Prophetic Word: God is Shaking Off Disingenuous Traditions
“For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.
”
Religious tradition can be beautiful. but even great tradition void of a genuine relationship with Christ is like an endless rehearsal without ever getting married.
It’s playing dress-up and is pretend.
God is shaking off disingenuous tradition. He's dismantling religious spirits that look real good, but are really lacking. There’s so much more than just the act of Holy practice; there’s heart participation.
God is shaking off platforms based on performance and disingenuous traditions. He’s reframing tradition in a way that makes it less about practice, and all about a posture towards Him.
He’s breaking off any tradition that isn’t rooted in a genuine relationship with Him.
He’s rebuilding His Church,
His bride,
and this is a beautiful place to be.
It's not about religion, but a relationship.
Tradition through liturgical practices,
moral and ethical principles,
and other Christian traditions are good things,
but the heart behind the why is what God cares about.
There may be an appearance of godliness,
yet some are lacking God's power.
Church is not just a program or sacred tradition... it's a place to meet with Triune God. He is moving, and those with a genuine heart posture aren't going to miss Him. Take a pause and evaluate the heart posture from which you lead, love, and live.
God is calling His people towards repentance and dependency on Him and Him alone.
***
Lord, may our religious tradition be practiced from a place of genuine love.
May we not be so held to sacred tradition, that we miss the moments You’re moving. And in the same breath, help us see the beauty in tradition as we worship You.
Break off any tradition that’s rooted firmly in us, and anything where we're playing pretend. Align our hearts with Yours. Bring us into a genuine relationship with you. May tradition stop leading as You lead our lives.
REPENT
We're sorry for all the times we've valued religion over relationship. All the times we've felt the need to perform or hold back when you were inviting us to step into your power greater. We're sorry for the times we've entered into religious habits without worshipping You.
Set us free from pretending,
and strengthen Your people.
As followers of You, may we desperate to follow Your move!
LEAD
God, lead us as we invest in our local communities and local church bodies.
Use us to empower others to shake off the dust of deception and deceit. May we ditch the need to perform or pretend but be fully positioned towards You and You alone. May Your power rest in Your church, minister through Your people, and bring others into right relationship with You. Not religion or disingenuous tradition, but You! May we model that with great authority and boldness that only you provide.
Move and speak Lord, we're listening. AMEN.
Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
Matthew 5:8, NIV
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."
God is at work all around us (and in us), don't miss it!
written by Jenny Randle
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