Sunflower Faith

Exodus 32:2-4 (New International Reader’s Version)

2 Aaron answered them, “Take the gold earrings off your wives, your sons and your daughters. Bring the earrings to me.”

3 So all of the people took off their earrings. They brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they gave him and made it into a metal statue of a god. It looked like a calf. He shaped it with a tool.

Then the people said, “Israel, here is your god who brought you up out of Egypt.”

Ask yourself some questions.

• Do you find yourself making promises to God or yourself and always slipping, only to wake up in the morning feeling burden with guilt and going, “Tomorrow,I promise to be better,Tomorrow”?
• Is there something you adore or can’t resist?
• Maybe you find yourself obsessively thinking about a relationship, dreaming of doing something bigger or better.
• Do you idolize your children above everything else? (Think soccer mom who will elbow till your face turn blue if you say the wrong thing about Johnny or Jane)
• Do you find yourself caught up in the latest craze, t.v. show, or cultural obsession?
• Maybe you find yourself struggling thinking if you can believe in God in a way YOU feel comfortable, everything else will fall into place?
• How about, you find yourself spending more time involved with the latest show, or book, or movie but brush off reading God’s word?

You maybe idolizing without realizing it.

This devotional from my bible caught my eye and made me stop and think, do I worry more about worldly matters to the point it’s importance is “idolizing” or do I think…this is just temporary, God is what matters and is forever.

From Zondervan’s NIV, Womens Devotional Bible entitled “Gold or Gold”,
You may not think you’re guilty of idol worship. You wouldn’t bow down to an animal figurine. You go to church every Sunday. You have a Bible sitting on your bedside table. But do you long for a golden dream you can fashion to your own whims? God’s goodness, his justice and his holiness do not necessarily make Him safe.

Our golden dreams of earthly perfection, encapsulate only what we allow; they stay as safe as we like them, as shimmering and domestic as we dare. God is wild, unsafe, unpredrictable even. He does not fit into the neat fairy tale we sometimes prefer Him.

Ouch.

That cut right to the bone, but how true is that for many of us?

Unhappy with our weight, our looks, our marriages, our families, our lives, we let ourselves fall into the would’ve, could’ve, should’ve and if that doesn’t work, escape into t.v., books or movies that end up causing us to stumble rather than have us face the reality of our own lives, instead of turning to God and going, “I can’t do this myself, I’m weak, help me, lift me, encourage me, Father”.

We wonder, wish and well, whine, that our lives aren’t happy, or glory filled or perfect and in the process, rather than trusting God and waiting on Him to do what HE needs to do with us, we get impatient and start building idols that we think will bring us, what we feel, Our Heavenly Father isn’t.

Warning signs?

Well…when we start seeking other sources other than Him, we risk falling into idolatry.

When we reference the most popular book, person, tv or movie as our source of strength and inspiration over seeking God and praising God first and foremost, we might be idolizing.

When We are so focused on ourselves, our kids, our family that we forget about well…God is the one who place us, our kids, our family here and instead of looking up to Him, we look straight at others or down, we might be idolizing.

Sound familiar.

Oh yeah, you’ve thought about that before, but if you did, are you really practicing and bringing that into your own life or like the Israelites, unhappy, dis-satisfied, tired and impatient, started taking off their gold jewelry and objects to build themselves a gold calf to do what they felt our Heavenly Father was not doing or in their eyes, falling through.

Instead of really living for Him, like the Israelites, convenientely turn a blind eye.

How many of us seek solutions not through God’s word or better yet, through Him, but in our impatiences, take control and seek the solutions in more controllable situations, like grabbing a book, or watching t.v. for the answers that are never coming.

When Moses, the Israelites spiritual leader, left to meet with God on Mount Sinai, the people quickly returned to idol worship. The fickle Israelites, delivered from slavery by the unseen God, quickly exchanged worshiping God for worshipig a golden dream they could control, a deity they could manipulate.-from “Gold or Gilt” devotional about Exodus 32:1-35

That was fast of the Israelites.

Freed from slavery by a loving Father, out in the wilderness and as soon as Moses was out of sight, out of mind….here comes the Golden Calf.

How often are we like that ourselves?

When that book we grabbed, that t.v. we are watching, or that movie we love so much because the source, the focal point, how realistic are we, to ourselves, when the dust starts gathering on our bibles or the knees aren’t as worn as before from turning to Our Heavenly Father for support and deliverance.

Yes, that book, tv or movie, may guide us, but we have to be very very careful that like all things in our lives, we don’t’ build our lives and expectations based on what is written by man,over allowing and trusting God to do that work for us.

In our impatience to have that perfect, life, family, marriage, body, whatever it is, the reality is, are our frustrations because of our like of ability to control and manipulate the outcome?

The illusion of perfection does not comfort you when you mourn. Gold will not go with you into eternity. But God can, and will, do all these things when you worship Him,”in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24) from “Gold or God”.

