Am I An Idol Worshipper?

According to the dictionary, idolatry is the worship of a physical object as god; immoderate attachment or devotion to something other than God. The words in italics are mine. As we look at these words, I would like us to pause and think deeply. Then ask ourselves this question – am I in idolatry? Recall that the bible says if you judge yourself, then you shall not be judged.

Very often when people talk about idolatry, our minds go to traditional worship of strange gods. These are gods that people worship in specific ways. Indeed the worship of these gods is a form of religion and the worshippers have beliefs and/or doctrines that guide them in their worship. They even have altars on which they offer sacrifices to these gods. This is very obvious idolatry but idolatry is much more than that. Whenever our attachment or devotion to a thing becomes immoderate, we tend towards idolatry.

Psalm 115: 3 – 8 “Our God is in the heavens and he does as he wishes. Their gods are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell. They have hands but cannot feel, and feet but cannot walk, and throats but cannot make a sound. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them.

It is sad to observe that there is an inclination in man to worship everything but the one that ought to be worshipped - GOD. Sadly, we even now idolize self. Our attachment and devotion to pleasing ourselves even at the expense of submitting to God, has become unprecedented. Meanwhile, God says no man can serve two masters at the same time; you will either serve one or the other. So that it is impossible to serve God and any other jointly or even be immoderately attached or devoted to any other thing.

Mathew 4: 10NLT “Jesus told him. For the scriptures say, you must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.”

What is even sadder is when those who have been saved from a life of enslavement to the devil and brought into the liberty we have in Christ; allow themselves to be lured again into slavery through the worship of any object or immoderate attachment or devotion to anything. The flesh of man is powerful enough to keep going on and must be brought under control of the Spirit of God so we don’t end up in the wrong place.

Galatians 5: 19 NLT “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

It is time to ponder and contemplate very deeply so that we can make the required changes in our lives.

Gossip? You? Please NO!

Truly Jesus was correct when He said if you want to be a disciple, you have to deny self, then carry your cross and follow Him. You will have to say “no” to self if you must succeed in this walk with God. Self-indulgence tends towards poverty of the soul. Denying self, empowers our Spirit man thereby strengthening us to live a life in the Spirit.

One of the “little foxes that destroy the vine” is gossiping; or if you like tale bearing. My dictionary tells me that a gossip/talebearer is someone who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts; or carries rumor or report of an intimate nature. Please stay away from gossips or kill the seed if it’s in you.

Proverbs 20: 19NLT “A gossip goes around telling secrets, so don’t hang around with chatterers.”

The sad thing about the talebearer is they think they are destroying their victim but gossiping is more self destructive. It is a habit that eats the gossip up slowly so he does not realize he is being destroyed. God is against gossiping; clearly, it attempts to destroy the church that He is building.

”Proverbs 26: 22 - 23 NLT “Rumors are dainty morsels that sink deep into one’s heart. Smooth words may hide a wicked heart, just as a pretty glaze covers a clay spot

It is so sad that in the church today, gossiping is rife; not just mere gossip but ferocious gossip where we truly tear down one another with total disregard for God and His presence in our midst. Worse still, you lie so much to make the victim look bad and the story more interesting. Why won’t it cause a lot of fighting? Clearly it is not a fruit of the spirit.

Proverbs 26: 20NLT “Fire goes out without wood, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops.”

Christians have perfected several ways of gossiping. It could even be through raising a prayer point or sharing a testimony and in a “seemingly reverential” attitude. The sad thing is sometimes, we actually feel the restraint of God but we ignore the voice and go on to say things that should not be said and tell lies potent enough to destroy the victim but sadly the gossip is so self absorbed he can’t see beyond self. Be certain that like a boomerang it will return to destroy you.

Be true to yourself, every gossip knows when they are just gossiping. It is not something that is done inadvertently. The objective is always clear in your mind as you start the story. Please STOP whenever you know its gossip. If we cannot deny self, we would only be going round the cross which we must carry, to be disciples.

