Who and What Do We Worship?

One woman placed a picture of a man depicting Jesus Christ on her wall. When I asked her why she had a picture of the man on her wall she said; "every time I look at that picture it reminds me of my Lord."

On a Facebook post I wrote some time ago a woman was offended that I didn't like pictures depicting Christ. I asked the woman this question: "what if you put a picture of a man on the wall that was not your husband and told your husband "every time I look at that man it reminds me of you", wouldn't your husband be offended that you were looking at picture of another man pretending he was your husband? Looking longingly at a man wishing your husband looked like that would be offensive, even a form of adultery."

The woman I write about here was a missionary for many years. She became angry that I would suggest that perhaps a picture depicting Christ was not only improper but an idol. I didn't say all that I was thinking, I was feeling the grief of the message she was sending others about idols by having one.

Matthew 5:28 "but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

When we longingly look at a picture of a man depicting Christ we are worshiping an idol. If we pray in front of the picture of Christ we are praying to a false god.

We were told in scripture not to make images of God. We know there were no pictures of people from the days of Christ, therefore any idea we had in our head about him would be an idol and idle imagining.

Exodus 20:3-5 "…3 You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,"

When we have Christ living in us we have no need to "see" something to feel close to Him. How much closer to Christ can we get than for Him to be inside of us.

2 Corinthians 5:7

"7 For we walk by faith, not by sight."

What's next?, praying to that picture to feel as if we have communicated with Jesus Christ?

When we look at a picture of a family member we know that was really that person. But when there are many pictures of various men depicting Christ we know none of them are Him because there were no cameras in His day.

I am convinced God never left behind any artifacts or images of Himself because it is human nature to assign power to objects rather than walking by faith based on our trust in Him. Christ is Spirit and we worship Him in Spirit and Truth not with objects. Faith is believing without seeing.

Deuteronomy 4:16

"that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female,"

This passage makes it clear that statues and pictures of a god to speak to or bow to are deeply offensive to Him, it is adultery against Him.

Isaiah 53:2

"2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him."

God didn't want people following Christ because of His appearance. He wanted us to trust in Christ and follow Him because He is God and worthy to be worshiped. God did not want anyone lusting after Christ as they would lust after a man who is attractive.

When we worship in Spirit and in Truth there is great reverence for Him because He is God not because He was physically desirable. All the pictures depicting Christ are handsome and attractive, not at all what the Bible says about Him.

Many people hang onto artifacts and pictures as though they are sacred even becoming angry with those who question the use of those objects. When we see this happening we know the faith of a person who does this is based on the object and not Christ Himself.

Obeying God's Word is far more than just saying we believe it is the Word of God, it is a matter of taking seriously everything He said to us to implement its practice in our lives.

Changing God's word to justify our own desired belief is a form of rejecting Christ Who is called "The Word", using His Bible anyway we want is to deny Him in practice.

If we say we believe in Christ then we ought to take very seriously everything He said and pray about the things that are not clear to us. It also means rejecting the false teachings of those who add to the Word and subtract from it, to suite their own purposes.

When we are not sure about something in the Bible we ought to be praying first and then read, if the answer does not come right away, I know it will because God will not deny His children wisdom if they want to hear from Him.

James 1:5-6

"5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind."

When we get answers from God after our prayers we can be sure that most "Christians" will come against us to defend their traditions instituted by men, their comfortable space.

I can tell you that when God answers the prayer for truth and only truth it has not always been comfortable because friends and family will not agree and will even reject us, however, t it is more satisfying to understand the principles of Christ and to walk in them, than it is to have friends who cherish and follow their traditions of men.

Mark 7:13 "13 Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”

When we follow Christ diligently because we love Him we will not be angry at a challenge to follow His principles, we will be excited we learned something new. In fact, we will be yearning for more of His wisdom everyday, our joy is full and we need nothing more than this to be satisfied.

Weary of the Lies and Conspiracies I Press on with the Gospel and Holiness

I grow weary of all the "natural food" nonsense I see on the internet because most of the doctors in white coats spouting all these things about food are not even doctors, they are fakes.

The internet is full of false information and foolishness and sadly Christians are falling into the trap worried about everything diverting their attention from Christ and the gospel.

The conspiracy theories I have seen that Christians worry about cannot even be proven. They don't know the people doing the videos nor do they even know someone who witnessed something for themselves. And, even if they say they witnessed something we cannot be sure they are telling the truth.

We are living in the days of deep deception in which everyone, Christians, non-Christians, are being continually bombarded with lies thinking just because someone says they are experts they are to be believed.

The internet has more deception on it than it does truth. My first question to those who send me all this conspiracy information is; "if this were true then what should I do with that information?

