This blog will speak to you more if you have read my blog FREEDOM from Religion (Part 1), as it talks about how after being born again your focus is on having a relationship with God VS doing a bunch of outwardly things that look good.
Before I start talking about these things, I want to be clear that religious mindsets and even following certain religious rules don’t take away your salvation, IF you were born again you are SAVED. However, religious rules and mindsets truly harm your salvation if you stop obeying God, you start turning back to habitual sins, and ignore all the warnings from the Holy Spirit.
Romans 14:1-23 Summarizing a bit: Paul explains that you can still follow strict rules, traditions, and honor God. IF you feel you shouldn’t eat meat, that’s fine, your focus is ultimately on pleasing God. If it is important for you to make Sunday a holy day, then you should and not let anyone get in the way of that (I do need to warn people about churches that are not teaching Gospel truth, and doing more harm than good. The bible warns us, so I will warn you). We need to not place rules on each other that are not biblical. But, we need to not cause others to stumble because they want to follow certain traditions, when they are still being obedient to God. What we need to be careful of as Christians is judging others for things that are of no harm (i.e. choosing not to eat meat). Paul even says if a weaker believer thinks they shouldn’t eat pork or drink wine, we shouldn’t eat pork or drink wine in their presence.
So then why am I sharing?
Too many religious mindsets keep you from growing: keep you in a fearful mindset , religious mindsets can create confusion, they can take away your peace, they can harm your confidence, they can be a stumbling block to your trust in God. Also, there is joy in the freedom of knowing you are saved and don’t have to earn it, you can experience God’s love on a greater level.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. – Galatians 5:1
(Other verses using the word free: John 8:36, Galatians 5:13, 2 Corinthians 3:17, Romans 6:7, Romans 8:2, John 8:32, 1 Peter 2:16)
Religion OUTWARD Appearance vs. INWARD Transformation
Anything can become a religious activity, if your mindset is wrong. Do it out of love: Love for God and love for people. Desire to grow in your relationship with God, and to walk in your spiritual gifts with love.
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37-40
Let’s break it down!
MINDSETS: You go to Church (corporate)
RELIGIOUS MINDSET:
- You go to Church to find God because that’s the only place to find God (this is Old Testament) teachings.
- You go to church because that is what a good Christian does.
- You can’t be saved if you don’t go to church.
- You go to church because you need someone else to teach you, you can’t learn on your own.
Now, I told you that isn’t true if you are born-again in my Discernment blog that heavily uses scripture to explain! Don’t let anyone make you feel you can’t learn a lot on your own. The problem has never been your intelligence. I will say it again: 38 years of my life “I’m not smart enough, I will never be smart enough to learn anything in the bible on my own – it is too confusing.” I had no clue I was born with the gift of spiritual wisdom! So, what the heck happened?! I got the HOLY SPIRIT! The Holy Spirit can teach you, and teach you things just for you to share! Maybe someday you will teach me something that the Holy Spirit taught you. That would be great!
A BORN-AGAIN MINDSET:
They realize the church is in them. God is in them (the Holy Spirit). So why go to Church?
- To find Support – Community. Sometimes being a Christian is hard. Perhaps you need someone to point you to a scripture to help with questions you have, to pray for you, or to listen and maybe even share advice they receive from God for you! Sometimes even though I can ask God myself, God will answer questions I have through Chris. There are even times I’m talking to Chris about something I’m struggling with and Chris hears God giving advice on the situation, and he will say, “God said…” Of course, I share wisdom I receive from God with Chris too. He reads most of my blogs and agrees with what I’ve written. He almost never has edits other than… explain this a bit differently.
- To serve out of Love – You are called to share your gifts with others who need them. You sing well? Share it! You are great taking video? You are great at teaching children? Help teach the children. But, do it out of love. Don’t do it because you are guilted into it.
- To LEARN & Get equipped to help spread the Gospel truth – It is hard to just rely on the Holy Spirit to teach you because there is so much you can learn, and everyone learns different things from the Holy Spirit that are meant to help build up the Body of Christ (help all Christians)!I know sometimes I talk like the Holy Spirit is just teaching me, BUT I have actually spent a ton of time listening to videos on YouTube from preachers with the Holy Spirit, learning from people I follow on Facebook, learning things from a mentor God sent me. My social media is actually packed with people preaching truth, and I get ideas from it. So, what I know isn’t from the Holy Spirit alone, it’s just I’m taught and able to explain things in my own special way because of the Holy Spirit and my gifting. The Holy Spirit gives me ideas that were always meant for me to write. I’ve also gained wisdom from suffering a lot, being tested, trials, etc. It is my gifting for a reason.
- You go to feel the “Fire” – Maybe you go to feel empowered by others who are on fire for God. I can’t really explain the fire. It is something you will feel at some point when you have the Holy Spirit. It’s really awesome. If you listen to Christian music, you have probably heard people sing about the fire! That’s because it is a real thing that Christians, those born-again experience. See the scripture below, the bible mentions it.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. – Matthew 3:11
Some people have more fire than others. I’m told I have a lot of fire, and yes, I know it! It has to do with my gifts and how God designed me.
