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Teachings inspired by the Holy Spirit are refreshing, but teachings from men are like throwing a wet blanket on the fire: they quench the Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings freedom, but legalism and men's doctrines bring bondage. Consider these two verses:

(2 Corinthians 3:17 NKJV) Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

(Luke 11:46 NKJV) And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

The "lawyers" here were Scribes, religious leaders who were experts in the law of Moses. They imposed heavy burdens and added additional requirements to the law of God. Then, they taught the people to obey them, but they also created elaborate loopholes for themselves, leading to some crazy teachings.

For example, the Scribes taught that on the Sabbath, a man could not carry something in his hands, across his chest, or on his shoulders. But he could essentially wear a backpack, carry it in his shirt, or drag it with his foot or elbow...

It was forbidden to tie a knot on the Sabbath, with the exception that a woman could tie a knot in her girdle. So, if they needed to draw water from a well on the Sabbath, a man couldn't tie a knot to the bucket and raise it up, but a woman could tie her girdle to it and lift it out. Problem solved.

The Scribes took the sanitation rules of (Deuteronomy 23:12-14) and applied them to the city of Jerusalem, so everyone was supposed to go outside the city to use the bathroom. However, when combined with the Sabbath travel restrictions, it meant that no one could go to the bathroom on the Sabbath day. It's like common sense had left the building.

(Mark 7:5–7 NKJV) Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?" He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'

(Mark 7:8–9 NKJV) For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do." He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.

"Hypocrite" means an actor, someone who pretends to be someone else. They honored the Lord with their lips but not with their hearts, for they pretended to keep His commandments but devised workarounds. Their heart was not in it.

We must leave our personal preferences and revelations out of our doctrine and not add them to the Word of God as if they were for everyone. I occasionally have someone tell me the Lord told them to avoid coffee, and then they begin to judge others for drinking it, but that was a personal word for themselves. Perhaps they became annoying when they drank it and would be better off without it. Point: Coffee is not in the Bible, and we shouldn't add it to ours.

In the 1990s, I traveled with a Prophet on a tour around the country. He loved doing anointing services, and the Holy Spirit would show up in powerful ways, even in restaurants. We preached in a dozen states, sometimes twice a day, for forty days. We were in a different church every night. He would line the people up, pour oil over their heads, and prophecy to them. I would catch them before they hit the ground.

The diversity was eye-opening to me. I noticed that in some churches, people sat in pews with name plaques, while other churches preferred chairs, and a few had theatre-style seating. At some churches, everyone wore suits with neckties, but in others, they wore shorts. In some churches, the women wore only dresses, and in others, they wore pants. Some wore jewelry and makeup, others didn't. Most of the time, they dressed like their Pastors did. Some churches consisted of all White people; others were all Black; some were Latino, while others had a variety of colors. Some sang hymns from a book, while others had a choir, and few seemed to have full-on rock bands.

I caught doctors, lawyers, bikers, and housekeepers as they fell to the floor, for the Lord loved each one of them. It was Joel 2:28:

(Joel 2:28–29 NKJV) "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days."

I've never looked at church the same. The mind, once expanded, cannot be shrunk. Our petty differences and personal preferences can prevent revival from coming to us. When we are busy looking down on someone else, don't expect the Holy Spirit to show up. We need to set aside our differences, love the Lord and one another, and forget our dumb, man-made doctrines that creep in like: you must dress like this, you must listen to this type of music, or you must read this Bible translation. No, you don't...

Imagine what would have happened to the church if Isaiah had made what the Lord told him here into a teaching that applied to everyone:

(Isaiah 20:2 NKJV) at the same time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, "Go, and remove the sackcloth from your body, and take your sandals off your feet." And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

Or if the marriage advice the Lord gave Hosea was for everyone:

(Hosea 1:2–3 ESV) When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, "Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD." So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

The Lord loves the diversity in the world. After all, He is the Creator of it and could have made things any way He wanted. So He did...

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You so much for another day! Please help me see the world through Your eyes and be aware of when I am judging someone else. I want to be pleasing to You! In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!