"You shall not make for yourself an idol"

“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." ~ Exodus 20 4-6

The second commandment talks about worshipping other gods, and replacing the One True God. The word "idol" is seen in different lights. One way is in the terms of a famous person, such as in the popular show, American Idol. But the other way goes back to what Josiah said about the first commandment. Things such as television, music, internet, and even food... All of these can be things you put above God. Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary has several definitions of the word idol. I will post one of them:


"[An idol is] Any thing on which we set our affections; that to which we indulge an excessive and sinful attachment.


Little children, keep yourselves from idols. 1 John 5.


An idol is any thing which usurps the place of God in the hearts of [H]is rational creatures."

The last sentence is especially true. An idol is anything that usurps the place of God in the hearts of His rational creatures.

Look at the verse that is at the beginning of Exodus 20.

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery..."

The Lord is GOD! How dare we put things above Him in our lives? If we put anything above God, it is like saying that object is more important that He is in our lives.

"You shall not make for yourself an idol."

Matthew

"You shall have no other gods before Me."

I believe this commandment has a lot of arms and legs to it. First of all, God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5), and He hates it when His creation follow false gods. Think about when the Israelites followed other gods instead of the One who saved them? Or King Solomon when he started worshipping other gods instead of the One who gave him wisdom!

The word "god" has several different meanings.

1.  The creator and ruler of the universe and source of all moral authority; the supreme being.

2. A superhuman being or spirit worshiped as having power over nature or human fortunes; a deity.

3. An image, idol, animal, or other object worshiped as divine or symbolizing a god

4. Used as a conventional personification of fate

• - he dialed the number and, the gods relenting, got through at once

5. An adored, admired, or influential person

• - he has little time for the fashion victims for whom he is a god

6.  A thing accorded the supreme importance appropriate to a god

               - don't make money your god

Now, for the second "arm and leg" look at the definition #6. The example they gave I thought was very interesting; "Don't make money your god." It's true, do you love something or feel more passionate about something other than God? If you live for food, games, TV, money or something like that then you may be putting that in higher importance than God.

I myself have had many problems with this in my life, and I have put worldly and man-made objects and entertainment before God.

Don't put other things in the place of God, instead, follow the Lord full-heartily, and believe that He is the only One to make you Whole!

God bless,

Josiah

The Ten Commandments

The Dedicated Christians team is working on writing TEN blog posts all about the ten commandments and what we think about them, and how they relate to us. This marathon of blog posts will begin next week on Sunday, the 24th!

Thank you so much for reading, and please, don't forget to write us at dedicatedchristians@gmail.com with questions or comments!!

God bless,
Josiah

Kudzu

During our trip through the south a few weeks ago, kudzu was a common sight.  In light of that, I did a little research on the plant.  I found that in 1876, the government imported a plant called kudzu from Japan and payed farmers to plant it for erosion, herbs, and food for their cattle.  They soon found out it would totally take over the south if not stopped... but they were too late.  It spreads fast and there is no biological way to kill it.  The above picture, believe it or not, is a house covered with kudzu.

It starts with one plant, and spreads rapidly over everything, leaving destruction in its wake.  If you think about it, sin can do the same thing in our lives.

When you sin, it can be like a vine, leading to sins that are worse and worse.  This creates a labyrinth, one that is hard to escape.

We start to cover up the cross with our sin and guilt, forgetting what He has done to make us right, and instead indulging with pleasure in our sinful acts.

Man's nature is sinful from birth.  The Bible says that from birth the wicked go astray (Psalms 58:3).  But there is hope for those of you who know Jesus Christ as your Savior.  1 Corinthians 10:13 says this:

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

The best way to stop sinning is to stop it as soon as you realize your problem.  This verse offers a wonderful promise, that God is faithful and will not allow us to be tempted above what we can bear.  It talks about a way to escape, and there always is.

This verse is not telling us we can escape our sin alone, and I am sure most of you know that is impossible.  The way of escape is God.  Through the power He gives us we can overcome sins and find grace and peace at the cross.  He is the only way to free us, as He has give us salvation.

