file: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db940315.txt
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          OUR DAILY BREAD                          Tuesday, March 15, 1994
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          Read:  Galatians 1:11-24

                              RELIGION OR RELATIONSHIP?

                        I also count all things loss for the
                excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.
                                  --Philippians 3:8

          The  19th-century Danish theologian Soren Kierkegaard  identified
          two kinds of religion -- Religion A and Religion B.  The first is
          "faith"  in  name  only  (2  Tim.  3:5).  It's  the  practice  of
          attending church without genuine faith in the living Lord.

          Religion  B, on the other hand, is a life-transforming,  destiny-
          changing experience.  It's a definite commitment to the crucified
          and   risen  Savior,  which  establishes  an   ongoing   personal
          relationship between a forgiven sinner and a gracious God.

          This difference explains why for many years British author
          C.S.  Lewis  had such great difficulty in becoming  a  Christian.
          Religion  A  had  blinded him to Religion  B.  According  to  his
          brother  Warren, his conversion was "no sudden plunge into a  new
          life, but rather a slow, steady convalescence from a  deep-seated
          spiritual illness--an illness that had its origins in our  child-
          hood, in the dry husks of religion offered by the  semi-political
          churchgoing  of  Ulster,  and  the  similar  dull  emptiness   of
          compulsory church during our school days."

          We all face two pivotal questions:  First, are we bogged down  in
          the  empty ceremonialism of Religion A?  If so, we  must  receive
          Jesus  as  our Savior.  Second, is our relationship  with  Christ
          growing more deep and vital?

          Author:  Vernon C. Grounds

                              You only are true life--
                               To know You is to live
                               The more abundant life
                             That earth can never give.
                                     --Clarkson

          THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
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          You can have tons of religion without one ounce of salvation.

          THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  Joshua 13-15










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