by Joyce Wheeler

Created on: December 11, 2009   Last Updated: December 13, 2009

Organized religion or God? My heart jumped as I read this title because the truth is that both exist.

 As a believer it is not beyond me to tell others that I do not claim a religion. The reaction from this statement usually ends with me sweeping a chin up off the floor. For some reason people think that a religion needs to be claimed. This is how religion is organized, individuals going through the motions and rituals of the religion they have become a part of. Looking back on the history of various religions it is clear to see that many of them were indeed influenced by individuals and are man made. While these individuals claimed to be given knowledge of certain things from God and through the study of the Bible, I do not believe that believers should take these to be their own. The Bible tells us we need to study to show ourselves approved workers, therefore it is the responsibility of each individual to discover for themselves what God is saying to them.

 When an individual has a personal relationship with God it is not religion, it is not repetitive or just going through the motions. It is the type of relationship which individuals have with other humans only on a spiritual level rather than a worldly one. Individuals following God seek his will for their lives and let him lead them.

I was raised Catholic which was a totally religious experience and a very impersonal one with God. During my early thirties I started to attend a non-denominational church and then attended a home church. This was during my early relationship with God and when he revealed to me the difference between religion and God. The home church dissolved and I began to pray diligently as to where God would have me go. I followed my own thoughts and attended an Evangelical Free church where I knew other families and my children participated in many programs. While I prepared I kept hearing the name of another church repeated over and over again in my head. I figured this was Satan not wanting me to have what God willed for me, only to find out I was wrong. It was God leading me where he wanted me to be a different Evangelical Free church. When I relocated the Lord led me to a Baptist church where my family attended for four years. The Lord has recently placed us into an Apostolic church and we also attend a home church. While these are religious institutions and each one has their over all beliefs as a family we go where God sends us. The only requirement is that the truth is taught and this we have found in the churches God has placed us.

 Those who have a relationship with God seek to be with others of like mind, attend church, read the Bible and pray. Those who are a part of an organized religion go through the motions which the religion puts forth and often become robotic and numb to God’s voice. No organized religion for this family, it is all about God and what he wants us to do.  

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