One of the most important realities you can learn as a believer in Jesus is that your dedication and trust must be to Him, and Him alone.
Many believers do not truly believe in the all-powerful, all-consuming God as much as they believe in systems, structures, and strategies to help them walk out their faith.
Too many believers claim to know God, but deny his power.
Too many believers are caught in false belief systems that have not been founded on the rock Himself, but instead, on sinking sand.
It happens easily.
We turn to church programs, instead of turning to God himself.
We turn to the community of believers God has gifted us, instead of God himself.
We run to the repeated phrases and lifeless prayers we have always heard and mimicked, without learning to pray from God himself.
It is imperative in this time and season that you understand where your trust lies.
If it is in a person, you will be disappointed.
If it is in a church, you will be hurt.
If it is in a denomination, you will be lost.
Nothing can sustain your wholehearted trust and devotion, with no letdown, setback, or pain, like Jesus can.
God called you unto Himself- not unto a church, a man, or a denomination.
God gives us these righteous structures for our benefit- they are ordained by him, and serve great purpose in walking the narrow way.
Leaders are good.
Church is glorious.
Denominations can be helpful.
But Jesus reigns above them all, and your allegiance should be to Him alone.
We hold all these things tenderly, recognizing the frailty of human life as we know it, while remaining rock-steady in Christ alone.
We participate, champion, and commit to the places, spaces, and people God has ordained in our lives- but we cannot let them replace him.
Their voices cannot become louder than His.
Who would you be without the voices, the structures, the systems in your daily life?
Would you love Jesus as much without a worship set or a morning devotional?
Would you know the distinction of His voice as clearly as you know the voice of your pastor or best friend?
Would you know your Bible without someone leading you through it?
Would you be able to explain the depths of God’s love in your personal life?
We first, and foremost, come to Jesus.
We begin and end with Him, and Him alone.
We were called to follow Him, after all.
Our participation and union can be to places, spaces, and people- but our unfailing consecration, or sacred dedication, must only be to Him.
When we value the methods and avenues God has given us, over him, we risk becoming blind by what we are told, rather than what we are hearing.
We risk deception.
We risk pain, hurt, confusion.
Let me be abundantly clear here: God loves His church, His people, His servants, His leaders, His teachers, His writers, His worshippers, His order, and His authority structures.
Dedication and consecration to the Lord need not compete with these active, healthy, and necessary parts of the Christian life that I firmly believe we should be engaged in.
What the Lord is really highlighting and bringing to my attention is how many people use these places and people as a crutch - believing they are intimately connected to Him, when they are really just intimately connected to a part of His design.
We are meant to be fed and sustained from the source (Jesus), and supplemented by the design (His church).
Many have missed the sustenance of God himself and are merely supplemented; because of this, they are still hungry. They want more of God.
They want more of His wisdom, understanding, and revelation.
They want more of His presence, His word, His love.
They want what only He can give in full measure.
We cannot be dedicated to what flows from Him, rather than the fountain Himself.
This is partly how church hurt happens so commonly and can become devastating to a person’s faith.
Many have left the faith because they believed more in a man, a mere human, or a religious construct, than they did Jesus Christ.
Satan loves to use this fishhook tactic when he finds those who are standing on sinking sand rather than the rock himself- convince a person that Jesus is untrustworthy because a person or a religious system was.
No one can ever be perfect but Jesus.
And when you build your house on this sinking sand- a belief that your church, your leader, your best Christian friend can do no wrong- you will find yourself broken and shattered when you realize that they actually can and will.
You will find yourself confused about the faith in God you believed you had securely determined.
This is simply an admonition to you, to me, to all of us as followers of Jesus- can you truly say that your discernment, your allegiance, your salvation, your hope, your trust, and your confidence is unto Jesus, the man you were called to follow, at all costs?
Even when what He says to us offends our minds or breaks our hearts?
Even when God reveals what we do not want to see?
Even when it means laying down all of our idols of perfect people and programs?
That is the cost of picking up the cross.
That is the reason you were called.
That is the only way to follow the Son of man into eternity.
Build your house on the rock and your faith will endure to the end.
Make it your mission to love and trust Jesus more than anything else in this life.
He rewards those who seek Him, and He will never lead you astray.
As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.
But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.
Luke 6:47-49