Worship

Greeting. ​​​​​​​​​​​​Exodus 32:8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a golden calf, and have worshipped it. and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, Theses be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. Notice the words, OUT OF THE WAY. Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death. When we are out of the way: our ways are our own thoughts and our thoughts are vanity, which means we have  deceived ourselves.  Psalms 94:11 The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity. ​Mark 7:7How in vain do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. The commandments are God's words all 66 books. Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw the wickness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart were only evil. 1 Corinthians 10:14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.  Not all idols are physical, the Bible talks about are evil thoughts created in the carnal mind about who the image of the invisible GOD is. Now these idols or images(READ ACTS CHAPTER 19) need not be something we can touch, but exist in our mind. One of the biggest idols in the last 30 years or so is the Praise and Worship Idol. That if we just praise God for an hour or so His presence must show up. As one deceived Church member once said doing a praise and worship service: ''GOD gonna show up and show out''. That particular day the Church members were running the circus as the people danced and Pastor stood and watched. That Sunday the musicians increase the volume of the music while we waved spiritually bloody hand in the air and danced because God's presence has to show up.1 Kings 18:28And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushes out upon them. That day or rather spiritual night some members literally danced out of their clothes and yet some bowed down at the stage or altar. At this point we were mocking God even as the Roman Soldiers did at the cross demanding that God come down and honor our foolish. Mark 15:30 Save thyself, and come down from the cross. O​r come down to our carnal level. Thus we can manufacture a false presence or image in our mind and we danced. Psalms 106:19They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.John 4:23But 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.So there exist true worshippers and a false worshippers. Act 18:13 Saying, this fellow (Paul) persuadeth men to worship GOD contrary to the law. Was Saint Paul causing them to worship contrary to the law? What law were these JEWS of Achaia talking about? Romans 8:2  For the law of the spirit of the spirit of life in CHRIST JESUS hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Thus two laws are mentioned here (1) THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT ( 2) THE LAW SIN AND DEATH. So what are the carnal minded Church goers giving praise to for a hour or so? THEMSELVES! An image of the beast. Psalms 73:12 So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.  We praise an unknown GOD, ourselves when we are in our own law of sin and death.Act 17:23For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an alter with inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him I declare unto you.Many years ago as I stood with hundreds of other, hands stretched toward the stage and the praise singers. When we are in our own vain thoughts about the words of God, which are His character: we worship in vain. That night we danced and God was silence, no wisdom from above was reveal and nobody could discern we were glorying in our own wisdom or doctrine about the Bible. Mark 7:7Howbeit in vain do they worshipme, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Men cannot worship when they worship in there own spirit of error and only God can set His words in order.  Psalm 50:21 There things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself:  ​but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. Our worship was giving glory to ourselves or strange gods, because God had yet to reveal Himself unto us. Psalm 8:9  There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shall thou worship any strange god. A strange god be in thee, has nothing to do with anything physical, but our thinking.  The Pastors sometime told us to stretch out our hands toward someone as he was praying for; this action reminded me of a super hero in the comic book.  Were there rays of electromagnetic energy coming from our carnal fingers? No! Only spiritually bloody fingers who desire to kill the living soul hid in God's word. The power of lying signs and wonder yet what if I faced the wrong way? Would God be offended or the people on stage? Isaiah 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hand are full of blood.End of part 1 MICHAEL RUDOLPH HODGES 10/26/2015/ amended 5/10/2021/ amended 7/15/2022/ 8/17/2022