PURE WORSHIP

Jeff Moore -

When I first heard “duality is idolatry” it slowly changed my life. The principle is that there is only room for one King on the throne and any time you have two of something, one of them is an idol! I realized then that so much of what we Christians think of has little to do with truly knowing Jesus. Most of it is just conjecture and filling in the blanks. Well intentioned but religious guessing about God but not KNOWING Him. You see our mind, like the promised land, is already occupied by enemies or weeds until we cast them out and put good seed down.

The promised land was too big to take in just one day so God left the enemies in it for a season. I can picture that mans religious thought performs a similar function to weeds in a garden. They take root and preserve the soil until we actually know what to plant there ourselves. On that premise we all have weeds in areas we have not heard from God personally. A lot of them.

Such weedy areas as; end time events, the rapture or not, the devil, the tribulation or not, “How much does my prayer affect the life of another?”, “How much is God in control and is man affecting his own destiny?, healing and death, free will and salvation, “Why is tithing not taught in the New Testament?”

I could go on but I hope at least one of these got you agreeing that there is more to know. If you think you know all about these or your pastor does… well use your whole brain because you’re deceived. Now I agree that some may know more than others. But excuse my boldness to say most know very little. God has designed it that way to keep Him as head and us as the body. Hence we must cherish each other not mere knowledge. For just one moment try and separate what you really know and what you think you know. Most people would fight and die (or crucify you!) for things that they only think they know.

Religion is so insecure it will war to keep from being exposed as conjecture. Or it will kill you to defend it’s idol or it’s church or theology but have no idea how it really works. We all know that cults do this but please realize that churches do it too! It’s kind of a mob mentality, the mantra of the religious “in” crowd.  “All outsiders will be executed!” or perhaps just shunned. However being able to recite a doctrine or scripture does not mean you understand it. Can you look at all sides of the issue from the whole counsel of the word of God and make it all fit? Probably not.

There is no substitute for KNOWING Jesus.

Having a simplicity of devotion to Christ causes you submit to the truth that He knows it all and you don’t. It prides to a man to look smart, it is humbling to live in a spiritual walk with Christ. But this is the only way God gets glory. He has left us a mystery which by translation means a “sacred secret” that only the humble can find. This sacred secret calls us past the weeds further and further into His promised land, indeed Himself. Will we leave our weeds? Our pet doctrines that we have named flowers? Will we dare to have nothing but Him to lead us on? Will we admit our nakedness that He may clothe us? For this very purpose we were born, to be one with Him at the heart first, then the head.

The Catholics mock the protestants because they have so many denominations. That’s duality. Then the Protestants spurn the Catholics saying they believe in Jesus and works for salvation and that is duality. The Kingdom folks scoff the Pentecostals because they spend 90% of a sermon talking about the devil which is duality. And little ol’ me chides the Kingdom folks for having doctrines that make them so elite that they have no room for anyone but themselves and their theology. To me that is duality. All is progression but let us remember to hold fast to the One. A stumbling stone to the learned and a mystery worth experiencing. Worship is not music it is abandonment.

Alas we all have things to learn but thank God we have only one person to know.  Jesus.  Know Him!

“Jesus wept.” John 11:35

Selah.

From the devotional series “I want my prize!” by Jeff Moore.