‘Not Today Satan: Satan Tried It’ is a blog series to help us become more aware of how easy it is for us to believe something because it sounds eerily similar to something that is in fact true. This series will show us how our own eagerness to attain status, wealth, power, etc can be easily manipulated that leads us astray. Down a path that becomes increasingly challenging to detach from over time. Which leads to destruction, pain and a battered soul. Free yourself so your soul has peace and joy.
In this final blog post of the series, I want to touch on some misconceptions about God that we may not even realize we adhere to. These misconceptions may also have been ingrained in us due to the frequency we do them. And by “we” I mean church as a whole generally speaking. One thing I saw when I researched these misconceptions about God was how bad doctrine and theology has been in too many churches. In pulpits they say God is sovereign but in reality their practices and behavior suggest they only seek God to bless them but not guide them. Oops……….did I step on toes? Oh well, we all need this wake up call especially with this series.
I found these misconceptions when I was reading Matthew 25:24-27,
24 “The man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a harsh man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ 26 “His master replied to him, ‘You evil, lazy servant! If you knew that I reap where I haven’t sown and gather where I haven’t scattered, 27 then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and I would have received my money back with interest when I returned.
Essentially our lack of faith when it comes to God is holding us back from seeing all that God is doing before our eyes and behind the scenes. We only know what we believe to see. Even when we don’t have the full story, God is still moving on our behalf to fulfill the promises He made to us. That includes giving us things we have been entrusted to benefit not just ourselves but others as well.
Here’s 3 misconceptions about God that’s keeping us stuck:
God does not discipline us since we are saved by grace.
Grace doesn’t cancel God’s corrective measures. Too many people intentionally do the wrong things, cause harm, wreak havoc and say ‘I’m saved by grace.’ Y’all this ain’t how it works. For those who are confused, let me simplify what grace means. Grace is extending compassion and/or patience to you while in a situation. However, some people use it as a get out of jail ie consequences card to justify bad behavior. And there’s quite a lot of Christians who use this justification while snatching grace away from others who do the exact same thing they have done. Consequences are coming; immediately or in the future, here or in eternity. God chooses when we are to receive them for what we did, said to others. Especially if we did or said something offensive to God.
Two scriptures come to mind when I think about how we should look at God’s discipline. And trust me, I get it. Human discipline is more like punishment than correction with love that helps us get back on the right track. But God’s discipline is a form of love. Proverbs 3:12, “for the Lord disciplines the one he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.” and Hebrews 12:11, “No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
God is at our beck and call.
God does bless us. But too many of us want to receive blessings and not be a blessing to others. God doesn’t like one-sided relationships. I mean do you? He’s not Santa Claus, a genie in a bottle granting wishes or some wizard in oz. Let’s face reality, we look to God only when we want something, want to be delivered from some struggle, want to flaunt in front of others or anything that will make us look or feel a certain way. Yet, we don’t usually walk in righteousness to even deserve what we’re asking for in return. I’m guilty at times myself. So no pointing fingers but confessing the truth. Let me put this another way. God does not work for us. We serve His purpose and are to bring Him glory through how we serve others.
If we’re not ready to share our blessings with others then maybe we need to stop asking until we are. God didn’t create us to be selfish. God created us to collectively support one another. And that’s hard to do when we look at Him to jump when we say jump, to bless us when we say bless us and ignore how we treat God and those around us. God is not waiting around for us to ask for things like we’re writing our grocery list and submitting to Instacart or something. God is waiting for us to be in fellowship with Him. That’s when it’ll start to feel like our prayers are being answered at lightning speed. That I know too.
Religion is the same as a relationship.
Being busy doing good works is not the same as knowing God in an intimate manner. Religion means nothing to God if you lack a relationship with Him. I’ve already written a great blog post on religion vs relationship which you should check out. But I will say this. The sooner you learn how to have a relationship with God, the relationship you have with yourself will greatly improve. Once your relationship with yourself improves, you’ll have more insight and wisdom on the types of relationships you do have and want to have with others.
Religion is rituals, tradition and practices done in routine to feel like we’re part of something bigger than ourselves. Relationship is an intimacy which we don’t take the time to carefully put effort into because it takes away from our screen time, brunch or whatever else we deem more important. God does not care what denomination you belong to. God does care whether you and He have a relationship where you get to know Him like He knows you.
These misconceptions about God have guided the church for quite some time. We as a church need to begin to take God’s discipline more seriously and teach that. No God is not out to thrash us with belts. God wants to correct behavior that is unbecoming. The church needs to unteach and unlearn that God only blesses those who do “good works”. Baby, we’re supposed to do them anyway. And those ‘good works’ don’t bring us any more blessings than others. In other words, we can’t buy God’s time to bless us when we expect or want. And most importantly, the church needs to ease off religion and show people how to be in relationship with God. The church will gain strength if more people rely on God and not the Pastor’s Word on what God says to them.
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