- Worship? You can worship God from anywhere at any time. But if you love worship in a church setting, there is nothing wrong with that. You should worship outside of church too though. NOTE: Worship is a weapon! You have anxious thoughts, stressful thoughts, fearful thoughts… worship!
Reminder: In my church blog, I mentioned you can have a small community and it can be “church.” No matter how much you love your corporate church and the people, you won’t grow at a church without the Holy Spirit. You have to be aware that there are very few churches with pastors with the Holy Spirit teaching Gospel truth.
MINDSETS: Reading the Scripture
RELIGIOUS MINDSET:
- God will reward me because I read the bible cover-to-cover, and many people haven’t.
- If I read the bible (If I read it every day) God will surely save me
- If I don’t read the bible daily God will be mad at me.
- If I put in the effort, if I read and apply a lot of the things in the bible to my life, I will be saved! (Are you applying the part where you repent? have you been born again?)
A BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN MINDSET:
I HUNGER for Scripture to hear from God and know God! I want to strengthen my RELATIONSHIP with the creator of everything!
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Additionally:
- I want to sharpen my DISCERNMENT so I won’t be deceived by anything or anyone. Philippians 1:9–10
- I want to learn so that I can more effectively SHARE the GOSPEL truth with others.
- Just GROW SPIRITUALLY in general
- Grow Faith
- Trust in God
- Walk in Alignment with God
- Experience the gifts (peace, joy, etc)
Anything can become a religious activity, if your mindset is wrong. Do it out of love. Love for God, love for people, to grow, to become who you were created to be.
MINDSETS: Sharing the Gospel Truth or Your Gifts
RELIGIOUS MINDSET:
It is a religious activity, when you say, “I’m doing this to secure my salvation.”
- I share the Gospel because it is needed for me to be saved (I’m creating fruit)
- I’m doing this because it makes me a better Christian than others
- I’m doing this to get recognition. I love the attention!
Don’t take glory away from God! This blog has helped you? Thank God, I don’t need to be thanked. Of course, it helps to know that I’m sharing good content. So, if you are comfortable hitting “like” it does help, if not, that’s fine too. I did look at my analytics recently, and I just see the numbers as to how many people are reading, and that makes me happy. God is working!
BORN-AGAIN MINDSET:
You share from the overflow of Love (You truly want people to be saved)
You share because God tells you to, it is being obedient. But if you are not doing it out of love, you need to pray more, you need to read more scripture because if you are spiritually growing, you won’t be able to stay quiet, you will experience an overflow of love.
You know your gifts are meant to be shared!
12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. – 1 Thessalonians 3:12
I share the Gospel because I can’t not share! I have love that overflows, I want all my friends and family on the narrow path (to get into Heaven). I want to help strangers that are lost and in need of the truth. There is a lot of deception in this world and God has equipped me to help people to see truth! The Holy Spirit gives me ideas to share, and how could I ignore that?! I feel in alignment with what I was created for and in alignment with God.
Everyone is given different gifts.
MINDSETS: Prayer
RELIGIOUS MINDSET:
- I pray because that’s what Christians do (If I pray every night and every morning, I am a true Christian)
- Prayer is for me to get things from God
- If I pray God will know that I love him (you can start there, but God says: If ye love me, keep my commandments. – John 14:15)
BORN-AGAIN MINDSET:
- Prayer is strengthening my relationship with my Creator
- Prayer is building my trust and faith in God (even when God is silent, I just know he is listening and He will show me my path forward at just the right time)
- Prayer is giving thanks to God, not to obtain anything, just because God is so good to me.
- Prayer is to ask God how I can walk in alignment with Him, asking God for things He wants me to do
- Prayer is asking God about all BIG DECISIONS because He knows what are the best decisions for me… career, relationships, buying a new home, car, etc.
- Prayer is sharing with God fears, anxiety, worry, stresses, and asking for help
- Prayer is asking God even about little things when I’m uncertain
- Prayer is asking how to walk in my spiritual gifts
- Prayer is asking for God to help friends, family, strangers, etc.
- Prayer is to repent, and surrender again fully
These are just some examples of all the different things prayer can be in a relationship with God. There is so much more I can say about prayer! I was thinking I need to say more, and then I went to church on Sunday and heard a sermon on prayer, and the Holy Spirit made it known to me that it deserves a full blog with scriptures. Coming soon!
MINDSETS: Tiding
Old Testament says you give 10% of your income. NOT the New Testament.
RELIGIOUS MINDSET:
- You give because you expect God will give you something in return
- You give because the church tells you that to be a part of the church you must give $ amount a month/year or whatever.
- You give because it is a box that needs to be checked to show you are creating fruit for your salvation.
- You give because it makes you look good in front of other fellow believers
BORN-AGAIN MINDSET:
New Testament says a person gives out of love with a cheerful heart. You know someone is preaching truth, they are trying to spread the Gospel far and wide, you give money to help because you know a lot of people are going to be saved.
