Thursday 11 April 2013

Dead Works

Scripture: Hebrews 6 v 1- 3.

When we leave behind our sinful life after being born again and baptized we have many things we once trusted in that we now discover are actually useless. There are many verses of scripture that warn us not to trust dumb idols that neither hear nor speak as they cannot help you. God is saying that He both hears and speaks and can help in times of trouble.

Looking a bit deeper we find that every superstition falls into the category of dead works. Dead works are basically religious things we liked and trusted before we knew what Jesus has done for us. For instance how many people have a medal of St Christopher in their car or round their necks to keep them safe and prevent accidents? It is a dead work. That medal has become a dumb idol that cannot help you. It never could.

If it was important it would be stated in the Bible. Medallions of Mary are likewise useless. Statues of her and other dead saints to which homage is paid and prayer is made are dead works.

Jesus Christ is alive in your heart, promising He will never leave you. Promising to protect you and your family day and night; to bring healing, deliverance, comfort and blessing to you all. He says we must have no other gods just Him only. When we put faith in anything other than Him and it fails God gets the blame.

"Hey I put all the holy pictures and statues round my house to protect it from the tornado but my house got ripped apart!! Why did God let this happen to me?? I am never going to trust God again!!" You were not trusting Him in the first place. You were trusting holy pictures and dead statues.
I heard a testimony a while back of a Christian woman who had a tornado racing towards her and her home. She saw Satan's face in the terrifying storm. She rebuked him saying, Satan get that thing out of here, this is holy ground! Leave this place in Jesus' name!! And she praised God as the tornado turned down a side road and headed out of town.  Jesus would be proud of her.

What idols and dead works protect you instead of Jesus? Psalm 127v1 says "Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh in vain". If Jesus is not watching over you in answer to your prayers, no amount of security devices can save you from sudden calamity. Jesus says He will keep us in perfect peace if our hearts secure in Him.

Nothing could stop the destruction of Superstorm Sandy hitting New Jersey and New York last year; nor the tsunami that hit Sendai in Japan. A friend of mine in Brisbane told me when the river was in flood from torrential rain that they prayed for God's protection and the flood stopped just a few streets away from their road.

People hang rosaries around their rearview mirrors for protection. It is another dead work. Some years ago I visited a friend whose husband had left them. She asked me to pray through her home and help her throw out the things that were dead works. There were 3 rosaries (prayer beads) on her lounge wall. When I suggested she remove them she protested that they belonged to her husband. I told her that when they were removed her husband would return.

A month later she phoned me to say she had been burgled. Thieves broke in and took every electrical appliance plus the three rosaries! Her husband was so upset that his wife and children could have been raped or murdered that he moved back in!

To my mind it would have been simpler to throw them out the first time.

Ask Jesus to show you the dead works in your life, home, car or office and get rid of them. Put your trust in Jesus and watch the blessings and abundant life flourish.

Prayer: Father God we do so many foolish things to protect or save ourselves. Please teach us and show us what we really need to do to please You and enjoy Your divine protection always. In Jesus' name. Amen.