Definition of “Idol” According to Strong’s Concordance:
H4656: horrid thing, so called from it being an object of fear
H6090: pain, sorrow
H457: of naught, good for nothing, worthless
G1497 image, likeness, a false god, whatever represents the form of an object, real or imaginary.
The definition of “idol” according to Strong’s Concordance was very surprising to me. According to the above definitions, idols cause sorrow and are worthless. They are more of an object of fear rather than source of life or hope. In the Biblical times, people used idols for false security because they thought that those idols have the power for protection against evil. In reality, no idol has any power. In fact, they are worthless, but they appear powerful enough that possessor fears losing it or making it angry.
Some cultures use statues and images for “good luck” in their homes or businesses. The underlying message in those cases is that if one does not have the idol on their property, either something bad might happen or one could lose the “good luck” or the “blessing”.
We call these kinds of ideas superstitious. In our modern day, not only we do not believe in such idols anymore, but we might even look down upon those simple-minded individuals who believe in these imaginary idols. Since we are too sophisticated to believe in such a nonsense, the enemy is not going to use the same form of idols to have us worship a false god, but he will use something that is of value, importance, and of power in this day and age. In order for us to recognize our modern day idols, we need to determine what we value that can set a trap for us as believers?
Cultural values
Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father’s. Genesis 31:19
Rachel, Jacob’s wife, stole those idols because she had seen her father Laban rely on them. They were valuable because her father had deemed them valuable. She stole her father’s idols because she did not want to lose her source of power and security when she departed from her father’s house.
Every culture has certain things they value, which can turn idolatrous. Some people come from a background where having statues of Virgin Mary or Jesus were valuable to them. Others have jewelry with certain symbolism signifying prosperity. When I was growing up, in my grandparents village, there was a church with a tree, which water came out of the tree. People believed in its supernatural power, so they would fill up bottles and take the water home with them. They used it to anoint a sick person and hope for healing. I was given a bottle when I came to the U.S., and for years I held onto it until God showed me that it was time for spiritual housecleaning. I got rid of that bottle along with gold jewelry that was supposed to bring “good luck”.
Are there things in your household that you have held onto that are not only sentimental but deep down you also believe they have some sort of power?
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.
having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:5-6
For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15
It was God’s intent and pleasure to create us, and it is His job to define us. We were designed to be in relationship with God and call Him, “Abba Father”. Adam & Eve walked with God daily before the Fall. It was only after the Fall that Adam & Eve ran to hide from Him. The sin changed their perception of God and made them fearful rather than accepted by Him.
Sin stripped us out of our value by breaking our fellowship with God. We became ensnared and enslaved to insecurity because we were void of definition. Living without a relationship with God is like living as an orphan spiritually. This causes a person to feel lonely, disconnected, and unsafe about life.
People can wonder if they matter in this big wide world. Rejection and disappointment is part of this darkened world. It is easy to feel that we don’t belong and that relationships are transitory and temporary. At times, those of us who are mature believers can feel that way too. All of us need to examine our value to see if it based on the One who is stable, unchanging, and consistent!
It was God’s intent to be the source of stability for us. Jesus came to restore our value by dying on the cross and showing us how much we are treasured. He opens His arms to accept those who are tired of others defining them. He reaches out to those who are hurt and bruised by other’s definition of worth. He receives those who are willing to admit that they are bankrupt and exhausted from trying to prove themselves and meet other’s standard of worth.
Meditate on the above scriptures, feel His embrace, and see His smile. Are you willing to lay down the wrong definitions that made you feel unloved and devalued? Are you willing to accept God’s report about you and refrain from proving or defending yourself to others? This can be hard even for mature believers because they can rely on certain people or activities to validate their worth. It may take a period of time to intentionally consider your actions and avoid things that feel like you are proving yourself.
When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. Matthew 23:21 (MSG)
The enemy is continually sending counterfeits in people’s lives to make them distracted from the Truth! If you tell someone that their focus is on the wrong thing, most likely they will get offended. They may even accuse you of being jealous of them, but God’s people have to tell the truth and expose the counterfeit.
