On thing that I have noticed about alot of so called christians , particularly in America and in Europe, where we have so much..., Christians are serving false GODs , maybe unknowingly but none the less they are.
Just like in the bible , we see people the lost their dependency on God/ Jesus. We find that they served different gods. We see the same thing happening in many households today.., many are serving the wrong god.
First , find that some serve the " god of material things"
In 1 Timothy 6:10 we read this, " For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people , eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselfs with many grief's" One of many examples of this would be the lottery, gambling. The philosophy that it takes money to make money. What does the GOD say in the Bible about gambling? Look at Matthew 6:24 " Noone can serve two masters; for either he will hate one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Mammon refers to wealth, money , or property. I am not saying that it is bad to have these things..but I think it depends on the motives that we have when we are trying to gain it. Last month or so the Power Ball was over 200 million dollars. I had some friends I work with ask me to get in a lottery poll with them. I told them thanks but no thanks. That I don't believe in that. They said they only play $5 a week. I said.. I have a different outlook on that. I feel that is money that could be used for God's work. You see in parts of eastern europe and the Middle east, there are people dying from stravation every day. And , lets not fool ourselves, we have the same problem right here in the United States, that are going to bed hungry. Just think , that one lottery ticket that you buy once a year could be that dose of medicine, plate of food , or but the chemicals to clean water sources that makes a difference in life or death. Which do you think GOD would want you to use the money for .., selfish, self centered greedy wants or helping someone with their needs. Are you serving the "God of money and material things"??
Second, some people serve the" god of pleasure"
If we look in Luke 15: 11-13 we find a portion of the prodigal son. In verse 11-13 it says " there was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, " Father , give me my share of the estate. So he divided his property between them. Not long after that , the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living." We have this problem from our houses to the White House. We are teaching our children , if it feels good , do it. What makes us feel that we can be faithful to GOD, if we can't be faithful to our spouse and family. Who are we trying to kid. Pornography is one of the largest industries in the United states, with over 1 million websites and 60 million pornographic images on the internet ..,we most definately have become perverts for the sake of pleasure... " whatever makes us feel good". And don't always be so quick to look at others sinfulness as an excuse for your own. Ask yourself, what kind of example am I setting? We like to point fingers at other people , but sin is sin. then , why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we all will stand before GOD's judgement seat." We will all be held accountable for our sins. Wether sins of the flesh, disobedience or whatever. Also when I speak of serving the god of pleasure , it is not exclusively about sex, it could be the lake, boating , fishing, hunting, golfing , shopping, etc. Anything that takes you away from worshipping the GOD/Jesus. Want to know if you fall into this category, look and see what you are doing when the doors of the church open for worship service...and I don't mean to be rude. But I am not talking about on Saturday/Sunday Mornings. I mean Sunday nights , Wednesday nights and Business meetings.
Last we see some serve the "god of self and pride"
You see, I think that this one is the most common and most dangerous of all the ' God's" This one draws us into serving the other gods that we mentioned. You see , we get this attitude, that as long as we make it to at least one church service this week , that we have done our Christian duty. We feel that the only time we have to " act" like a Christian, and I use that term loosely is when we are at the church service. But first of all, to be a Christian, a child of GOD, it is not an act, it is not a convenience issue, but it is a lifestyle, 24 hours a day , 7 days a week. It is a continuing humbling experience. And we take it for granted. We complain about how terrible our country is, and yes it is no bed of roses. But it could be alot worse. I personlly know a man that stood up for Christ and he spent 5 years in Siberia. The officals heard that he was a believer and they came to him to find out for sure. They gave him two chances to rebuke Christ. But even though he knew the penalty , he professed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He spent weeks in a box the size of a washer machine. It was too little to sit down or stand up. Could you imagine??Do you think you could have stood up for Jesus Christ like he did? If not..,then can you really call yourself a Christian?? We also have this attitude that we can talk like a sailor when we are at work and away from church, and say well , that's different. Well, that's bologna. It should not be any different. And whether we realize it or not , our work environment for the majority of us, will be the only mission field we will ever see. We as Christians are being watched by non christians. If we talk Jesus Christ and then we do not live Christ , including the way we act on the job and out in public or not attending Church regularly, then we are sending out the wrong messsage to the ones that we are witnessing to. You see the world hears the gospel when the world see's the gospel!
