spiritual awakenings.
Do you realize that worship is more than singing in a service? Worship starts with the posture of your heart. You can sing as loudly as you want to, but if your heart isn’t in the right place, it means nothing.
Additionally, one of the best things you can do for people is to pray for them. God can do so much more in His power than we ever could in our own power. By praying and asking for Him to intervene, we are asking Him to meet the needs of others rather than trying to meet those needs in our own strength.
These actions of worship and prayer are the result of spiritual awakenings. They don't produce spiritual awakenings, but they are the result of spiritual awakenings! Sadly, that is where we are in this country. In churches, we are more concerned about programs, organization, architecture, and schedules! Why are we doing that? We need to be focused on bowing before the Lord Himself!
Don’t get so caught up in what you are doing for the Lord that you neglect spending time with Him. Give higher priority to your relationship with Him than your service for Him. Let Him work on you from the inside out, then watch how everything changes!
One of the tragedies that we see in our nation every day is that we have forgotten the Lord and have replaced Him with our activity. Think about that for a moment. Many people want to do the activities of religion, rather than actually knowing the Lord intimately.
They would rather talk about Him than talk to Him. They would rather do things to serve Him than to bow before Him. It is like this: we are focused on the product of spiritual awakenings rather than being focused on the producer of spiritual awakenings.
Do you realize that worship is more than singing in a service? Worship starts with the posture of your heart. You can sing as loudly as you want to, but if your heart isn’t in the right place, it means nothing.
Additionally, one of the best things you can do for people is to pray for them. God can do so much more in His power than we ever could in our own power. By praying and asking for Him to intervene, we are asking Him to meet the needs of others rather than trying to meet those needs in our own strength.
These actions of worship and prayer are the result of spiritual awakenings. They don't produce spiritual awakenings, but they are the result of spiritual awakenings! Sadly, that is where we are in this country. In churches, we are more concerned about programs, organization, architecture, and schedules! Why are we doing that? We need to be focused on bowing before the Lord Himself!
Don’t get so caught up in what you are doing for the Lord that you neglect spending time with Him. Give higher priority to your relationship with Him than your service for Him. Let Him work on you from the inside out, then watch how everything changes!
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6 Comments
Thank you for another great and meaningful devotion. You bring so much meaning to scripture.
Thank you 🙏
It is time for us as Christians to come together as critical thinkers with common sense to realize that the church as we know it is in trouble. We have definitely replaced God with activities.. we have a come so busy not only doing things in our daily lives. We have forgotten that God has always just wanted a relationship with us through his son Jesus Christ. Often in my darkest moments, always ask God to restore me to the joy of my salvation. That security of knowledge of doing that He cares for me and wants the best for me no matter what. I find that without that daily relationship, I’m a ship without a runner. What in courage are readers to spend time in the word daily. A good place to start is in first John. Listen to the words of the disciple as the Holy Spirit invades this life on a daily basis In Christ.
There was a time when I was at Westside that a leader was more interested in her ministry looking good than what was more important for growing ones for the Lord. I was glad she was replaced with someone who had a heart for Jesus and teaching others how to be in love with Jesus, took Prayer is the most important thing for us to do as Christians ✝️
TRUTH!
Amen! Help us, Lord. Thank You for Your mercies! They are new every morning! 🙏🙏