As you all know, last Monday I was unable to post this episode. Thankfully, this week we were able to do something very different to finish up this three part series! We went live! I’ve never done a Monday episode live, but there were no technological issues, isn’t that neat? I’m so thankful that Kristin has continued to discuss this with me, boldly exposing the inside workings of ARC while lovingly calling those inside to leave. We both hope this series was eye opening, edifying, and educational.
Also, if you didn’t get a chance to see last weeks MEGA list, I’m going to link to it here. Y’all know that recently we’ve been made available on Amazon’s new Podcasting , but I have some more great news for you! We’re officially available on Pandora as well! You can, of course, listen across all major podcasting platforms such as Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, and in video form on YouTube. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
Hello dear ones, I hope this post finds you all having a very merry Christmas! Below is from today’s reading of Spurgeon’s daily devotion. It blessed me this morning as I rejoice in what the Lord has done. What love is this? While I was yet a sinner Christ died for me! Wretched, wicked, disobedient and ever wondering further and further, yet still in my hopeless state God the Son became man, bore the wrath saved up for me, died in my place, rose again, and ever lives to make intercession for His children. WOW! Praise God! Merry Christmas, beloved, as always be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
“Partakers of the divine nature.”
To be a partaker of the divine nature is not, of course, to become God. That cannot be. The essence of Deity is not to be participated in by the creature. Between the creature and the Creator there must ever be a gulf fixed in respect of essence; but as the first man Adam was made in the image of God, so we, by the renewal of the Holy Spirit, are in a yet diviner sense made in the image of the Most High, and are partakers of the divine nature. We are, by grace, made like God. “God is love”; we become love–“He that loveth is born of God.” God is truth; we become true, and we love that which is true: God is good, and he makes us good by his grace, so that we become the pure in heart who shall see God. Moreover, we become partakers of the divine nature in even a higher sense than this–in fact, in as lofty a sense as can be conceived, short of our being absolutely divine. Do we not become members of the body of the divine person of Christ? Yes, the same blood which flows in the head flows in the hand: and the same life which quickens Christ quickens his people, for “Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Nay, as if this were not enough, we are married unto Christ. He hath betrothed us unto himself in righteousness and in faithfulness, and he who is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Oh! marvellous mystery! we look into it, but who shall understand it? One with Jesus–so one with him that the branch is not more one with the vine than we are a part of the Lord, our Saviour, and our Redeemer! While we rejoice in this, let us remember that those who are made partakers of the divine nature will manifest their high and holy relationship in their intercourse with others, and make it evident by their daily walk and conversation that they have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. O for more divine holiness of life!
Hello dear ones, I hope this post finds you all doing well! I’m sad to say that there were some really odd technical issues in the final part of our current three part series. Kristin and I are planning a day to re-record the entire episode, as the current recording is unfortunately unusable. I’m so thankful that Kristin has as high of standards for quality content as I do! She understood, and also flawlessly cheered me up while I was flailing in technological confusion. I am very sorry that there will be no episode today, and I appreciate everyone’s grace! As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
Sadly, a child may be brought up properly in the Lord and still reject Him. The more light in one’s home; the more Jesus is glorified, the more His sword is evident.
We can often times look at other faithful Christian families and the sweet faces of their obedient and well-versed children and assume those parents must have all of their spiritual ducks in a row. We wonder where we went wrong as our children only grow further from the Lord. We are tempted to compare ourselves to the other parents, sometimes causing great and unnecessary discouragement in our own walk. Although parents are called to lead their families in the Lord, and should take that responsibility seriously, I believe it’s also important to remember no matter the Christian family and what they do, their children may not respond in faith.
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The family with Jesus
Joseph and Mary were faithful and humble followers of the Lord who had been chosen by God to be a part in His miraculous earthly arrival and given the blessing and honor to care for the growing Jesus. They were people who loved and trusted God and His Word, and undoubtedly demonstrated this devotion to their entire family. Sadly they also had to witness the rest of their children doubt Jesus as Messiah. Their children, even into their adult years, didn’t believe. The Savior was right there among them and still, they refused to see Him any more than just an obedient brother. Sadly, they later came to the desperate conclusion that Jesus was insane (Mark 3:21). How heartbreaking that must have been for their devoted parents.
