ME, MYSELF AND I: IDOL WORSHIP

All the various forms of modern idolatry have one thing at their core: self and by extension, other selves. We no longer bow down to idols and images. Instead we worship at the altar of the god of self. We worship people who we transfer our hopes to and seek from them what we should seek from God! This brand of modern idolatry takes various forms such as politics and slogans like "change we can BELIEVE IN" and "YES WE CAN")

SONS OF BABYLON
They come at you in all forms and deliver their worldly "wisdom" that God laughs at and scorns. They reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Some are openly anti-christ.They can be in Washington, or your neighborhood, on t.v, movies, at the local coffee house, in newspapers, magazines, radio, internet, books, etc, etc.

Often, they openly take God's name in vain, including the Lord Jesus Christ. They pontificate on philosophies, religions, astrology, re-incarnations, "higher power", channeling spirits, hearing from the dead, aura reader's, "THE GOODNESS OF MAN", and everything under the sun. The saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ and the lost condition of all mankind born under the sun is foolishness to them.

They are of all religious and political persuasions and backgrounds. "Sin" is not a part of their vocabulary. They are holier then thou and some have elaborate systems of belief or intellectual platitudes that can dazzle even the most wise among men. Yet one characteristic stands out among them: they can't stand Jesus Christ and will not agree he is The Savior of their lives. They are self made! And too many of us and our children worship this type.

THE APOSTATE.

See them coming up to you, singing glory halleluhah, and their trying to sock it to you in the name of the Lord. These are most dangerous. They always have some condition you must fulfill, some command or belief that's new and exciting but flies in the face of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Maybe a new book or a "just found" ancient writing, or perhaps a new and exciting interpretation of established bible truth like praying the dead into salvation who died in disbelief . Or how about Jesus was the first creation of God The Father, or the Holy Spirit is a spirit of God and not God the Spirit, or a legal rite that, if not observed, gets you ex-communicated or not saved at all! Some of them say to speak in tongues is a necessary and vital sign of being born again! Saved by faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ for remission of our sins and His resurection for our eternal life is never enough for them. Loss of salvation is their mantra. They make merchandise of the unwary (Mt.7:15, 21).

MATERIALISM

We worship at the altar of materialism which feeds our need to build up ourselves through the acquisition of more stuff. Our homes are filled with all manner of possessions. We build bigger and bigger houses with more closets and storage space in order to house all the things we buy, much of which we havent even paid for yet. Most of our stuff has planned obsolescence built into it, making it useless in no time, and so we consign it to the garage or other storage space. Then we rush out to buy the newest item, garment or gadget and the whole process starts over. This insatiable desire for more, better, and newer stuff is nothing more than covetousness. The tenth commandment tells us not to fall victim to coveting: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor" (Exodus 20:17). God doesnt just want to rain on our buying sprees. He knows we will never be happy indulging our materialistic desires because it is Satans trap to keep our focus on ourselves and not on Him.

GRACE IS FREE THE REST COMES WITH A BILL

I had to change my address.TOO much junk mail. Here is a lesson from the Holy Spirit. Satan will give us a myriad of "free" things of this world so long as we want them. When he offered our Lord the kingdoms of this world if Jesus would bow down and worship him our Lord told him "my Kingdom is not of this world". We are to live in the heavenly Kingdom that Jesus opened to us. One day He will call us home. We will be in GOD'S Kingdom forevermore. And we will assist our Lord in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth after He returns and overcomes all opposition and chains the devil up for 1000 years. The stuff of this world ,whatever it is, is worth nothing compared to the riches that awaits us thru Jesus Christ our Lord.

Our Father, GOD ALMIGHTY, will take care of us now because we love His only begotten Son, The Lord of Glory is his name. By Him and He alone GOD hears our prayer's and will respond to us according to His will knowing full well what's best for us. This we receive by faith for without faith it is impossible to please GOD. And we will not fall back to our old ways and dead nature. Our God will finish what He started in us for we are His eternally and He knew us from before we were conceived in our mother's womb . Do I hear AMEN and Praise the Lord, He is unbelievable!

We who love Jesus are humbled by His example and life. We are the richest people on the earth. The question is what do we have waiting for us when we get with GOD ALMIGHTY and the family? Will we get a crown or two? Do we even know what they are in the heavenly accounting sheet? Oh Lord strengthen us in your Holy Spirit to search our hearts and be honest with ourselves. Help us to answer your call.