The answer comes back every time; "we should be informed." Then I ask "why?" I have no need of information I can do nothing about and that cannot be proved.

I have found good information on the internet about sewing, cooking, and building something, even how to fix a lawnmower tractor, these things we can see them do and try ourselves. It is a blessing to be able to find ways to fix things or new products available for everyday life. However, the news stories about all the things going on "behind the scenes" in politics, medical, food and science, we can ignore, they are mostly all fake.

I'll never forget the YouTube video that showed a man putting half a banana with half a kiwi fruit in a pot with dirt claiming it would grow a kiwi banana that was yellow on the outside and look like kiwi on the inside. It was amazing how many people believed it. It was total nonsense and the man putting up the video wanted to prove how gullible people can be while they tried this silliness and all they got was two rotten pieces of fruit.

I tried to convince someone this was nonsense and they wouldn't believe me but interestingly they wouldn't try it when I challenged them. They were afraid I was right and didn't want to be proven wrong about something that made them "feel" excited about this new information. They never tried it to find out they made the choice to believe it. This is what is happening to many Christians today, they are choosing to believe things they cannot prove and do not know the people claiming these things.

Satan has been very clever in using silly things to divide Christians and distract them from the gospel and growing in holiness.

I challenge believers to ignore the internet propaganda for one month and pray during that time to be cleansed from the addiction to false information that only serves to make them feel superior while they call it informed.

2 Timothy 4:3-5 "…3For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.…"

It isn't just false doctrine we need to avoid it is also any kind of false information going on in the world. False information is the business of the father of lies, the devil, to distract, distort and frustrate believers so they will ingore the things of God written in His word the Bible.

We Can Choose Our Companions

Jesus Christ did not remain in the lives of those who didn't love Him and neither should we remain with those who don't love us.

The Real Symbolism of the Head Covering

The head covering on the woman is an expression of the woman symbolically as the church and the lack of covering on the man is symbolic of Christ.

The covering and the non-covering in the gender roles are pictures of Christ and His church. It has nothing to do with the submission wife to the husband. The wife walks along with her husband as her leader but she is not under him, she is under Christ.

No one should ever take the place of Christ in the believer's life, whether it be man or woman. The man leads by example and teaching not as an authority over.

To be the authority over someone else the man would be taking the place of the Holy Spirit.

A woman is the helpmate to her husband. Her job is to encourage him to keep going when He obeys Christ and to redirect him when he falters from the calling. She is his helper in all Spiritual matters.

Women are to submit to their husbands as we all are to submit to others in general, but only if those we submit to are obeying Christ. We are never required to submit to anyone who is telling us to disobey Christ.

A woman will stand before God one day alone. She will never be able to say "but Lord, my husband told me to sin." She will be accountable for her own sin and her own choices, obeying God or disobeying God.

As believers, we ought to be honoring and deferring to one another. We must evaluate what God is calling us to do and submit to others as God leads. And, at times we might have to resist submitting when God is not calling us to do what others are asking.

Acts 5:29
"But Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men."

1 John 5:3 - "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome."

The First Fruit is Essential to all the other Fruit of the Spirit of Christ

Galatians 5:22-23

"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

Notice the first fruit in that list of fruit of the Spirit is love. Without love none of the other fruit can exist.

If someone is consistently unkind we know they cannot have the fruit of the Spirit because the very first fruit of the Spirit of Christ in a believer is "love."

To repeat: None of the other fruit of the Spirit of Christ can exist without that very first one!

My Facebook Friends Whom I Have Never Seen Face to Face

Some people say Facebook friends are not real friends because we have never met them or seen them with our eyes or had coffee with them in person. They are describing our relationships with Jesus Christ.

Paul the apostle wrote letters to people he had never met, inspired letter that live to this day and are written for us whom he has never met.

We have not yet seen Christ with our eyes or sat with Him in conversation, but we love Him and look forward to seeing Him face-to-face one day very soon. We talk to Him every day and seek His Word to know Him better.

All my born-again brothers and sisters whom I have not seen will be with me at the marriage supper of the Lamb, we will celebrate our marriage with Christ together. We will be together for eternity.

The greatest joy we have ever known with our brothers and sisters is coming, we look forward to that time when we will never again be separated.

We are one in Spirit with all our brothers and sisters! I yearn for the fellowship that is coming with my family in Christ.

Revelation 22:4-6

4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.

5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them; and they will reign forever and ever.

6 And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show His bond-servants the things which must soon take place."

We can't see Jesus Christ with our physical eyes but we know Him and He lives in us.

Hallelujah!

Demons Hate Authentic Christians