Too Many Gods

“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image.”(Exodus 20:3-4)

Idolatry isn’t just one of many sins; rather, it’s the one great sin that all others come from. It’s not an issue; it is the issue. There may be a hundred million different symptoms, but the issue is always idolatry. If you start scratching at whatever struggle you’re dealing with, eventually you’ll find that underneath it is a false god. And until that God is dethroned, you will not have victory.
God isn’t interested in competing against others or being first among many. He will not be part of any hierarchy. God declines to sit atop an organizational flowchart. He IS the organization. He is not interested in being president of the board. He IS the board. He is God, and your life will not work until everyone else sitting around the table in the boardroom of your heart has been fired. There can be no partial gods, no honorary gods, no interim gods, no assistants to the regional gods.
God designed and created the universe to work this way, and He’s the sole owner and operator of it. So only the one true God knows how it works. He is the only God who can help us, direct us, satisfy us, and save us.
By the time we read Exodus 20, we see that God has had it with imitation and substitute gods. He tells Israel to break up the pantheon (“many gods”). All other God activity is canceled. He makes sure the people understand that He is the one and only. He is the Lord God!
You may be thinking this is not a problem today. But my guess is that our list of god’s is longer than ever. We may not have the god of commerce, the god of agriculture, the god of sex, or the god of the hunt. But we do have portfolios, automobiles, adult entertainment, and sports. Simply calling them by different names doesn’t change who they are.
When someone or something, good or bad, replaces the Lord God in the position of glory in your life, then it has by definition become a god.

DENYING TODAY
Just this week, what drew your attention the most? What does your checkbook or calendar or to-do list reveal about your priorities? What people or things keep sneaking into your mind and blocking your view of God? Be honest here; see if you can’t identify by name some of the gods who have set up thrones in your life.

25 Days of Denying

You can’t follow after Jesus without denying yourself. Jesus puts it quite simply: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves” (Luke 9:23).
To deny yourself isn’t just the idea of saying no to yourself — or even resisting yourself. It’s not simply giving up something you really, really want. It’s so much more than putting something off for the delayed gratification of receiving it at a later date. The idea of denying yourself is that you don’t look in your own direction. It’s saying, “I choose Jesus. I choose Jesus over my family. I choose Jesus over career goals. I am His completely. I choose Jesus over getting drunk. I choose Jesus over looking at porn. I choose Jesus over a redecorated house. I choose Jesus over my freedom. I choose Jesus over what other people may think of me.”
A follower makes a decision every day to deny self and choose Jesus, even if it costs everything.
25 days of denying starts right now…

Pull the Plug

Jesus said . . . “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” . . .
Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. (John 11:25-26, 43-44)

Lazarus did not have a near-death experience. He was completely, undeniably dead. First, he was miserably sick, and then he passed away. He expired. He kicked the bucket. He bought the farm. He bit the dust. However you want to say it, make no mistake about it: Lazarus DIED! His sisters washed his body and wrapped it in linen. Weeping, they laid his corpse in a cave-tomb and leaned a flat stone across the opening.
We like to read this story because it ends so well, with Jesus arriving apparently too late — 4 days later — only to dramatically raise Lazarus from the dead and give him back to his family.
I wonder, though, if we devote enough time to thinking about the implications for our own lives. In our excitement about the resurrection part, do we forget that you can’t raise a person from the dead unless he or she is actually DEAD? Do we really get it — that we need to be dead people ourselves before Jesus can infuse us with His life?
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” Colossians 3:3 says it even more clearly: “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” The expectation is obvious: When Jesus invites us to follow Him, it’s an invitation to die. Only when we die to ourselves can we truly live for Him. That kind of surrender goes against every instinct we have. We want to hang on. We can’t seem to let go. We refuse to pull the plug. But it is only when we die to ourselves that we can finally experience the resurrection power of Christ.

Denying Today
Someone has said that the hardest part of dying to ourselves is that we have to do it daily. Write out a prayer for today, laying your life at the feet of Jesus. Reaffirm that He is not just your Savior, but your Lord as well. Don’t hurry through this, and prayerfully write only what you mean. For today, list what attitudes, priorities, or sins — what part of you — you will allow to die.

A Followers Prayer

God, I want to be a follower of your Son, Jesus. I am learning that following Jesus just means growing closer to him and becoming more like him. The problem with following Jesus is that I know me, and I am not like him. His character, love, and rightness don’t match the real me. I need your help to follow. I can’t do it on my own. I ask for your grace and strength to give me everything I need to be more like Jesus. On this journey of understanding what following Jesus means, open my eyes to see that following is more about who you are than who I am. I want to know you. Just as you know me — better even than I know myself! — I want to really know you.
Today I am surrendering my willpower to be a better me and instead allowing you to be at work in me, making me more like you. Thank you for helping me follow you. Thank you for leading me to this place where my desire to follow you more closely is fed. I can’t be a follower without your Holy Spirit showing me how to do it. My longing to be a follower of Jesus is as real as my weakness. So I give you my heart, mind, and body in order to follow. Thank you that you not only lead me but also show me how to follow. I am ready. Lead on. AMEN.

