Keep It Moving

Of the many things I am learning as I continue to seek God’s Kingdom, I understand that I must keep it moving. I must stay on a continual exploration of the narrow path where God can reveal the truth of His Kingdom to me as I seek with my entire heart.

We want full control of our lives. We want to understand everything, so we go on a perpetual search to find meaning. I was reflecting on the fact that we have so many religions outside of Christianity. Most, if not all of them accept some beliefs from Christianity. Within Christianity, there are countless denominations, including non-denominational. Then we have the personal denominations created by those who profess that they are living their truth. They piece together beliefs from multiple religions, create their personal doctrine, and live accordingly.

Everyone is searching for something, so it is easy to understand how this mess was made. Imagine someone attending a church faithfully. They hear something that doesn’t sit right with them, so they read the Bible for themselves to search for truth. Upon discovering that the church is not teaching according to God’s Word and refuses to do so when it is brought to their attention, they decide to break away from that church and start a new one. They intend to follow God’s Word the way it should be done. At some point, they too veer away from the Word. At least one of their members, after hearing something that doesn’t quite sit right, discovers after going to the Bible for themselves that this church is not properly aligned with God’s Word. That person decides to break away and start yet another church, intent on following God’s Word. The cycle continues and new paths are carved out by people who are searching. At each turn, they may be intercepted and deceived by the devil. This scenario I have explained is true but without specific details of the origin of each new denomination in church history. The information is easy to find online so if you feel led, please do the research.

The seed for this insanity was planted long ago. In 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, Paul addresses the division taking place within the assembly. In verses 12 and 13 he says, “What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” Please trust and believe the enemy loves this disunity and confusion.

Fast forward to today where humanity has made an even bigger mess of it all. The devil does not even need to hide anymore. Many of his minions preach every Sunday in churches and keep entire congregations deceived. I obviously can’t speak about every single church, nor would I call anyone out specifically because it’s not for me to concern myself with. Focusing on what others are doing wrong is just another trick of the enemy to keep us from focusing on working out our salvation…but I digress.

The point I want to make is that we should not settle down anywhere for any longer than the Holy Spirit has said. One day, I was looking through videos on one of my YouTube playlists. Each of those messages served a purpose at the time I originally watched, but some of those pastors are ones that the Holy Spirit has since led me away from. God led me to understand what He needed me to know from the message then instructed me to keep it moving.

We have been given a culture of religion. It is hard to divorce yourself from loyalty to the physical realm, especially as we must navigate it daily. We must fully understand that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. God created us for eternity but our time in the human realm is limited and has a purpose. We cannot keep wasting time. We can’t be complacent or give in to what keeps us comfortable. Many of the things that keep us comfortable keep us deceived. So much of what we do is not even about comfort, it is about familiarity. We find comfort in what is familiar even if it is not right.

This is one of the reasons why people stay in churches for years even when the Holy Spirit has told them to move on. Instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, I guess that would be the equivalent of sitting in cold, dirty bathwater because they are not even willing to step out of the tub. We need to be willing to step out of our comfort zone in the world and step into the comfort zone that God wants to give to us. I read in a devotional once that the human mind is the pinnacle of God’s creation but so few use it for its primary purpose, knowing God. We were fearfully and wonderfully made to walk in relationship with God. In one of his messages, Myles Munroe explained that fish do not decide they are going to live without water. You don’t decide that you don’t need oxygen today. God designed you to need Him the way your body needs oxygen.

We must stop having any expectation of God to accept man’s modifications to His Word. Period. Religion makes everything so technical that we move Jesus out of it. If we claim to believe any of God’s Word, we must believe all of it. We cannot pick and choose what we want to believe or live according to. When someone gets hired for a job and receives the employee handbook, can you imagine how well it will go for them if they take the sections they don’t like, rewrite them, and tell the employer that they will work according to these policies they’ve created because that’s what works for them? Seriously. Take some time and reflect on this. If God’s Word says one thing and you respond with “I know but…” You, my friend, are out of line. We are either all in or all out. There is no gray area. If you are a Christian or follower of Jesus Christ and this offends or makes you feel uncomfortable, this post is for you. Ask yourself whether you are feeling a need to defend God’s Word or your will.

I am speaking to myself as well. I want to seek God’s Kingdom and righteousness with my entire heart for the rest of my life. It may very well take that long for the layers of deception to be peeled away so that I can walk out my journey the way Jesus told us to. With each layer that gets peeled away, my mind is blown at how deeply deceived we have been for so long. I had been walking in a strong delusion. I was unknowingly rejecting the truth of God’s Word in favor of what this world taught me and the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with rituals, traditions, and self-imposed ignorance. Those days are over, and I will be on a truth-seeking mission led by the Holy Spirit according to God’s Word for the rest of my life. I thank God for the people He placed in my life who love me enough to speak the truth of God’s Kingdom to me. I want the same for us all. Sitting on the side of the road letting life pass us by is not okay. We must step out of the strong delusion. We must seek truth. We must keep it moving.

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