RELIGION WITHOUT REALITY

The bible is full of case studies of people who had religion without reality. God took a definite stand against them.

  Do you remember Adam? The bible tells us that he was the first created man (Gen. 1:27). One day Adam fell out with God. Do you know what he did? When next he heard the voice of God, he ran away. This is what many are doing today. They hear the voice of God in their heart,on radio, in the church, tract, in a sermon, in a magazine or book, in a particular incident and immediately they hide themselves. You cannot know, the reality of the religion of the Bible while you hide from God! Friend, how long will you hide away from God? 

 The reality of religion lies in its ability to deliver the soulvof its possession of religious power without deliverance from sin. To speak and know of religious power without deliverance from sin is to have religion without reality. you can't enjoy God that way. We have what I call 'crisis religion' in our world today. There are many who turn to religion only in moments of deep distress,chaos,or affliction. Theirs is a 'crisis religion'. They are like an aeroplane that is always having forced landing. They treat God as a SPARE TYRE; seeking his help and power only in moments of need. No wonder they don't get very far. They have religion but no reality 

  Hear what God says to them. "Because I have called and you refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but you have set at   naught all my counsel, and would have none of   my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity....when distress and anguish comes upon you, then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer" (Proverbs 1:24-31).

God says, " I will refuse to be your spare tyre! I am not obliged to hear you in that moment of distress, especially all the time you have disregarded me and my counsel." Friend, do you still try to make God part of the gamble that is "Religion without reality"? Read the bible again and you will find Him pleading "not giilty" to that charge. You cannot but give Him an absolute discharge. Today there is great emphasis on appearances. The image is everything. The image is more important than tje reality. You can't go by appearances. The Bible warns us about appearances:

            Pay no attention to how tall and      

            handsome he is. I have rejected him

            because i do not judge as man judges.

            Man looks at the outward appearance, 

            but I look at the heart (1Sam. 16:7)

How deceptive appearances can beM! so it was         with the the Scribes and Pharisees. On the outside they appear to be good an holy people. But inside they where anything but empty. They where guilts of religion without reality..

  This is a danger that faces all of us. Each of us has two selves- an outer self and an inner self. The inner one is the private self- the one that is seen only by ourselves. The outer self is the shell; the inner self is the kernel. Too often the nuts with the biggest shells are empty.  Why do we feel the need to pretend,or to impress others? Because most of us get our self-worth   

from what others think of us. Hence, in our needfor approval, acceptance and status, we may promote the outer self at the expense of the inner self. When people concentrate on inner goodness they don't have to shout about it, or even want to. They know with a quoet certainty that they have something which no one can take from them, something which make them feel worthwhile, no matter what others may think of them. they have self esteem and self-respect.

 We have to try to be true to ourselves, otherwise  we are fake. when we are false, the outward appearance ceases to be an expression, a revelation to the soul. But instead becomes a shell to hide the soul. Our greatest task is to try to conform our lives with our convictions, and thus to make peace between our inner and outer selves.