Burn the Pictures!

If you are not "worshiping the picture" of a man depicting Christ, then why are you having the picture?

Do you wish that picture was Him? Then you are pretending it is Him, a form of lying about God, since we know it is not Him.

Do you look longingly at it as if you were in that man's presence? If you are,  then you are pretending it is Christ even though you know it is not....a form of worship.

Why would anyone want to "pretend" that a man is God? Perhaps without props the faith is weak?

God said we are not to make "images" of Him in the likeness of any art.

Acts 17:29 ""Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man."

2 Corinthians 5:7 "for we walk by faith, not by sight--"

If we need to see a picture of Christ to build faith then we lack faith. When we look longingly at a picture of a man depicting Christ, we are desiring that man in the picture who we know is not Christ. There were no pictures of Him.

Those who need any kind of artifact to feel close to God are demonstrating lack of faith.

I am told the word for worship denotes the way a dog looks at his master. When we look longingly at a man wishing he was God then we are worshiping.

Often, believers criticize Catholics for having idols while they have some of their own. Why would pictures of a man depicting Christ be worse in the Catholic church than in the protestant church? Why would a statue of a man depicting Christ be worse than a picture doing the same thing?

Perhaps we ought to burn those depictions of Christ, knowing that our faith will soar as soon as we release ourselves from the idols that have kept us captive. The more I depend on the Holy Spirit that lives in me, the less I need to see with my eyes.

Immense and Intense Pride

When we were children, if we were rebuked by an adult, we were ashamed. Even as an adult if we were rebuked by another adult, especially if they were older than we, we were ashamed.

But now the children are fighting back and the younger adults are disrespectful to their elders. It is appalling to say the least, no humility just immense and intense pride.

Pride Goes Before Destruction

Our culture is into what I call the mantra, "what does it mean TO YOU" illness. Everything is interpreted in terms of what "I like", "I want", "I believe." Things don't have to make sense they just have to be what a person likes.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to reason with anyone any more. Any attempt to bring good sense to a discussion is quickly attacked to prevent any sadness or correction.

As long as someone "wants" to believe in something, it is now off limits as far as reexamination is concerned, what comes to mind is what the people continue with, no matter how much it is proven wrong.

I am appalled at the amount of "pretending" that goes on in our culture today. Everyone is into so much pretense that it is very difficult to tell who is serious, who is living a counterfeit life and who is genuine. One must get to know a person on a much deeper level, asking serious questions, while watching what emerges from them, to be able to see their response to challenges.

Those who refuse to be challenged on nearly any level, will display anger and even rage at the prospect that they may be wrong about something.

Psalm 37:8 "Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil."

Ephesians 4:31 "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice."

Proverbs 15:18 "A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention."

Proverbs 27:5 "“Open rebuke is better than secret love.”
Those who cannot tolerate a rebuke, raging to intimidate the one who challenge them, show great pride and an inability to be taught. These people remain spiritual babies if they have ever been born again.

2 Timothy 4:2 "“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

Titus 1:13 "This testimony is true. For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith,"

The purpose of a strong rebuke is to expose error, giving the one who is rebuked an opportunity to realize their need and ask God to change their heart. The Holy Spirit will not grow a resistant believer, they remain in their foolishness as long as they resist the correction of other believers.

Those who think they are special without need of correction, are arrogant and foolish ones, who must appear superior to others, while all the time remaining ignorant, lacking good sense and spiritual growth.

Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-22
"16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 DO NOT QUENCH THE HOLY SPIRIT; 20 do not despise prophetic utterances. 21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil."

When we resist the Holy Spirit promptings long enough, He stops speaking to us. When God sends others to correct or instruct us and we resist, then God will not keep sending people and He will silence His Holy Spirit, leaving us vulnerable to the devil and the consequences of our own pride.

The Elephant Remains in the Room!

It is clear that atheists have chosen to believe what they want because they don't want to be accountable to God. God says the evil man has no excuse we have all seen His handiwork in nature.

There is no such thing as a person who does not believe in God, there are only liars who want to pretend He doesn't exist. "The fool says in his heart....NO God!!!!!"

Psalm 14:1 "To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, (There is) no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good."

The words; "There is" has been added, meaning that the fool says no to God, He knows God exists and refuses to acknowledge Him. You might say he refuses to admit to the "elephant in the room."

How Did We Get This Way?

In the 1970's the teaching of "self-esteem" was instituted in the school system in a big way. I remember children coming home from school, elementary grades, telling me that the school psychologist came in once a week to talk to the students.

I was never informed about it, very unhappy, I went to the school and opted out of the psychology class for our children but by then it was too late, they had already been well indoctrinated into this teaching.

In one session they were told to look into a box, in the box was a mirror. They were told that if they looked into the box they would see the most important person in the world.

They were told that they couldn't love anyone else until they first loved themselves. I refuted this teaching at home, but the children never listened to me because everyone around them was telling them they didn't have to listen to their mother. They would only listen to "the experts", the experts being their teachers and Sunday school teachers. Extended family was continually against what I wanted for my children and I had no one to back me up.

Most homes at that time had no one in them that was Christian in our community, those who went to church were being indoctrinated into this thinking too. I argued often with people who claimed to be "Christian", they defended the self-esteem teaching, ignoring and even battling against the Bible that taught "denial of self."

Those who claimed to be "Christian" all around the country were attending church as a matter of tradition rather than devotion to Christ. I am also convinced that many who attended church wanted to feel elevated in their own eyes, so they became proud of the knowledge they thought they had, while all the time defending worldly thinking, denying Christ by denying His principles.

