Counterfeit Gods: What is an idol?
Devotions this week based on the Message: “Counterfeit Gods: The Emptiness of Everything”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Tim Keller entitled, Counterfeit Gods. You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
“I don’t have idols!”
“You can look in my house…no statues…no icons of other gods…I don’t have a problem with idolatry!”
Ever thought this?
Perhaps it is our knee-jerk reaction when we hear the first commandment God gave, “You shall have no other gods besides me.”
We got the first one, right? We can move on to commandments two through ten.
Or can we?
Depends on how we define an idol.
If we simply define an idol as anything fashioned out of wood, stone, or metal that represents a god other than the God revealed in the pages of the Bible, perhaps many of us can claim we have “no other gods.” However, if we define an “idol” as Tim Keller does in Counterfeit Gods, we are not so quickly off the hook.
Consider this definition:
What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.
A counterfeit god is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living. An idol has such controlling position in your heart that you can spend most of your passion and energy, your emotional and financial resources, on it without a second thought. It can be family and children, or career and making money, or achievement and critical acclaim, or saving “face” and social standing It can be a romantic relationship, peer approval, competence and skill, secure and comfortable circumstances, your beauty and brains, a great political or social cause, your morality and virtue, or even success in the Christian ministry….An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, “if I have that, then I’ll feel my life has meaning, then I’ll know I have value, then I’ll feel significant and secure.”
“Anything in life can serve as an idol, a God-alternative, a counterfeit god.”
Anything. Even the good things of life have opportunity to take first priority in our hearts and lives and become spiritually harmful. The temptation is to shift our love and trust from the true God to some thing or some one.
God’s desire is that we find the joy, peace and security we are looking for in him. The first and greatest commandment is not for stroking God’s ego, it is for bringing blessing to our hearts.
So let’s embark on this journey, allowing God’s Spirit to expose the counterfeit gods in our heart so that we may find more fully the blessing of loving God “with ALL our heart, ALL our soul, ALL our mind and ALL our strength” (Mark 12:30).
Apply: Walk through your house. What things do you see or interact with (things or people) that perhaps are taking priority over your relationship with God?
Prayer: Spirit of God, expose the counterfeit gods in my heart and enable me to love the LORD my God, who has so graciously loved me, with ALL my heart, ALL my soul, ALL my strength, and ALL my mind. Amen.
Eat This and Live Forever!
Devotion by Mike Geiger originally published August 27, 2012 on www.whataboutjesus.com
For this week’s Sermon from Cross & Crown (CLICK HERE)
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51)
“What’s for dinner?” “I’m hungry!” “Can we stop for something to eat?” Each day Americans spend 67 minutes eating or drinking as their primary activity and another 23 minutes eating or drinking while doing something else… an hour and a half…each day.* Wouldn’t it be good if someone could invent food that could sustain us longer than a few hours?
We are blessed in America to have many options for food. People in other countries crave just enough to keep them alive. Food is what our bodies need…yet, even with food…even good food…we eventually die.
How strange it would be if there was a link at the end of this devotion to say, “CLICK HERE FOR FOOD YOU EAT AND WILL LIVE FOREVER.” You may click on it out of curiosity to see what scam was making money off a cheap marketing ploy. We all know there is no food that you can eat and live forever…or is there?
Jesus shocks the normal paradigm with the claim, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever” (John 6:51). What? Really? Could it be?
Jesus knows that we were created by God to live forever in a perfect relationship with God. Sin ruined that and now even though we eat, we still die. No longer would the good food of creation sustain life forever. While much food is very good, it will never provide for our deepest need…our spiritual hunger. We need a solution to get rid of our guilt, overcome physical and eternal death, and give us any hope of giving account to a perfect God. We could never find it, yet Jesus provided it.
He gave himself for the life of the world. His actions were perfect…for you. His physical death was in payment for sins…yours. His resurrection assures us that as he now lives, body and soul, we too will live.
This is Jesus’ promise to you. Believe it. Enjoy “eating” of him every day. Take in his teaching from the Bible. Learn more about who Jesus is and what he’s done for you. “He who feeds on this bread will live forever!” (John 6:58).
Oh, and click on this link to read more: CLICK HERE FOR FOOD YOU CAN EAT AND LIVE FOREVER!
Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you for giving yourself, your life, your death, your resurrection for me. Help me to carve time in each day to “taste” how good you through the pages of the Bible. Nourish my soul through this spiritual food so when my earthly life ends, I can have the confidence I will live with you forever!
*Opening statistics quoted from http://blogs.usda.gov/2011/11/22/how-much-time-do-americans-spend-eating/
Are You Connected with God?
Devotion by Mike Geiger originally published August 20, 2012 on www.whataboutjesus.com
For this week’s Sermon from Cross & Crown (CLICK HERE)
John 6:41-47
At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.
Are You Connected with God?
Find God within. Find God in nature. Find God through meditation. We can’t find God. Our society is filled with thoughts and ideas of how to connect with God. Inside each individual, whether they acknowledge it or not is the desire to know God. But how? God seems so distant, so elusive, so intangible that to really connect with God…is that possible?