PRIDE AND EGO

We worship at the altar of our own pride and ego. This often takes the form of obsession with careers and jobs. Millions of men—and increasingly more women—spend 60-80 hours a week working. Even on the weekends and during vacations, our laptops are humming and our minds are whirling with thoughts of how to make our businesses more successful, how to get that promotion, how to get the next raise, how to close the next deal. In the meantime, our children are starving for attention and love. We fool ourselves into thinking we are doing it for them, to give them a better life. But the truth is we are doing it for ourselves, to increase our self-esteem by appearing more successful in the eyes of the world.

This is folly. All our labors and accomplishments will be of no use to us after we die, nor will the admiration of the world, because these things have no eternal value. As King Solomon put it, For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless (Ecclesiastes 2:21-23).

Give glory to the Lord our God. His Son made the heavens and the earth and He made us. Praise Him who is soon to come. Can I hear amen.

Are we getting up for Jesus sake or I.B.M? You get it? Who do you really love? He is waiting for you. If your reading, rejoice in The Lord. Your time is still in God's hands if your willing. Thru Christ you are insured to live forever!

Oh Father, I want to be like Jesus. He is our sure hope and joy. Lord, you promised to finish and make everything new.

THE NUMBER

Do you have the right number? Millions play the numbers every week. In business you have to have the numbers to make it. Bottom line, gross, net, costs, gain and loss are all about numbers. TV too. Numbers dictate standing, win and lose, even life. What's your credit line? How much does it cost? Do you have the rent number? If not your out! Banks, rich or poor, numbers are critical. The number is with us in all sports and competitive pursuits. It starts us off in life in America and guides us till we get a pay day on it if we reach the right number like 62 or 65 and 10 months.

One day the number will control life or death. Just read Rev.13:17-18.
We are blessed thru Christ. No matter what the number of our days, in Christ we will gain eternity. Rich or poor we will walk with God one day. Our real bank account will be opened by faith in the only name under heaven that saves who is Jesus Christ. And our balance measured by our life in service to him and not the number. Our home forever will have no number. We will never be cursed by a number or covet the right number again! Instead of a number we will have his name on us ( Rev.2:17; 22:4). Glory to the Lord God and our savior Jesus Christ.

WE ARE STAR STRUCK

Third, we idolize mankind—and by extension ourselves—through naturalism and the power of science. This gives us the illusion that we are lords of our world and builds our self-esteem to godlike proportions. We reject Gods Word and His description of how He created the heavens and the earth, and we accept the nonsense of evolution and naturalism. We embrace the goddess of environmentalism and fool ourselves into thinking we can preserve the earth indefinitely when God has declared the earth has a limited lifespan and will last only until the end of the age. At that time, He will destroy all that He has made and create a new heaven and new earth.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness (2 Peter 3:10-13).

As this passage so clearly states, our focus should not be on worshipping the environment, but on living holy lives as we wait eagerly for the return of our Lord and Savior, who alone deserves worship.

THE GREAT god OF SELF

Finally, and perhaps most destructively, we worship at the altar of self-aggrandizement or the fulfillment of the self to the exclusion of all others and their needs and desires. This manifests itself in self-indulgence through alcohol, drugs, and food. Those in affluent countries have unlimited access to alcohol, drugs (prescription drug use is at an all-time high, even among children), and food. Obesity rates in the U.S. have skyrocketed, and childhood diabetes brought on by overeating is epidemic. The self-control we so desperately need is spurned in our insatiable desire to eat, drink, and medicate more and more. We resist any effort to get us to curb our appetites, and we are determined to make ourselves the god of our lives.

This has its origin in the Garden of Eden where Satan tempted Eve to eat of the tree with the words you will be like God (Genesis 3:5). This has been mans desire ever since—to be god and, as we have seen, the worship of self is the basis of all modern idolatry.

All idolatry of self has at its core the three lusts found in 1 John 2:16: For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. If we are to escape modern idolatry, we have to admit that it is rampant and reject it in all its forms. It is not of God, but of Satan, and in it we will never find fulfillment. This is the great lie and the same one Satan has been telling since he first lied to Adam and Eve. Sadly, we are still falling for it. Even more sadly, many churches are propagating it in the preaching of the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel built on the idol of self-esteem.

We will never find happiness focusing on ourselves. Our hearts and minds must be centered on God and on others. This is why when asked what is the greatest commandment, Jesus replied, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37). When we love the Lord and others with everything that is in us, there will be no room in our hearts for idolatry.