The Idols of Today

Can Deceive

Blessings on this first full week of spring!  Enjoy God’s glory as flowers bloom and birds sing to herald in this new season on earth.  We are progressing spiritually through the Lenten season.  I pray you are deepening your relationship with the Lord this Lenten season.  There are only two more weeks of Lent before we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Take these weeks to go deeper and really reflect on how you can come forth with your spirit resurrected in Him.

What Altar Do You Worship Before?

When reading the story of the golden calf in Exodus I could not help but wonder what idols have been fashioned in our lives?  As you may recall, Moses had gone up to Mount Sinai where God gave him the tablets containing the Ten Commandments.  He was gone awhile.  The people tired of waiting to hear from God.  They did not know what had become of Moses so they went to Aaron to make gods for them.  They believed that these gods would go before them in lieu of the God of their father Abraham.  Aaron took all of their gold jewelry, melted it down and molded into a golden calf.  They declared the golden calf to be their god.  Aaron even erected an altar before it.  The people offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.  Then they feasted and played.

Wait Upon the Lord

Have you been waiting a long time for God to show up?  Have you grown weary?  Have you replaced Him with other gods to fill what you believe to be a void?  Have you erected an altar to enshrine the idols you have come to worship?  Just as God shared with Moses about the Israelites, we too often “turn aside quickly” from Him and His ways.  Rather than wait for His perfect timing we replace His position in our life with things that bring instant gratification.

The Illusion of Security

There are so many idols that vie for your attention in today’s world. It is easy to be swept up with others pursuing the world’s illusive offerings.  The enemy is strategic and slick.  He will try everything to lure you away from the Lord.  Anything that takes you from your relationship with Him can easily become an idol.  In time you erect an altar to worship this idol.  Again, the enemy is slick.  You may not even realize that you have built an altar as you rise up to play in the worldly way of life.

Search Your Heart

Take time to read over some of the possible things in the picture that can become idols.  Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you may have unknowingly erected an altar and now serve at that altar.  Seek the Lord while He can be found.  Put Him first and remove any idol you may have fashioned that has replaced Him as first in your life.  Make Him your refuge and sanctuary.  Make Him your safe haven in the storms of life.  No earthly idol will keep you.  The things of this world are fleeting.  He is your security.  He is your eternal salvation.

Quotes to Ponder This Week

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”  ~Jesus, Matthew 6:19-20

 “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”  ~Proverbs 4:23

 “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”   ~Isaiah 40:31

 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  ~1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

 A Prayer Request

Thank you for your continued faithfulness to pray.  Please keep all who serve our country, our servicemen and women and their families in prayer for salvation and safety.  They are our front-line on the battlefield, let us be their front-line in the spirit.  Also, let us cover all who have come home wounded that they and their families will receive the kindness, help and support they need to go forward in their lives.  God bless all our diplomatic and military personnel and their families.  May the Lord keep them safe.

Pray for all throughout the world for hedges of protection against radical Islamic extremists and all forms of terrorism.   Pray for Christians who face violence and death for their faith.  We have long prayed for spiritual victory over radical Islam in Esther’s Warriors Ministry. We now see the reality of this threat come to the forefront in this time in world history.  As Iranians are shouting ‘Death to America’ this week let us speak life, hope and a return to God in America!

Please pray for all in authority over us, for the full truth to come forth concerning Benghazi. May God richly bless the United States of America, bring to light every single crooked place and keep her safe.  The lives lost in Benghazi, the continuing targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service, Operation Fast and Furious, the Department of Justice targeting journalists phone records, the National Security Agency overstepping its legal authority are hardly “phony scandals.”  We continue to pray for truth to prevail in each of these situations.  Pray for the families who have lost loved ones, for those relentlessly targeted and for all of us who are proud to call ourselves American.

May we may arise united once again as One Nation Under God in this auspicious season in our country’s history. These are treacherous times and now more than ever we must maintain our walk with the Lord, saturate this country in prayer and stand for all that is right in America.  Fail not in this hour.

Pray for peace in Israel.  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Please Join Me In Prayer

Father we thank You for Your faithfulness and Your Son, Jesus Christ. During this Lenten season draw us closer to You.  Open our hearts in prayer to hear Your voice and follow Your direction for our life. Break every idol we have put before You and release us to wait for Your perfect timing in our lives.  Grace us to pray without ceasing for our brothers and sisters who suffer at the hands of Islamic terrorists. Open the eyes of our leaders to arise in this season to defend the very belief in You upon which our Nation is founded.  Thank You for keeping Your hand on America.  We humbly pray this in Jesus’ mighty name.  Amen and Amen.

SEEK:  Stay Equipped, Empowered, Kingdom focused!