If you do not know the Lord God as your Savior, please click on this website, www.needgod.com.

If you have any questions about the Christian life we would love to try answering it.  Please email us at dedicatedchristians@gmail.com and we will do our best, with the Bible as our guidebook, to answer to the best of our abilities.

Matthew

"When the Stars Burn Down"

I first heard this song on the radio a couple of months ago on my way to church. It's called "When the Stars Burn Down" by Phillips, Craig, and Dean. I really couldn't understand the words from where I was sitting, so I came home and looked it up.
I really enjoy this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvMf4W78MDo
The songs words are taken from Rev. 5:13-14 "And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing and Honor and Glory and Power be to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, forever and ever." And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever."

The Misconception on Modern-Day Christian Music

Is modern day Christian Music, turning us away from the Truth that Jesus put before us?
I recently heard that Carrie Underwood, a well known country singer, who claims to be a true Christian; has done something terrible. Mrs. Underwood promotes gay marriage. She exclaims that people shouldn't feel bad about who you marry... It's sickening...

Below is On The Box, a show that I highly respect from a group of evangelists from Living Waters. Ray Comfort and Tony, two evangelists, share their opinions about what Mrs. Underwood said.




The main point I want to make with this blog post is that we need to remember not to idolize the singer or the writer of a song. Every singer and song writer have a unique gift, these gifts were given by no one else but the Lord. We need to focus on who the song writer was directing the song to.

Why do we sing praise and worship songs? Because we are worshipping the One who created us, not because we want to sing a song that some popular artist sang...this should be our main purpose of singing songs.

Psalms 33:1-3

"Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful. Praise the Lord with the harp' Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy."

Psalms 67:3-4

"Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations on earth. Selah."

There are many more references to how we should praise God throughout Psalms. David did a really good job praising the Lord. But we are idolizing him are we?? Not like we do with Carrie Underwood, and people like Philips, Craig and Dean. Everyone falls off the path sometimes, we just need to make it a priority not to idolize or "look-up" to singers too much...they are just people, like you and me.

Praise God, not the singer. Follow the Creator, not the writer. Believe the Word, not the script. Idolize the One who made all, not the one who sang the song.

Thanks for reading,
Josiah

Mining for Gold

Every Friday we have a Bible Study at our house.  My pastor comes with his family as well as a few other people.  A few Fridays ago we were talking about something that really interested me, the different ways to read the Bible.  When people talk about reading the Bible a lot of terms are thrown around like "meditation" and "study", things like that.  What is the correct way to approach your Bible?  We broke it down into 3 sections and then compared it all to mining for gold.

1. Basic Reading
The title describes it all-you sitting down and just plain reading the Word.  You don't have any particular motive other than to just absorb what you can.  This method is is effective at covering a lot a ground and picking things up here and there.  Great for memorization and getting into the habit of thinking like a Christian.  Sort of like walking along the ground and finding pieces of gold, you don't find much but it's simple and effective.

2. Studying
What my pastor describes as "ripping apart Scripture and then putting it back together again".  You are reading the words, but with the distinct intent of trying to figure something out.  This where we get out doctrine and theology.  You don't just start and chapter 1 and and read to chapter 2, you hop around comparing different verses, taking into account audience, speaker, time line, context, etc.  This is like going deep into the darkest parts of the earth and searching for a vein of gold.  It takes a lot of work and time, but what you find is valuable and deep.

3. Meditating
Eastern religions have made us hyper sensitive to this word.  Meditation is not the emptying of your mind but the filling of it.  You take a single verse or a few verses and mull it over in your mind.  It takes time and it teaches you the meaning of verses that maybe you've heard a million times before.  You stop, think about each word and it's meaning and contemplate it as if you've never heard it before.  You already have your gold here, but now you're refining it.  Heating it, pounding it, weighing it and forming it.

All three of these ways to read Scripture are needed, we need to be strong in all these areas or something about the way we interpret the Bible will be off balance.

 Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4:13-16 NKJV