We know Mary and Joseph had four sons and an unknown number of daughters after Jesus was born (Matthew 13 and Mark 6). It seems none of the siblings believed in Christ as Lord until after HIs resurrection (1 Corinthians 15, Acts 1:14). After Joseph’s death, Mary didn’t have the spiritual support from the others in her immediate family. Mary sat weeping at the cross where Jesus had to appoint the Apostle John as her caretaker because her actual sons were not only absent but simply not spiritually fit to care for her.
“Now beside the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. So when Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.” John 19:25-27.
It was obviously very difficult for the half-siblings to have a perfect older brother. He wasn’t only perfect, He was the reason for your parent’s joy and salvation. Joseph and Mary unquestionably had a special relationship with Jesus. That probably caused resentment and the resentment only intensified as the years went on and as Jesus began to display His deity and preach His Word. The level of rejection by those who were acquainted with Him the most is summed up in Mark 6:3-4: “Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are His sisters not here with us?” And they took offense at Him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not dishonored except in his hometown and among his own relatives, and in his own household.”
As believing parents with unbelieving children, there is something we can really learn from that statement and from the unbelief of Jesus’ household.
The more righteousness and perfection is displayed in a home, the more the unbelievers may fight against it. His perfect righteousness had only magnified the reality of the unbelievers’ desperate state; of their own wickedness.
Jesus was loved and honored by his parents. Truth was personally present amongst the entire household. The Light was living and breathing next to them. Perfection resided with them and constantly showcased righteous living. That exposed them all the more.
So we must remember, the more Christ is loved and honored in our own home, the more truth we hold fast to, the more righteousness we desire and exercise, the stronger our convictions and the deeper our knowledge of God’s Word, perhaps the greater hardening and quicker turning away for those in the house who are unrepentant.
It’s the harsh reality that we read about in Matthew 10:34-36:
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to turn a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a person’s enemies will be the members of his household.”
Sadly, a child may be brought up properly in the Lord and still reject Him. The more light in one’s home; the more Jesus is glorified, the more His sword is evident.
As Charles Spurgeon said, “The same sun which melts wax hardens clay. And the same Gospel which melts some persons to repentance hardens others in their sins.” In a Christian household, one child may be softened and saved and the other may be hardened and distant. That shouldn’t cause us to hold back our love and devotion to the Lord and His Word. We should strive harder to live for Him and share His Gospel. We know the Gospel is the power of God for salvation.
My own heartache
I’m going to give you a glimpse into the heartbreak of being a mother of unbelievers.
I’m a mother of five wonderful kids and have been blessed with a stepson. Their ages range from 6 to 23. With a couple of adult children, a preteen, and two elementary-aged kids, we’re living in almost all phases of parenthood. There was a time I thought I had a handle on this parenting-in-Christ thing. It was when I only had two little ones to care for. In our pretty little picture, we loved Jesus, talked about Jesus, prayed to Jesus, sang sweet songs to Jesus, and involved ourselves in the church activities with others like us. As they grew, my kids were taught the serious things about God, not just the comfortable stuff. We highly value gathering with the Church body and serving. We pray together. We test all things to Scripture and call out error when we see it. We share the Gospel often.
The point of saying all of this is to say the Truth is honored in our home- He is loved and desired- although very imperfectly. My husband and I know we are far from where we need to be as followers of Christ and parenting the way most honoring to Him, yet Christ is still central.
My kids have heard the whole Gospel countless times and each one has made a profession at one point. Some of our kids have shown fruit. Some have completely dropped their interest in Christ like a hot potato and have run in the opposite direction. I have spent countless nights, tearfully praying for my children’s salvation. I have had some very tough conversations with them. I’ve pleaded and warned. Seeing their resentment towards the Lord and hearing how the belief of Creation or in Christ Jesus is “not reasonable”, is devastating as a parent.
It’s the bitter reality many of us face; no matter the upbringing, children will not always follow the way they are taught and shown. Sadly, this has been the reason for unnecessary shaming. Parents of unbelievers may get the side-eye from others in the church. They not only feel guilty but encouraged to feel guilty for something they can’t control. I’ve actually heard a church leader accuse a faithful family of being the cause of their children’s rebellion towards God. They were unloving “legalists,” he said. Looking closer, it was obvious they weren’t legalists, they were just unwavering on the Word of God and purely devoted to Him. Their love for the Truth was solid; their love for Christ was unwavering and it caused divisions with their older children.
