Temple Jewelry Charms and Spiritual Discernment

28 June

What is it and from where does it come?  When people write in asking how they can “get” spiritual discernment my answer is always the same; open your bible and start reading.

For those who say they don’t have spiritual discernment I have a question for you!  Do you have His Holy Spirit residing inside you? Does He not guide you throughout your day? If so, how does He do this? Name the things He’s shown you in one day and give scriptural proof to back your claim.

Having discernment includes knowing who God is and what He expects from you as His child. All parents have guidelines for their homes and our own little kingdom is kind of a small picture of what God does with His kingdom. There are rules to obey and guidelines to follow. Does your heart hurt for what God loves and hurts for? Oswald Chambers once asked; “Can Jesus Christ see the agony of His soul in you?”

As Christians we need to be repulsed and turned off by violent movies or ungodly music and inappropriate manmade items we see on a daily basis. But in order to do this we can’t just sit around and wonder what God is going to do; it’s our job to find out what God wants. He’s already there waiting and we need to open our minds to the point where He’s able to convey what He wants for us to know (Phil. 2:5).

John tells us in his first epistle to test the spirits to see if they’re from God (1 Jn 4:1) and Paul reminded us and the Thessalonians when he was in Athens to test everything and hold fast to that which is good (1 Thess. 5:21). Having these thoughts in your mind as you walk out your door is having spiritual discernment. His thoughts guard our thoughts and help us discern what is righteous.

Having discernment also includes our obedience to what Jesus tells us to do. In the book of John Jesus told us to not let our hearts be troubled (John 14:1, 27). Are we allowing worry about worldly things plague and fill our minds throughout each day? We hurt and in essence reject Jesus with our stressed out minds and behavior. We’re trying to serve two masters when we worry.

Bible dictionaries also tell us that discernment means having the God given ability to tell whether a prophetic word came from God or a source opposed to God. – (Holman’s Bible Dictionary)

For those of us who’ve been blessed with this gift (Christians) it’s like God turned on a light switch inside of us to sense whether or not something is okay.  I don’t want to sound as if it’s a magic trick or ESP because that’s not what I’m referring to. It’s having the ability to see or read something and determine its value with what God says.

As I was raising my kids I wanted to make sure they knew the word of God so they could use it as a tool for discernment. If something disagreed with what God says in His word then we’re obviously supposed to disregard the message and the person (Deut. 18:20-22).

I noticed by the time they were ten or so they weren’t as spiritually discerning as I thought they could be. Some things clicked for them (some ungodly music, vocabulary or clothing) and then in other areas…not so much. And since clothing, jewelry and music are big things for kids (and big kids too) I felt it was essential this all important tool of spiritual discernment was intact before they entered the mine fields of junior and senior high school.

On a few occasions I sat them down and presented several items ranging from album covers and jewelry to pictures of different graffiti. Some of the items included an ankh, a pentagram, a Native American dream catcher and a labyrinth.  I gave short history lessons on where an item came from and then had them tell me what they thought.

So today I kind of want to turn the tables on my readers. I’ve placed a picture to the right of each topic. I want for you to take a look at it and ask yourself if your spiritual reaction to each item is repulsed or is your spiritual reaction to it just blank.

This first item is known as an upside down pentagram inside a circle. As a Christian you should automatically have a bad reaction to this symbol. The necklace is a replica of the windows on the Mormon Nauvoo Temple and available on a website where members can buy LDS jewelry.

What’s so sad about this is how proud they are by displaying it in any fashion. And keep in mind the Mormons won’t wear a cross necklace because as one of their prophets said “It’s in bad taste and repugnant” (Joseph Fielding Smith, 10th Prophet of LDS Church) or because as the late prophet Hinckley stated, “…the symbol of their worship is the people, not the cross”.

This inverted pentagram symbol is as demonic as it gets. I wrote an in-depth article on the meanings of the occult symbols you can find on LDS temples awhile back and every single day of my life I pray Mormons will read it when they land on our websites. 

