Wooden Idols

 

Hosea 4:12 NKJV

Lord, thank You for reminding me that even the wooden cross can be my idol unless I foremost pursue and establish my intimate relationship with You, Jesus.

Spiritual Housecleaning and Youth Revival

[S] 2 Chronicles 34:3 --
For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images.

[O] At the age of sixteen, King Josiah began to practice his conviction toward God and essentially brought a spiritual revival in his land under his rule.  Removing the distractions of the enemy was the first step and after that as we read in subsequent verses, God sends him a clear message of His wrath toward His run-away people to which Josiah humbly repents and seeks for God grace.  God accepts and grants him peace.  I can see that Josiah's housecleaning was the right preparation for being right with God when he heard God's message.  This passage is also an inspiration for me as a high school Sunday School teacher because God can work His mighty plans through the youths He had entrusted me with.

[A] God is speaking to me all the time.  So it's not the question of whether God is speaking to me or not but whether I have eliminated the distractions in my life so I may clearly hear His message for me.  I need to start identifying the traps enemy has put in and around my life so that I can remove them in order to prepare myself of hearing God's message for me now.

[P] Dear Father, please identify in my life the areas I need to do some housecleaning in because just like Josiah, I want to hear Your message for me clearly in order to be accepted by You under Your grace.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Hey Idols, Get A Life!

[S] Jeremiah 10:5-6 --
5 "Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they,
And they cannot speak;
They must be carried,
Because they cannot walk!
Do not fear them,
For they can do no harm,
Nor can they do any good."
6 There is none like You, O Lord;
You are great, and great is Your name in might.

[O] This passage is almost funny that God is mocking the idols people have created.  And taking a second look through it's not only funny but quite true.  When is the last time we heard the idols we made did miracles, or let alone walking around to minister to people?  There certainly is no one like God of Heaven and earth and nothing compares to You O God.

[A] I never heard of money, one of the top idols in our society, saving people or comforting people.  I am not talking about how the money is used by Godly people for His purposes but I am talking about the money itself being self-initiating a good cause (or a bad cause as a matter of fact).  However, I treat it as though it is capable of doing that and I need to recalibrate my mind to know that money is just something we agreed to put values and that means we can also decide to devalue it appropriately.

[P] Dear Jesus, running through this life's course I can very easily lose focus of what is from and of You vs. what is from man-made sources.  Let Your Spirit live and guide me each moment so I would keep my eyes on You and to live out a life that is valuable to You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen

It's Harder to Sin, Actually

[S] Hosea 13:2 --
2 And now they sin more and more,
And make for themselves molten images,
Idols skillfully made from their silver,
All of them the work of craftsmen.
They say of them, "Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!"

[O] There is a saying that no one needs to be taught how to sin (as in little child capable of lying on his own) but in order to keep sinning it requires more energy than worshiping and obeying God because I believe it's the enemy's trick to divert our energy in vain things away from following God by feeding our desires to working harder and harder to achieve higher and higher goals and yet without any grace.  As seen in this passage, the people made idols skillfully by professional craftsmen.  This was no amateur-ish job but products requiring a lot of time and effort, just so they can give sacrifice and kiss these very-well-made objects more for their self satisfaction.

[A] I need to slip into the presence of God's grace more and more -- not to get lazy in His grace -- in gratitude and thanksgiving, praising His saving grace for me.  The first portion (tithing) of my energy needs to be directed at doing this rather than trying to "skillfully" make my worship "craftier" because in the end that will direct my focus at what I "did" rather than what He's "done" for me.

[P] Dear Jesus, I come to the foot of the Cross You bore as the symbol for me to enter into the presence of Your grace.  May my heart throughout today be lifted up by being contained in such a presence radiating Your peace and wonderful grace.  In Your name.  Amen.

Pure and Holy God

[S] Isaiah 44:15 --
 ¹⁵Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and falls down before it.

[O] When a man makes an idol image out of wood, that same pieces of wood are used for many other purposes such as firewood to warm themselves up or to cook food with.  The point here is that the fundamental element for the gods people worship are no special than any other wooden sculpture for example.  However, our Heavenly God is a holy God; there is none other like Him and He is made (if I can use that term to describe God) of 100% holiness.  There is no way of mixing His entity with anything else other than God Himself.

[A] Re-examine my understanding of God and see if I had diluted His holiness with my own earthly values.  I need to put Him where He belongs and I must worship Him as who He is none other that God Himself.

[P] Dear God, may Your holiness smother me inside out such that I will recognize You, and to present myself to You as the God of holiness.  And when I am with You may my mind be soaking up Your holiness and nothing of this world.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Look Out for Unfinished Businesses

[S] 2 Kings 10:28-29 --

 ²⁸Thus Jehu eradicated Baal out of Israel.
 ²⁹However, as for the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin, from these Jehu did not depart, even the golden calves that were at Bethel and that were at Dan. (NASB)

²⁸ In this way, Jehu destroyed every trace of Baal worship from Israel. ²⁹ He did not, however, destroy the gold calves at Bethel and Dan, with which Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to sin.  (NLT)

[O] Jehu did a fabulous job of eradicating Baal out of Israel with remarkable plans and execution.  However, he still left the golden calves which was enough for him to follow the sin of Jeroboam in the end.  This picture is so typical of my doing God's work where I always seem to leave a bit of an unfinished business despite the efforts I put in.  I am so susceptible to the gravity pull of sin and in many instances I can easily fool myself to think I've done such a great job for God I can get away with a little unfinished area.  However God desires a complete obedience and so He may work through me.

[A] Especially after doing some task for God, stay humble and seek His mercy in my life.  Do not rely on my achievements to fool myself of thinking I'm worthy of His praise.  Instead, reflect on which areas I've missed and surrender them to His grace.

[P] Dear God, please keep me humble as I desire to serve You in my family, church, and community.  May I not get a big head from serving You as that is my simple duty for what You have done for me.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.