Tag Archives: gods

The One True God – (Part 2)

30 Wednesday Sep 2015

Posted by in Bible, Christian, Christianity, Faith, God, Inspiration, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, Love, Spiritual

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We are living in a time in which the world around us is searching for answers but also searching for the truth. Many want to see clear evidence of a matter so that their thirst for understanding and even a rational conclusion is grasped. There is a popular idiom or phrase that has been used for quite some time. The phrase, ‘Show me the money’ is used to denote one of two things.

It can suggest to the person in question that a payment of some sort is requested, but it can also mean that there is a request to be shown evidence. It is the question of evidence that many are looking for. Whether it be evidence of what their politician promises to do once sworn into public office. Or the evidence that one’s life can be turned from tragedy or misfortune into positivity and blessings. For many, the constant quest to prove the evidence of God’s existence is still at the forefront of their mind.

However, despite what the world looks to for its evidence, God shows us what is the truth and what is a lie. Looking to God who is the one who holds everything in place is where you and I should find the answer to life’s questions. In the book of 1 Kings chapter 18, there is a passage of scripture which will help us to see that God is indeed the one and true God.

In this chapter, Elijah who is a prophet of God was sent to King Ahab to deliver an important message to him. In verses 1-16, Elijah meets a man by the name of Obadiah who is King Ahab’s house manager. Throughout these 16 verses, Elijah and Obadiah have an exchange of words which later results in Elijah meeting with King Ahab. A few of the important verses to focus on are verses 18 and 19 in which King Ahab and Elijah finally meet.

(NKJV) “Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals. Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

It is important to note that in verse 2 of 1 Kings chapter 18 Samaria which is located in Israel experienced a drought. Throughout the Bible, droughts were signs of God’s judgment against a particular nation or group of people. Such judgment was the result of sin within the land. There was idolatry that occurred throughout the land of Israel which Elijah eludes to in verses 18 and 19.

He uses the term ‘Baal’s’ which signifies idol worship. Baal was the main god that the Canaanites worshiped in the Old Testament. However, Elijah says that King Ahab has committed idolatry by worshiping false gods. In the next few verses, Elijah then asks to meet with the children of Israel at Mount Carmel. The children of Israel were guilty of following Baal which was idol worship.

Verses 20-22:

(NKJV) “So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.”

Verses 23-24:

(NKJV) “Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.”

So essentially, Elijah wanted to prove that the Lord God was indeed the true God compared to the Baal’s that were the false gods. It is important to note that even in our society today there are many who are serving false gods. Whether it be the god of money, clothing, or even erecting other humans as gods, idolatry has run rampant in our world. However, these things mentioned are considered to be false gods because they are illegitimate or non-functioning.

However, the Lord God is everlasting and living compared to other idols that exist in our world. For centuries, even those of other religions have created statues and images which were then worshiped as if they were living and able to breathe. However, notice what happens in verse 26:

(NKJV) “So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.”

In verse 27, Elijah mocks them by saying that their god must be asleep or he is busy because it seemed the more the individuals cried out to their god the more silence and inactivity there was. In verse 28, it became so much of an issue that the people who worshiped and called out to their god began to cut themselves to the point in which they began to bleed – and yet they did all of that to no avail.

The interesting point about those who committed self-inflicted wounds is that they did so at the allegiance and worship to their god. Many today are worshiping different things and even other people, and yet it is causing self-destruction or self-inflicted wounds. When you and I worship other gods instead of the Lord God, then our lives begin to suffer from being led astray and we destroy ourselves in the process.

In verses 30-35, it was then Elijah’s turn to pray to his God who was the Lord God. In these verses, Elijah re-builds the altar with 12 stones which represented the 12 Tribes Israel and he has the altar and the burnt sacrifice drenched with water twice. In verses 36-37, Elijah prays to God and asks that His presence and truth be known to the people. Essentially, Elijah wanted the reality and the evidence of God to be known based on the altar being burned by fire.

Verses 38-39:

(NKJV) “Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

At the end of the day, Elijah and those who witnessed it saw the evidence of God and saw the truth for themselves. The fact is that regardless of other gods that may exist, none of them are true, but rather they are false. Anything and anyone can be a god, but there is only one God who is everlasting and who lives.

The world that we live in today has been built to showcase idolatry just as it was in the Old and even the New Testament of the Bible. Idolatry is not a new phenomenon, but rather it has continued throughout human history. However, it is a sin to commit idolatry and in every instance, God shows His righteous judgment.

There will be a day in which the world shall be judged for the allowance of idolatry. However, even after that day comes, God will prove Himself to the world and even after you and I pass away from this Earth we will know that God is indeed the truth and that He lives. The sad part about idol worship is that many serve gods that cannot speak, cannot hear, nor do they have life.

