MESSAGE MONDAY--- “Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.”---II Corinthians 6:14-16a Is there anyway for a unbeliever and a believer to truly get married and the marriage to work for the glory of God? Is there anyway for a unbeliever and believer to come together in a business venture and to honor God in all things in the business? Is there anyway to mix idol worship with the worship of the true and living God revealed in the Bible? The answer is absolutely not and in no way no how! Too often believers (whether they are true or false converts is up for debate at another time) believe they can get away with mixing idols with Jesus Christ (which is my focus in this message). It comes in many different forms like for example: “Christian” yoga, walking “Christian” labyrinths, “Christian” transcendental meditation, etc. People think all you have to do is put “Christian” before it and that makes it “ok“, but it does not make it ok and here is the reason why: “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.”---Exodus 20:4-5a The true and living God is a jealous God and He will not tolerate idols especially in the life of a true convert of Jesus Christ (breaking the 2nd of the 10 Commandments)! For a person who is born-again and has idols in his or her life God will seek and destroy no matter what it takes to take out the idol(s) in our lives. It is because of His jealously for us, because of His love for us that causes God to act in this way. He wants us to love Him and Him alone above everything and everyone! This was a problem that God dealt with continuously in the Old Testament with the Israelites. They would fall into idol worship, even combine idol worship with the true and living God, but in the end God would do whatever it took to destroy the idols and bring them back to Him even if it meant sending them into captivity. We always have a chose which way we will go, which “god” we will serve. I stand with Joshua who stood with the Lord: “Then Joshua warned the people, ’You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy and jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you abandon the LORD and serve other gods, he will turn against you and destroy you, even though he has been so good to you.’ But the people answered Joshua, ’No, we will serve the LORD!’ ’You are a witness to your own decision,’ Joshua said. ’You have chosen to serve the LORD.’ ’Yes,’ they replied, ’we are witnesses to what we have said.’ ’All right then,’ Joshua said, ’destroy the idols among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.’ The people said to Joshua, ’We will serve the LORD our God. We will obey him alone.’ So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day at Shechem, committing them to follow the decrees and regulations of the LORD.”---Joshua 24:19-25 May we who have been born-again by the Holy Spirit (repented of our sins [breaking the 10 Commandments] and have trusted in Jesus alone for salvation) be cleansed of the idols in our hearts and be strengthened by the same Spirit to live for the perfect, holy and righteous God (this is something they did not have in the Old Testament by the way, the Holy Spirit living within the born-again person continuously) who is the One who saved us to begin with and bow down to worship no other but the Jesus revealed in Holy Scripture!!! “Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, ‘How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!’ But the people were completely silent…At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, ‘O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. O LORD, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.’ Immediately the fire of the LORD flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, ‘The LORD---he is God! Yes, the LORD is God!’”---I Kings 18:21, 36-39
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 15:18:16 +0000
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