Have you
ever asked
someone if
they believe
in God and
had them
reply: "Yes,
I am very
spiritual."
What does
that mean
anyways?
All men and
women know
instinctively
that they
are
spiritual
creatures -
not just a
physical
body and
brain and if
they take
some time to
consider it,
they all
begin to
wonder what
this
spiritual
side means
for their
life.
In addition
to this, the
Bible says
that all
know
intuitively
that there
is a God.
Romans 1:20:
"From the
time the
world was
created,
people have
seen the
earth and
sky and all
that God
made. They
can clearly
see his
invisible
qualities –
his eternal
power and
divine
nature. So
they have no
excuse
whatsoever
for not
knowing
God."
If we're
raised in a
Christian
home, we are
introduced
to God at a
young age
and
hopefully
grow up
knowing,
loving and
serving Him.
It's not a
steadfast
rule - lots
of young
adults
raised in
Christian
homes have
rejected
what they
see as their
parent's
faith for
one reason
or another.
If we're not
raised up to
know God
personally -
or if we
have
rejected Him
along the
way - there
is an unmet
spiritual
hunger that
exists
inside of
us.
Whether we
like to
admit it or
not, we
hunger for a
relationship
with God.
This is true
for every
single man,
woman and
child on the
earth.
There are no
exceptions.
Even those
who would
claim that
there is no
God - deep
down, their
spirits
hunger for
Him.
A quick
history
lesson...
When Adam
and Eve
sinned in
the garden,
mankind went
into a state
of
separation
from God.
(Sin
separates us
from a Holy
God.)
God
pronounced a
way through
animal
sacrifices
and man's
repentance
for his
people to
maintain a
relationship
with Him.
(There is no
forgiveness
of sin
without the
shedding of
blood.) But
even as He
did so, He
promised a
better
solution.
He promised
a Savior.
And that
promised
Savior is
Jesus Christ
who was born
on the earth
about 2000
years ago.
Jesus lived
a perfect
life and
died on the
cross with
the sins of
the world
upon him -
paying the
price for
sin once and
for all. God
proclaimed
that through
his death
and
resurrection,
anyone who
calls upon
his name
will be
saved.
That's good
news for us!
It means
that the
spiritual
hunger that
we feel can
be satisfied
in a
relationship
with God
through
calling upon
the name of
Jesus
Christ.
Romans 10:9
says "For
if you
confess with
your mouth
that Jesus
is Lord and
believe in
your heart
that God
raised him
from the
dead, you
will be
saved."
But some
don't ever
call on his
name....
Over
thousands of
years,
people
groups and
cultures
have given
birth to
many
different
belief
systems.
Some have a
loose
connection
to biblical
beginnings
but stray
far from the
truth about
God.
Millions of
people
ascribe to
these
different
beliefs -
each
absolutely
certain that
they believe
the truth -
and each
being
terribly
deceived.
Some belief
systems
accept that
Jesus Christ
existed and
that he was
a great
profit of
God - but
they reject
his position
as Son of
God, fully
man and
fully God.
The Bible
makes it
clear that
it is not
enough to
believe that
there is a
God.
Our sin
separates us
from Him and
desire for a
relationship
is not
enough to
create that
relationship.
God made the
way clear
and simple
for men and
women to
come back
into
covenant
relationship
with Him and
that way is
Jesus
Christ.
Jesus said
"I am the
way and the
truth and
the life. No
one comes to
the Father
except
through me."
Believing
something
doesn't make
it true.
All the
false
religions of
the world,
as heart
felt and
earnest as
they may be
- are simply
that -
false.
They have no
basis in
truth.
They are not
instituted
by God and
He won't be
honoring
their
promises.
God chose
one pathway
to
salvation.
"For God
loved the
world so
much that he
gave his
only Son so
that anyone
who believes
in Him shall
not perish
but have
eternal
life."
John 3: 16
False
spiritual
teachings
continue to
abound.
It is mind
boggling to
look back
over 6000
years of
human
history and
wonder where
all of the
different
religions
came from.
This mystery
alone is
enough to
confuse many
people who
feel it
wrong to
call one
belief
system right
and another
wrong.
They ask,
how can we
know which
is right?
Don't all
paths lead
to God in
the end?
If you
wonder how
false
teachings
came to be -
just look
around you.
New false
teachings
continue to
pop up in
the world
every day.
New Age
teachers
range wildly
from those
who embrace
pagan
witchcraft
to those who
prefer a
softer
spiritual
'love walk'
that focuses
on positive
energy or
psychic
abilities.
New books
are being
written
every day
presenting
some new
enlightenment.
New levels
of
spirituality
are being
taught via
yoga,
meditation,
special
breathing
techniques,
readings,
etc.
There is no
requirement
that any of
these
teachings be
based on any
particular
truth.
If it 'warms
your soul'
and leaves
you feeling
temporarily
happier, it
must be
spiritual
and is
accepted.
When you
consider how
quickly new
teachings
are accepted
and spread,
you realize
how easy it
has been
over the
centuries
for false
teachings to
come about.
Simply said,
being
spiritual is
not enough.
The hundreds
of religions
and flavors
of
spirituality
that abound
across the
earth today
are like
spiritual
junk food to
the human
spirit.
They provide
a temporary
feeling of
fullness but
are in truth
causing
spiritual
decay in the
inner man.
At the end
of one's
life, it
won't matter
if you
believed you
were
worshiping a
true God or
that you
have
believed you
were part of
God in some
mystical way
- if you
have not
called upon
the name of
Jesus Christ
you will
face the
wrath of God
without him.
Romans 6:23
"For the
wages of sin
is death,
but the free
gift of God
is eternal
life through
Christ Jesus
our Lord."
Acts 4:12
"There is
salvation in
no one else!
There is no
other name
in all of
heaven for
people to
call on to
save them."
Eternal life
and
relationship
with your
Creator God
through
Jesus Christ
is the
spiritual
relationship
you've been
searching
for.
Don't accept
anything
else in it's
place one
moment
longer.
