Human Ritual or God's Commands Which do you Choose?

It is really quite astounding how many rituals are in the church that God never commanded. The one-man pastor system, the collection plate, the building, the holidays, and many other rituals that God never told us to perform.

One of them is the funeral ritual, nothing in the scriptures tells us to buy people in the ground, if we are to do the same thing as happened to Christ we would be in a cave, even then it is not commanded by God.

Then there is the marriage ceremony, the church was never given direct instructions on how this was to happen. We are free to choose how we do these things but we ought never to have expectations of others on following the rituals we have chosen.

God said to "worship in Spirit and in Truth", that's the only direction for worship.

The day I asked the Lord to reveal to me anything I do pertaining to my faith that was not true, was the day my eyes were opened to how far from the scriptures nearly all denominations have come. In fact, denominations are disobedience against God. Choosing one principle over another to identify a group of people makes no sense, we are to observe all the principles as given to us by God.

What amazing freedom we have to express ourselves when we are not in bondage to human rituals disguised as Christianity.

Just saying!

Emotions Lie

Have you ever watched a sad or touching movie and found yourself weeping over what is going on in the movie? If you have then your feelings just lied to you.

The story in the movie wasn't really happening, the people weren't real and there is nothing to do about the problem because it is a fraud.

It is my belief that our sub-conscience doesn't know the difference between reality and fiction. We cry at sad movies because our brain is recording the event on the screen as real and we are manipulated by our feelings to cry over something that isn't even really happening.

The same is true of "false" or "alternative" news. The stories in the news are spun to evoke a particular emotion in us causing a sort of allegiance to the news story that we are unable to vet or prove.

Romans 12:1-3 "1Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you."

News stories often cause pride to well up in those who think they have special information. Repeating these news stories resemble gossip because there is no way to prove anything except based on the word of someone else. We trust the person speaking because they have labeled themselves by a label we think we can identify with. Some people we can believe but not everyone who claims they have the truth is born-again even if they claim they are a Christian.

Some people will call me trite or "having a pat answer" when I say we must stop trusting the media liberal or conservative and begin trusting only Christ Who lives in us.

Tracking the news all the time will cause us to trust the news instead of Christ.

Matthew 13:22

"The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful."

In these last days, God said "even the elect will be fooled", and so it is that many believers are addicted to conservative news, spending more time on those sources than they do reading God's Word and praying for wisdom.

If we are going to neglect something let it be the news sources. We ought to be so immersed in God's Word that we neglect news sources. Glancing once in a while to see what is happening in the world that proves prophesy is far different from searching out the fake news to hear all the filthy garbage that cannot be proven and only rots the mind.

Philippians 4:7-9 "7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable— if anything is excellent or praiseworthy— think on these things.

9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.…'"

Feelings will Mess You Up Every time!

When we allow the devil to manipulate our feelings to think things are bad when they are good or when things are good that they are bad, we are allowing the devil to have a foothold in our lives. Anyone depending on their feelings will be easily manipulated.

Isaiah 5:20 "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!"

If we are well read in the Word of God we will not be influenced by the devil's schemes. We will see where they come from, either the devil or our flesh, and reject them.

The more we know of God's Word the more we will be able to stand against the devil. Sometimes the devil uses ungodly people to use pressure to influence us against the word of God.

Those who want us to follow them instead of God will use intimidation, mocking, and exclusion to cause bad "feelings" in us. The more we trust God the fewer feelings we have when someone attempts to manipulate us. All our actions must be based on truth not on feelings.

People pleasers are easily manipulated, everything they think and do is based on whether or not someone else will become enraged. If someone rages because we told the truth it is they who are sinning not us. No one can make another person angry, if there is anger over hearing the truth then the anger came from within, it is not on us. We must confront out of our love for the sinner and the others looking on who may be influenced by the sinful behavior or attitude.

In these last days, we will see more and more angry unteachable spirits who are stubborn and full of fury toward God.

2 Timothy 3:1-9

"But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,

4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these.

6 For among them are those who slip into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,

7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, worthless in regard to the faith.

9 But they will not make further progress; for their foolishness will be obvious to all, just as was that also of Jannes and Jambres."

This is the picture of the end times church, full of drama and troublemakers. God said; "they will have a form of godliness but not of God." They are trouble makers divisive over silly things God never commanded and disobedient to the Word of God in many ways, in other words, they are self-willed and self-indulgent. Stay away from these people and be bold enough to tell others just as Paul did when he exposed Jannes and Jambres.

Do not allow others to intimidate you into silence when troublemakers begin their nonsense. Speak out, if no one will discipline them and endorse their bad behavior by their silence then it is time to leave.

When the evil person is allowed to take the lead by the silence of others, that evil person will influence those who are young or weak in the faith. We endorse bad behavior merely through our silence. We are admonished to rebuke in public when the sin was in public. Allowing the sinner to have their say without challenge is the same as endorsing the sin they do.

We are living in a world that denies the need for correction and even exclusion when someone claims to be a Christian but denies Christ in their attitude and lifestyle. We need to stop being "sensitive" about being hated for speaking truth. See it as a calling and do not allow it to intimidate or influence us into sheepish and groveling responses.

We must speak the truth boldly without emotion and receive the response without emotion.

Remember that emotions are the shallowest part of our being driven by stimuli, not rational and reasonable thinking. People in our day are unreasonable and manipulative, they can make a rock feel guilty about being a rock.

Jeremiah 17:7

"7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

And whose trust is the Lord."