7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. – 2 Corinthians 9:6
2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. – Matthew 6:2
Baptism Story First:
I’m going to tell you my personal story because there are many things to understand, but I’m NOT sharing this to be a roadmap for others to follow.
Okay so I was contemplating this after I was saved. I knew I was saved because I had the Holy Spirit (I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit) and I was born again. But I also knew that the bible talks a lot about the importance of being baptized in water. But I was struggling with the why?! Truth is I still don’t fully understand. I think it is a necessary step to move you forward on your journey as you spiritually grow to walk in your gifts, this is just evident from my story.
So, what happened is I asked God a few times after I was saved, “Should I get baptized?” and I heard nothing. Then one day Chris and I were asking, “Father, we ask in Jesus name, what is the next step for us to do so we can spiritually grow and walk in our spiritual gifts?” And we received a scripture, and we looked it up. I can’t remember which one… it was simple, “baptized by a disciple.”
You should know I was dunked in water as a baby, and they called it me being baptized. I willingly got dunked in water as an adult when I thought that I was possibly saved after reciting a prayer that a pastor gave me. A pastor who wasn’t a true disciple. I had no idea of the Gospel truth (that I was giving up all sin OR that I could receive power from the Holy Spirit). Anyway, GOD didn’t see any of these as me being baptized, otherwise He wouldn’t have told me to go do it after I was born-again.
So should people wait for God to tell them it is time to get baptized? Or should they get baptized right away when they are born again? The truth is I’m not really sure. But we see in the Bible most people who were born again got water baptized right away by a disciple, so that tells us we don’t have to wait. But consider this, “do you know that a true disciple is baptizing you?”
Back to my story… I asked God, “Father, I ask in Jesus’ name where do I go to get baptized?” I heard nothing, Chris heard nothing. I was like, “God why can’t you just tell me?!” But I later realized there was a reason God didn’t tell us right away. One thing to note, Chris and I live in what is considered the “bible belt.” Oh, it is sad people! Chris and I researched a ton of churches and went to a few, and struggled to find a church close by with a pastor with the Holy Spirit. Both Chris and I can tell when a pastor doesn’t have the Holy Spirit. Some churches about pages sounded like the truth, then we showed up for a sermon and the truth wasn’t there.
After about a month, I finally asked again, “Father, I ask in Jesus’ name where do I go to get baptized?” And God gave me the name of the church (only 8 minutes from my house)! It was a small, brand new church (less than a year) that I had overlooked because I couldn’t find enough information on their about page. I had forgotten about this church. I listened to some sermons online. I’m like, “yes, this pastor has the Holy Spirit!” We were baptized for real this time!
It was a necessary thing. It isn’t just a way to declare your faith publicly, it isn’t how you receive the Holy Spirit, and it isn’t what saves a person. There is something more to it.
MINDSETS: Baptism
RELIGIOUS MINDSET:
- I believe in Jesus. I got baptized in water so I’m saved.
- I recited the salvation prayer the church gave me. I got baptized in water so that means I’m saved.
BORN AGAIN MINDSET:
I’ve been born again. Now I will obey God and be water baptized.
You have to love God! Obey: give up your sin, say no to pride!
The bible says you have to “REPENT” and be “BORN AGAIN”
Repenting if even talked about at all in a church – often people only hear about ¼ of what it means. This bothered me because I can’t stand being deceived and watching other people be deceived. Because the truth has been watered-down so much, and it is different from church to church, I was like, “how do I explain to someone who is an atheist? vs organized religion? vs a non-denominational church?” I prayed, “God give me a way of explaining repenting to make it easier to understand.” I wake up at 4:40am and I usually sleep until like 7am, and I’m receiving “Recipe for Repentance,” and being totally out of it, I’m saying in my mind, “that’s great God, I will type it later.” And the ideas keep on flowing, so finally I’m like, “oh this is really good. I’m getting up now to type!”
What is really dangerous today is people telling you that you are saved after repeating a prayer, or something of that nature, as if the power is in the prayer. I don’t want anyone to be deceived. God, is the one who saves you, and there should be an internal transformation of being born again.
Check out the Recipe God gave me: Recipe for Repentance
Ingredients: FAITH, UNDERSTANDING, COMMITMENT, and ACT OF REPENTANCE
(Measurements are between you and God)
God knows each person’s faith, their understanding, their commitment, whether they are repenting with their heart in the right place. God is the one who adopts people. Therefore, it is not my place to say whether or not you have been born again. But you will know!
Feel free to print and share this recipe with others.
AGAIN, Reach out to me if you have Questions.
There is no one I won’t help. Every soul is important!!!
I have a Wellness Coach Certificate, I'm an entrepreneur, an innovator, writer, and artist. My expertise includes over 7 years of marketing, research, and developing content for holistic health businesses. Plus, my own personal journey of becoming chronically sick: understanding what went wrong, and finding a way to heal and live a healthier life. I have a passion for wellness with a wealth of knowledge surrounding: wellness, flaws in healthcare, root causes for chronic illnesses, and alternative treatments.