Religion vs. Relationship

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” Matt.15:8.

No matter how legitimate the altar is it cannot take the place of God. Another legitimate altar we tend run to and grab on to but fails us is ‘men of God’. Thank God for ‘men of God’, I do not have anything against them, but a man of God cannot substitute God. It is totally impossible no matter how anointed he is – he cannot. Someone called me on the phone to pray for his dying mother and I told him that it is not reversible because the sentence had already been given. His sister later informed me that at the time her brother called me to pray for their mother, they already had a herbalist, an alfa (traditional priest) and a great man of God in separate rooms interceding for her as well. Their willingness to raise multiple altars and obvious lack of interest in God   truly baffled me.. They just wanted to use God. Are you really interested in God or do you just want to use God? People run to men of God and hold on to the horns of the altar thinking that will solve the problem. No, it will not. Is there a place for men of God? Of course! They can intercede for and pray with you but men of God can never ever be substitutes for God – never!

Another legitimate altar is seed. Seed? Yes! Some Christians worship their seed but they have no interest in the God behind that seed. Legitimate altars can become ineffective in such situations; only faith in Jesus makes the difference. You may be reading this today and you stepped on something, you did not know that it was evil but since the day you stepped on it things have gone downhill. Just because you are in the Presence of God today it has been rendered of none effect, in Jesus Name.

The best thing anyone can do for you is help you connect to God. As your Pastor, the best gift I can give you isn’t to pray for you that God should answer your prayer requests. That is a gift but it is not the best gift. The best gift I can give you is for you to be able to connect with God yourself. Your own personal connection to God is the best thing that can happen to you. So your personal altar becomes indispensable. You have to go back to that place, for those of us that have experienced God in a very refreshing way before, you need to go back to that place and cultivate that relationship. For those of us that have no clue, you need to start a relationship with the Living God today. No one can do it for you.

Prayer [song]: Jesus be the center of my life (2x). From beginning to the end, it will always be, it’s always been You Jesus, Jesus. Nothing else matters, nothing in this world will do. ‘Cause Jesus You’re the center, everything revolves around You, Jesus You. Amen!