April 20, 2024

I AM Free to Run … (Part 2 of 3)

July 3, 2013 by
1 Corinthians 10: 6-7, 13-14

These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.  The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.  So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols.

Last night was another breakthrough in my media fast.  I went back to 1 Corinthians to review some of the Scriptures my pastor used in his sermon Sunday.  I want to talk about two things that kept revealing itself to me in the Scriptures above:

 

Idolatry – What is it? 

Idols – What are they?

 

Let’s start with idolatry first.

What is idolatry? 

The dictionary defines idolatry as:

    : the worship of a physical object as a god 

    : immoderate attachment or devotion to something

God instructs us in of 1 Corinthians 10:7 to not be idolaters, correct?   If so, we then need to ask ourselves if there are any idols in our life.  We need to start first by finding out what the word IDOL means.

The dictionary defines the word IDOL as:

idol

 noun \ˈī-dəl\

: a representation or symbol of an object of worship

 : a false god

I want to focus on the definition of “an object of worship”.  What does that mean to you?  The word worship means to praise something or someone; to honor; to put above.

In today’s world, there are many things that we worship, or idolize, that we may not even be aware of.  I’m talking about the things in our lives that we are “attached” to, can’t live without, we have to have every day, and so on.  These are things that if someone were to take them away from us we would not be happy at all!  These are things that we have become so attached to that they have become a part of our daily life without us even realizing it.  They are things that we think so highly of that sometimes nothing else matters and we get angry if anything comes in the way of us enjoying these things. Does anything come to mind when I say that?

Let’s take a look at some of the things that I am talking about and see if you recognize any of them:

  • Television
  • Money
  • Soap Operas
  • Romance Novels
  • Video / Computer Games
  • Drugs
  • Alcohol

And let’s not forget the ever popular Social Media:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Do any of these things mentioned above take a high priority in your life?  Ask yourself this question:  “If someone were to take any of these things out of my life, would it make me happy?”  If you answered NO to that question, then most likely this thing(s) are an idol in your life.

For me, I can see several things on that list:  Television, Money, Social Media, Games.  During this media fast that I am currently doing, I found out that taking away my Facebook or Pinterest is really a hard thing!  I really never realized how much I am on Facebook, and/or the reasons WHY I am on Facebook, until this fast!

Some of the reasons I like Facebook:

  • A way of connecting with family & friends (not a bad thing)
  • It’s a way to kill time
  • It’s a way to fill the void in my life
  • It’s a way to beat the loneliness

I have had to seriously look at the reasons why I was spending so much time on Facebook.  Was what I was doing on Facebook productive?  Most times, not.  It was just a way of killing time, or beating the boredom, or filling the loneliness.  Yes, I head up a Women’s Ministry where most of what I do is on Facebook, but I’m talking about the things outside of what I do in this ministry.  I was using Facebook to fill those voids in my life, when I actually should have been turning to the Lord!  Yes, I could hear God’s voice in the background asking for time with Him, but did I give it to Him?  Not always.  In fact, if I am going to be honest about all this, not a lot of the time!  I hate admitting that, but it’s the truth!  I was putting Facebook above God.  I was worshipping an idol…a false God was getting my worship instead of where my worship should have been going!

Can you see yourself in any of this?  I know I am not the only one.  If I were to come to your home and tell you that I was going to remove all of your televisions in your home for 30 days, how would you, and your family, react?  Would you panic?  Would you begin to get nervous?  Would you fight me to keep your televisions?  If so, your televisions are an idol in your home, and in your own life!

If I were to come to your home and tell you that I was only going to give you just enough money to pay your bills, buy groceries and gas, and a $25/week allowance, how would you feel?  Would you begin to panic?  Would you freak out wondering how you were going to buy all of those other things that you so desperately wanted, and just had to have?  I see another idol in your life!   Believe me, I am preaching to the choir here, too, Sister!!  I’m seeing these things in my own life, as well!  But I want to show you what the Lord has been teaching me about this, so that YOU can walk away from the idols, as well.

I’m not saying I am an expert in this area because this is all brand new to me, sort of.  I’ve known about all this stuff for many years, but to be honest, I’ve never really put them into practice.  I’ve just begun to realize how much of an idol certain things are in my life!  So I’m walking this journey along with you!  I just want to share what the Lord has laid on my heart, so you can begin to meditate on these things, too!

Matt6_24

I looked up the word mammon to get its true meaning.  It means: riches or material wealth.  But, I also looked at some synonyms of the word mammon.  This is what I found:

  • Possessions
  • Money
  • Gold
  • Almighty Dollar
  • Graven image
  • Idol

There’s that word again!!  Did you see it?  IDOL …  We just can’t get away from it, can we?

In verse 13 of 1 Corinthians 10, we are told that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able; that He will provide a way out.

Then in verse 14, we are told to flee idolatry.

If God is telling us to flee idolatry, and that He will provide a way out, we need to take Him at His word, and realize that it CAN be done! He isn’t going to tell us to do something if there isn’t a way to do it!  When I finally come to the decision that I am ready to remove the idols in my life, He will provide a way for me to handle the voids in my life!.  I need to trust that when I am struggling, all I need to do is pray and He will provide a way out.

I can choose to walk by the flesh and cave into these cravings for the idols in my life; or I can choose to walk by the Spirit and allow the Holy Spirit to guide me.  The choice really is mine!

Ask yourself the same questions I’ve had to ask myself:  Is God really a priority in my life?  

I’ll be back Friday to finish up this quick series.  Until then, enjoy your 4th of July Holiday!