The confusion is not recent. The words of John 6:42 indicate that individuals at Jesus’ time were confused when they saw Jesus and knew he grew up in the family of Joseph, yet he claimed to come from heaven…from God. How could a human being make this claim? Because he wasn’t just a human being. He was God. As the angel Gabriel told Jesus’ mom Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) Joseph was an earthly father figure, but Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father. This was a miracle of God becoming flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.
So how do we connect with God? We connect with Jesus Christ. We connect with his words and his teaching. As Jesus said, “It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.” This is a connection you don’t want to miss! For whoever connects with God through Jesus Christ and places his trust in him, is the person who will enjoy heaven forever.
We can enjoy God’s creation in nature. We can focus our minds through meditation. But ONLY through Jesus Christ can we truly connect with the one and only true God.
(To further discover Jesus Christ and your connection with God through him, visit www.whataboutjesus.com)
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you for coming from heaven to live, die and rise again for me. Come to me to through your Word to connect me with you, my Saving God, forever. AMEN.
Know My Heart, Lord!
Devotion by Mike Geiger originally published May 25, 2012 on www.whataboutjesus.com
For this week’s Sermon from Cross & Crown (CLICK HERE)
Acts 1:21-26
21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
23 So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
Know My Heart, Lord!
What’s on your resume? In an era when many people are out of a job and looking for a position of employment, the resume one writes can often times be the key to gaining an interview and eventually employment. Most resumes list one’s personal accomplishments, experience, and objectives. All of these are important to carrying out the task, but ask most employers who are hiring and many if not all would say, “Experience and education is needed, but heart is what gives us a quality employee.”
The disciples after Jesus’ ascension were faced with a vacancy in the ranks of the twelve apostles. Judas tragically took his life after betraying Jesus. While resumes were not turned in, Peter outlined the qualifications of one to fill his spot. Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”(Acts 1:21-22)
It makes sense that an individual who would testify to the life, death, AND resurrection of Jesus, would have had the experience with and education from the Lord Jesus. However, when two candidates were identified based on this outward criteria, the disciples then turned to the Lord to determine the most important quality, the heart of the man. “Lord you know everyone’s heart” (Acts 1:24). The Lord chose Matthias to fill the vacancy.
The Lord knows your heart. This can be a scary thing for we all know sin lurks in our heart. We can look good on the outside but inside we are self-serving and self-centered. Jesus condemns this hypocrisy, “You honor me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me” (Mark 7:6) We must pray with King David, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10)
The Lord knows your heart. This is a marvelous thing when the Lord Jesus has come with his love and forgiveness to your heart. (Ephesians 3:16-19) For while the exterior resume may not be all that impressive, what God desires is a heart that loves and trusts in Jesus.
The Apostles had the right resume for the job Jesus gave them. But most importantly, God had given them the right heart to live and proclaim Jesus every day of their lives. As you go about your day today, let the love of Jesus fill your heart. Let the love of Jesus flow from your heart!
Prayer: Lord, you know my heart. Cleanse it from sin. Fill it with your love. Empower it to love you and others today. Amen.
Scattered by the Wind!
Devotion by Mike Geiger originally published May 18, 2012 on www.whataboutjesus.com
For this week’s Sermon from Cross & Crown (CLICK HERE)
Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. 20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. (Acts 11:19-26)
Scattered by the wind!
Last fall our lawn was sprayed to kill the dandelions. This year my lawn was filled with them. Last fall I cleaned out our garden and didn’t plant anything. This spring the garden area was filled with weeds. The reason? The wind had fun blowing seeds and depositing them all over our yard. We would have never known except those seeds took root and began to grow.
The spread of the good news about Jesus happens in a similar way. Although it’s not the physical wind that blows, the Spirit of God blows when and where he wishes. For the early believers, the impetus for scattering the seeds of the Gospel was the persecution of Christians in Jerusalem. What seemed like a hardship and tragic situation, led individuals out of Jerusalem into the surrounding cities. Wherever they went, they planted Gospel seeds, “telling them the good news about Jesus.” The result? “…a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.”
Are you open to where God might “scatter” you to connect you with someone who needs to hear the “good news about the Lord Jesus?” As you travel on your next business trip, plan your next vacation, drive for the next field trip or contemplate a major move, are you open to God’s Spirit scattering the good news of Jesus through you? The place where God has you today and the place he will take you tomorrow is a place where he wants to use you to connect a soul to the saving message of Jesus.
Our confidence? “The Lord’s hand was with them…” You are not alone. Even if the reason for a move or transition is painful, know that just as the wind blows seeds to plant them, so the Spirit scatters God’s people to plant the Gospel message in the hearts of people all over the world.
Prayer: Lord open my eyes to see individuals around me wherever I am today that need the good news about Jesus. Grant me your Spirit to embolden me to speak, trusting you are with me and will work through the words you allow me to speak. Amen.