Just like in the bible , we see people the lost their dependency on God/ Jesus. We find that they served different gods. We see the same thing happening in many households today.., many are serving the wrong god.
First , find that some serve the " god of material things"
In 1 Timothy 6:10 we read this, " For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people , eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselfs with many grief's" One of many examples of this would be the lottery, gambling. The philosophy that it takes money to make money. What does the GOD say in the Bible about gambling? Look at Matthew 6:24 " Noone can serve two masters; for either he will hate one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Mammon refers to wealth, money , or property. I am not saying that it is bad to have these things..but I think it depends on the motives that we have when we are trying to gain it. Last month or so the Power Ball was over 200 million dollars. I had some friends I work with ask me to get in a lottery poll with them. I told them thanks but no thanks. That I don't believe in that. They said they only play $5 a week. I said.. I have a different outlook on that. I feel that is money that could be used for God's work. You see in parts of eastern europe and the Middle east, there are people dying from stravation every day. And , lets not fool ourselves, we have the same problem right here in the United States, that are going to bed hungry. Just think , that one lottery ticket that you buy once a year could be that dose of medicine, plate of food , or but the chemicals to clean water sources that makes a difference in life or death. Which do you think GOD would want you to use the money for .., selfish, self centered greedy wants or helping someone with their needs. Are you serving the "God of money and material things"??
Second, some people serve the" god of pleasure"
If we look in Luke 15: 11-13 we find a portion of the prodigal son. In verse 11-13 it says " there was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, " Father , give me my share of the estate. So he divided his property between them. Not long after that , the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living." We have this problem from our houses to the White House. We are teaching our children , if it feels good , do it. What makes us feel that we can be faithful to GOD, if we can't be faithful to our spouse and family. Who are we trying to kid. Pornography is one of the largest industries in the United states, with over 1 million websites and 60 million pornographic images on the internet ..,we most definately have become perverts for the sake of pleasure... " whatever makes us feel good". And don't always be so quick to look at others sinfulness as an excuse for your own. Ask yourself, what kind of example am I setting? We like to point fingers at other people , but sin is sin. then , why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we all will stand before GOD's judgement seat." We will all be held accountable for our sins. Wether sins of the flesh, disobedience or whatever. Also when I speak of serving the god of pleasure , it is not exclusively about sex, it could be the lake, boating , fishing, hunting, golfing , shopping, etc. Anything that takes you away from worshipping the GOD/Jesus. Want to know if you fall into this category, look and see what you are doing when the doors of the church open for worship service...and I don't mean to be rude. But I am not talking about on Saturday/Sunday Mornings. I mean Sunday nights , Wednesday nights and Business meetings.
Last we see some serve the "god of self and pride"
You see, I think that this one is the most common and most dangerous of all the ' God's" This one draws us into serving the other gods that we mentioned. You see , we get this attitude, that as long as we make it to at least one church service this week , that we have done our Christian duty. We feel that the only time we have to " act" like a Christian, and I use that term loosely is when we are at the church service. But first of all, to be a Christian, a child of GOD, it is not an act, it is not a convenience issue, but it is a lifestyle, 24 hours a day , 7 days a week. It is a continuing humbling experience. And we take it for granted. We complain about how terrible our country is, and yes it is no bed of roses. But it could be alot worse. I personlly know a man that stood up for Christ and he spent 5 years in Siberia. The officals heard that he was a believer and they came to him to find out for sure. They gave him two chances to rebuke Christ. But even though he knew the penalty , he professed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He spent weeks in a box the size of a washer machine. It was too little to sit down or stand up. Could you imagine??Do you think you could have stood up for Jesus Christ like he did? If not..,then can you really call yourself a Christian?? We also have this attitude that we can talk like a sailor when we are at work and away from church, and say well , that's different. Well, that's bologna. It should not be any different. And whether we realize it or not , our work environment for the majority of us, will be the only mission field we will ever see. We as Christians are being watched by non christians. If we talk Jesus Christ and then we do not live Christ , including the way we act on the job and out in public or not attending Church regularly, then we are sending out the wrong messsage to the ones that we are witnessing to. You see the world hears the gospel when the world see's the gospel!
also a side note, we sometimes also find ourselves loveing the ministry more then God, so anotehr one would be serving the god of helping God. Although its a good thing its not the best. good stuff that you have as well 