Monthly Archives: April 2014

Clinging to Worthless Idols

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idolsOne of my favorite passages in the Bible is  Jonah 2:8-9.   The version below is from the NIV about 10 years ago.  It is very interesting because the verses in the most current NIV are different.  I prefer the older version:

8 “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”

I love this because it is so descriptive and I love the terminology that is used – I can cling to worthless idols that this world has to offer OR I can cling to Christ – where there is grace! The word “cling” makes me think of a monkey clinging to a tree branch. It must let go of the tree branch to make the choice to do something different and go to a different tree.   An idol is anything that gets our devotion or serves as an object of our worship.  Simply put, it is a false god that we have chosen to seek after rather than Christ, who we were made to seek after.  It is like the broken cisterns in Jeremiah 2 that we run to that I referenced in my very first post, “Broken Cisterns.”  All of the energy, emotion, and time that we invest in running after worthless idols is wasted.  So, what are these idols?  The idols that we fall for and run after take many forms – money, food, sex, drugs, work, sleep, alcohol, etc.  They would also include any object of addiction.  They are so appealing to the eye but are poison to our souls.  Maybe you don’t know what idols you struggle with. The vast majority are passed down through generations before us.  You can also just look at where you invest most of your time, money, energy, and emotion.

What are the idols that you are running after today?  What are these objects of your devotion that push God aside?  How are they working for you?  How satisfying are they really?  The idols I have struggled with have never satisfied me or quenched my thirst.  They just leave my barren soul empty!  God created each one of us with needs that only He can meet and desires that only He can satisfy and thirst that only He can quench.  He did this because He is God and He is the Creator and He desires that we are completely devoted to and dependent upon Him.

I choose today not to forfeit the grace that is mine in Christ Jesus!

 

When the Feelings Aren’t There

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no emotionsHave you ever had one of those days  or experienced a season in life where you are pursuing God and you feel nothing?  It’s so hard when you want to feel close to God or feel His presence and there just seems to be nothing there.  Today was one of those days for me.  God showed me many years ago in a journal that I wrote in 2005 the following truth:

“Who God is and His love for me is not dependent on or determined by my feelings or lack of feelings.  Praise God that He never changes – He is constant.  And His love never changes – there is nothing I can do to make Him love me any more or any less than He does right now.  And He loves me right now just as much as He loved me before the foundation of the world.”

Then I wrote the following prayer:

“I worship You!  You alone are worthy of my time, my energy, my emotions, my life, and my worship!  I confess that I have no rights except that of being Your child and worshipping you.  Thank You that You don’t owe me anything and let me receive all that happens today as gift from Your mighty hand.  I praise You that You, Oh God, are loving and You, Oh God, are strong.  And You, Oh God are faithful even when I am unfaithful!

Thank You that You are worthy, and You love me relentlessly without boundary, limit, or breaking point.  Regardless of my emotions, circumstances, performance, or whether or not I can see You, touch You, or hear Your voice, nothing I do or do not do today and nothing I feel or don’t feel can change the way that You love me and the fact that You alone are worthy of my worship!

Thank You that You are in control of every minute detail of my life and every single thing that happens today is a strategic move on Your part for Your glory and my ultimate good.  It is to this end that You allow or don’t allow things to happen in my life.

Thank You God that there is freedom….

1. In knowing that Your thoughts are higher than my thoughts and Your ways are higher than mine and I don’t have to understand Your thoughts and Your ways today.  I can trust You.
2. In knowing that You have a plan for tomorrow and I don’t have to understand it.  Your mercies are sufficient for me today!”

Thank You God for reminding me of these truths today!

 

Running on a Mouse Wheel

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mouse wheelYou can go to almost any pet store that sells mice and see a mouse wheel in the mouse’s cage.  The mouse loves the wheel and runs and runs on it to get exercise since it is cooped up in a cage.  The mouse doesn’t realize it is running and really not going anywhere.

I recently have felt like a mouse on a mouse wheel – running and running and getting nowhere.  Let me explain.  The wheel is an analogy for the things we turn to to meet our needs and satisfy our longings.    Some examples might be alcohol, drugs, food, self-mutilation, infidelity, or even sleep.    So often these things we turn to quickly become forms of addiction.  When we believe that we can meet our needs apart from Christ, it is like running on a mouse wheel and getting nowhere.  What we need to realize is that these things we turn to are not the core issue but merely a symptom.   What happens is that we run to our own addictions and things that we think will satisfy us and a vicious cycle begins – we are running and running and getting nowhere.  We are exhausted and never satisfied.  We wake up the next day and do it all over again.  I have had a lifelong struggle with food but the real issue is much deeper that what I eat each day.  What I am realizing is that the enemy uses these things that we run to to separate us  from God.  He wants me to believe that I don’t need God and that I can live apart from Him and meet my needs just fine.  The truth is I can’t – I will never be satisfied apart from Jesus.  Why?  Because God made me!  Since He created me, He is the only One who knows how to meet my needs, satisfy my longings, and quench my thirst!  He created me for Himself and with needs and desires that only He can satisfy!  The enemy wants to distract me with various addictions and the pleasures of this world.  What I realized this week is that it is all a spirit of pride – a spirit that says I don’t need God and I can meet my needs on my own apart from Him!  It is that spirit that keeps me running on the mouse wheel.  God created me to be dependent on Him as my Father – in recognizing and confessing my dependence on Him, humility overcomes the spirit of pride.  My war cry today is “My Only Hope is Jesus.”  In my brokenness, He meets me at my point of need.