In His Love,

Christi

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I AM Free to Run … (Part 1 of 3)

July 2, 2013 by

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been involved in a fast against media in my life: Television, Computer Games, Kindle Games, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and unneccessary texting.  It’s the first time I’ve taken on such a huge challenge all at once!  This fast is to last for 30 days.  I’ve learned a lot about myself, to say the least!  Over the next few days, I’d like to share some of what I have learned with you.

In the first week of this fast, I was ready to give up!  I was having a very difficult time staying focused, and staying away from the temptations of all of these areas of “excess” in my life.  I call them excess because the fast I am doing includes removing anything in my life that has taken time away from God, and my relationship with Him.  I had to really think about this when I was making my list of things that I was going to fast.

First of all, I had to really look at my life with a microscope.  I had to be honest about the things in my life where some days I would spend hours upon hours doing.  Facebook, as an example, is a huge area of excess in my life!  Why?  Mainly because of what I do for Girlfriends Coffee Hour, but also because I was spending HOURS a day just wasting time on “stuff” with Facebook because I was bored, or even lonely, at times!

So in my quest in looking for things that were taking time away from my relationship with God, and with my family, I had to get serious, and real with myself.  When I did that, I was really sad to see how much time media “STUFF” was taking up in my life, away from the things that needed me.  When I began the fast, I prayed “Lord, I am really going to need Your help with this because I know how drawn to Facebook I am!”

The first week…I FAILED MISERABLY!!!  The fast began on Monday, and by Saturday night I was ready to call it quits, I had failed to temptation so many times.  I prayed, “Lord, I am just not cut out for this!  I believe I have taken on way too much at one time!  I keep falling into the same temptations over and over again!  I’m just not any good at this.  I think I need to quit, Lord!”

The next day, I went to church.  My Pastor’s message was about keeping our eyes focused on the race, and on Jesus.  I just KNEW God had heard my prayer the night before, because this message was so “right on”, and just what I needed to hear!  I’d like to share some of it with you…

The whole point of this fast is to rid my life of the things that are taking time away from reading the Word, listening to God, praying, and building that relationship with Him.  It’s also about ridding the excess in my life to allow for more time with my family and other relationships.

My Pastor’s sermon was about running the good race, reaching the ultimate prize, running so others would see Jesus through this journey.  It was like this man had been reading each one of my daily blogs; which I doubt he truly is!!   But God gave him this message for today, and God knew that I needed to hear that message!

The message was titled “Free to Run”.

To start with, Pastor’s son had just finished a 100-mile run!  Yes, ONE HUNDRED miles!!! Can you only imagine!!  Never in a million years could I ever see myself running 10 miles, let alone 100 miles!  Right!?!

At one point in this 100 mile run, a friend of our Pastor’s son hit the 53 mile marker and he was just exhausted, thinking he could not go on. He was hurting so bad!  His wife kept encouraging him, and then she pulled a letter out from their daughter that encouraged him so very much!  “Come on, Dad. I know you can do it. I love you, Dad.  I believe in you!” and so on.  It was awesome!!  It was then that he stood up and continued to the finish line…running a total of 100 miles!  It just goes to show what we can accomplish when we have a team of encouragers motivating us to continue on! I loved that part of the sermon!

The overall story of his sermon today was that whenever we are doing something, anything—that includes reaching others for Christ, or showing Christ in our circumstances—we must not give up!  We must continue on toward the ultimate prize.

What is the Ultimate Prize in my fast?  To show what can be accomplished when we put our trust in Christ, and allow His strength and power to fill us up when we are weak; to be able to run and not grow weary; to walk and not faint; to shine the light of Christ through our struggles.  We should run with determination, and not toil along the way. 

Have you never heard?  Have you never understood?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth.  He never grows weak or weary.  No one can measure the depths of his understanding.  He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.  Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.  But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.  Isaiah 40:28-31 (NLT)

He will give new strength to those who trust in Him.  We will soar like eagles; run and not grow weary, walk and not faint!  I really needed to be reminded of that Scripture.  The race I have been running with my media fast has been difficult.  I’ve caved into my fleshly desires many times.  My focus has not been on God…it has been on my own wants and desires.  I was choosing what is EASY, and not allowing God’s grace to take me over the edge to the other side of this journey, which is running the race WITH Him and not just in my own power.

I needed to hear again that my flesh is no longer the one I serve.  I have only one Master, and His name is Jesus!  I am not here to serve myself.  I am here to serve the One who loves me, encourages me, motivates me to keep going on!  Pleasing myself produces nothing for Jesus; and offers nothing towards eternal life—the Ultimate Prize!

When we run any race, or face any serious trials in our life, we need to always keep our focus on Christ.  It’s in Him that we are able to do all things, and in Him that we will be able to serve others.  It’s by that focus that we will bring others to Christ.  They will see that God is truly the only reason we are able to complete the race, or face the situation like we do!  That truly should be our ultimate goal anyway: to show Christ in all that we do!

I had not been doing that in this media fast.  I had only been showing others what Christi was able to do in her own power; which turned out to be nothing!  The Lord is my power, my strength, my grace, my hope, and my prize in the end.

The Lord Is

At the end of this fast, I want to hear God say “Well done, thine good and faithful servant!”  I want to hear others say that they saw Jesus through me.  That they were encouraged through my own struggles.  That they saw the true message: with God nothing is impossible!  That quitting is NOT an option!!

When it’s all said and done, there is really only ONE thing that matters:  Did I live my life for Him?

In His Love,

Christi
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