Idola-TEA-ry

Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 
(Romans 1:25, KJV)

Current gods are more subtle than ancient ones. (Jesus Calling, 7/11) The subtlety of sin and idols has darkened our foolish hearts (Romans 1:21)

Idol Indicator Gauge: (Jan Carrier's gOds of the Culture notes)

• Anything that substitutes for God in my life
• Anything that is the center of my attention
• Anything that takes the place of God becoming essential to my fulfillment in life
• Anything that replaces what only God can give me(i.e. self-worth)
• Anything or anyone that gets from me what God alone deserves  (i.e. attention & worship) 

Those personal pronouns, me and my, are obvious in the list. 

Read the underlines of the list.  If they, become the end in itself, then self begins to replace God or delete God from the equation. The idol of self is the remainder.

I don't know which generation was dubbed the "ME" generation but they must be procreating. If you don't believe it, just check out the number of "selfies" on-line. (I"m beginning to sound like my grandmother.) 

May I choose NOT to drink from this cuppa "idola-TEA-ry."

When God is no longer the central factor in his life, one needs to ask, "Who is sitting on the throne of "my" heart? Savior or SELF?

SABBATH SNAPSHOT: battlefield "tea"-ology

3/9/14 Brother Buddy gave me Kyle Idleman's book , gods at war, and the title confused me.....until I saw the sub title, which was in all CAPS----"DEFEATING THE IDOLS THAT BATTLE FOR YOUR HEART."

CONVICTION! I had never looked at idolatry in that way! BUT GOD.....does.

Idolatry is the #1 issue in the Bible.....coming into every book. More than 50 of the laws in the first 5 books are aimed at this issue.... and in all of Judaism, it's one of only four sins with the death penalty attached. (Idleman, p. 11)

Many somewhat innocuous sounding idols are listed (food, achievement, family)----and don't seem like a problem in "my" life----until I read the Idol ID section at the end of each of the chapters and realized that I, too, kneel at said temples of worship. Choices reveal the "gods/idols" who sit on the throne of one's heart.

But, like God's word, after "hitting us right between the eyes," Idleman gives hope. Hope imbedded in scripture. Hope that is available when we "choose Jesus."

I battle so many things in my mind which are really heart issues. When I see idolatry as a "heart issue" I know I'm in a BIG battle. I need to RUN right back to the heart of God.

Guide, rear guard, tower of strength, deliverer---all positions needed in war----all provided by the one true God.

Ten-Lords A-Leaping.....

12/20/10.........is our sermon series showing the 10 commandments as the pathway to joy. All of us want enjoyment in life but time and again we look for it in all the wrong ways. Too often, these ways, (especially in excess) can be ways of pain---relationships, adultery, alcohol, achievement in workplace, praises of others, etc. We can actually become enslaved by these pursuits of pleasure and significance. Exodus 20:2 keeps me considering what I’m enslaved to. I am becoming more and more aware of desires, excessive, possibly) and “pursuits” (many well meaning) that I think will bring me joy. What are the gods in my life? That’s the question I have begun asking myself.
Here's a peek at page one of my "sermon notes."

• Idolatry is…..desiring something else more than God.
  
• Idolatry is….conflict with God---most intense where our idols (desires) are most appealing.
  
• Human hearts are idolatry factories.
  
• We might not carve out idols with our hands but we create our own idols when we carve God out of our hearts.
  
• We’ve upgraded idol technology so that it’s not so overt----SELF.
  
• Desire in and of itself is not wrong but…….must consider where those desires are placed, i.e. success & achievement.
  
• Idols get our priority, time, attention & sacrifice.
  
• New Jeep Cherokee ad says, “the things we make, make us.” (an idolatry axiom of our culture today)
• Emerson quote, condensed,---"Gods we worship write their names on our faces…..that which dominates his life will determine his character………..what we are worshipping we are becoming."

1 And God spoke all these words:
2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; (Exodus 20: 1-5a)

Use these words today to help you consider which gods are foremost in your life. Choose to worship the only true God, the One worthy of worship. Carve out time during this season to return to the Lord who gives the kind of love that will have you (and me) leaping for joy.