This symbol always represents evil. It’s also a sign of perverted power as well as the fall of the Morning Star (meaning Jesus). A circle around an upside down pentagram signifies an enhanced power of evil. One point down with two points up is a sign calling to evoke all evil earthly powers to come forth.

Now I ask you, is this something you’d want hanging around your neck? God expressly told us not to worship the stars or constellations in Isaiah 47:13-14;

“13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. 14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.”

This next symbol is sold on the same site as a trinket or because of the small hole in the top you could probably use it as a necklace. Take a close look at this little charm and see what you think.

If you’re not sure – this is known as a Jupiter Talisman. It’s a replica of what was found in the pocket of Joseph Smith on the day he died. A Jupiter Talisman is carried or worn as a necklace as a good luck charm for wealth and prosperity. Supposedly it brings the person who carries it protection from all earthly dangers and gives power against poverty. And lastly it supposedly helps to build strength of will and character.

The Jupiter part of his trinket meant that he (Smith) relied upon the movement of star constellations to tell him when to do certain things. According to the website of www.dictionary.com it says a talisman is “a stone, ring, or other object engraved with figures or characters supposed to possess occult powers and worn as an amulet or charm”.

How comforting would it be knowing that your godly prophet is relying upon the stars for inspiration and also knowing this charm he carries around in his pocket belongs to the world of the occult?

It’s odd (NOT) that each of the reasons why Smith carried it ended up not protecting him from all those bad experiences. The effects of his shameless behavior are painful reminders for everyone who’s had the misfortune of knowing about Mormonism.

And stranger still is how Smith didn’t do at this time the very thing he said he did when he went to inquire of God which church to join. Smith said he read James 1:5 and this is what prompted him to go to the grove of trees to pray. He should’ve taken God’s counsel instead of looking to his amulet for answers.

James 1:5; “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

The last item for the day is another piece of jewelry Melissa found on the same website.

This occult symbol is another replica of what we find on the Nauvoo temple, but this time it’s a sunstone engraving. (I also found a charm for sale replicating another stone engraving. See picture of personified moonstone.)

Melissa stated her first reaction to it was “creepy” and I definitely agree. Why they think these are things to be admired is beyond me and I can’t answer the question of who initially decided they were approved of by God. During my research I learned just what the Lord thinks of worshipping the objects He created; it’s called Ba’al worship.

Deut. 4:15-19;

“15 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:

16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,

18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:

19 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.”

As you can see God says that making any figure in the image of something He’s created corrupts you.

Use of the sunstone is found throughout the world of Neo-Paganism which is nothing more than modern day witchcraft. This occult symbol has saturated our culture today and can be found in everything from yard art and garden items to shower curtains. Everyone’s seen a smiling face on a sun or the winking eye of a moon on items we use every day. This type of cultural behavior is what got the Israelites into loads of trouble with the Lord.

First the Assyrians scattered the Northern Kingdom and they only had to wait another hundred and thirty or so years before the Judeans, their tribesmen to the south, were annihilated by the Babylonians. The latter tribes were chastised by God for worshipping idols in groves of trees. On more than one occasion God told them through Jeremiah they were playing the part of a harlot.

Today the sun idol that pagans worship is also known as the sun god Horus-Re which happens to be the same god Egyptians worshipped. Interestingly enough this god makes an appearance in Facsimile 2 found in the Book of Abraham, no surprise there.

As God’s children we’re to be diligent in our lives, looking for ways to glorify Him while still wearing the armor of God (Eph. 6:11-18). This is the definition of having spiritual discernment. We need not worry about things around us, but we must be concerned about what He thinks of us. Jesus said it best in Matthew 10:28;

“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

If you are saved in the Kingdom of God I dare say you already have spiritual discernment and you either don’t know you have it or you’re ignoring the signals the Lord keeps sending your way.

With Love in Christ;

Michelle

1 Cor. 1:18

Tags: , , , , ,

No comments yet.

Leave a Reply