GOD VS RELIGION

God is a spirit and those that worship Him, must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
What is Spirit and What is Truth?
Webster ; explains;“ it is the incorporeal part of man, the vital principle in man mediating between body and soul, that part or agency which is influenced by the Holy Spirit in the heart of man-- The dominate tendency or character of anything; Lets look in the Bible and see if God through His spirit will reveal to us his thoughts on the subject; As I write this, I am lead to the book of Ezekiel, chapter 1:28, we read, “As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord”. (The Lord God of the universe must have revealed Himself to Ezekiel in this manner to impress on him who He was, that was about to speak to him; we read further “And when I saw it,” saw what? The glory of the Lord, like a rainbow, in all of its brightness, we can not begin to reveal this, or to comprehend what it would be like to vision the glory of the Lord. and Ezekiel said “ I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake“ he must have recognized the supernatural in that voice , for in the second chapter, verse-1 It continues, “ And he said unto me, “Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee”. (Now that was a command of the spirit, but the lord did not want him to just stand on his feet in a natural way. He wanted him to raise up and meet him in Spirit, to hear and understand in spirit what he was about to say. ( knowing it was impossible for Ezekiel to accomplish this, Verse 2 says) “And the Spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet,“ (all three simultaneously.) “That I heard him that spake unto me”! (Ezekiel heard with spiritual ears, for he understood at the same time what was said to him. Christ said in many places in the scriptures “ Let them that have ears to hear, let them hear.” He knew they all had ears and that they could hear his words, but He also knew they would not understand unless they had ears not made of flesh. The only way we hear God is for His spirit to actually enter into us. (This does not mean to have a certain feeling of uophera or an understanding that God has entered into us, but for Him to actually enter into us, where He doeth the works. Otherwise we only hear with out hearing. It’s not important for us to get an understanding of what Gods message was to Ezekiel, but it is important for us to yield to God so His spirit can accomplish his will in us. In other words, that He can enter into us, set us on our feet, and we understand, and become a part of Him. Not understand in our natural mind for, it is a spiritual mystery to become part of Him.
The spirit that is spoken of and the truth that is spoken of, IS the spirit of God that we must worship him ; All else is sounding brass and a tinkling symbol.
I know this sounds like double talk but it is not! The only way we can accomplish this is to “SURRENDER TO GOD WITHOUT A MENTAL RESERVATION” We cannot do this in our self; it must be a work of God in us and for us. It is not a matter of blending our spirit with Gods Spirit That would be like mixing oil and water. Our Spirit is enmity to God, and must die and all of our understandings with it. Read Romans 8: 6 “ For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” And in verse 8 we read, “ So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” As long as we think our own thoughts and make our own decisions we are in the flesh, don’t kid yourselves into thinking religious thoughts and thinking they are not your own just because they seem right. “There is a way that seems right in our own eyes but the end there of is death.” That way that seems right is your religion. Any understanding, idea, or convinced state of mind is your religion and must be completely surrendered in order for God to be all and in all.
Back to verse 7 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” We think what we have in our little 2x4 mind is Truth, We don’t know what Truth is, No matter how crystal clear or how many wonderful experiences you might have had in regard to it. Lets face it, what actually do we know. “If a man thinketh he knoweth anything, let him know this first that he knoweth nothing like he ought to know it" Truth stands on its own, my friend, It dosen’t need us to uphold it. For Truth is only in the mind of God. He upholds everything with His own countenance. It behooves us to be submissive to the mind of God and not be fixated to our own understanding.
This is where true Faith and belief comes in. It’s like signing a blank check we must sign it and let God fill it in. What do we believe? We believe all things that are true and all things that are holy and right, without having to hold them in a concept in our little mind.

UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER! “Surrender to God without a mental reservation” This is the doctrine; that will take us out of the drivers seat. The doctrine that will set you free. Free of your own understandings where you can be made one with your brother. The brother who does not think quite like you do. You cannot make bargains with God, nor hide treasures under the rug! You might, think you can take your religious beliefs with you when you surrender to God. But you cannot. You must be clean like an unwritten page, surrendering all,
Your beliefs in heaven and hell.
Your beliefs in your experiences.
Your beliefs in your understandings of God.
Your belief’s in thinking your belief’s are synonymous with Gods, is your biggest error—
And I am not talking about leaving all when you slip out of this body in death.
I’m talking about surrender right here in this world while in this body.
What God wants, is, and has always wanted, since Adam and Eve: is a people who love Him and gets to know Him. To know some one has a communicative relationship with that person, where you become part of each other. That’s what God wants of us.
I have laid out a plan, which is impossible. Like putting a camel through the eye of a needle. Yes!, impossible with man, but all things are possible with God. Just yield and yield and say Abba Father.
1 cor.8: 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you

God is Calling You to Come up Higher; by James Andrews General pastor 1953
The Jews in Christ were a chosen people. God was the author of their religion. He had directed in the construction of their temple and in its forms and ceremonies in worship. He had worked miracles in their behalf. They had a goodly heritage.
But when Jesus Christ came God in him was calling them to come up higher, out of types and shadows into substance. Out of ceremony into spirit. Out of law into Christ.
Even so today God is calling, all to follow him. The Jews and Gentiles, The Protestants and Catholics, The Undenominationalites and all the others that you know about who believe in and follow a system of thought; who are devoted to an understanding that has formed in their minds, who believe that their crystallized concept of truth is good and right, who are determined and positive that their doctrine is correct – God is calling them all not to leave one group and join another but to come up higher, out of the workings of their own mind into His mind. Out of self and into Christ. Out of their own life – “Their intellectual understanding of reality,” into God.
God has included all in unbelief that He might have mercy on all. Now! God is calling us to come up higher out of all thought; out of forms and ceremonies; out of all intellectual concepts of ideas; out of all naturally-minded conscious realization; out of division into “Full Salvation Union” That state of “oneness” for which Christ prayed so long ago when He said, “ That they all may be one; as thou father art in me and I in thee; that they may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” How can we be made one when we are so divided?, by surrendering to God who is not divided.
Many in all groups have advocated good ideas. The have loved their children and believed in their future. They have taught morality and practiced good deeds, as they knew how. Many have had religious experiences of deliverance, of healing, of inward peace and joy. All have prayed. But all have sinned (missed the mark) and come short of the Glory of God. There is none righteous. No not one. All have leaned to the understanding that has formed in their own mind. They have believed in that, rather then in God. They have believed in their understanding of God instead of simply “believing in God”
The times of past ignorance God winked at but now He commandeth all men everywhere to repent (to change.) There is such a reality, though unknown to you, of simply believing God;” of stepping out of self and into Christ; of loosing your life in the realm of conscious realization and understanding in which you now live and finding it in a higher realm of being, in God. It is not an understanding as we have always known, it is not knowledge or some gift of the spirit, it is not ability or talent; but it is that which is perfect, which when it is come, will do away with all that which has been in part.
Our loss is separation from God, our gain is restoration to God. Come , ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Oh God, open our eyes that we may see…