However, worshiping God who lives, speaks, listens, and is the giver of life is a better option than to worship something or even someone who is dead. Even if someone decides to create an idol out of a living person, such an act is still illegitimate because a mere mortal does not have the power to create or to have dominion over everyone and everything.

Only God Himself is the true God who desires to be known and He desires to know us. The only way to know Him is through having a relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you know God for yourself? Have you accepted this gift of life through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? If not, then you are missing an important part of what it means to experience life. Also, you will not have a chance to experience eternal life. Only through Christ will you taste the majestic and glorious power of God. Accept Christ and know who God is for yourself.

The Choice is Yours – Your God Given Opportunity

10 Friday Jul 2015

Posted by in Bible, Christian, Christianity, Faith, God, Inspiration, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, Love, Spiritual

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Vending machines have been in existence for quite some time. They are machines that offer the opportunity to choose from an assortment of items.  Generally speaking, these are items to be consumed and enjoyed by the participating customer. The history and concept of the vending machine go as far back as ancient Greece in which a mathematician by the name of Hero, invented a machine to dispense holy water in Egyptian temples. You can read about the full history of the vending machine here. The great thing about the concept and existence of vending machines is that they offer to each user a choice. What you choose to purchase, is completely in your hands.

In addition to being able to choose from a variety of products, God has given each human the opportunity and ability to choose their path in life. This path involves the most important decision that anyone can make, and that is to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord & Savior. The other part of the choice we have been given is to remain in our sinful nature by serving the will of our flesh.

In the book of Joshua Chapter 24, there is an account of a man named Joshua, who was the chosen leader after the death of Moses.  He was given the responsibility of leading the people of Israel to the Promised Land. In chapter 24, Joshua asks the tribes of Israel and Shechem to assemble so that he can give them God’s message and instruction. In verse 2, Joshua says:

(NIV) “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods.” 

Notice that God makes a statement of the Israelite’s ancestors who were worshiping other gods. Based on the lineage of the Israelites, there were those who were committing idolatry by turning away from the one and True God to serve other gods. In verses 3-4 Joshua continues by saying:

(NIV) “But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his family went down to Egypt.” 

If you read further through the verses of 5-13, you will see that there were many accounts of God’s faithfulness to the people of Israel.  It was because of the obedience and allegiance unto God by individuals such as Abraham, Moses and even those after, that God spared and rescued the Israelites out of peril. In verses 5-13, God spoke through Joshua making it clear that it was because of the Israelite’s obedience, that they had experienced favor with God.

However, notice what Joshua says in verses 14-15:

(NIV) “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Why does Joshua tell the Israelites to throw away the gods of their ancestors? In verse 23, Joshua says, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” Basically, this is pointing to the fact that at some point, the Israelites began to worship the same gods that their ancestors did, which was blatant idolatry. Joshua gives a warning of what will happen if the Israelites choose not to be in full allegiance unto God:

Verse 20:

(NIV) “If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.” 

The whole point of this scripture is to show that the Israelites were given two options. They could choose to worship God only and forsake their idols, or they could revert to the actions of their ancestors by engaging in idol worship. As Joshua said in this passage of scripture, there would be consequences for choosing other gods.  However, the alternative to following after the God of Israel was a continued hand of favor from God as they had experienced in their years of battle against their enemies. However, Joshua also uses a pivotal phrase in verse 15 which says, “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”

The thing about God is that He has and continues to give humanity a choice. This is akin to having free-will which is to say that we can choose what we will do and who we will serve. The reason why God allowed humanity to have free-will was so that we would freely choose Him as Lord, over any other god. A love that is demanded or forced is not true love and does not encompass the act of free-will.  God desires that we choose Him over the desires of our flesh.

For example, in the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam & Eve a choice. That choice was to obey His commands or to eat of the fruit on the tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil.  They were given a choice so that they themselves would freely choose to love God or to embrace sin. That is the same opportunity that you and I have today.  Like a vending machine, we all have choices in life.  We can choose to live in our sin and reject God’s love, or we can choose to embrace God and experience His love.

The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:9, that God wishes that no man would perish.  It isn’t God’s will that you and I experience eternal damnation in Hell.  Instead, God offered an alternative in the person of Jesus Christ, to redeem humanity. Many have and will continue to reject this gift of life, but it will be a choice that is made. It does not negate the opportunity for redemption, but it only means that the path to living in disobedience and sin has been chosen.

Of course, because you are still alive, there is an opportunity to choose God through Jesus Christ. The Bible also says in Romans 1:20 the following:

(NIV) “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

This scripture means, that the evidence of God and His love is all around us. You can see His existence in the nature that was made by Him and not by man. You can see God, even in the very air that we breathe which is supplied by God Himself. There are many signs that God has made available to us, which means that in the end we will not have an excuse for choosing other gods to worship instead of the one and True God.

