An Idol worshiper turns over to God, and the first clear act of repentance you see is the burning of all his worship symbols and literature. The old way is gone, and he/she embraces the one true God. God cannot be sought by half measures, once someone realizes the authenticity of the message of Christ, they turn around. For there is no other way, by which man can be saved, save through the Son.
Idolatry is defined in the Webster English dictionary as “immoderate attachment or devotion to something”. In the context of the Bible, idolatry is the universal tendency to something or someone in the way that hinders the love and trust that we owe God! Idolatry is a tendency possible with anything that satisfies us outside of our God and King. It is an act of theft from God whereby we use some part of creation in a way that steals from honor due to God. Idolatry conflicts with our putting God alone first in our lives, in what we love and trust. In idolatry we put something or someone, usually a gift from God, in a place of value that detracts from the first place owed to God alone, the gift Giver. That thing or person is an idol.
Today, I will love to talk about 2 idols currently taking a major seat in the Church of God! Just so you are aware and can dodge your head. It is not every one in Church, who calls Jesus Lord that is a part of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is only those who do the Will of God! I believe before they do the Will of God they must first know it.
1. The god called belly: Their god is their belly! Phil 3:19b
God give me a Car, God give me a Job, God give me babies, God I want twins, God I want a career raise, God I need an accommodation, God I want a husband, God don’t forget me! God – satisfy me! Close your eyes, this is time for you to ask from God what you want! This is your own personal one.
This God above, is not God almighty, no it’s the belly god. The god of satisfaction of appetites and human desires. It’s not a God with a personal agenda. No not a God who has His will and agenda laid out and only seeks people who will be involved in His will! This is not the God who called Abraham by His Will, promised Him a Child not for his ego but His will, gave Hannah a son because he needed a priest, not that God. This is the belly god. The one that supplies your personal needs according to his riches in glory! Yes, you read it right, go back to scripture and read what you have believed. All those promises you are personalizing were not for individuals, they were either for cities, communities or nations. God’s plan and agenda is pre-human desires. In an attempt to solve our personal appetites and problems, we have godified our bellies, and taken God’s words out of context.
Jesus teaches us to pray, and after honoring God and asking His will be done, He says, give us this day our daily bread. The bread is not for your belly, it’s for our belly! When the scriptures said touch not my anointed, it was talking about Israel as a nation, neither you nor your pastor. When he says we have the mind of Christ, he wasn’t talking about your belly, it was talking about us, the Church and body of Christ. Scriptures were not written for you to use to serve your belly! Scripture however works perfectly for this purpose if taken out of context. Like my Pastor says – when you take a text out of Context, what you are left with is Con!