This verse is the second Commandment, and continues the same thought of idol worship…but the focus here is on the idols we create ourselves. Funny how idols can take on unique faces when we’re making them…these idols can be work or play related, they can revolve around amassing things or be very private and personal. But what the Lord wants us to remember is that these man-made idols are totally vain, worthless, and empty…and sadly will leave us feeling the same way in the end.
Tag: God
Exodus 20 :3 ” You shall have no other gods before Me.”
This is the first of what is called the Ten Commandments, and the Lord starts out with the most important directive to mankind…do not worship anyone or anything but Me. Do not follow another god, do not bow down, serve or sacrifice to it. The Lord demands that we remain faithful to Him alone, because as in Jeremiah 1:16 it says, “I will pronounce My judgments on My people because of their wickedness in forsaking Me, in burning incense to other gods and in worshiping what their hands have made.” Our God is a jealous God, wanting our full devotion and love.
Micah 7: 18-19 ” Who is a God like You, who pardons the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”
The Lord can not harden His heart against us, His children…He can not hold a grudge either for all our misdeeds we seem to do over and over. Rather, He finds pleasure in being kind and loving towards us…like a loving parent towards a little child. The Lord blots out completely our transgressions, and will remember our sins no more. The Prophet Micah was right to ask that awe-inspiring question…Who is a God like You?
Ezekiel 11:19 ” I will give them an undivided heart and put a new Spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.”
In this verse the Lord is saying that He will give us a heart that is united with His, and place within us the Holy Spirit, who will work on our behalf. The Lord will transplant our unrepentant, unyielding, hard as flint heart, and instead replace it with one that is undivided for Him. And the result will be us changed…a likeness of Jesus, His words not written on tablets of stone, but on tablets of our hearts.
Psalm 84:10-11 ” Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.”
We make decisions everyday…some are quick and rash, others come after careful and well thought out deliberation. Some of these decisions have eternal consequences attached to them. The Writer of this Psalm has prudently considered his life, and has chosen what he feels is the morally right thing to do. He would rather have the lowly position of Doorman at the Temple than be around the godless.He would rather spend what little time he had with the Lord, than anywhere else. We make decisions everyday…make ones that have lasting effects.
I Thessalonians 5: 16-18 ” Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
I read the first part of this verse, and I’m ready to throw in the towel…I fail miserably in all areas, everyday. Too often, I allow discouragement and trouble to cause me to become exasperated and defeated Spiritually. My rejoicing turns to whining, my gratefulness turns to grousing. But the key to this verse lies at the end…for this is God’s divine purpose for us, His good pleasure for our lives as we depend on Him, not ourselves to accomplish it. Through Him I can achieve all this and be victorious…and so can you!
Luke 8: 5-8 ” A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”
The farmers are in the fields around us planting grain in hopes of a great harvest this Fall. God’s Word is dispersed just like the farmers planting. His Word may go out, but be treated with no regard and ground under foot by this uncaring World…it may be heard by someone, but because they don’t understand it, Satan will snatch it away, whispering in their ear that they “don’t need that religious garbage.” His Word may be received with great joy by someone, only to lose it quickly and fall away when trouble comes into their life, because they were not rooted in Faith. Finally, His Word may be heard and received, but because of all the pressures and enticements of the World, they will never grow Spiritually, or be fruitful. But there are times when God’s Word will go forth and take root in someone’s life ,where it will grow, and reproduce, and that person will become more and more like Jesus everyday.
Isaiah 44:20 ” He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, ‘Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?’ “
Earlier in this chapter, Isaiah has been talking about a man cutting down a tree, and using half to build a fire to cook and warm himself…the other portion, carving it into an idol and bowing down to worship. The heart can be deceived, and it can lead us far from, and contrary to God’s Laws. This Spirit of delusion will blind us from the truth, and cause confusion and false belief in our minds. There comes a time, when we can hear and see the truth, but fail to even recognize it. So deluded from what is right and good and Godly, we flounder in lies and deception, unable to even save ourselves. But there is someone much greater, who can open our eyes and ears to the truth, and dispel the deception …”Return to Me,” says the Lord, “for I have redeemed you.”
II Timothy 1:7 ” For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.”
Fear need not motivate our thoughts and actions…it need not grip us in paralyzing terror. Fear is not of the Lord…quite the opposite, Satan uses fear very effectively to stop us from moving forward with what the Lord would want us to be doing. Instead, the verse says that God has given us the ability to discern with a logical, sound mind what is true. As Romans 8:15 says, ” For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave to fear, but you received the Spirit of Son-ship.” You have been adopted into the family of God, and are joint-heirs with Jesus…and this family of yours doesn’t know the meaning of fear!
Isaiah 30:18 ” Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him.”
Our Lord earnestly desires to show us kindness, He is constantly wanting to give us His love and mercy…as a Father would lovingly treat His child. But He is also just, and justice is one of God’s great attributes…it’s something rooted in His character…God loves justice. It’s something, we as Believers should strive to emulate in our own lives. The Lord is truly good to those whose hope is in Him…Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart.
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