Awareness of Other Gods

Posted on 2022-09-27 by Mirjam Fels

Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.

They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;

They have ears, but they do not hear;
Noses they have, but they do not smell;

They have hands, but they do not handle;
Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.

Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.

Psalm 115:4-8

LORD Jesus we praise You for You are God alone. Forgive us, O God we pray, whenever we are placing things and people before You. Enable us to love You more and more with each day. Help us to see when and where we do go wrong in worshiping foreign gods. Give us the courage and the strength to stand firm in our faith and love for our LORD and Savior, and direct our steps in pointing others to You. In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen.

It is quite easy to spot faults—including the worshiping of idols—in the life of another Christian, is it not? How much, do we ourselves, though, allow anything or anyone else to become false gods in our life? What or who demands our best hours of our days? Is there anything or anyone in our life that claims more of our attention and space than what we ought to give to that person or thing? Is the true God still in first place? Or are we, or anything or anyone else pushing Him aside so to make way for self and others?

The LORD says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3)

True, God Almighty, King of kings, and LORD of lords is a loving God. He is, however, also a jealous God (Exodus 20:5) and He wants our whole heart. Half-hearted worship does not count: You cannot serve two masters! You will, eventually, have to decide and let go of one or the other. (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13)

Let’s be honest and ask ourselves: Is there anything or anyone in our life that we have allowed to become or even have made into a god?

What could the false god/s look like in our life? How do we recognize it/them? How are we to put away the god/s and serve the LORD our God only? That will be our topic in Thursday’s blog post.

Read and pray Psalm 51 today.

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No Other Gods

Posted on 2022-09-22 by Mirjam Fels

Now therefore,
fear the LORD,
serve Him in sincerity and in truth,
and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt.
Serve the LORD!

And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD,
choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,
whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River,
or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.
But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Joshua 24:14-15

LORD Jesus we praise You, God Almighty and Creator of the heavens and the earth and everything in it. Forgive us, O God we pray, whenever we do not put You first in our life. Enable us to seek You, to love You, and to obey what You have commanded us to do. Yes, precious LORD Jesus, give us ears that hear Your Voice and guide us to do as we have been told by the Word. Guard our heart, mind, and soul and strengthen us so that we will keep our focus on You, LORD, and not on other gods in whatever form they may appear in our life. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. Amen.

According to our Bible Reading Plan, we read these two verses, found in the Book of Joshua chapter twenty-four, on the 8th of April of every year. They are only a part of the scheduled reading, but they usually trigger food for thought for my blog. (See Obedience is the Key and Serve the LORD!)

In April of this year, in my post Restored for What?, I mentioned two other verses (Joshua 24:22-24) in which Joshua reminds the people again to “put away the foreign gods.” And how did the people respond?

And the people said to Joshua,
“The LORD our God we will serve,
and His voice we will obey!”

Joshua 24:24

As Christians, could we really be in danger of having other gods before the King of kings and LORD of lords? Is there anything or anyone in our life that we have made into a god? If so, how are we to put away the god/s and serve Him only? That will be our topic in next week’s blog posts.

Serve Him in sincerity and in truth today.

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His Mercy

Posted on 2022-09-20 by Mirjam Fels

For the LORD is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

Psalm 100:5

LORD Jesus we praise You for You are Love and You are good. Forgive us, O God we pray, whenever we are looking at things, people or situations in fear of them. Enable us to see that You, O LORD, are good and a stronghold in the day of trouble. You know each one of us. Help our unbelief, LORD, and cause us hear Your Word, to trust it, and to obey it. In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen.

Today concludes our study of Psalm 100.

Let’s study and fill in the blanks to answer the following questions:

Who is good?
For _____ _____ is good;

God is good, and He is the only One that is good (Matthew 19:17, Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19) People are not good by nature: There is none, not one, who does good (Psalm 14:3, Psalm 53:3, Romans 3:10, Romans 3:12) No matter if they are friends, family members, or else, people tend to disappoint us.

What is everlasting?
_____ _____ is everlasting,

What endures to all generations?
And _____ _____ endures to all generations.

God is good, full of mercy, and His truth will never fails. Truth is, though, that God does neither belittle nor look away from sin. He is a holy God. In His set time, judgment will come.

Listen to what Matthew Henry comments on God’s judgment (in Habakkuk 2)

It will not tarry, for God is not slack, as some count slackness (2Pe 3:9); though it tarry past our time, yet it does not tarry past God’s time, which is always the best time.

When God’s final judgment comes, for what reason should He pardon you and accept you as righteous? On what account should He let you enter His Gates in Heaven?

Romans 5:19 says,

For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners,
so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound! Are you justified by faith? Do you have peace with God today?

(If not, do not delay! Believe that there is a God and talk to Him today! Get a Bible and start reading day by day. If not from cover to cover, The Gospel of John is a good place to start.)

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