Imagine going back in time and seeing Mary and Joseph’s other children as unbelievers. Would that cause us to question Mary and Joseph’s heart with God? Would we assume as parents they hadn’t taught God’s Word or enforced it appropriately with love? Would we start to wonder if they were legalists? We know Mary was a humble and submissive servant of God (Luke 1:28, 38, 48). Joseph, called a righteous man (Matthew 1:19) was obedient to God and led his family in the instruction of God (Matthew 1:24, Matthew 2:14, 21). They were obviously very faithful and humble people, who loved and obeyed Him.
Would we accuse Mary and Joseph of being spiritual failures with their family? No. Yet these are the accusations we sometimes find ourselves spewing or receiving. When we see faithful parents with unbelieving children who’ve gone off into the mire of the world we shouldn’t be too quick to assume the parents have failed their children.
First of all, Christ is the One Who saves. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
Christ gets all the glory. It wasn’t Mary or Joseph who eventually opened the eyes of the other children. It’s in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 we read, “For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.” In verse 7 we see Christ revealing Himself post-resurrection to his half-brother James. It is Christ Who reveals Himself to James. Then we read in Acts 1:14, “All these were continually devoting themselves with one mind to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” Praise God!
John 6:44 says, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”
No one else can open eyes or soften hearts towards God but God Himself, through His Word.
With that said, the Scripture is clear parents have a great responsibility to honor God and His Word. We are given charge over our children’s spiritual nurturing. All Christian parents are to teach the Word to their children and live as godly examples. We want to be careful to not be a source of stumbling with any unnecessary provoking, discouragements, complacency, false teachings, or lack of compassion. Perhaps we need to evaluate our parenting as we read the Word and be prepared to make some needed changes. Perhaps we need to be more prayerful and intentional in our family devotions. It’s true, we can always improve! May God reveal any sin in us as we meditate on His Word.
We do have a great responsibility but we are not the producer of our children’s faith. Only God gets the glory and praise for that.
There is Always Hope
As we watch our children walk in the world, we should remember there is still hope. We never want to say that there is no hope for our lost family. We always pray for the prodigal’s homecoming.
Even for a child not being raised by Christian parents there is hope. No matter their childhood, a person can be saved. I’m proof of that. With God, all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26). I know there are single mothers out there who love the Lord and grieve over the fact of the father is nowhere in the lives of their children. They see this causes the children to harden their hearts towards God even more. The mothers do all they can but the resentment only increases in the teen years and early adulthood. Godly fathers are extremely important and influential, the Bible is clear on that. These single moms wonder if having no father, or no Christian father, means there’s little hope. Timothy’s father was not a believer in the Lord. His mother and grandmother were, and they lovingly and unwaveringly taught him the word of God. Paul said to him, “For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelled in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.” (2 Timothy 1:5). Paul also writes to Timothy “and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15). Again, it’s the work of God through His Word that is the power of salvation.
For any parent, keep shining the love and truth of Christ in your home, even if it makes clearer the division between you and your children.
Keep teaching His Word (Deuteronomy 6:6-7) and most importantly don’t forsake your first Love (Revelation 2:1-7).
In Luke 18:1 the parable of persistent prayer starts out with this: “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not become discouraged,”
Keep praying (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and don’t let discouragement take root. Rest in Christ and His loving-kindness, almighty power, and willingness to hear your prayers. Most of all, rest in His will no matter what it may be. Several times Mary and Joseph exhibited their faith in the Lord although they endured ridicule and heartache. They didn’t always see the fruit they desired to see. Joseph didn’t live long enough to see his sons come to faith. When we are at peace with God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son we know, no matter what, we can trust the Lord with everything. It’s all in His hands. We are only His vessels.
For you parents who love the Lord and His Word, who teach their children the way they should go and yet have painfully witnessed your children’s growing disdain for the truth of God and increasing desire to live for the world, I hope this helps encourage you to remember there’s still hope for your children, don’t stop praying, and don’t beat yourself up. God can work through impossible circumstances. There is still hope and joy in the Lord no matter what His will is and no matter if your prayers seem unanswered.
