Scripture: Deuteronomy 32 v 15 - 20: "But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
19 And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.
20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith."
There is no doubt that we are living in a time when Christianity is under serious attack, either in a physical sense like persecution, imprisonment or death, or from a spiritual perspective. Therefore we need to keep our eyes focused on the One true God and put strange gods far from us. In the last line of the above passage of scripture the word 'froward' means Perverse.
We can never lightly esteem the Rock of our salvation because He takes us extremely seriously. He loves us beyond our ability to comprehend so we must not take Him for granted. If we do we may find that we no longer walk in the light but are sacrificing to strange gods or devils and bringing down wrath upon ourselves.
The enemy prowls around seeking for those who are wavering, and weak in their faith, those who esteem Jesus lightly. They may read their Bible but they don't heed it or follow God's instructions. If our children treated us in that disobedient way, we would perhaps get angry and discipline them firmly.
Solomon was a great king who built the Temple under God's direction. However, he married many wives who were not from Israel, and who worshipped strange gods. For all his wisdom and dedication to God, he was led astray in the end. 1 Kings 11.
So we may start out with great intentions, but if we become unmindful of Jesus and esteem Him lightly, we could end up like Solomon trapped in false religion by strange gods.
Numbers 3 v 3 - 4: "These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office.
4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father."
This is called playing with fire! And the judgment of God can be swift. It happened to Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. Peter caught them lying to the Holy Ghost and they died immediately. They lied about how much they were going to give to the Apostles after they sold their house. Our God never changes His mind. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.
It is very important to make the distinction of what a strange or foreign god is. Firstly, idolatry or creating an idol is the worship of a strange or demonic god. The common ones are Baal, Buddha, and Hindu gods. Then about Catholic saints. There is no such thing in scripture as being canonized a saint after death! Saints are born again Christians, alive or dead. Everyone else is a sinner.
There is no purpose in praying for the dead in Purgatory, paying thousands of dollars for masses for the dead. There is no such place as Purgatory! It is a myth made up by priests when dying people were screaming about going into flames. It's a money making scam that has enriched the Vatican immensely.
The demons that control Eastern religion show up and manifest in Catch the Fire meetings (Toronto Blessing) especially the Kundalini, the coiled serpent which lives at the base of the spine. His function is spiritual murder and he is given free reign in these meetings. He robs people of their salvation. It's another strange fire manifestation.
There is a testimony of three very prominent evangelists who are at the forefront of this movement, during a meeting in Australia. A member of the congregation made an audio recording of the meeting in which there were many "conversations in tongues" among the three pastors. When he got home he was led of the Lord to listen to these tongues and slow them down.
To his shock he found that the messages were in speeded up English and included such remarks as, "Let's put demons on her." And, "Satan our master". There were 34 such remarks, and this was posted on the internet including WAV files of their actual voices. It can no longer be found.
This means that the whole Toronto Blessing is actually a universal curse on the church. They call it a laughing revival but true revivals are always started with much sorrow for sins and great repentance. John the Apostle said Little children keep yourselves from idols.
Deuteronomy 7 v 25 - 26: "The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.
26 Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing."
This includes statues of Mary, Peter, Joseph, Jesus, Buddha, David, St. Christopher medallions, plus statues of Greek, Roman, Egyptian mythology, and all other religious images. A long while ago I read an article in a South African magazine about a comatose girl sent home to die. Her mother said, She looks exactly like that marble statue on top of the piano. Perhaps if she had crushed the statue and prayed for healing from Jesus she would be alive.
It may sound very Christian and make us feel great, but if the truth is being compromised even a little, we could end up in trouble. This blog is written to try to give everyone a cool, clear insight into where we stand with Jesus. Do you have a strong personal relationship with Him? Do you build on it daily? Or do you seldom hear His voice or understand His words?
John 10 v 4 - 5: "And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers."
Use this as a guide to determine where you are spiritually right now, and refuse to compromise with any strange gods or doctrines. Jesus allows no rivals for your love, He is the One! So worship Him and give Him glory and you shall not be found wanting.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, forgive us for straying from Your strait and narrow path into dangerous places. Please lead us back to the Rock of Jesus to highly esteem Him. Reveal the right direction for us Father. In Jesus' name. Amen.