Idols

Love you all, praying for you. 
 
I just love God’s Word.  It separates between the real and the fake.  What is an idol?   Something not God, that takes the place of God in your life.  Sometimes idols are not obvious.  Not many have a golden calf… that looks like one.  Anything that replaces God in importance, pre-eminence, or priority.  “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”  Sometimes sin can be a god.  Sometimes fear, or fear of man can be a god, sometimes money or greed or wealth can be a god.  Whatever captures your attention and affection or that you put your trust in… instead of calling on the Name of The LORD your God.    Sometimes a relationship can be a god.  Sometimes a career can be a god.  Sometimes your own way of doing things can be a god.  Sometimes your dependence on yourself can be a god, your strategies to survive and advance in life, your knowledge, strength or ingenuity.  Some may trust in horses, some may trust in chariots…  People trust in many things to save them.  As God says about the rich,  Proverbs 18:11 – The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale.  Anything that replaces God in your life, or the position He should hold.  Position #1 – of your attention, affection, or trust – that’s an idol.    Are there any idols in your life that God wants you to remove?  If you ask Him, He’ll tell you.  Because He wants what is best for you, and idols always keep you from God’s best, and could end up in your ruin and destruction.  Idols are just fake, not real.  They seem to be worth the time and effort and attention, but they are not, they are powerless.  They are false, useless.  God has better.  He is better, His ways are better, His presence is better, His Word is better.  These will establish you, not enslave you, like idols do.  Psalms 16:4 – Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.  God warned of false pursuits, trusting in other things.  Psalms 115:3 – Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.  Their idols are merely silver and gold, made by human hands.  They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see.  They have ears, but cannot hear, noses but cannot smell.  They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats.  Those who make them will be like them, (deaf and dumb), and so will all who trust in them.  As unreliable and worthless in the day of trouble as any idol is, so will they be that trust in them (deaf and dumb, unreliable and worthless.  God’s ways and His plans for you are what will bring you to the fruitful life that you long for.  All those who chase idols are after something, something only God can give, that idols cannot.  Safety, Protection, Significance, Contentment, Peace, Joy, Favor, Enduring prosperity of mind, body, soul, and spirit.  Joy beyond happiness…  Eternal Reward, and everything you need down here – added.  Seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness, and you won’t fall prey to idols.  They are worthless.  God has so much better.  Start with His Plans for your day.  PiVAT before dinner – a conversation that He’s just waiting to have with you every day!  He delights in the smallest details of your life, and His plans for you are Masterful!  Start next with PRISM – those five things you can do in His Word every day.  It will teach you His Ways, and will remind you of His great love for you, and his unlimited power to help you and sustain you, and fulfill the purpose He has for you.  Start next with your Daily Call – God said it’s how you overcome the enemy.  The pull of idols in your life, the shiny but worthless…  Be faithful with 4C’s.  Know where God’s money is, and ask Him what He wants you to do with it.  He’ll tell you, and you’ll learn to love God, not money.  He will establish you in wisdom, and excellence, in hope and harvest – a life full of fruit.  He’ll be with you in trials, and bring you through every storm.  His ways are above your ways, if you let Him lead you – you will get to places you never even dreamed.  He has good in store for you – for those who fear Him. 
 
Love you all,
dad