{"id":883,"date":"2020-11-20T11:34:35","date_gmt":"2020-11-20T16:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/?p=883"},"modified":"2021-11-25T03:06:10","modified_gmt":"2021-11-25T08:06:10","slug":"november-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/november-24\/","title":{"rendered":"November 24"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Psalms 97:7 <\/span><\/strong>
All who serve carved images, those who boast in idols, will be put to shame. All the gods must worship Him. (Holman Christian Standard Bible)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you have idols in your life?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first thought, the answer to that question will undoubtedly be no. Probably because you are thinking about idols in the Old Testament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exodus 20:4 You are not to make any idol or image of other gods. In fact, you are not to make an image of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. (The Voice TVT)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before you stick out your chest, give consideration to this idea. You might say easily say you don\u2019t worship Krishna, some statue, Buddha, etc. However, do you worship stuff? You do not carve all idols out of material. An idol can also be a person or thing that you treasure, place above others, and ultimately that you worship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke 12:34 \u201cWhere you deposit your treasure, that is where you fix your thoughts\u2014and your heart will long to be there also.\u201d (The Passion Translation TPT)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you constantly talk about what you have? Can you look at an item and tell who the designer is, how much it cost, how exclusive it is, etc. Do you feel better or more important because you carry\/wear the latest design? Do you have cars no one can ride it? Do you have houses no one can visit? Is your family untouchable? If so, consider the probability these things have become your gods. If the things you seek, those that are most important to you, are only valuable on earth; it\u2019s time to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colossians 3:1-2 Therefore if you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, sharing in His resurrection from the dead], keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value]. (Amplified Bible AMP)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you talk about possessions more than you talk about God; that is an indication of a problem. You have to ask yourself, do you have stuff or does stuff have you? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last set of tough questions are, do your thoughts always come back to you; how you were treated, how something affected you, what someone did or did not say to you, for you or about you? Did it ever occur to you that you are worshipping you? If you haven\u2019t stopped to think about these things; take a moment and do it now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Timothy 3:1-2 But you need to be aware that in the final days the culture of society will become extremely fierce and<\/span> difficult for the people of God. 2 People will be self-centered lovers of themselves and obsessed with money. They will boast of great things as they strut around in their arrogant pride and mock all that is right. They will ignore their own families. They will be ungrateful and ungodly. (The Passion Translation TPT)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worship is extravagant respect for, admiration for, or devotion to an object\/person you esteem. Ask the Lord to help you decide who or what you are worshipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 John 2:16-17 For all that the world can offer us\u2014the gratification of our flesh, the allurement of the things of the world, and the obsession with status and importance\u2014none of these things come from the Father but from the world. 17 This world and its desires are in the process of passing away, but those who love to do the will of God live forever. (The Passion Translation TPT)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please agree with me as I pray:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heavenly Father, creator of the universe, thank You for showing me what an idol is. Anything I pay homage to, anything I value more than You, is an idol in my life. It would have been great if there was a sign saying, \u201cdown this path is an idol.\u201d Unfortunately, that is not the case. There is no buzzer, siren, or warning. It pains me to think I ever worshipped anything or anyone more than You. However, I know I did, deliberately or unknowingly, and I repent. Thank You for delivering me from idol worship. Hallelujah, I can truly say, there is nothing in my life more important than You. There\u2019s no person I want to talk to more than I want to talk to You. There\u2019s no person I want to talk about more than I want to talk about You. Thank You for helping me take a long look at myself. Not even my issues nor my problems are worth a conversation because they are not more important than You\u2026<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask the Lord what He wants to say to you about today\u2019s devotional and journal His response as described <\/em>here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Psalms 97:7 All who serve carved images, those who boast in idols, will be put to shame. All the gods must worship Him. (Holman Christian Standard Bible) Do you have idols in your life? At first thought, the answer to that question will undoubtedly be no. Probably because you are thinking about idols in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[456],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2605,"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883\/revisions\/2605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}