What an amazing ending for Jesus’ half-siblings, that after years of deep resentment and jealousy and of viewing Jesus as just an insane man, they came to not only believe in Jesus as Christ but to be mightily used in their faithful service to God.
Those who heard Him said, “And so who can be saved?” But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.” Luke 18:26-27
Hello dear ones, I hope this post finds you all doing well. Today’s episode of Tulips & Honey is the second part in what will be a three part series on the ARC organization. In part two Kristin gives some more detail into the last few months of her time in the church, as well as the intimidation, and outright cult like behavior that followed her families separating from ARC. We’ve had such an outpouring from others who have had similar experiences after leaving local ARC churches, it’s encouraging in one sense, to see so many believers being led into solid churches by our good and gracious God. It’s discouraging in another sense, to see how many people have been hurt by this organization.
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Part three will drop (Lord willing) next Monday. In that episode we plan on answering your questions, and expanding any area’s we missed. I truly hope that you see, or hear, Kristins love for those lost or hurting within the ARC community and her deep desire to see them brought out of it. If you have any questions for her, please feel free to leave them in the comments or send them to us directly. Also, if you didn’t get a chance to see last weeks MEGA list, I’m going to link to it here. Y’all know that recently we’ve been made available on Amazon’s new Podcasting , but I have some more great news for you! We’re officially available on Pandora as well! You can, of course, listen across all major podcasting platforms such as Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, and in video form on YouTube. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
This, like with the writings of Josephus, is not light reading. It’s also not dull, or difficult to read, but in many ways is a page turner. The Church History was written in the fourth century, and details the the first few centuries of the church after Christ was ressurected.
Way back in July of 2019 I wrote this book review, I hope it will be a blessing today for any who missed it!
Hello again, beloved, I hope this post finds you all doing well! I have another historical book to review today, The Church History by Eusebius, as I mentioned last week. This, like with the writings of Josephus, is not light reading. It’s also not dull, or difficult to read, but in many ways is a page turner. The Church History was written in the fourth century, and details the the first few centuries of the church after Christ was ressurected. There are portions of the book that will fill the believer with great rejoicing, however the majority of the book is much like reading Foxe’s Book of Martyres. The fruitfal, yet dangerous, decades for the generations of Christians after the disciples were gone home, passed with persecution unlike that of today. The book does not center around persectuion, although Eusebius takes time to carefully name those who faced it manfully, he also addresses many other needful topics. He talks about heretics, church order, and leaders in different areas throughout the centuries up until his time. It is also true that Eusebius is the best source of information on the Counsel of Nicea, as he was there himself.
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The author, Eusebius of Caesarea, or Pamphili as he was also known by, lived from 263 AD to 339 AD, and was born in southern Israel. Recall, dear ones, that the Counsel of Nicea happened in 325, in response to Arius the Alexandian priest we discussed here. Eusebius’ life was spent in the heated discussion of Arius’ herecy, the Nicean rulings, and the time of Athanasius against the world. While he is certainly not an unbias examiner of the Counsel of Nicea, his extant works are the most detailed. He sided with those who believed the wording chosen by Athanasius’ side was too ambiguous, while all except two members of the councel sided against Athanasius and for Arius. I actually find that this middle ground makes Eusebius not only the most detailed, but the most likely to accurately depect both sides of the debate. However, in the end, the declerations of the counsel would falter, Arianism would grow in popularity, and the church would swing back and forth between heresy and truth for several decades. Those decades would ibclude the remainder of Eusebius’ life. This explains why he felt it so important to write down the history of what the church had done, believed, taught, and accomplshed up until his time.
