2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? for you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, "I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
According to ancient Jewish legend, one day Abraham was shown his father, Terah's room of many idols. Young Abraham, thinking that perhaps he could discover intimacy with them, made some desirable delicacies and placed them before the idols. When nothing happened, he realized that these idols were nothing more than clay -- they could do nothing for him or anyone else for that matter. So he proceeded to destroy all the idols, except for one.
When Terah received word of this, he went to Abraham and said, "Son, what did you do to my idols?!" "I brought them delicacies," Abraham replied, "and then the biggest idol became envious of the others, and destroyed them all." Terah, furious with Abraham, said, "You're lying to me! How can idols made by my own hands do such things?" "You're right father." Replied Abraham, "Now tell me, then, why do we worship idols that can not eat, drink or even move?"
This kind of idol worship may sound far removed from us, but we too, have our idols. They may not be made of clay but they are very real! The love of money, possessions, success, leisure, food, sensuality, security and outward beauty -- the love of tradition and even our friends and family -- the pursuit of our goals and dreams are among some just off the top of my head. Most of these are not bad things in and of themselves, don't get me wrong. But if we are not careful, they can all easily become idols in our lives!
What is the object of our affections today? What takes up the majority of our time, effort, and resources? These are our idols. Anything that we allow to run our life becomes our god.
There is only One God we ought to be worshiping -- and He will not have any other god's before Him! Let's crush our idols today. We need to get right with the Lord so that we may be used mightily for His Kingdom!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]As the Biblical feast of Pesach (Passover) is celebrated throughout the world on Thursday, we are reminded of the deliverance of the Jewish people from the land of Egypt where they had served as slaves. The word for slaves in Hebrew is “avadim”, which, interestingly, is also the same word for “servants.”
In these days, we have to pray for wisdom! In the letter of James, the Lord’s brother, he writes, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally…” [James 1:5] The context for this request is trials! Since this is a time of almost constant trials, God knows we need His wisdom, more than ever.
Throughout the Bible, the faith of the saints was never something passive — but rather a faith of action.
Much of the world is dealing with the greatest disruption of their lives… probably in their lifetimes, particularly in the West, and what is known as the “First World”. Here’s a helpful perspective toward understanding what is taking place.
Continuing our exciting account of the Moravian Revival, I have to highlight the minuscule quantity of saints involved. This was, in proportion to its astounding effect, a very small group, a little church. Yet the amazing demonstration of God’s principle of power through unity re-echoes the events at Pentecost when 120 believers also were in profound unity waiting on the Lord. It wasn’t the numbers but the removal of contention and division that paved the way for a 100-year revival.
The Moravian revival, our current subject, began in the little community of Herrnhut on August 13, 1727, with a tremendous outpouring of the Holy Spirit likened to that of Acts 2. It was a work of God that would transform this group of splintered Christian settlers into a unified missionary endeavor committed to reaching the unsaved around the world.
As we discussed last week, the word for “sign” in ancient Hebrew is “oht”. It was used in Genesis to designate God’s covenant sign with Noah, (the rainbow). And we see now the same word again, in Exodus, identified with the deliverance of the Jewish people from the tenth plague, when the angel of death passed through all Egypt to strike the firstborn. Anyone under the “sign” of the blood was spared.