We Won't Bow To Religion : Bishop Jeannette Samuels

Sometimes we get trapped or tricked into a spirit of religion. The routine motions, the checking of the boxes, the getting up and doing the same thing because we are “supposed” to, it’s our “duty.” Something like this: wake up, read a chapter in the Bible, do confessions of the Word, go to church and jump around, raise our hands, shout, speak in tongues, go to bed and repeat. We can give the right religious answers to questions when we are asked: “How ya doin’?” “Oh blessed and highly favored!,” carry ourselves with strict rules of do’s and don’ts…and on the outside, it may fool people when they interact with you. It may even fool you on the inside, but my question for you is this: When was the last time that you had an encounter with the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Lover of your soul? 

When was the last time you listened to that still small voice; when was the last time you mixed the routine, the day to day, with an encounter or faith for an encounter? When was the last time you stopped the reading, the confessing, and put on some instrumental music, spent time in quiet with Him and heard His voice? 

Religion can’t keep you because you will always miss the mark; you will never measure up, because you won’t always check every box. Religion leads to doing “things” that make your flesh feel better but never leads to transformation, never leads to an encounter, never leads to relationship. It leads to condemnation for never doing enough. All these things are important, but in religion, it takes Jesus out of the equation and now you are just things done out of a need to satisfy the mind, the flesh, that you’ve done them.

When we are courting our expected spouse, we don’t just read a book about them, say things out loud about them and go to places where they are…but never interact or communicate with them. It’s not enough to know about them; we want to know them, intimately, to the place of vulnerability, where we see sides of them that no one else gets to see. It’s the same with Jesus, our Father God and Holy Spirit. We can read about them, we can describe them to a degree to someone, but if someone were to ask you what it’s like to hear God’s voice, or to be led by Holy Spirit to do something that takes you out of your comfort zone, what would you say? 

Relationship asks you to relinquish control and let Him direct you, lead you, guide you, and to respond in faith whether it makes sense to your mind, your flesh or your emotions. You have to let go and take that step, even if it appears that there is nothing there for your foot to land on. He doesn’t ask you whether or not there is anything there for you to step on; He asks you to simply step, and by faith believe that He won’t let you fall. 

We are living in such a day and time that religion won’t cut it. To stay in the spirit of religion is to say that you will bow to the anti-christ agenda, because it will sound good to the mind and the flesh; it will appease the emotions, but relationship will allow you to hear His voice saying “Don’t go that way, it leads to destruction.” We can longer play games with our relationship with Him. We have to live by faith. The Sadducees and Pharisees lived by religion, and they crucified Jesus. 

Matthew 7:22-23 MSG: I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’

John 10:27-28 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition: The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me.