To Whom Shall I Turn?

"I am Yahweh, that is my Name; and my glory I will not give to another, nor my praise to carved images." Isaiah 42:8 If you don't know your enemy, how do you think you'll win the war? The Word of God, the Bible, reveals to us who our enemy is. Many people go through life having no idea that there is a being, a fallen angel, who is determined to turn all people away from the living God. Satan's greatest accomplishment has been his success in convincing people that he doesn't exist. Friends, Satan exists, and he is a major player in the script of your life. That applies to every person on earth. To win a war, one must learn the strategies of the enemy. What is the strategy of this enemy? It is his continuous shotgun blasts against the Word of God. If Satan can keep people away from the Word of God, the Bible, and convince them that it is of little importance or of little necessity, he has accomplished his mission. How does ignorance of the Word of God keep people from salvation? The Word of God reveals to us that there is only one way to be saved because God has given us only one way, and that all attempts to use religious rites or anything else to achieve salvation - are worthless; not only worthless, but they will keep the religious person from the truth, convincing him that the fact that he practices “religion” makes him "religious" and therefore a "good" person. But what is the truth? It is that we live in a fallen world, that we live in a fallen human nature, that we are sinners no matter how "good" we think we are, and that God has sent a Redeemer to mankind. It is through faith in the ONE Redeemer ALONE that we must be saved because he alone bore the judgment on our sins, in our place. "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. NOONE comes to the Father EXCEPT THROUGH ME." John 14:6 Jesus Christ said HE is the ONLY way. Do you believe him? Seeking help through medals and statues and rosaries and pilgrimages and prayers to saints, to Mary, and to the dead, all these are abominations before God. (Deuteronomy 18:10-12) Throughout the Scriptures God repeats again and again that we are not to use images in prayer or worship. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, 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 nor serve them..." Exodus 20:4-5 So why do religions teach people to use images? Because there is an enemy, a clever and crafty enemy who deceives all who do not know the Word of God. They don't know bowing before statues or praying to the dead is actually and specifically forbidden by God and that he calls these practices "abominations." God is so insistent that we turn to no other but him, that he actually reveals that to do so will bring a curse upon anyone who does any of these things – so serious is this that the curse will be upon them down to the third and fourth generation of their children. vs: 5 "For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me..." You say, "but I don't hate him." Yes you do, if you disobey him. And your disobedience will bring judgment not only upon you, but upon your children and grandchildren down to the fourth generation. "If you love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15 Friends, put away the rosaries, the statues, the pilgrimages; stop kissing the feet of images and statues. Get rid of any "good luck" charm or medal you've kept, for these are all abominations before God ...says God! Listen to the Lord God and do what he says, otherwise you incur judgment, and that can be far-reaching. How much better to obey the Lord God and bring blessing upon you and upon your children, by opening up his Word and finding out what he has to say?