American Idols: What's the Problem?

Think about what you are truly building your life on, can it be taken away? If it was taken away, would your life completely fall apart? Truth is, if you are building your life on anything else but the firm foundation of Jesus Christ, your life will crumble when difficulties come. And they WILL come! Your life WILL NOT fall apart if your life is built on God. Check out what Jesus says in Matthew 7:24-27 about the subject.

So why should we build our lives on Jesus and not an idol?

• Jesus is reliable. Jesus will never leave you or forsake you, you can count on Jesus! (Hebrews 13:5-6) What/who do you rely on?
• Jesus is Consistent. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

What happens when your idol becomes threatened or lost?

• You become paralyzed, with fear, frustration, anxiety. Remember, Jesus can NEVER be taken from you! You can chose to walk away from Him, but no one else can take Him away from you.
• You become panicked, you do stupid things to hold on to it. Remember, you don't have to prove yourself worthy to Jesus, Jesus accepts you, you are important to Him!
• You feel pressure.

So again I ask, what are you building your life on?

American Idols....What is Idolatry?

This past Wednesday, Travis started a new series about idolatry. He said, "Idolatry is good things that we make into 'God Things' and that is a bad thing!" The first scripture we looked at was Exodus 20:3-5 where God plainly states in the 10 commandments that we should have no other god before Him of any kind and He will not tolerate idolatry!

What is Idolatry?

• Idolatry is our attempt to make a god. It is a god we think we can control, but it ultimately ends up controlling us! Some examples include looks, pornography, money, etc.

• Idolatry is an exchange. It's when we trade God for things like sports, popularity, sex, etc. We devote ourselves to things that have no eternal value when we need to be devoted to God. In Romans 1:25 it says, "They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen."

Are there things/people in your life that you have elevated above God? Have you exchanged Him for something you have created and think you can control? Turn from these things and give your heart fully to God, be devoted to Him!