“Though every believer has the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit does not have every believer.” –A. W. Tozer-

A committee of ministers in a certain city was discussing the possibility of having D.L. Moody to serve as the evangelist during a city-wide evangelistic campaign.
Finally, one young minister who did not want to invite Moody, stood up and said, “Why Moody? Does he have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?”
There was silence. Then an old, Godly minister spoke up: “No, he does not have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on him!”

In John 14:16-18 and 16:7-15, Jesus begins to get very specific in His description of the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit. He reveals that the Holy Spirit’s ministry will look very much like His, except that He will indwell all believers and, if we will let Him, empower those believers to live and look like Jesus as well. Unfortunately, many have reduced their lives and ministry to a safe, familiar routine that could be accomplished in human strength. Someone once said if the Holy Spirit were suddenly removed from the earth, 98% of all we do would continue, unaffected by His absence. A.W. Tozer writes: “The doctrine of the Spirit as it relates to the believer has, over the last half century, been shrouded in a mist such as lies upon a mountain in stormy weather. A world of confusion has surrounded this truth. This confusion has not come by accident. An enemy has done this. Satan knows that Spirit-less evangelicalism is as deadly as modernism or heresy, and he has done everything in his power to prevent us from enjoying our true Christian heritage.” The Holy Spirit desires to not only indwell but empower us; to not simply be in us, but be on us in power. He is a person, just like Jesus, who has a mind, will, and emotions and wants to gift and enable every Christian for supernatural ministry.

The Holy Spirit’s Job Description In Your Life:
1. Helper (Comforter) John 14:16
2. Guide (Counselor) John 14:26
3. Foreteller (Revealer) John 16:13
4. Empowerer (Power Source) Acts 1:8
5. Advocate (Lawyer) Romans 8:26-27
6. Enabler (Gift Giver) 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

My Time With God

Preparation Time
Read Zechariah 4:6

List the issues in which you lack the empowering of God’s Spirit, experientially — those areas you’ve attempted to control and pull off in your own strength, in your…
Personal Life:
Family Life:
Church Life:
Business Life:
Other:

Waiting Time
During your waiting time, let God…

Serve You.
“God, I know today, I am walking in the power of the Spirit in these areas of my life”:

Search You.
“God, you have permission to reveal any area in my life in which I am walking in the flesh…”

Show You.
“God, is there any new work that You need to do in me as I enter this day?”

Confession Time
According to the Scripture, we can grieve, insult, resist, and offend the Holy Spirit. One way we can do this is by acting like Martha in Luke 10:38-42. Although she was attempting to serve Jesus, He was not impressed — because she was attempting to serve without first being served by Him. She was doing God’s will, her way.

Confess areas that you have initiated without the leading or the power of God’s Spirit:

Bible Time
We can never pray out of God’s will when we pray God’s Word.

Read the following passages slowly a couple of times:
Luke 24:49
Acts 1:8
Ephesians 5:18-21

Meditation Time
After praying the Scriptures, write down the thoughts that God has impressed upon your mind.

Intercession time – Praying for Others
Begin this time with a prayer of blessing and thanksgiving for the people of whom you will now intercede, then begin to pray for them to experience surrender to God, and the empowering of the Holy Spirit.
Name Request

Petition Time – Praying for Yourself
Jesus promised that anyone who asked to “receive” or be empowered by the Holy Spirit would be (Luke 11:13). But the issue we must settle is : surrender. We don’t move forward in control but in submission; walking in the Spirit is more letting than trying. Pray that God would enable you to settle this issue in those areas you need to…
Prayer Requests

Application Time
The smallest obedient act is better than the greatest intention.

Q: What is the main thing that God has impressed on me today?

Q: What am I going to do about it?

Steps to take in my obedience to God:

My Goal: To implement the above steps in the next 7 days.

Faith Time
Faith is our positive response to what God has said. Spend a few moments praying through your eyes of faith. Tell God the positive things you see happening because of His goodness!

Praise & Thanksgiving Time

Praise God by recognizing WHO HE IS!
Thank God by recognizing WHAT HE HAS DONE!

This Week’s Memory Verse – (Ephesians 5:18-21)

This Week’s Time Alone With God

Monday – This Lesson

Tuesday – At the beginning of this study on the Holy Spirit, there was a list that summarized the Holy Spirit’s job description in the Christian life. Which of those 6 items are you experiencing most frequently? Why is that?

Which of those 6 items are you not experiencing very often? Why not?