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Eusebius is careful to quote from many other writers throughout his ten book collection on church history. Unfortunately, many of the texts he quotes from are no longer extant, leaving The Church History with a glimpse at what a wealth of doctrine and truth the early church actually had. In these books, which is collected together to make one large book, you will read of men and women who were saved from paganism, who stood fast against persecution and heresy. You’ll also read of the leaders who fell, of those who bowed their knee to Ceaser, and of those who rose up in hatred against the Church. You’ll read varies bits of what life was like in the early church, what truths they stood on, how they conducted themselves, and even the inner debate Eusebius had over the book of Revelation. I recommend this book for all believers, especially those learned, or teaching, church history. You can find it in it’s kindle version here, pdf here, free audio version here, and paperback here. The Church History by Eusebius is in the public domain, so it can be downloaded and printed, which I recommend if you’ve got the ink. As always beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
Hello and happy Monday, dear ones! I hope this post finds you all doing well. Today’s episode is one of the most important topics I’ve had the opportunity to address on air. The Association of Related Churches. If you haven’t heard of A.R.C. don’t worry you’re not alone, I hadn’t either. This extremely pervasive and dangerous pyramid scheme has swept not just the country, but the globe. With a strange mixture of WoF, Charismatic, New Age, and Prosperity Gospel, this group is planting churches using the most successful seeker driven models to date. What happens when false teaching is pointed out to a church inside this coalition will leave you speechless. Using tactics rarely seen outside of the most organized cults, push back is shut down through aggressive, manipulative, shaming, shunning, and slander. I’m so thankful that Kristin was bold enough to join me on this first part of a two-part series. In part two we take a deep dive into total depravity, as Kristin walks us through what happened to her family after she left. The tactics used to confuse and silence her concerns while she was in the church become far more concerning once she has left but isn’t willing to stay quiet about false teaching. I hope you’ll join us for that episode next Monday. Also, if you didn’t get a chance to see last weeks MEGA list, I’m going to link to it here. Great news, y’all, Tulips & Honey Hub is now officially available on Amazon’s new Podcasting app! You can, of course, listen across all major podcasting platforms such as Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, and in video form on YouTube. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
The Ironsmith uses his tools every day, heating them up and fashioning the iron, shaping it with his hammers and fire, and his own strength.
The Carpenter measures and marks and cuts down trees using his tools and his own strength to build. They work long hours and becoming worn down, and tired. To keep up their strength they take breaks to eat and hydrate. They are limited by their own abilities and they are reliant on fire to keep them warm, and on the plants they eat. So many elements of nature help them stay healthy.
They know that fire fueled with wood or coal helps them stay warm and also helps cook their food. God is good to them in so many ways because He has provided all they need to live. God has grown the trees they use to build homes and furniture. God has grown the plants they eat and provided the water they drink. God made the iron to make the tools they work with and pots they cook with.
Yet, they craft statues to worship out of the same trees they make fire with to stay warm and to cook their food. They craft idols out of the same iron they use to make tools, weapons, and pots.
These statues can’t talk, see, hear or walk but are seen as powerful and people bow down to them asking it for help and to keep them safe.
If men can’t save themselves how is it, they believe they can carve and fashion out of a piece of rock, wood, or iron statues to save them?
If they themselves don’t have powers to do what they are asking a statue to do, then how can it have power? How is it they don’t realize they are being helped and saved by the very things they already use that God has created and grown for them?
If my tiny story sounds familiar it is because we read it in the Scriptures.
Isaiah 44: 9-20
9 All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame. 10 Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit nothing? 11 People who do that will be put to shame; such craftsmen are only human beings. Let them all come together and take their stand; they will be brought down to terror and shame.
12 The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint. 13 The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in human form, human form in all its glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. 14 He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. 15 It is used as fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. 16 Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.” 17 From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Save me! You are my god!” 18 They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. 19 No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?” 20 Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
I’m not saying it’s a sin to make art or carve or design things. What is wrong is to carve things to worship as if they are gods. I am a freelance artist and I enjoy working with my hands and making art for others and for my own home. I have worked with many media such as drawing, painting, carving, and jewelry. I believe that my art is a gift from God and everything I do with it is my gift to Him.
What I want to point out is even after thousands of years humans are still trying to make idols, and make their gods out of simple slabs of rock or wood made by human hands. There is nothing I can carve or paint or draw that can become so powerful that it has the ability to save me or to help me in anything I do. Only God can do that.
Sadly, many people today still believe praying to statues is beneficial in helping us in our daily lives, such as the statue of Joseph.
Joseph is considered to many Catholics as the saint of workers and fathers and he possesses statues made from plastic to be used to sell your home.
