Day three in Black and White. I am beginning to miss the colors!
The sun decided to come out today. On the way to the park, we passed through this apartment complex. They have units that look the same which were made with the same floor plan and different number of rooms. When we lived in a condominium, the community had rules that the units have to look uniform on the outside. We all know that what’s inside the house is what matters.
“These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips…”
Matthew 15:8a
A lot of people can speak the Christian lingo quite well (Christianese). Honestly, I do not like using this term because it sums up the sad reality of lip service which is something that makes the Lord indignant. We have all kinds of professing Christians who proclaim themselves to be deep in the knowledge of God, but they go around supporting people who are mired in the biggest promoter of idol worship in Christendom’s history– Roman Catholicism. Those who adhere to this false system happen to hold high office in this country. Nancy Pelosi is one of them and Andrew Cuomo, along with the three judges who are deemed to be conservatives, but were completely silent when their ‘Christian’ values needed to shine in such a dark time.
“But their heart is far from Me.”
Matthew 15:8b
The whole country and the whole world know of their works. It is evident in what they support and what they promote. While people can fool other people, they cannot fool the Holy Spirit within a genuine Spirit-filled believer. Aside from the Holy Spirit, there are other spirits out in the world who are at work.
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
1 John 4:1
Everything can look quite uniform (claim to be Christian) and colorful on the outside, but if we are to stick only with appearances and neglect to go deeper, we will be in for a big surprise (Matthew 7:22-23). Do not be afraid to ask the believer questions. In our current finite state, it would be impossible for us to know ALL things, but the genuine believer has the Holy Spirit and we have been given access to the mind of Christ through His Word (1 Corinthians 2:16). Jesus IS the Word (John 1:14) and we have His active Word (Hebrews 4:12) which testifies to who He is. This being said, it will not stop the enemy from deploying his weeds within the body of Christ (Matthew 13:37-40).
If you have encountered such a person who says they have ‘seen’ God, we need to line this claim up with Scripture. What does the Bible have to say about this?
“But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
Exodus 33:20
Those who claim to have seen God are exalting themselves above Moses, God’s chosen servant because even he could not see the fullness of God’s glory,
“Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”
Exodus 33:23
“You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, 16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman”
Deuteronomy 4:14-16
While we can describe our testimonies as a spiritual encounter with Jesus, any encounter with Jesus that deals with the physical is traipsing in deceptive territory (Matthew 24:23-25). None of us have seen Jesus in our time and for people to claim to see a physical manifestation of Jesus with His clear visage gives way to what we are warned above, to make an idol of the image we have seen. The Catholic Church is the only church who claims to be Christian and make statues and physical representations of Jesus who do not look anything like how He looked before He ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9-11).
I do not doubt there are born again believers still attending the Catholic Church, but once a person is confronted with the truth, truth will do no other than convict the person as the Holy Spirit leads the believer to a church who holds to the revealed and complete doctrine of the faith encompassed in Scripture, the recorded teachings of Jesus.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
Matthew 7:21
Bowing down to statues and idols is not part of God’s will.
“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.”
John 8:31b
I tried to stay in the Roman Catholic practicing church as a born again believer-there were too many convictions that fell upon me through God’s Holy Spirit! 🙏🏻❤️
Thank you for sharing this post that you have been led by the Holy Spirit to share!
I have had various experiences with Roman Catholicism. It’s a nuanced story. There’s much wisdom there, but the particular catholic doctrines, based on their tradition, appear to me to obscure rather than illuminate Jesus, regressing the faith towards a pharisaical state.
“but the particular catholic doctrines, based on their tradition, appear to me to obscure rather than illuminate Jesus”
Agreed. They exalt Mary and make her to be a consort of God the Father, which is reminiscent of pagan religions. They also claim that the Word of God is infallible and yet, make it secondary to their extrabiblical dogma. I’ve encountered one who claimed that Scripture is not sufficient. The Vatican country is a direct violation of Jesus’ own words when He stated His kingdom is not of this world. They have made a kingdom without being sanctioned by the King of kings living in opulence and decadence. It took a few years for me to leave Catholicism, but all of what I have mentioned were too much to ignore.