Two 'Skills' You Don't Need!!

A few weeks ago, in one of the articles I asked this question – how can we be “possessed” by the Holy Spirit and yet manifest, consistently, the fruits of the flesh? If we are filled with the Spirit, then this is what we should be manifesting.

Galatians 5: 22NLT “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

Hostility and quarrelling are two other things that we must ask God to deliver us from. You may want to add outbursts of anger, which until now, I did not realize is listed as one of the manifestations of the flesh. Indeed I always thought a little outburst of anger from time to time is okay so that nobody takes advantage of you.

I looked up quarrelling and hostility. Here is what I found - To quarrel is to argue vehemently or to disagree with something in an indecent way but hostility is intense aggression or anger. It could be very strong hostility.

Galatians 5: 19-20NLT “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties and other sins like these. Let me tell you again as I have told you before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Do you know that some people think they deserve an award because they really can quarrel? They even boast about it. Sometimes we think it is a joke to confess that we can be very quarrelsome but the bible list them as some of the things we need to do away with. It is time to give up these “skills”.

James 4: 1NLT “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?

Though it feels necessary to have these skills to survive in this very tough world, we really don’t. It is the wisdom of the world that makes one think it is necessary to be hostile or quarrelsome. If we are born of the Spirit, then we must begin to manifest the fruits of the Spirit and do all we can to kill all traces of the flesh in us. The victories that are won from any of these will definitely not last forever but that which is of the spirit shall last forever.

Though the bible says we can be angry, it says we must be careful not to sin even in the anger. Also, we must not teach these things to our children. When we see them manifesting any of these vile things, we must do all we can to help them kill that nature. It is time to begin to teach them that true strength is controlled strength. We apply it only when it is necessary and in the right measure.

The Evil Twins: Jealousy & Envy

Jealousy and envy are not emotions that everyone feels. I heard someone say the other day that every human being is meant to be jealous or envious to some extent; and that it only becomes a problem when you over do it. That is a lie of the devil sold to us to mislead us. Those are ungodly emotions and should not be allowed to find a place in our thoughts. Where it happens, we owe it to ourselves to deal with it immediately. You are empowered to cast that thought out of your mind and God is on your side to enforce the victory He already won for you.

Galatians 5: 19-20NLT “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties and other sins like these. Let me tell you again as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

The dictionary says envy could be described as malice; also as painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage. Jealousy meanwhile is a hostile disposition toward another believed to enjoy an advantage. In truth, the person may not really be enjoying the advantage that you think they are enjoying but you have allowed satan torture you making you fix your gaze on another person instead of on God.

You may just be burning unnecessary emotion that could have been used for something much better. The sad thing is that the person you envy or are jealous of always appears to be doing better than you are doing no matter how hard you try to destroy them. Worse still, you are so occupied with trying to catch up with them or ensure they do not go far, that you do not go forward yourself.

After thinking about these two so much, I have concluded that they must be names of demons-spirits that possess people with the purpose of destroying them. Whenever we identify that the traits we are exhibiting could be described as any of these two, it is expedient that we fight for our lives. Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy so these two emotions come to achieve the same purpose because they are satanic and ungodly. They are not emotions to laugh about. They are seeds of the enemy. Even when we see it in our children, we must do all we can to ensure they understand the need to kill them.

Do you know that murderers did not start always with the intention to kill? Very often, they start with a little envy or jealousy and eventually it ends up with murder because they allowed it fester. They could not bear to see the people anymore and had to do away with them.

The things God has ordained for us are great. Reality is that our God is so great that He has enough to make everyone great and you do not have to destroy another to get to where God has purposed for you to be. As we all pray and pray right, God will begin to release us into the fullness of His plan for our lives.

James 4: 1-2NLT “what is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it from them. Yet you don’t have because you don’t ask for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong-you want only what will give you pleasure.”