I was raised with the attitude that we went to church because "it was the decent thing to do", rather than we go to worship a Holy God Who gave us life and deserves our worship. Most of those whom I knew that attended church were very proud of how good they thought they were.

As an adult, whenever I questioned the teachings in a gathering of Christians, I was shot down as rebellious because the "experts" were the teachers and no one should question them. After leaving the Catholic church I was met with the same mentality in the non-denominational churches as I saw in the Catholic church, it was rude or rebellious to counter anything the teachers said and they were all teaching "self-esteem" as a way of life.

It became harder and harder to find a church that taught the Biblical truth of denial of self, they had all bought into the self-esteem teaching to such a degree that most people were keeping a distance from me if not rejecting me entirely. Even those who said they didn't believe in self-esteem were raising their children with elements of it every day, claiming they weren't.

By this time, in all this mess, I was seen as someone to be avoided, excluded and mocked. Even in my presence the disrespect was immense. I say all this to show how rebellious our culture has been for many years, while getting worse all the time. No one will listen to Biblical truth, even those who claim to read the Bible have been indoctrinated into the evil of "self-love."

Now to correct or admonish anyone at any time, in any way, is met with anger and rebellion. Many if not most people consider it rude to rebuke, because they have been trained all their lives to be madly in love with themselves, they cannot endure any form of correction whatever, without becoming enraged.

2 Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,"

Proverbs 12:15 "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise."

We are now living in the times of the fools, those being people who love to think highly of themselves, but are destitute in their spirit.

What happens when a country refuses to acknowledge God?

Ezekiel 7:26 "'Disaster will come upon disaster and rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law will be lost from the priest and counsel from the elders."

Amos 8:11 ""Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD."

There are probably millions of Bibles in our land, even some of them are being read, but the people remain destitute in spirit, just reading it, knowing it and speaking about it, is enough for these people, they don't actually have a desire to obey any of it, they feel superior to anyone who would challenge them to question their own level of spirituality.

There is a famine, not because the Word of God doesn't exist, but because the people read, read and read some more and remain ignorant because they will not seek God in their reading. Their purpose for knowing the Bible is not to discover how to please and honor God but merely to become educated, for the purpose of elevating self.

2 Timothy 3:7 "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

1 Timothy 6:5 "Perverse disputing’s of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself."

Once again, another verse that tells us to withdraw from those who use knowledge as a means of self-exultation. These people cannot be reasoned with, they cannot be taught and will listen to nothing that does not make them look good.

Our reason for reading the Scriptures ought to be to learn the mind of Christ that we might be made more Holy by the Holy Spirit that lives in us. This takes humility, denial of self along with the deep desire to please Christ, not by our good deeds that make us look good, but rather by being changed in our hearts into a useful vessel that realizes we have nothing good to offer Christ, that He must work in us for His purposes.

Pride, arrogance and self-promotion have no place in the Believer's heart.

Revelation 3:17 "'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,"

Someone asked the question, "How did we get like this?", in reference to all this arrogance and rebellion in our country. The answer is quite simple, we stopped elevating Christ and His Words along with His principles, in favor of elevating self.

 

Ask God If You Were Ever Born Again

John 6:35-40
"35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, tha...t of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."

Many people "say" they believe and are Christian, but their heart which leads to actions and attitudes is evidence against them.

Matthew 15:8 "'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.:

Matthew 7:21-23
"21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

It is not enough to "say" we believe in Christ, if we are honest and sincere in our heart about following Him, then our outer actions and attitudes will be evidence of that.

So many think they are going to heaven but in fact will be hearing those terrible words, "I NEVER KNEW YOU."

Perhaps those who have doubts, still walking pridefully, should ask the Lord if they are born again, then do what is necessary to be cleansed, which is to confess your sinfulness, asking for Christ to change you into a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Prophesy Unfolds

It is interesting to me that so many non-believers just love this new pope. They are not even Catholic but enjoy his endorsement of all things no matter how wicked. If he is not the anti-christ he certainly is a mirror image of what the anti-christ will look like.

Everyone in the world except true believers will love the anti-christ. He will promise wonderful thing, peace, prosperity and love, only to bring such evil that there will be people who will want to die and cannot. There will be those who will ask the mountains to fall on them because of their great misery.

Luke 23:30 ""Then they will begin TO SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS, 'FALL ON US,' AND TO THE HILLS, 'COVER US.'"

Revelation 9:6 "And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them."

Matthew 24:29 "“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken."

While the world is embracing the lies of the anti-christ, the true believers during that time will be holding fast to the Word of God and will be martyred for their faith. They will receive great blessing in heaven for their steadfastness that brings them to persecution.

Revelation 7:14 "And he said to me, These are they which come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

Those who trust Christ during this time will be faced with immense heartache, but they will endure and face a wonderful eternity with great reward.

The time of the rapture is very near, when the believers will be taken out to go to the marriage supper of the Lamb. There will be those who trust Christ during the tribulation. After that time, the Lord Jesus Christ will come back with great wrath and power to fight against evil, and we who went up in the rapture will return with Him as His army, but we won't have to fight, He will do it all.

What an amazing prophesy we have to look forward to, when all evil is eliminated from the earth and the Lord makes everything new again. Imagine having the Lord Jesus Christ as our leader, while there will be swift justice for any sin during the Millennium and we the born again believers will rule with Him.

I don't know about you, but for me these are exciting times as we watch prophesy unfold, coming together in a miraculous way. As a born again believer my hope is being enlarged every day I see another prophesy unfold.