Colossians 2:20
If it is true that you were included in Christ’s death, then the religious systems of this world with its rules and regulations no longer apply to you. What further relevance would there be for you to continue to live under the influence of man’s doctrines and ideas? (Mirror Bible)

Are you religious or spiritual?

To be religious is to adhere to a fundamental set of beliefs and practices, no matter what. Sometimes you don’t even know why you are complying. Often, these beliefs involve devotional and ritual observances. They can also contain a moral code governing the conduct of your life. The strict adherence to the code can produce a feeling of bondage. When you do things simply to keep traditions or earn favor, you are living like a Pharisee and not walking in the freedom. Religion is the law, and it kills. Being spiritual requires the manifestation of the Spirit of God and that brings life (2 Corinthians 3:6).

• If you are religious, you blindly follow rituals and formality.
• If you are spiritual, you want guidance gained by communion with the Father.
  Isaiah 29:13 And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips but remove their hearts and minds far from Me, and their fear and reverence for Me are a commandment of men that is learned by repetition [without any thought as to the meaning]. (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition AMPC)
   
• If you are religious, you submit to the demands of and yield complete control to man.
• If you are spiritual, you listen for and obey the voice of God.
  Colossians 2:8-10 Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that’s not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything. (The Message MSG)

• If you are religious, you speak of sin and of fault.
• If you are spiritual, you repent and forgive.
  John 3:17 For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him. (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition AMPC)

• If you are religious, you care about how people see you on the outside.
• If you are spiritual, you care about what is in your heart.
  Matthew 23:27-28 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You’re like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it’s all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at you and think you’re saints, but beneath the skin you’re total frauds. (The Message MSG)

• If you are religious, you focus on what “to do”
• If you are spiritual, you focus on who “to BE”
  Ephesians 6:6-7 Not in the way of eye-service [as if they were watching you] and only to please men, but as servants (slaves) of Christ, doing the will of God heartily and with your whole soul; 7 Rendering service readily with goodwill, as to the Lord and not to men. (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition AMPC)

Please know, keeping traditions won’t make you holy or give you everlasting life. Jesus died to make it possible to have a spiritual relationship with the Father, not a religious one.

Please agree with me as I pray:

Father, You are The almighty, all loving God. I don’t want to be religious in my interaction with You. I repent for allowing my Christianity and tradition to govern me with rules and regulations. Blindly following what everyone else was doing or what I was told to do with no understanding of why. I no longer pray because I’ve been told I should pray. I no longer fast because it’s the third day of the week. I do not love You out of obligation. I love You because of my relationship with You. Your word says You are Spirit and my interaction with You must be in spirit and in truth. I spend time with You because want to. I submit to Your leading and Your presence in order for our time to be rich and full of Your glory. There is no obligation. There is no banner to wave that says I prayed for an hour. I just want to be with You. Just to know we have a covenant relationship. I no longer want to be called Your servant; I want to be Your friend…

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Ask the Lord what He wants to say to you about today’s devotional and journal His response as described here.