HOW GOD's MOVE BECOMES MAN's RELIGION: How to Preserve God's Moves

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Ever since, God has been doing moves to fulfill his will--particularly to build His Son's Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven through the glorious church of Jesus Christ, without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. God does it for his glory. And ever since, man has been taking that glory for himself.

Man's religion is all about himself and legitimizes that by using God's Word and God's move. The religion may claim to be of, through, and for God but you see nothing there except man and his will for God. If you're sharp spiritually, it's easy to spot a religion by man even a mile away. It often looks attractive and luring--they do every gimmick to make it seem God is there (to make you feel blessed)--but it's all artificial.

If you're a genuine seeker, seek no less than God and what is genuinely his--and preserve it for him. Never use it for your own glory--to advance and promote your church and grow your membership.

Since the Fall, man found it hard to please God His way. See how Cain murdered Abel simply because his worship--done his own way--wasn't acceptable to God. And today, the competition (or war?) for which church has the best worship style derives from this. And churches would do anything to lure people to worship with them instead of other churches even if their churches are already exploding with over capacity--even if their gimmicks kill small churches.

Because Cain-worship-style couldn't please God, we see people at that time living in wickedness. So God had to wipe out humanity, except for Noah and his family. But after the flood, man stubbornly went on doing worship styles of his own, building Babel. Why? "Let's make a name for ourselves," [Genesis 11.4] they said.

So, you see that pattern? Man always loves to make a name for himself and he does that by building a big tower, and then making a big number of people gather in it--in fact the whole world went to the Tower of Babel. It always goes like that--glorify his denomination's name and gather more and more people to build a mega church. Is God present in man's religion? Oh yes. God went down to Babel to confuse them. And hence, denominational doctrines and church splits.

Here are other patterns how God's move is turned into a powerless religion by man:

  • They stick to a move of God. A move of God serves a particular Kingdom purpose, but it's not designed to be venerated or worshiped. After it has served its purpose, a move of God is better left by itself. Moses' bronze snake was a move of God in the desert to heal snake bites. But years after, some people held on to it and it became idolatry [2 Kings 18.4]. Holding on to a move of God becomes idolatry eventually. God moved in the lives of great men of God in church history. But once we stick to what they accomplished, it becomes idolatry.
  • God moved mightily in King Saul's life in his early years as king, but he became too engrossed about himself and build a monument for his own honor [1 Samuel 15.12]. It's happened many times today. After God moves in the life of a minister, the minister often builds his ministry in his name and for his own glory. Man is apt to build his own empire.
  • Man likes to keep reminding everyone how God has used him and how he has lots of achievements. He wants his greatness immortalized. Absalom was worried about being forgotten by posterity so he erected a pillar he named after him. "During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King's Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, 'I have no son to carry on the memory of my name.' He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom's Monument to this day," [2 Samuel 18.18]. 
Again, you see the pattern? The self or ego always desiring to get the glory from a move of God and then build his empire with it.

How to Preserve God's Moves

To preserve God's moves (and keep them from turning into an idol), we have to let them be. Better yet, we should pursue God, not his moves. We have to repent from and give up empire building. Seek God and His Kingdom first (and always) and all his moves will be added unto you. Don't stay in a particular move, set up camp and stay there forever--gathering people to make your own empire--while God's cloud of His Presence moves somewhere else. When in the desert or wilderness, it's best to move with God all the time.

So quit building your own ministry. Destroy your self-serving trophies and join God build his Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

On the other hand, when in the Promised Land, never neglect God's temple. In Old testament days, when they neglected God's temple and cared only about their material lives and personal interests, God destroyed them and the temple. Today, God's temple is our physical bodies combined in Christ, not church buildings and structures. We are God's temple. If we neglect his temple, God will destroy us (we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him). 

The solution? Preserve God's move (our bodies as his temple) by pursuing after God (not church buildings) desperately so that God is manifested in our bodies through Jesus Christ in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. In short, be God's Flesh.

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