It is for freedom that Christ has set us free… do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1 NIV)
Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.
(Matthew 9:17 NIV)
God, I don’t want to be a religious person; I want to be a person whose religion supports her relationship with you.
I love that approach. The laws in your Old Testament were never supposed to be the point – I AM. The guidelines the Apostles preached, taught, and wrote about were never supposed to be the point – JESUS is. The doctrines and history and experiences of the Church universal were never supposed to be the point – you as my Children were to be led by the Holy Spirit into all Truth, and then live in ways that reflect that Truth. The whole of scriptures should always support but never replace relationship with me.
I’m sorry we humans have messed that up. Thank you for mercy and grace in this area. I truly do mean that.
Child, you can only act on what you’ve been taught. Many of the systems you grew up in—and still live within—lack the grace and freedom I intended, even within the boundaries of my righteousness.
“If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed?”
Indeed.
So, is it wrong to light Advent candles or sing Christmas carols or do all the other pre-Christmas activities that churches do?
Do they point people to Jesus?
They can. But if they don’t, it veers off into religiosity, doesn’t it?
It can. But remember, Child, you cannot know the state of someone else’s heart. You can see the fruit of that life, but only I can see the heart.
Yes, Lord. “Do not judge,” right?
DO discern what is of me. DO judge what is righteous and what is not. But do not judge someone’s heart. That’s mine to do.
I am struggling with something I’ve observed that is an Advent tradition but feels spiritually empty.
There is much in that particular context that feels spiritually empty to you. You have grown beyond that place, so it doesn’t fit you any more. Your experiences of me in the last few years have changed what you expect in a faith body.
“You can never go home?”
Somewhat. More like new wine in new wineskins. You are in the process of being changed into a “new wineskin,” so the wine of yesterday doesn’t work in your life today.
Yes. I can’t go back to who I used to be. But is the lighting of Advent candles just a religious act?
Are you judging the act?
I guess I am. Sorry.
Remember, what is not life-giving to you may still be life-giving to others.
I know, but I also know that there’s so much more to you and I want them to know you more.
So, pray, Child. Pray for hunger, renewal, revival, strong spiritual leadership, and a fresh wind and fresh fire of my Presence.
Yes, Lord.
El Shaddai,
Thank you for the gifts, mysteries, traditions, doctrine, and TRUTH of the Gospel. Thank you for your incarnation and your indwelling presence. As your Church moves through this season of Advent, I pray that each person will be able to focus on the Truth of this season. Where we substitute religiosity for what is real, correct our hearts. Where we tend to judge, teach us to discern according to your righteousness. Where traditions and rituals have become empty, remind us where you—the Life-Giver—truly reside. And where traditions, rituals, and practices point to you, may they draw your Church into deeper love for you.
We pray that the Holy Spirit would stir a new hunger in your Church, bringing revival and renewal to the Body. Create in us clean hearts so that we may become new wineskins for the new wine of the Spirit you are forming within us. Let this wave of renewal begin with church leaders, so they may lead with strong spiritual wisdom, discernment, and guidance. May pastors not approach ministry as mere professionals, but as men and women after your own heart—whose callings and ministries are fully aligned with you, Father. Pour out the fresh wind and fresh fire of your presence on all your people in every local church, for the glory of your name. May your kingdom come and your will be done, we ask in Jesus’s name. AMEN.
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? (Matthew 7:1-3 NIV)
The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.” (Isaiah 29:13 NIV)