Wednesday – Go back to the Preparation Time on the subject of the Holy Spirit. Write out why you believe it is that you fail to experience the empowering of the Holy Spirit in those areas.

What decisions do you need to make to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit in those areas?

Thursday – Based on the passages given in the Bible Time, write out a journal entry that describes a word-picture of how your day-to-day life would look if you were to walk consistently in the power of the Spirit. Be specific. Use your God-given imagination, and see yourself with the eye of faith.

Friday – How are you doing at implementing the requests that you prayed for yourself? Are you taking steps of obedience following your time of prayer?

Write out the steps of obedience you still must take, especially if they have changed from your original list you made. Then, jot down, for your eyes only, the specific reasons why you must take these steps of obedience. Finally, pray over them, once you’ve finished writing.

Better Than GPS

Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps. -Jeremiah 10:23-

I have a GPS on my phone, but I rarely use it. I usually tend to think I know where I’m going, even when I don’t. For the most part, every time I do use the GPS, it’s because I’ve already tried finding something myself but have managed to get lost. When I finally type the destination into my phone, the first question that comes on the screen is this: “Directions from current location?” In other words, “Do you want to start where you are?”
The answer to that question seems obvious enough, right? Of course I want to start from here. I’m not even sure where “here” is, but I’m confident that I want to start from here. And as soon as I answer that question affirmatively, the GPS begins calculating my route — not from where I started before I lost my way, not from the direction I should be headed or from a point farther along my journey, but from right where I’m currently located.
So why does such an obvious answer physically seem to elude people spiritually? I’ve discovered that the most common reason people give for not following Jesus is that they want to get their lives together first. They want to get a few things squared away or take care of some personal issues. They want to start their journey from somewhere else than where they are currently located.
When Jesus invites you to follow him, he wants you to start right now from your current location. You don’t have to go back to where you started. You don’t need to get a little closer on your own. He reaches out to you with grace and love and invites you to follow him. Feeling weak? Depend on his strength. Trapped in sin? Find freedom in his endless mercy. Been down this road before? Know that he is still patiently waiting for you to come home. Lost? Trust his directions. Jesus wants you to start following him from right where you are — and he wants you to start right now. It promises to be an incredible journey!

Following Today
Describe your current spiritual location? Far from home? Lost off-road somewhere? Closer than you’ve ever been? Write out a prayer committing to follow Jesus wherever he leads. Affirm your desire to follow him, right now, from right here.

Pay Attention to Those Signs

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”-Matthew 7:13-14

A few years ago, I was driving from Cincinnati to Louisville. The highway between Cincinnati and Louisville is called I-71. It’s a straight shot, and the trip takes about an hour. I had the radio turned up, it was a beautiful day and I was enjoying the drive. After about an hour, I knew I was getting close to Louisville, but then I saw a sign that said, “Welcome to Lexington.”

I had made the mistake that others had told me about. Right outside Cincinnati is a place where, if you’re not really careful, you can easily miss where I-71 toward Louisville splits off from I-75 toward Lexington. For close to an hour I was completely convinced I was on I-71, but all the while I was on I-75. It never occurred to me that I might be going the wrong way. With the radio blaring, I was singing along to the music, completely oblivious. I never allowed for the possibility that I was on the wrong road.
Jesus noted a similar problem regarding two roads in life. One is easily traveled by many people. The other is easily missed –only a few will find it. But many of those on the crowded highway still think they’re moving in the right direction. “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:22-23).
Those are sobering words. They were busy doing the right things, but their accomplishments didn’t make them true followers. They never knew Jesus, and he didn’t know them. Fortunately for you and me, there’s still time to regain our bearings.

Following Today
Some questions for your journey: Does your life reflect what you say you believe? Do you think you’re on the right road because of what you’ve done? Do you know Jesus, and does he know you? I don’t expect you to have quick, ready answers to these questions. But it would do you some good to “pull over” and meditate on them today.

“It Is Finished!”

When He had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
-John 19:30-

The last word that Jesus spoke on the cross was the word tetelestai, which is translated “It is finished.” In the Greek-speaking world of the time, the term was written on official documents to indicate that a bill had been paid in full, kind of like a rubber stamp that says PAID. Therefore, when they heard tetelestai, the people at the foot of the cross (and those who read John’s account afterward) would have made the unmistakable connection: The death of Jesus Christ has paid in full for their sins.
When we read “It is finished,” we don’t automatically get that full meaning. We hear it in a sort of flat, unemotional way. To us it kind of sounds like “Game Over,” like what the head coach might say to the assistant coach as the time winds down in a losing game. “It’s finished; we’re done.” But that’s not how Jesus uttered it. He was finished, all right — finished winning!
See, the term was also used in the Greek-speaking world as a cry of victory. People would shout it in the streets as a conquering army returned home: “Tetelestai! The battle is over! Victory is ours! Celebrate!”
We follow a victorious King, yet many followers of Jesus still drift along in the doldrums of defeat. We languish in loss. We walk with bowed heads and slumped shoulders — frustrated in our battle against sin and perplexed about our next move.
But on the cross, Jesus Christ won the victory in the battle of the ages. On the cross, He was making two decisive statements: He had paid in full the entire sin debt of all humankind, and He was declaring victory for us as well. “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

Following Today
What sin struggle is threatening to defeat you? Are you walking in discouragement and failure, or could you dare to believe that sin has already been defeated? Write out a “victor’s prayer” over your battles. Don’t write it as if victory hasn’t yet been achieved; claim a decisive victory today. Tetelestai!

