Min Pin Country: Worship that God Approves – Are all religions pleasing to God?

If each book represented a Religion,
how could you choose the correct one?
photo from: www.google.com/search

Hello again, my beautiful readers, and welcome back.

Is there a True Religion from God's Standpoint?

There are a lot of religions out there, and no doubt, from what people are taught in the churches, they are worshiping God correctly. But... what if... just what if... that's not true? What if traditions are being taught, instead of being taught what God really wants? How would you know? Does it matter?

How will we benefit if we worship God in the right way? Let's face it, there are hundreds of religions that claim to teach the truth about God. Yet, they differ greatly in their teaching about who God is and what he expects of us. Jehovah God deeply cares for us and wants us to benefit from his loving direction. If we worship him in the right way, we will be happy and will avoid many problems in life. We will also have his blessing and his help. He promised that at Isaiah 48:17.

jw.org

How can we learn the right way to worship Jehovah? I assure you, one does not have to study and compare the teaching of all the many religions, one need only learn what the Bible really teaches about true worship. If I may illustrate it to you this way: In may lands, there is a problem with counterfeit money. If you were given the job of picking out such false money, how would you go about it? By memorizing every kind of counterfeit? No. Your time would be better spent if you studied real money. After you knew what real money looked like, you could recognize a counterfeit. Similarly, when we learn how to identify the true religion, we can recognize those religions that are false.

According to Jesus, what must we do if we want to have God's approval? Well, it is important that we worship Jehovah in the way that he approves. Many people believe that all religions are pleasing to God, but the Bible does not teach that. It is not even enough just to claim to be a Christian. Jesus said: “Not everyone saying to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the Kingdom of heavens, but only the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will.” To have God's approval, therefore, we must learn what God requires of us and do it. Jesus called those who do not do God's will “workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21-23) Like counterfeit money, false religion has no real value. Even worse, such religion is actually harmful. Can you imagine religion that is false being harmful? Wow!!!

narrow & cramped...broad and spacious
WHICH ROAD ARE YOU ON?
photo from: www.google.com/search

Allow yourself to entertain yet another question, what do Jesus' words concerning the two roads mean, and where does each road lead? Jehovah gives everyone on earth the opportunity to gain everlasting life. To have eternal life in Paradise, however, we must worship God properly and live now in a way that is acceptable to him. Sadly, many refuse to do so. That is why Jesus said: “Go in through the narrow gate, because broad is the gate and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are going in through it; whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are finding it.” (Matthew 7:13,15) True religion leads to everlasting life. False religion leads to destruction. Jehovah does not want any human to be destroyed, and that is why he is giving people everywhere an opportunity to learn about him. (2 Peter 3:9) Really, then, the way we worship God means either life or death for us.

What do you think, Are All religions pleasing to God? I ask that question because I had the privilege of being able to listen in on, via phone, the Sunday Discourse given at the Kingdom Hall, and the title of the talk was: “Is there a True Religion from God's Standpoint?” and the speaker showed us from the scriptures that there is a True Religion from God's Standpoint.

The reason for me starting this conversation is because of something the Sunday Speaker said during his Bible discourse that really Really REALLY got me to thinking. From time to time, “people will say” 'that it doesn't matter what church I go to, they all lead to the same place' or 'God knows what's in my heart,' “so if it doesn't matter what church you go to, or that what you are doing is OK because God knows what's in your heart, then... (ready for this) “If God knows your heart, then ISIS is correct. If just the heart condition alone is enough, than what ISIS is doing is correct. They think they are doing the right thing, killing people who don't follow their religion, killing people who worship and practice pagan things.” He went on to say that, of course that is not correct, but, yet, in a way, that's the thinking of some people.

POW... Think about it! That is crazy! Yeah?!?!?! Because we all know that what ISIS is doing is not correct, just as the Speaker I was listening to reasoned. So that means what? That the heart condition my not be in harmony with what Jehovah wants. I had never thought about it like that before, and it makes sense. I am glad that I was able to benefit from that Bible discourse. Now I would know how to answer someone if they say that it doesn't matter what church they go to, or that, God knows what's in their heart, because, it might not be in harmony with what Jehovah requires of us a true worshipers.

In order to be truly pleasing to Jehovah, then, we must know how to worship him correctly. Thankfully, he has left us a guide, his words written down within the pages of the Bible. Are you wondering, with hundreds of religions out there, How to Identify the True Religion? Let's talk about that next.