When it May Be Wrong To Go To Church - Ezekiel 14:1-4.

God Loves You

We think it is always good to go to church, but is there a time when the Bible suggests it is wrong?

"Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. then the word of the lord came to me"' Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? Therefore speak to them and tell them this is what the Sovereign Lord says: When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself in keeping with his great idolatry..." Ezekiel 14:1-4 NIV.

IDOLS
There are many kinds of idolatry but the worst and most deceptive is the idolatry of the heart. Idols misrepresent God, take His glory away, and are untrue in every respect. We think they are innocent but they mislead and guide us down wrong paths away from the very God we seek.

ORIGINS
There are many sources for heart dwelling idols. We can harbor some fantasy life in our imagination, or some bitterness clouds our vision of God. A past experience may stain our view of God. A wrong understanding of God may be caused by our parents, relationships, or contact with others who communicated the error to us.

It is questionable if any of us have a correct idea of the infinite, all powerful, all knowing, God of wonders and majesty. We are not capable of it since He is infinite and we are made of dust.

OUR HEART
There are times when our job, family, or retirement account may be an idol; but other well-meaning values may be exalted to idol statuses, such as ministry, denominational identity, or mission. We may harbor an idol by saying our style of worship is more acceptable than another's, or our standards of Christian conduct is more valid than another's.

An idol may force us to exclude a person from our church because of a culture or heritage or practice; even if the practice or culture is clearly defined as offensive to God once we make that doctrine and not God the standard we have become idolaters and are in danger of hearing Gods rebuke.

THE ONE TRUE GOD
God wants to be known correctly and it benefits us to know Him that way. We only know Him by His gracious revelation of Himself to us. Let's pray and ask God to show himself to us, (at least as much as we can handle). As we seek the truth of His revelation of Himself in honest humility we may come before Him in the confidence of acceptance and not fear His rebuke.

If we are not coming to the place of worship with an open and humble heart that honestly seeks to know and worship the Almighty we are deceiving ourselves and might just as well stay away.

Thank you for visiting and reading my blog. I sincerely hope this post is helpful and an encouragement.  For more like this see the most popular post in the left sidebar, or use the search box above.  

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(C) Adron 1/24/11

Is Jesus Against Money, Or Above It? A Look At His Teaching From Luke 16:15.

God Loves You

At first glance the teaching Jesus gives on money is bleak.

"The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, ‘You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.’” Luke 16: 14, 15. NIV.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND
This is part of a passage where Jesus is teaching about wealth to an audience of religious professionals who used religion as a means of gain.

HIGHLY VALUED
“What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” sounds shocking, you wonder if you have gotten the meaning of life wrong and have been living with the wrong priorities.

What is highly valued among men?

     • Wealth?
     • Fame?
     • To be admired?
     • Status?
     • A title?
     • Bigger, nicer, newer things?
     • Comfort?

It could be anything, something that is highly valued is valued above its proper place. God means money as a test or a tool but we see it as a treasure.

“Highly valued" here can be seen as wrong values. We view money and what it can buy to be the end of it all, but God means for money to be used to advance his Kingdom and meet the needs of God’s children.

GOD'S VALUES
We buy and build houses and fill them with treasures so we may relax and enjoy, but God gives them to us so we may serve. We cultivate our gifts and talents so we may enrich our own lives, but God gave them to us so we can bless other’s lives. We are like the craftsman who is in love with a tool and forgot to create the article it was designed for.

DETESTABLE
Things like wealth, status and possessions are detestable in God's sight because they become idols; when the thing we value takes the place of God in our lives, it makes it into a “god” and serving that thing becomes idolatry. It takes from serving the True God, and people, His creation.

ATTITUDE
It is not the thing itself that is detestable to God but it is the attitude attached to it that is detestable. This foundation attitude affects all our other choices. God wants to bless us, and having the right value of things liberates us, but having the wrong value of things robs us.

We need to know God and what He values; let's learn to treasure those things! Our value of things must become submissive to the Lord and not let them become our Lord. We need to learn the right value of things.

To learn more about knowing god and eternal salvation see my other blog. 

(c) Adron

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Thank you for visiting and reading my blog. I sincerely hope this post is helpful and an encouragement.  For more like this see the most popular post in the left sidebar, or use the search box above.  

Adron

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