IDOLATRY

This word is ever present in my vocab these days. It pops up in many of my conversations...because I feel and see it ever present in our culture, society, and homes.

My working definition of IDOLATRY:

• ANYTHING that robs our affection and time from God.
• ANYTHING that is currently ushering in a stronghold over us.
• ANYTHING that is robbing our day and lives of real relationships and productivity.
• ANYTHING that we jokingly say we are 'obsessed with', 'fixated on', or 'have a fetish' of.
• ANYTHING that we are addicted to.
• ANYTHING we admit to 'wasting our time' doing.

 

Got idolatry?

It's everywhere. I could list numerous things...many that we all own or do. So I will refrain from identifying many of them to avoid the condemnation the enemy would love to suck you under.

I bring this topic up however, to bring attention to you that there is some, somewhere in your life, home, day and I am calling out to you to BREAK FREE from it!!!!

Note: I TAKE MYSELF THROUGH THIS TOO...DON'T THINK FOR A SECOND THAT I DON'T BATTLE THE TEMPTATION OF IDOLATRY.  It's in our fallen nature...there for we are to submit to God...not our nature/flesh.

Ask God this week: What are the idols in my life Lord?

And be ready for Him to answer. Jesus resonated the 10 commandments in the New Testament.

We often hear, "...but we're no longer under the law". True. But we are called to follow Christ's example and teachings, right? And He taught the same principles of the 10 Commandments. And the Holy Spirit convicts accordingly to the Scripture that God has laid before us.

Study Exodus 20:3-17...and then turn over to New Testament. (Matthew 4:10, 5:34,10:37, 5:22, 5:28, 5:40, 12:36, Luke 16:13, 12:15, and Mark 2:27-28.)

Salvation is a gift from God granted by His mercy and grace to those who repent and confess that Jesus is Lord. YES! But we have to relentless pursue God to remain free from bondage.

Once we are saved, bought by the blood of Christ on the Cross...The Lord knows that if we follow His teachings, then we will REMAIN free. We are truly free when we are abiding in His Word and walking it out, walking by the Spirit. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. How much freedom do you have when you are entangled with obsessiveness with fame, power, money, material things? How much freedom do you have when you are ensnared by lust? NONE. Idolatry comes in the door of sin. Sin comes by temptation not being dealt with AT THE FEET OF JESUS!

When we remain in the Word, empowered by the Holy Spirit, submissive to God's will...then we are worshipping the ONE TRUE GOD and free of idolatry.

Meditate, think, dwell on this word: idolatry.

What false idols/gods are trying to control and master you?

Find some?

If so:

• Repent of the idolatry.
• Ask God for forgiveness.
• Break the unhealthy attachment/addiction to these.
• Ask God to deliver you from idolatry.
• Then pursue God - daily - above all things!!!!

It is NOT God's will that you serve anyone, anything besides God....and...

^"This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him." - 1 John 5:14-15

So what then shall you do???? He is available and waiting to set you free TODAY!

Who do you serve?

The Word is the truth. The truth, the inspired Word of God. The Bible is the Word. The Bible gives the best advice on the planet. It's full of life-bringing encouragement, as well as honest, love-motivated warnings. Such as:

Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

--  1 John 5:21, NASB  --

 



 

Another translation (Living Bible) simply states it as:

^"Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts. "

 

IDOL in the Greek: heathen god, false god.

IDOL from dictionary.com:

any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or

devotion...or an image or other material object representing a deity to which religious worship is addressed.

 

Look around at this world. Name some "idols". Money? Homes? Sports, sports figures? Bands? Look at the walls in your home. What is your kids' room postered with? What is your money going to? Your time? Who is your allegiance going to?

 

Got addictions? To your phone, your computer, FB, Pinterest, porn, alcohol, drugs, steroids, shopping, eating?????

 

What or who do you serve? Do you please your spouse above God? Does your child rule over you? What about your job? Do you sacrifice your well-being and time with your family to be #1 at your job?

 

How is your health? Stress levels? Is there any indications that your life is imbalanced? Going to work with hangovers? Lying to your spouse on where you are, where the money is going?

 

How's your kids' life? Do they have time to play and be a kid, or are they practicing 'til dusk that sport you think will pay for college? Is your kid stressed out?

 

Folks, stress, dying relationships, confusion, chaos, health problems, sleep deprivation...the list goes on and on that indicate their are idols in our lives.

 

Don't think money is an idol? Look at your car? Overpriced? Look at your home, could it house 2 or 3 families? I've heard people justify chasing the dollar to 'give'. The woman in the synagogue gave her last coins and Jesus remarked that she gave more...she gave out of her necessity. Is your car more than a small home on the bad side of town? Yea, it's overpriced. Give more! Spend less, give more. Give out of necessity, give until it hurts....IF you honestly believe that you are chasing money to give more. Here's a challenge: Never drive something that costs over $500/mo. and the difference between your current monthly payment and the $500 - GIVE IT AWAY!!!! Do the same with that house payment! Or whatever high priced idol your money and time is serving!

 

Don't think food is an idol? I live in Kern County. #1 for highest rate of obesity in California. 65% of Americans are obese. Hello, FOOD IS AN IDOL. People turn to it for comfort...instead of the Lord! They spend gobs of money on a ridiculous SMALL amount of food at a fancy restaurant. I've had the food...it's salty and I'm still hungry when I leave. I'd rather have a ham sandwich or salad from my kitchen!

 

What else? Sports. Either watching or participation to the point that you have no relationship with people or your spouse, your family. Drugs and alcohol - the overconsumption that is wrecking your marriage, your kids' lives, your health, your work performance. One word: IDOLATRY.