People look for worth in many different places such as career, relationships, & education. There are multitudes of self-help books written to boost the person’s self-worth and help them to feel good about themselves. The reality is that we cannot muster up worth for ourselves neither can we look to another creature to define our value. It is not other people’s job or responsibility to define our worth.
We do not expect a newborn to know his/her own worth. They are completely oblivious to who they are and their surroundings. Initially, all they care about is to have their basic needs met. It is their parents’ job to love and care for the baby and show them that they have value. If the child receives healthy dose of attention and discipline, they will grow with the idea that they have some value in this world. In contrast, if the parents are neglectful or passive the children will grow with feeling of inferiority and insecurity.
The world continually tries to redefine our value. We are barraged with feelings of inadequacy; there is always someone who is better than us at something. No one is immune from this including the children who came from healthy upbringing. They are bombarded with the voice of culture that tries to put a different standard of worth on them.
The Lord has made it His job to define our worth. Since He is the one who has created us, His standard is the most important standard! When we accept His truth, it will cause a shift in our hearts and settling in our spirit. What is your worth dependent on? Do you need a continual affirmation of others or pat on the back to help you feel better about yourself? When you feel insecure where do you run to?
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.
Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:13-14
Jesus met the woman at the well at the point of her thirst. As she had the habit to do, she came to satisfy her natural thirst, but Jesus addressed the root of her need, which was a spiritual thirst. Many of us just like the woman at the well keep going back to the wells that satisfy only temporarily; we are so comfortable with our habits that we just settle for “better than nothing” situations. Many wells and many waters cannot quench our thirst until we come to Jesus. This song “You Won’t Relent” by Jesus Culture beautifully illustrates this point.
The good news is that Jesus came, so we won’t have to settle for less. We don’t have to act like we are satisfied when in reality we are still yearning or striving on the inside. The living water quenches the thirst better. The more we drink of this water, the less we thirst for the world. When we get thirsty, we go right to the source and seek His approval and His love for us.
The scripture tells us that when experience the living waters, it doesn’t just meet our needs, but it begins to overflow through us! This living water takes us out of isolation, self-preservation, and survival mentality. It opens us up to others. We develop abundance mind-set rather than scarcity mind-set. Not only we see God’s provision in our lives, but we also become the carriers of this provision to others who are seeking and searching for the living waters as well. The spring of living waters does not run dry because we are connected to the source. The Lord continues to pour down his grace on us by giving us more love, deeper compassion, greater generosity, & better understanding for others.
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” John 4:39
The story of the woman at the well does not end by her just drinking the living waters. Once she found this incredible gift, she became a “fountain of living water springing up to life” as Jesus stated. She took her testimony to her other fellow villagers because she had found a treasure that she could not keep to herself. Even though the villagers must have shunned her for years, she did not hold that against them. Sharing her precious living water was more important than their pathetic rejection of her. She was too excited to hold the Good News back from those who had held back years of love and respect for her. Praise God!
God designed the world including our bodies as illustrations of spiritual realities. One of those illustrations is our need for water. It is estimated that an average person cannot survive without water for more than 3 days. In our modern world, this is not a big deal to us because we have ease of access to water at anytime and anywhere. However, when we consider the ancient times and their challenge of attaining water, we find a different story.
In Biblical times, there was no plumbing, running water, faucets, showers, etc. No one sold bottled water. Most people used wells to get their water unless they were close to some body of water. Additionally, it would have been cumbersome to carry water back to the house since the primary mode of transportation would have been walking for most people, All these factors amount to the fact, that water was not as easily available back then.
When we look at the Bible in light of the scarcity and lack of accessibility of water, the scriptures about thirst take on a different level of significance. Thirst was an urgent need with the great possibility of not being readily available. That tells us that people had to be intentional about getting the water they needed on daily basis. If they were going a long distance, they had to plan their route to ensure access to water in hot and dry lands. Do we think about our spiritual lives with this sense of urgency and intentionality?
Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:13-14
Jesus spoke to the woman at the well about her spiritual thirst. She was there every day drawing water from the well. Jesus gave her a clear picture of her physical need which was parallel to her spiritual need. She had tried to fill that need with various men in her life. Jesus was pointing out that those needs can drive us to the wrong wells on daily basis and quench our thirst only temporarily.