Almost a year ago we sold our house. It was on the market for some time and an acquaintance of mine shared with me the secret to selling our home. They said, “You need to bury a statue of Joseph in your yard and you will sell your house fast.” Of course, I laughed because I don’t believe in that stuff, but apparently, they did because they did it for their house and seen great results. So many do this when selling their homes and most stories I’ve heard have had positive results even if you’re not a believer. I just want to point out that the Scriptures say that Satan masquerades as the light and can make things happen that you want as well. Jesus was tempted in the desert by Satan in Matthew 4:8-10~ “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”
This should teach us that when we pray to a statue and your desire comes true such as selling your home, it’s not the statue that did it. the Statue isn’t alive. Maybe Satan did it, maybe he wants you to believe the statue honored your desire so that you will keep praying to those statues and false gods because that means your focus is OFF of God and on a statue or idol. Give glory to God for your house selling.
Below is a link that talks about how to sell your home by burying a statue of Joseph. Very mind-blowing.
After reading this link I think it’s extremely morbid if anyone believes that Joseph will work harder to sell your house if they bury him upside down because he doesn’t like being buried upside down. Supposedly, it’s a reward to Joseph to be dug back up if he sells your house quick enough and put in a place of honor in your house. So, is this how people treat their idols of worship? How odd! If a statue has the power to help you why would you treat it so badly? If people honestly believe that a statue doesn’t like being buried upside down, then how horrible of them that they would be ok with doing that. To me, it’s demented to think, “Do what I want Joseph, or I’m gonna beat you or torment you by burying you upside down.” However, these same believers have also turned to Saints and pray to them and worship them if the Saints help them.
Here is the prayer they pray to Joseph: “Dear Saint Joseph, I know you would do this for me out of the goodness of your heart and in your own good time, but my need is very great now and so I must make you hurry on my behalf.”
“Saint Joseph, I am going to place you in a difficult position with your head in darkness and you will suffer as our Lord suffered, until this [house/property] is sold. Then, Saint Joseph, I swear before the cross and God Almighty, that I will redeem you and you will receive my gratitude and a place of honor in my home. Amen.”
Ok, that prayer is just wrong in all kinds of ways but the part that is troubling is where it says the person, they “swear” to a plastic statue? What? They swear to the cross and God? That just sends a frightening chill up my spine. People this is demonic and evil. Do not do this! It’s not biblical in any way. That statue was made by weak humans that have no power to give it. Don’t make it your idol.
Romans 1:25~“They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.”
Exodus 20:4–5~ “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God.”
Many people in the RCC also pray to many dead people such as dead loved ones and dead people in the Bible and people that become Saints, and even angels but the most famous one is Mary, Jesus’ mother. The reasons they pray to Mary or any so-called Saint are many. One is that they teach Mary is our mother too and God told us to honor our mother in the 10 commandments.
Yes, we honor our mothers but we do not pray to them after they have passed. Also, just because Mary was the mother of Jesus doesn’t mean she is to be prayed to or worshiped. We can honor our parents but we do not pray to them or try to communicate with them after they have passed away. When you start talking to or communicating to the dead then it’s not honoring anyone but instead disobeying God and showing worship of another. God saysin Deuteronomy 18:10-11~ “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.”
Take note of the bold words “or who consults the dead”. Consulting the dead is basically talking to the dead. Talking to the dead is equivalent to casting spells or witchcraft in God’s eyes or he wouldn’t have put them in the same paragraph.
Revelation 4:11 ~ “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Deuteronomy 17:2-6 ~“If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of his covenant, and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars in the sky, and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death. On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.”
We are to only worship the Lord and He makes that very clear. God is worthy of our worship because all things have been created by Him. The sun, moon, stars, the whole universe, yet people still look at these objects and think they have power and continue to worship them… even the dead.
In this verse, God is saying if anyone has been caught transgressing any of His covenants like worshiping any heavenly host then it’s an abomination to God, and He says to kill them. Any heavenly host pretty much means worship of anything god other than the true God, then he feels it’s better for them to die. Now thankfully we don’t have to stone anyone today because Jesus died for us and we only need to repent and turn from the evil deed. But what we need to see is any time we turn to Saints or Mary or angels in prayer then we are indeed worshiping them and that is a serious behavior.
Isaiah 8:19-20~ “When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.”
Another idea people believe as to why Mary should be worshiped is, she is the mother of all people.
That’s not correct because the Bible doesn’t say that she is, plus if we look further back than Mary, we read the bible says Eve was the mother of all the living first. Genesis 3:20~“Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.”