 

My perspective has always been that these kinds of idols are what people are turning to and trying to fill the God-sized void in their lives and hearts with. What if you spent 1/10 of the time you spend doing your favorite, idolatrous activity with God? What if you spent 1/4 of that time??? Think life could be different?

 

James 1:27 says: Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

 

The world is filled with idolatry! There's even a show 'American Idol' on television. Kids who know more about a sports figure than Jesus Christ! Commercials blasting idolatry from the idol-box itself, the television.

 

Am I being harsh? I just want to see this world turned upside down for Jesus. And it starts when we stop worshipping ourselves, our possessions, our achievements and start WORSHIPPING THE TRUE GOD!!!

 

"God is spirit, and those who worship Him

must worship in spirit and truth.”

--  John 4:24  --

 

 

"....worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh..."

--  Philippians 3:3  --

 

Heck, the first commandment from Exodus is: DO NOT WORSHIP ANY OTHER gods!

 

It's in the Old and New Testament. So what should we do?

 

Guard ourselves and lay down our false gods and idols. It's time to worship the only one true God!! 

Bad case of MONEY-ITIS!

For the grace of  God has appeared,

bringing salvation to all men,

instructing us to deny ungodliness

and worldly desires and to live sensibly,

righteously and godly in the present age,

looking for the blessed hope and

the appearing of the glory

of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Titus 2:11-13

What's with the trend of believers chasing stuff? Worldly desires....Another version says, "worldly passions".

People who are void of the Holy Spirit are always seeking to fill that void with stuff. (I blogged about that last week, search for "Stuff" in the search bar on this page to see if this is you.)

Let's define 'worldly desires/passions' a little further...

•  worldly: (greek: kosmikos) - meaning: having the character of this present corrupt age
• desire: (greek: epithymia) - meaning: craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden, lust 

Refer back to the verse...Here Paul is instructing 'the church' - the body of believers to "Deny ungodliness". Now it is our goal, those who follow Christ that we be godly, that our light shines before men in such a way that they may see our good works, and glorify our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

• ungodliness - (greek: asebeia) - meaning:  lusts or desires after evil things.

What is it that you are pursuing that is worldly, forbidden, evil? For some it's downright obvious, black & white stuff like: drugs, pornography, extramarital relationships. But some miss the mark by the mere lack of self-control and discontentment.

It is apparent that our nation's economy is in a crisis because of all the wants! All the overspending on stuff. Remember in 2007 when prices of homes went off the charts...and where are your neighbors who 'refinanced' to buy cars, trucks, boats, RVs, fancy vacations???? They've been foreclosed on and had to move on.

Check this verse out:

For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil,

and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith

and pierced themselves with many griefs.

1 Timothy 6:10

How many brothers & sisters in the Lord DID you have that are now missing because of their pursuits of money. God really used this verse in my life long ago while I was in the real estate industry. See, there is where you will find many people working 12 hours a day...for what? So they can have the fancy suits, fancy cars, fancy homes...all at the price of NOT seeing their families.

A thought occurred to me yesterday:

What's up with people going to church JUST

to network for business/money-making reasons????

I do my best to NOT promote my business at church. (Which is a good thing...read on.)

Remember when Jesus came through the temple, tossing over tables - "driving out those who were buying and selling in the temple"....what did He say:

"Is it not written MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'?  But you have made it a ROBBER'S DEN".

How do I receive that? Don't sell your Shakeology at church! If they want it, let them seek you out...but DON'T CORNER PEOPLE AT CHURCH TO BUY SOMETHING FROM YOU. (period)

What other evil comes from money? Jealousy. Resenting those who have more and so you go on pursuing more. How about fraud? Like real estate tycoons jacking up prices of homes and having family buy them to make more money and more money. Think about it...we all know believers who have gotten caught in the trap, don't we?

I don't think people start out with intentions to forfeit their values, their family, and God's Word in the beginning. But a little bit of nice stuff, leads to the want and need for more, then more...and soon, people break the rules to get more...and then what? They end up losing it all!

This is just one of the many reasons why the Lord instructs us not to chase 'worldy desires/passions'. We end up chasing money...and we end up losing more than we bargained for. This is why Titus 2:12 calls us to live sensibly.

What is that? Sensibly is living with a sound mind, soberly, temperately, discreetly. Opposite of discreetly: flashy, show-off right?

It's my heart's desires that the body of Christ grow in maturity and shine in front of their unsaved friends and family through their contentment, generosity, and sensibility.

But godliness actually is a

means of great gain

when accompanied by contentment.

1 Timothy 6:6 



Hanging onto Life?

What part of this life are you hanging onto? Leisure, power, popularity, financial security? The rewards of success in this life on earth? Clinging to this life may cause us to forfeit the best that God has for us. True joy will come when we loosen our grip on earthly rewards and free our hearts to follow Christ. (My paraphrase of the commentary of these verses below in the Life Application Bible NASB.)

As I spent time in the Word today, I got stuck on the verse Psalms 63:3: God's lovingkindness is better than life. This verse reminded me that we need to hang onto Him tighter than we hang onto life. This led me to read Matthew 10:39:...he who loses his life for Jesus' sake will find it!

Sometimes I need a reality check to make sure that I am laying up my treasures in heaven. It is so easy to get caught up in keeping up w/ the Joneses, and pursue wordly success above heavenly success. Keeping a balanced perspective is a must for a believer. Having nice things can be great...just make sure that your personal relationship w/ the Lord is not ignored/neglected for the sake of chasing things.

This is for me. I realize that I am human and I love feeling successful. But I must first be successful at seeking God before I can enjoy my success on earth (Matthew 6:33).