Matthew 13:53-58 when Jesus had finished these parables He departed from there He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue so that they were astonished and said where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers is not this the carpenter’s son is not His mother called Mary and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas and His sisters are they not all with us where then did this man get all these things and they took offense at Him but Jesus said to them a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household and He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief I want to talk again today about religion versus relationship do you know that religion hinders supernatural miracles more than almost anything else the problem is when people get stuck in religious doctrines they want to promote their doctrine they want to promote their dogma they’re not open to the supernatural of God remember everyday we want to walk in spirit and truth relationship walks in spirit and truth many times religion just walks in truth and promotes doctrines so religion sets up a mirror and you look into that to decide whether you’re OK or not based on your doctrine based on your dogma based on what you think is right and there’s no spirit in it we need to walk in spirit and in truth Yeshua said it says He could do very few miracles because of their unbelief they were stuck at a certain mindset so religion is static it gets people stuck in a mindset the spirit of the world comes and promotes religion and the amazing thing is religion reads the word of God religion says the right things but is devoid of the spirit we’re all tempted to enter into religion we’re all tempted to just to think that life today is going to be the same as it was yesterday we get stuck in a particular formula and we want that formula to produce results I’ve met people that were involved in revivals of the past do you know they’re still praying in a way that the Holy Spirit was poured out 30 year ago 50 years ago hoping that by praying that way somehow or another the Holy Spirit will return but it’s not the way that you pray that releases the Holy Spirit it’s not whatever was the external that was a apart of that revival no, it’s a dynamic relationship with God religion causes people to be stuck in moulds causes people to be stuck in how it was in the past if we would just do it the way we did it in the past the Holy Spirit would return so religion is static relationship is always dynamic religion always knows the answers relationship has to pray and meet with God religion always fuses identy with behavior and it causes people to fall in one ditch or the other what I mean by that is regarding yourself or other people everybody’s got to ask two questions when somebody sins the question is God what’s your attitude toward sin and what’s your attitude toward the person who sinned do you know God separates identity from behavior so He can say I love and accept the person but I hate the sin the problem is religion always fuses those so if you start on the one hand and you say God what’s your attitude toward sin He says I hate it well religion fuses the person with the sin so we end up judging condemning and hating a person because of their sin that’s one ditch of religion the other ditch is if you start on the other side and you say God what’s your attitude toward the person He says I love that person I accept the person well if the person and sin are one I end up accepting the person’s sin in an attempt to accept the person, and no what relationship does is always separates so God I can agree with you I hate the sin but I love the person and even regarding ourselves God I hate what I did but it’s not me so I am able to forgive myself the way that you’ve forgiven me by the blood of Yeshua and I don’t have to hate me because of what I did because you don’t hate me many people struggle with self hatred because they’re in religion they don’t separate identity from behavior so you end up in judgement and condemnation and legalism on the one side when you hate the person because of the sin you end up in compromise and accepting sinful behavior on the other side in an attempt to accept the person relationship always separates identity from behavior and relationship is unbending on the word of God but always applies it with love and compassion toward people so today as you go through life ask God the question Lord is there an area of my life where I’m stuck in religion where I believe something and it might be true but I’ve got no spirit I’m not walking in the spirit and truth but just in truth or maybe it’s a thing that’s not even right God your word is the standard but God would you allow me to walk in spirit and truth to separate identity from behavior so I can love and bless people and hate sin that people practice at the same time just like you do Father that I can bless people, love people but not accept and not love or accept sin that’s what God always does so Father would you teach us to do that as we walk through life not only regarding ourselves but regarding other people those that we come in contact with love God with all your heart love His word and accept truth walk in the spirit and bless people around you you will create an environment of blessing you’ll change the atmosphere where you go and you will make a difference