{"id":21345,"date":"2014-08-19T00:21:28","date_gmt":"2014-08-19T04:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=21345"},"modified":"2014-08-18T23:49:52","modified_gmt":"2014-08-19T03:49:52","slug":"modern-idols","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/08\/19\/modern-idols\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern Idols"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SeekingHimLogo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

But their idols are silver and gold,
\nmade by human hands.
\nThey have mouths, but cannot speak,
\neyes, but cannot see.
\nThey have ears, but cannot hear,
\nnoses, but cannot smell.
\nThey have hands, but cannot feel,
\nfeet, but cannot walk,
\nnor can they utter a sound with their throats.
\nPsalms 115:4-7<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When I was growing up, I always thought that idols were statues. \u00a0That was how they had always been portrayed as being in the movies and my own imagination. However, when I reached my teens and young adult years, I learned that idols are more than just statues that are worshipped as gods.<\/p>\n

One dictionary definition of idol<\/span> is\u00a0any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Bible definition of idol<\/span> is an image of a deity other than God.<\/em><\/p>\n

In my opinion, an ido<\/span>l is anything that turns your attention away from God.<\/em>\u00a0 With so many things to grab our attention, it is easy to allow something or someone to grab all<\/strong>\u00a0our\u00a0attention. Cell phones, TV, work, family activities, etc., can keep us from doing what we really should be doing. When it comes to God, these can also affect our relationship with Him.<\/p>\n

\n

Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. \u201cIt is written,\u201d He said to them, \u201cMy house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.\u201d The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things He did and the children shouting in the temple courts, \u2018Hosanna to the Son of David,\u2019 they were indignant.<\/p>\n

Matthew 21:12-15<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The merchants of Jesus\u2019 time had made His temple a place of idolatry. \u00a0The merchants and the priests were more worried about money and the power they had then of having a true relationship with God. \u00a0When Jesus took their idols away, they became indignant. \u00a0If you were to try to do that to someone or a group of people today, it would become total chaos. \u00a0Rights are taken away, and the rights of the people who are seeking to do the right thing are taken away.
\nHowever, one day Jesus will return, and He will turn the tables on the idols of the world again. \u00a0Until then we should strive to keep the idols out of our view. \u00a0We should focus our lives upon God. \u00a0We should work and live for the glory of God.<\/p>\n

\u00a0*<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 *<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Heavenly Father, I strive to put my focus on You. \u00a0You have saved me from the clutches of sin. \u00a0Idols have no place in my life. \u00a0I love You and work to glorify You. \u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Psalms 115:4-7 When I was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":13840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[3367,1287,425,7092,3211,7089,7091,7090,3174],"class_list":["post-21345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-jesus-addressed-idolatry","tag-laura-pattillo","tag-matthew-2112-15","tag-modern-idols","tag-psalms-1151-7","tag-seeking-him-devotional","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-5yh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21345"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21352,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21345\/revisions\/21352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}