Everything that
I have ever achieved
Is like nothing
Compared to what
I’ve freely received
From the risen Jesus.

You can’t experience Christ’s inner peace if you refuse to believe that it exists. Until you humbly receive the grace to begin to experience and obey Christ in you, Christianity is just a religion. If you have no inner attachments to Jesus during the week, Sunday morning religion does little good.

Hearing words about Jesus that aren’t actively demonstrated in your heart will have little impact on you. True Christianity is when the living Jesus becomes a present reality and ongoing experience to you. The same Jesus who was experienced and followed by the first century Christians is now accessible to you heart-to-heart.

To ignore and stifle the inner longing of your spiritual nature is to cut yourself off from the source of purpose and meaning in life. The belief that life happen by accident and has no purpose isn’t good for your mental health. To vividly remember moments of great inspiration is to re-experience them in the present. That’s what King David did as he wrote the Psalms.

“Prepare the way of the Lord.” Make more room in your heart for the living Jesus. If going to church doesn’t make you aware that Jesus is alive and present during the week, it’s not doing its job! No religious system can connect your heart directly to God. Only the risen Savior can do that!

The living, present everyday Jesus who loves to connect heart-to-heart with ordinary people is often falsely presented as the:
Sunday morning Jesus,
Long ago Jesus,
Someday Jesus,
Ticket to Heaven Jesus,
Preacher-programmed Jesus,
Emergency rescue Jesus,
In the sky Jesus,
Formalized religious Jesus,
Riches and prosperity Jesus,
Patriotic Jesus,
Or storybook Jesus.
All those depictions are far removed from the biblical description of “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Christianity is so much more
Than one man preaching
To passive people
As they sit
Under a steeple.