We all have physical and emotional needs, but food, relationships, or money cannot fully satisfy our aching hearts for love, understanding, and significance. Everywhere we turn, the natural wells eventually run dry and leave us feeling disappointed and dissatisfied.
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.
As Godly voters, we should examine candidates’ position on public debt and their plan of action to tackle this huge problem. This is an important Biblical and practical issue. A governmental leader should be conservative in spending and aggressive in paying off the public debt. Just as parents are called to leave an inheritance for their children, we should hand over the wealth of our country as an inheritance to the next generation rather than burying them under our massive debt.
For the Lord your God will bless you just as He promised you; you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you. Deuteronomy 15:6
Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender. Proverbs 22:7 (TLB)
God told the Israelites that a sign of blessing was that they were going to be in a position to lend money but not borrow from other nations. Just as the above scriptures state, when a nation borrows it takes on the position of servitude and slavery to another nation. This is a dangerous position to be in. We owe money to nations who are not our friends nor our allies. Our governmental leaders need to be unyielding about reducing the public debt and not presume on a rosy future. Additionally, there are scriptures that tell us that it is wickedness not to pay off our debt (See Psalm 37:21).
Years ago when I taught Civics, under the categories of government spending, it showed that about 25% of the government income was spent on public debt and its interest. The current data, no longer addresses paying off the debt anymore; it only states that the government pays about 6% interest on public debt every year. In my opinion, our governmental leaders are trying to minimize the significance of the problem, and they have given up paying down the debt. They are just trying to keep their head above the ocean of debt!
When it comes to spending, Democrats and Republicans have been spending our money. They just choose to spend them in different areas. As Godly voters, we need to look for candidates who are not promising the world to people, but they are promising that they will leave this country in a better shape fiscally than they found it.
Every year the government has a deficit. That means they spend more than they bring in. If the government has not shown that they can live within their means, should we trust them with higher taxation and more borrowing powers? Let’s continue to pray for wisdom for our leaders as well as American people. We cannot afford to get derailed from important Biblical issues and jeopardize the future of our nation.
As Godly voters we need to look for candidates whose stance on issues are in agreement with the Bible. Otherwise the solutions they come up with will not be good solutions addressing the root problems. In the last devotional, I shared about the problem of poverty, which impacts the children for the most part. Today, I would like to address one of the causes of poverty.
Divorce a cause of poverty
Single family homes have a greater likelihood to live in poverty. According to povertyusa.org, 31% of single family homes with no husbands live in poverty. 50% of families become single family homes due to divorce. While some divorces are justified, we cannot excuse 50% divorce rate that has impacted half of our families.
If we desire to reduce poverty in our nation, we should look at a large number of divorces happening in our society. The government regulates various areas of society such as prescription drugs, communications, commerce, pollution, etc. but when it comes to marriage we allow society to do as they wish regardless of its consequence to the children! If we believe that children are our future, then we should do what we can to support strong marriages. The church and the government should look for ways to assist those who are seeking help for their marriage. The government has waiting periods to purchase guns. Maybe we should have waiting period for those who want to marry! If we desire to address the root issues of poverty, we need to help people develop stability in their marriages and families.
Unfortunately, marriage has become a political issue in our society because people think they can have an opinion about its definition. We need leaders who understand and believe the true idea of marriage and are not willing to cave in to the pressure of public opinion.
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24
“For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.” Malachi 2:16
God defined marriage as one man and one woman. He also declared that He hated divorce. It is only the recent “enlightened” leaders who are trying to appease the masses with their newly found definition of marriage. Some of our talented lawmakers coined the term “no fault divorce” to excuse a failure of our society to look deeper within to our true sinful condition.
We have reduced marriage to a feeling of love between two people who just want to be together. If a solid long lasting marriage could be achieved that simply, we would not have over 50% divorce rate in our nation. That should make any intelligent observer question the validity of the argument.
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.
As a Godly voter, we can evaluate the candidates’ stance on certain issues and determine if it lines up with the Bible.
