I firmly believe that we all are free to practice religion — or not — in whatever manner we choose.
See this tiny photo of a horse?
Someone believes that this is an image of Jesus… on the hind quarter of a horse, and they are free to believe that. Their belief does no harm to anyone. Personally, I’m having trouble seeing Jesus there, just as I have trouble seeing Jesus in the actions of some of those who claim to follow His teachings.
I particularly take issue with those who come up with deceptive yet beautifully worded prayers that curse those who do not believe as they do, and do so as if they are righteous believers busy doing God’s will.
I found myself associated with a group on Facebook that supposedly was started as a support group for people in specific situations.
Sounds great in theory, but looks quite different in practice.
I had only been a member for a week or so when I happened to see a daily prayer that included the following words – after ordering the “devil” out of their home:
so pick a home who do not believe in God. Or who do not believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins.
Apparently this group leader is unaware of the following scripture:
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21).
and the words of Jesus as written in Matthew 5:
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. (KJV)
It seems to me that when one is praying against an unseen enemy, it is certainly fine to rebuke, cast out and render them incapable of harm, but it is NOT okay to send them to another’s home.
Once one has done that, they are no longer crying out to God, but speaking to the negative energy – feeding it by sending it to harm another, which has nothing at all to do with love.
God deliver us from such “praying” fools, I mean people.
So what did I do?
At first, I posted a reply, but then I deleted it. The verse about “casting pearls before swine” came to mind.
After some prayerful thought, I simply removed myself from the sadly misguided group.