In Luke 11:27 we read, “One time when Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd proclaimed, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed”. Now, this was a great time for Jesus to speak up and honor Mary as his mother and teach us how worthy she is of our worship and praise if we were to truly worship her. However, Jesus responds quite differently by saying, “Blessedrather are those who hear the Word of God and obey it.” Luke 11:28.
The lesson here was for us to see that Mary should not be focused on but instead for us to be obedient to God’s Word.
Also, when we look at Scriptures in how Jesus addressed Mary, we see he doesn’t refer to her as mother but instead, woman.
Mark 3:32-35~ “A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus is telling everyone that his mother wasn’t his concern at that moment as much as teaching them something about God. Jesus used that opportunity to show them that those that do the will of God are those that are His family.
John 2:3-5~ “When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
John19:26~ “When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.”
Now, Jesus wasn’t being disrespectful in calling her woman because ‘Got Questions’ explains that in the original language and culture of that time Jesus was using it as a different meaning such as how we would use the word, ma’am. Scriptures don’t explain this but we just need to understand that Jesus was more concerned in doing the will of His Father in Heaven just as in John 2:3-5 when Jesus tells Mary his time hasn’t come yet. Jesus was meaning that God hasn’t allowed it yet. Of course, we read that Jesus does turn the water into wine but He wouldn’t have if God didn’t allow it. Luke 2:47-49~“Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you” “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
I can speak about my parents that died and still honor them in my conversation by speaking good about them but when I start speaking to them like they can hear me or praying to them then I am worshiping them not honoring them. Does Jesus or anyone else in Scriptures ever instruct us to praise, glorify or worship Mary? In Luke 1:42-44, when Elizabeth, (Mary’s relative) praised Mary when Mary was pregnant, Elizabeth’s praise was because of the blessing Mary had of giving birth to the Messiah…and Mary was very much alive at the time.
We are told in Scriptures that God forbids us from talking, speaking, praying, worship, or communicating with the dead in any way. The story below tells us how seriously God takes it when anyone consults the dead.
1 Samuel 28:8~“So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one I name.”
1 Samuel 28:16~ “Samuel said, “Why do you consult me, now that the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy?”
A King named Saul becomes fearful of the Philistines making war with him and because God doesn’t answer him, he decides to go to a medium to consult the dead for advice which he knows goes against God’s commands. The dead person King Saul consults is a dead friend of his. Although we know that no one (even Satan) can truly summon up Gods people from the dead, it’s obvious God allows Samuel to appear to King Saul to show His mighty power and to give Saul the message that he will die the following day because he has disobeyed Gods commands.
1 Samuel 28: 18-19~ “Because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this to you today.19 The Lord will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.”
What do we know? We are told to Pray to God… only ask God for help, not a statue, not the dead, not the angels, not the sun or moon…approach God in prayer…present your requests to God…. when you pray; pray to your Father. There is only one mediator between God and men and that is Jesus…Timothy 2:5~“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” (One intercessor)
Jesus says “You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it,” Christ Jesus is at the right hand of God and Him and Him only intercedes for us.
1 John 5:14-15~”This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.”
Philippians 4:6-7~”Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Matthew 6:6~ “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
John 14:13-14~“You can ask for anything in My name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
Romans 8:34~“Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”
Hebrews 7:25~“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”
Jeremiah10:2-16~“Thus says the Lord: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.” There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you. They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood! Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is violet and purple; they are all the work of skilled men. But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earthquakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation. Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.” It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses. Every man is stupid and without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them. They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment, they shall perish. Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob, for he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the Lord of hosts is his name.”
Brothers and sisters, please let this be a reminder of how seriously God takes the worship of other gods and consulting the dead. No one has the power the Lord does and no one deserves the glory our Lord God does. Warn others of this because even after thousands of years we still see this practiced today. How is it we can’t understand statues are not alive, the dead have no powers and neither one should take the place of our Almighty Father and Creator?
Above is an article written by Tami Dykes, Gina and Tami write Through the Narrow here at Tulips & Honey Hub. They’ll be posting articles every other Tuesday. Both are published authors, you can find Tami’s book here, and Gina’s book here. We’re blessed to have them apart of our team, and pray their writing will be as edifying to you as it is to us. – Lauren Hereford
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