For example. There are some very good and helpful books out there, but ultimately, its not through or about them that life is transformed.

I find myself being very careful when reading even Christian inspirational books and not be caught up in the spirit of relying and crediting the book, but making sure to give praise where praise is due, which is Our Heavenly Father.

I’m currently reading a very good book as well that has me grabbing my highlighter and pen to highlight, underline and write notes and more in it, but at the same time, I find my strongest sense of comfort, strength and eye opening coming from reading God’s word and finding comfort in the fellowship of church.

Want to be deliver from fear, unhappiness, weight, unhappy marriage, whatever it is that ails you?

Turn to God first and depend on Him first.

Use whatever you are lead to, but don’t let it dominate you. Don’t judge your failure or expectation by what is written by imperfect, sin filled men who depended, like you, on Jesus Christ to deliver themselves as well.

Even though we are forgiven, no one is perfect so there is still imperfection out there; There is still stumbling out there and there is still a tendancy to mis-direct.

The same goes with our everyday lives.

Yes, there are things that need to be done, but if they become such a focal point that God goes from being first on your list and life to somewhere around list “88″ after the laundry is folded, it’s time to scrape everything and re-evaluate.

Life is short and whether or not those towels are going to get done isn’t as important as your relationship with our Heavenly Father which is forever. Towels will be used and one day, need to be thrown away, but you can’t throw away your relationship with Jesus Christ and think, “Oh it can be replaced.”

One day….it will be forever and too late.

On that vein, it is so important to stop with the excuses and find that strong and encouraging church and be with fellow believers who are there to give us strength and encouragement in our walk.

From “When Wallflowers Dance”

Sometimes you land in the wrong place and you need to get to the right place. But no matter what, you can’t stop showing up somewhere, especially not for years.

I like how the author outline the importance of being in a church; A church has a pastor, elders and/or deacons, and a bunch of other sinners who come to hear from God, the trouble is that T.V. won’t do that.

We’ve all had bad experiences with a church, but that isn’t an excuse to stop going or not find one that is a bible believing church that teaches the word of God and has fellowship.

The enemy may have excuses to avoid going to church, but if we believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour and that he lived and died for our sins, we really don’t have any excuses.

He paid the big price. So what excuse do we really have to avoid going?

Sunday sale? Bored? Lazy? Feelings hurt?

Eccl 4:10 “Pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up”
Eccl 4:12 “A cord of three strands is not easily broken”

1 Corinthains 1:9-God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Heb 3:13- But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

The laundry basket doesn’t care if you are slipping in your walk, or youdon’t understand a passage in the bible or even know where to start in the first place.

From allaboutGod.com

Christian fellowship also fosters things like trust, hope, a sense of belonging, security, lifelong friendships, faith, patience, selflessness, and best of all, true, unconditional love that can only come from people who have a personal relationship with God, the Author of love. Unless you have given or received some or all of these types of benefits when you meet with others, you are not experiencing real fellowship.

The laundry basket isn’t going to say…”how are you doing? I’ve said a prayer for you,” or ,”Is there something I can pray for you about”? (Plus if my laundry basket starts talking back at me, I’m running out of that room, screaming for dear life).

There is an importance in fellowship that is so intertwined with our walk with our Heavenly Father.

Acts 2:42-44 (New International Reader’s Version)

The Believers Share Life Together

The believers studied what the apostles taught. They shared life together. They broke bread and ate together. And they prayed.

Everyone felt that God was near.

The apostles did many wonders and miraculous signs. All the believers were together. They shared everything they had.

Fellowship gives us accountability, strengh and encouragement. As a matter of fact, another thought, we live in a nation where we are FREE to worship without fear of persecuation.

So really, what is our excuse not getting out and finding a church we can belong to?

Are we going to wait till long when we one day say, “I wish”, “I should’ve”, “I could’ve” all in the name of because we fear more about what man has to say than what our Heavenly Father has to say.

It’s okay to read inspirational books so long as they dont’ become or are, our only source. It’s okay to, with discernment, watch television or movies so long it will not cause us to stumble or if Jesus decides to appear right then and there, embarrass us in front of Him.

More than anything, we have to take a very careful look at our own lives and ask ourselves…do I spend more time caring about the world and what is going on and what others may or may not think of me and less time really focus on what our Heavenly Father does or does not think of me and my personal relationship with Him.

If we find ourselves more worried and focus on everything else than Him because of

• concern of fitting in
• worry that people will or will not like us
• because of our own golden dreams or want

Maybe it’s time to take a step back and ask ourselves, What are we really pursing? Is what we doing,pursuing God or are we pursuing a Golden Calf instead?

Our Heavenly Father, in the end, doesn’t care what other men have to think about us as much as He cares MORE about what we think of Him.

Acts 5:29,”Peter and the other apostles replied,”We must obey God rather than men!”

Read Ephesians 4:25-31 and take an inventory of your life.

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

“In your anger do not sin”^[a]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.