KILL YOUR IDOLS!!!

The things we idolize can't save us! Isaiah 37 vs 11:13

Let’s be honest, we are all passionate about something. Whether it’s a career, a hobby, material things, or a relationship. You have something that makes your heart sing, so to speak… something or someone that you love more than anything on this earth. We are taught from a young age that when we love something or someone we are to put our heart into it and give it our all. But, if you’re not careful, that passion and love can easily turn into idolatry. In broaching this topic, it’s important to acknowledge a hard truth in our culture: We as people tend  to idolize people. Politicians, musicians, actors, writers, activists, preachers, teachers, and whatever the Kardashians are, haha of cause i do watch them.  (That last one didn’t trigger my spell checker… just take a moment to let that sink in!). We tend to look to these people as infallible heroes. The problem that comes with trying to make anyone into a messiah is that they can’t save us!, and they’re only human. An idol is any person, object or activity you give a higher priority in your life than a relationship with God/OR can be anything we place ahead of God in our lives, anything that tugs at our heart more than God does. An idol can be your home, your job, a vehicle, a relationship, or even your family. An idol can be a pet, a computer, or what you look at on that computer. An idol can be alcohol, drugs, sex, or any sin. An idol can be the work you do for the Lord that consumes all your energy and time. God says He’s a jealous God. He wants our time and attention.

 Yet Scripture tells us that, whatever we do, we are to “do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31) and that we are to serve God only (Deuteronomy 6:13). Unfortunately, God is often shoved out of the way as we zealously pursue our idols. Worse yet, the significant amount of time we often spend in these idolatrous pursuits leaves us with little or no time to spend with the Lord.

The Mosaic Law is built upon the Ten Commandments, and the law was built upon the first commandment: “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me” (Deuteronomy 5:6-7 NKJV). Here we see not only God’s prohibition against idolatry, but His reasons for that prohibition. It was the Lord God who had the power to bring His people out of bondage in Egypt. He alone cared enough for them to choose them to be His own, and He alone delivered and protected them. For all this, He declares that He alone deserves to be worshiped and reverenced. No idol made of wood or stone is God. Idols are deaf, dumb, blind, and powerless (Isaiah 44:18). 

“Lets not be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry…” People everywhere are caught up in the “good things of this life”. There is a bell tolling in our nation today. We must pay attention. However, As Patricia King notes, the Body of Christ is full of sin. “As long as there is unaddressed darkness in the church, we lack authority.” We’ve got to address what hinders our walk with God and let it go! Paul also warns the Colossians against worshiping other supernatural beings: “Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize” (Colossians 2:18). Jesus expanded the definition of “other gods” to include concepts in addition to images, living things and other supernatural beings. In Matthew 6:24, He warns against the worship of material things. “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money”. The Greek word mammonas, translated here as “money,” does not mean the money in one’s pockets. It is the personification of wealth or money (especially wealth gained through greediness), the love of which, in modern terminology, is “materialism.” The dangers of worshiping material things are clearly outlined in the story of the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-26) who turned away from Christ because he could not part with his wealth. 

To take authority, we’ve got to release the sins and repent. The Word points out that man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at our hearts. Our hearts are guilty before the Lord. God is done with the mess we call righteous living. We have to destroy idol worship. We have gone long enough with a wink and a nod toward sin in the Body. I am not pointing fingers. I am as guilty as anyone is.

The Word of the Lord for this hour is NEW BEGINNINGS. In the Spirit realm, we are coming into a spring season. Spring is a time of new growth. It’s a time of renewed hope. This is a time of new beginnings in the Spiritual, but only if you’ve left the baggage of the past behind.

The Word says it’s better to obey than sacrifice. Obey what? The Word of the Lord. When God says to repent, we must repent. God hates idolatry. It’s a commandment and God has been judging -- yes, judging righteous people on earth for it since time began. It’s true, He loves us and yes HE HAS A PLAN for each of us but only in His parameters.

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT).

The things we idolize they turn out to not be God, and as a result, they will stumble or fail to be everything that God is. We will eventually wind up defending, ignoring, minimizing, whitewashing, or pointing fingers at the sins of others all in an effort to draw attention away from the reality that the thing/person we idolize isn’t sufficient to save or worthy of praise. The joys of this world, which we too often seek, will never satisfy the human heart. As Solomon beautifully conveys in the book of Ecclesiastes, apart from a right relationship with God, life is futile. We were created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and designed to worship and glorify Him as He alone is worthy of our worship. God has placed “eternity in man’s heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11), and a relationship with Jesus Christ is the only way to fulfill this longing for eternal life. All of our idolatrous pursuits will leave us empty, unsatisfied, and, ultimately, on the broad road that Scripture warns us about most people taking, the one that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13).

Signs You’re Idolizing Something or Someone:

1. You find your worth and value in them because they give you status, popularity, and power.

2. When you think of your life without them, you feel empty inside.

3. When you’re away from them, they are all you can think about. Night and day, Day and night.

4. You often feel like they give your life purpose. Without them, there’s no you. Does this sound familiar?

5. They have a major influence on the way you feel and think about yourself. They have total control of your self-esteem.

6. Most of your time is consumed by them. If you could, you would spend 24/7 with them. As the saying goes… “You eat, sleep, and breathe” them.

7. You schedule everything around them. You try to squeeze God in wherever you can instead of making Him the priority to begin with.

8. You neglect other important aspects of your life in order to focus on the one thing  that really matters to you.

9. You’d rather put your faith into someone or something other than God.

10. You found yourself nodding throughout this list, reaffirming that you’ve got work to do.

I believe the solution  for  us is to come to a point that we recognize that God is deserving of our worship and adoration in a way that no one else is. We must remind ourselves of this daily. whenever we fall short, we need to acknowledge sin for what it is and point to Christ. Further, we need to hold ourselves and each other to a higher standard than we hold the world. If so, try not to be so focused on material things or relationships that you forget about your relationship with God. Switch the energy you’re currently putting into your distractions and refocus it where it’s needed, on Him!

That’s why it is so important for us to fast from things that we might be giving too much of our attention to and not giving God enough attention. Just remember God is all you need.

WAKE UP

SHAKE YOURSELVES

KILL YOUR IDOLS

REPENT

GET BACK ON THE WALL

RE-ESTABLISH THE BORDERS

TAKE AUTHORITY!!!

BE BLESSED!!!!