Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
Throughout the books dealing with Moses, we see many references to "graven images."
It was very serious, in the sight of God, for HIS people to bow down to graven images.
Moses says:
Deuteronomy 4:9-10 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;
Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear MY words, that they may learn to fear ME all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
The true religious experience is hearing the words of God, not seeing physical images.
Mostly today, when God speaks to us, it is in the form of a gentle thought brought to our minds by the Holy Spirit.
To hang anything physical on the wall and to try to make that stimulate you is to conjure religious sensations by religious devils.
We can see by the many scriptures forbidding the use of graven images throughout the Bible, that God despises graven images and so should we, HIS people.
Deuteronomy 4:11-19 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.
And HE declared unto you HIS covenant, which HE commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and HE wrote them upon two tables of stone.
And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.
Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
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John 4:21; 23-24 Jesus says: the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship HIM. God is a Spirit: and they that worship HIM must worship HIM in spirit and in truth.
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A man in our church group went to a religious retreat and when he returned he kept speaking of how wonderful it was at that meeting.
Finally I asked him what was so wonderful about it.
He replied, "They had 3 large crosses at the head of the room and these crosses were covered with flowers."
In what way does this edify you and instruct you in God and in HIS ways? It was all fleshly, devilish. It is by the Word of God that we, the church, are refreshed in God and commune with God.
I Timothy 4:1-4 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
Some religious people practice a kind of "will" worship, worshipping the creation of their own will power by doing "penance" or by "refraining from eating some foods" to show they have will power and calling this religion.
Jesus paid for our sins. By faith we accept this. We do not do penance for our sins. To do this denies the blood of Jesus WHO paid for our sins. And by penance we are showing that we pay for our sins, not Jesus.
All these visual images in religion stir up fleshly emotions and are authored by religious devils and not by God. To prove this, try to find such images in the Bible. You will find there are none in Bible. That is because they are of devils and not of God. We should not do these things, worshipping devils.
Concerning will worship, the apostle Paul says:
Colossians 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in HIM:
Did you receive Christ Jesus by hearing a word or by seeing an image? How did Paul receive Jesus? On the road to Damascus Paul saw a great light from heaven and then he heard a voice speaking to him. Acts 9 Moses saw a bush burning which was not consumed and then he heard a voice. Exodus 3
It is the voice of God that turns us to God by the Word spoken through God.
When God created the heaven and the earth in the beginning, it was all created by the Word. Genesis 1
Colossians 2:7-23 Rooted and built up in HIM (the Word), and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ (the Word).
For in HIM (the Word) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
And ye are complete in HIM (the Word), which is the head of all principality and power:
In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ (the Word):
Buried with HIM in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with HIM through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised HIM from the dead.
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath HE (the Word) quickened together with HIM, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to HIS cross;
And having spoiled principalities and powers, HE made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
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We hear the Word of God and we believe that Word we have heard is God speaking to us and by faith we enter in, clinging to that Word which we believe is God speaking to us.
We believe by the Spirit. And God is a spirit, according to Jesus. John 4
So why try to be religious and come to God through crosses and statues which are conjured by man and not the spirit.
When something is spirit, you cannot see it by natural eyes, except when God sends an angel which looks like a man. (Angels do not have wings. Cherubs, a fictional object, have wings, but not angels.)
So if you can see it by natural eyes, it is not spirit but flesh.
Put away your graven images, crosses that hang on walls, statues which have been to you connected with religion in some form. These are not of God but of flesh. And such are forbidden by God as the scriptures show.
Exodus 20:4-5 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God,
Leviticus 26:1 Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 4:23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee.
Deuteronomy 5:8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
Deuteronomy 7:5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
Deuteronomy 12:3 And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.
Deuteronomy 27:15 Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place.
Psalm 78:58 For they provoked HIM to anger with their high places, and moved HIM to jealousy with their graven images.
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Any religious symbol you can see with your natural eye is fleshly and not spiritual. crosses, medalions, statues, even church buildings
Those things made by the hands of men are secular and not spiritual.
We, the people chosen by God, are the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
I Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
You don't have to say, "I am of God", by wearing crosses of religious symbols. In fact, some of the most vile men and women I've ever seen wear crosses around their necks, or through their ears. I never understand why they do this.
And if you think it brings you luck to wear a cross or religious medallion, you are in serious trouble. Hopefully these scriptures will show you what an abomination it is in the sight of God to make God into something man can see with natural eyes.
Therefore put away from you all your graven images and religious medallions and trust in the living God by HIS Word which HE speaks to you.
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