Open your mouth for the speechless, In the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, And plead the cause of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31:8-9
The above scriptures are instructions from King Lemuel’s mother to her son. She tells him that a king or a president has the responsibility and the privilege to be a spokesperson for those who don’t have a voice and no one cares about their well being. A king or a president is also to stand as the protector for people who are in danger. In addition, leaders should bring attention to the cause of the poor and the needy.
From above scripture, we can glean a few principles for our modern day leaders:
Protection of Life
The protection of human life in its every form is of critical importance for every healthy society. If we don’t value life in an unborn or an elderly, it will lessen the value of other types of individuals such as the retarded, the disabled, and the wounded war veterans. We need the protection of law for every stage of life regardless of age, race, ability, or productivity.
Plead the cause of Poor
For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. Matthew 26:11
Jesus told His disciples that the poor will always be with them. That tells me that while poverty is not a good thing, but because of sin in the world, it will always be around. We cannot eradicate poverty. Man-made programs that try to make things equal among all is not the solution to poverty. Many scriptures referencing the poor calls the individuals and society to do something but not necessarily the government. It wasn’t the government who made the Christians in the book of Acts to sell their possessions to help the poor. It came from their internal transformed lives in Christ rather than external coercion by government.
As God’s people, we should find ways to help the poor in our community instead of looking to government to provide all the answers to this issue. Additionally, not all poverty is equal. This issue is a complex matter with many causes. If we desire to address poverty effectively, we need to dig deeper. Many times, the largest victims of poverty are children because they don’t have any choice in the matter.
I will address one of the causes of poverty, which has become a political stance in the next devotional.
This is a continuation on the subject of our role as Godly voters when we don’t see candidates who seek God.
Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for thepraise of those who do good. 1 Peter 2:13-14
A governmental leader should clearly see the difference between “good” and “evil” and stand for what is true and just. We need individuals who are independent enough not to be pressured to take a politically correct stance. If citizens do right, they should be left alone, but if they do wrong, there should be no excuse for bad behavior regardless of faith, race, gender, position, or socioeconomic status.
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 2Corinthians 2:14
Internationally, our governmental leaders have similar responsibility when it comes to knowing good and evil. Our leaders should have no confusion about distinguishing our allies versus our enemies. The Bible is clear about not being equally yoked with unbelievers. In governmental context, we should not have close ties with those nations who don’t believe in our ideals of life and liberty. Those type of nations will not have America’s best interest at heart and certainly would not want to see us successful in achieving our ideals.
Moreover, as a beacon of hope around the world, how can America support nations who suppress their citizens or utilize their wealth to feed their system of oligarchy!? Our leaders should support and encourage those nations who value human dignity and choice, and promote similar values as our free democratic nation.
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional as we look at political issues from a Biblical worldview.
One of my readers and friends made the following comment about my last devotional:
“If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask …. I want a leader that seeks God, not sure there’s any among the candidates in the running.”
This comment was in relation to the topic of “Qualities of a Godly Governmental leader”. I agree that it is a difficult election year, but we still have to sift through all the noise to come up with the best person for this important position.
When we can’t find a candidate who seeks God, there are a couple of things we can do. First and foremost, we should go to the Bible to remind ourselves about the Biblical role of civil government in people’s lives and our responsibility towards government.
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 1Timothy 2:1-3
The scripture tells us to pray for those who are in authority and intercede on their behalf. This includes those we like, disagree with, or downright oppose. In recent years, it seems like Christians have joined one of two camps. The members of “involved camp” are very informed about politics, which sometimes can lead them to become political, rude, and disrespectful. The members of “uninvolved camp” desire to completely be oblivious and stay away from participating in their role as concerned voter. They believe since Jesus is the answer to everything, no need to stress or strive over politics. Regardless of the camp we are in, the Bible exhorts us to pray for our governmental leaders.
According to the above scripture, the purpose of government is to allow peace (Shalom) to be present in order for people to feel safe and lead a quiet life. It is important for governmental leaders to understand their role as individuals who maintain peace and protection for all citizens and especially for those who are trying to live a Godly and reverent life.
Over the years, the government has taken on many roles and has tried to be the savior/answer to every ill in society. As a believer, we should be clear about the role of government, so we can eliminate non-essentials and focus on issues that the government should participate in. This can help clarify the best candidate for the position.
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.