The fact is that God desires to know you and to be known. Just as Joshua gave the Israelites an option, God gives us an option.  The majority of the world will choose satan and the ways of the flesh. However, there will be those that will choose Christ and salvation. Will you be one those that choose Jesus Christ? If you haven’t accepted Christ as your Lord & Savior, you have an opportunity. Life becomes more joyous and orderly when you are in relationship with Jesus Christ.  The choice is yours. Choose who you will serve today.

Are You Committing Idolatry? – The Principle of the “Unknown god”

04 Thursday Jun 2015

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Idol worship is a practice that has occurred for centuries.  To create an idol is to esteem a person or a thing far above anyone else.  Idolatry can occur in the form of spending too much time in an activity, or worshiping a person with a high level of devotion. Anyone and anything can be a god or an idol.  For some, money is an object that is worshiped, while for others their home or vehicle is their god. However, when we as humans commit idolatry, we are essentially putting something or someone before the one and true God.

In the book of Acts chapter 17 verses 16-31, we see that the Apostle Paul travels to the city of Athens.  At that time period, Athens was known for its idol worship and institution of Greek gods.  In verse 16, it says that Paul was distressed by the worship of idols in the city.  So, he begins to make a plea concerning Jesus Christ and His resurrection to those who would listen. However, he is challenged by Greek philosophers in verses 18 – 20:

(NIV) “A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.”

The philosophers were curious as to who Paul was referring to. In their minds, Jesus was a foreign god who they had never heard of.  However, here is what Paul says in verses 22-23: 

(NIV) “Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship.”

The issue with those in Athens was that they were so insistent on their idol worship that they erected an idol which was marked, “to an unknown god.” Who was the “unknown god”? Notice that Paul says in verse 22 that the Athenians were“religious” meaning they have a form and fashion of rituals without truly knowing who God is.  Which then results in Paul saying in verse 23 that the Athenians who are practicing idolatry are ignorant of the very thing that they worship.

What Paul is alluding to is that the Athenians were so caught up in their idolatry of other gods, that they failed to recognize God for themselves.  So, in their error they erected a statue among many other gods, without truly knowing the Lord through relationship. The Athenians were so ritualistic that they worshiped and instituted every idol they could think of, including the one they did not know. There are a couple of principles that we can take away from this:

1. God desires to be known – It is clear that the “unknown god” is that of God almighty.  In verses 24-25 Paul says the following:

(NIV) “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”

What Paul is saying is that what distinguishes God almighty from the idols that the Athenians erected is the fact that God is a living God.  God desires that we know Him in the pardon of our sins through Jesus Christ.  He is a living God who wants to have a relationship with us, but when we are insistent upon worshiping and serving idols in our lives, we cannot know Him in His fullness.

The problem with the Athenians was that they were thrown into confusion because they allowed idolatry to rule.  Not only did they worship idol gods which is a sin before God, but they attempted to worship God in their ignorance without knowing who He was.  As long as we remain in our sinfulness and disobedience, we cannot see the truth of God for who He is. Unknowingly, the Athenians erected an idol which represented the one and true God, however, it was a part of God’s plan to reach out to the Athenians through their error and through Paul.

2. God will not tolerate idolatry – Paul not only expresses the fact that God is the giver of life, but he also makes it clear that God expects us to lay down our idols and repent:

Verses 28-30: 

(NIV) “For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

Notice the words “repent” and “judge.” God not only desires to know us and that we know Him, but he wants us to turn from our sinfulness and idolatry. There are many in today’s world that have erected their own idols which are an attempt to replace God. Truthfully, we were made to worship God the creator, but because we all have a need to worship, in our sin we choose other things or people to replace God.

However, we must repent and turn from our wicked ways.  Not doing so, will bring judgment as Paul mentions.  If you were to look at scriptures throughout the old Testament, you will see examples of nations that were destroyed because of idolatry and sin.  Sodom & Gomorrah is a prime example of a city that paid a heavy price for its sinfulness and idolatry.  In our current time, there are many nations that have erected false gods, in an attempt to replace God almighty. However, God promises to judge each person and nation based on their behaviors and sin.

God who created the Heavens and the Earth deserves our worship.  We all have a choice in the matter because God wants us to love Him by choice. Some will choose to worship God, and others will worship their own gods. However, the key difference between the gods we create and the God that is self-sufficient is that there is a peace and love that surpasses all understanding when we are in God’s presence.

God’s presence is unlike anything you and I could ever experience.  Even if we choose to worship our own gods, the gods that we create cannot match the awesome power of God almighty.  Satan wants us to be blinded by our own desires and to create idols. However, he does not tell you the judgment that comes when we serve created gods. If you haven’t chosen Jesus Christ as your savior, you have an opportunity to know God in the pardon of your sins. God wants every human being to know Him.  Choose Christ, and serve the one and true God.