Rest Your Soul

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
-Matthew 11:28-30

Most of the concerns that weigh you down were not given to you by God. Family problems, unemployment, toxic workplaces, chronic illness, and worries of all kinds — these burdens may seem to come with your role as a parent, a student, a breadwinner, or a caretaker. Some of them you may have picked up yourself, trying to make your life “just right.”
But when Jesus invites us to share His yoke, somehow the burden gets lighter. His burden doesn’t weigh us down. Jesus said so: “My burden is light.”
When Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,” he meant everyone. Those of you whose cargo has been there so long you’ve forgotten the lightness of traveling without it. Those of you who don’t know another way to live. All who are tired of shouldering the load can come to Him.
The yoke is easy now, because the weight has shifted. The burdens that used to seem crushing are bundled up with His. The concerns we could hardly bear seem manageable. They are part of our calling as a parent, student, provider, or caretaker. We find that we can do “everything through Christ, who gives us strength” (Philippians 4:13 NLT). I love how The Message paraphrases Jesus’ invitation: “Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” (Matthew 11:30). Being yoked with Him is the best way of trusting and praying.

Following Today
Our burdens come in all shapes and sizes and durations, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you feel weighed down by something right now. Try this: Hold your hands out, palms facing upward. Now picture your burden resting in your hands. Lift your burden to Him as you pray, asking Him to help you live freely as you follow along with Him.

Fanatics For Jesus

“Zeal for Your house consumes me.”-Psalm 69:9-

“Everything in moderation.” Sounds like a prudent way to live, doesn’t it? Seems like reasonable advice for a happy, balanced life.
But it just doesn’t fit when you’re talking about following Jesus. Jesus doesn’t say, “Everything in moderation.” He isn’t interested in enthusiastic admirers who don’t get too carried away. He wants completely committed followers.
I met a young man a few years ago whose life radically changed when he started following Christ. Instead of (in his words) “going out, drinking, smoking pot, and chasing girls,” he was constantly at church, serving however he could. He quit working during church hours, even though he needed the hours. He started giving generously even though finances were tight. He would not be quiet about what he was learning from the sermons and even started talking about mission trips and being in ministry. After just a few minutes with him, anyone could easily see the joy that he had found in Christ.
Some time after his radical change, his mom wanted to meet with me. I though for sure I knew what she wanted to talk about. I knew that she went to a different church, and I assumed she wanted to express her appreciation to our church for the positive changes in her son’s life. But that wasn’t the case. She was actually upset with him and she blamed me and our church, saying, “My son has taken all of this too far.”
But you see, when it comes to following Jesus, there is no middle ground. Moderation isn’t an option. You can’t walk a fine line or sit on the fence. Jesus says if you don’t sell out completely, you can’t be His follower. His invitation is an all-or-nothing one. How will you answer His invitation today?

Following Today
Take time to do some honest self-assessment. Consider what those closest to you would observe in your life when it comes to the following areas:

Serving – Am I joyfully contributing to the work of the ministry, or do I sit back and let others serve?

Giving – Am I bringing my whole heart — talents, time, and resources — to the church, or do I give only when I have some extra?

Meeting With Believers – Do I make it a priority to be in God’s house each week, or do I attend every now and then?

Bible Study and Prayer – Do I meet regularly with the Lord, or is my time with Him only haphazard and occasional?

Think about this question: Would anyone accuse me of following Jesus zealously?

Listen Carefully

“Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have, will be taken from them.” -Luke 8:18-

There was a person in our church who had begun to follow Jesus. This person had lived most of their life outside of the church and, quite frankly, just didn’t have much interest in spiritual things. But then they met someone from our church, an authentic Christ follower, and was drawn to what they saw. This person began attending church regularly, soaking up everything they were learning. The spiritual growth was dramatic and quick. In fact, it seemed so rapid that it alarmed our church member, who confided in me, “I’m just afraid that the seed isn’t growing deep enough roots.”
This person was referring, of course, to a familiar parable that Jesus told about good and bad soil and how they receive the seed of the Word of God. And Jesus Himself gives this challenge: “Therefore consider carefully how you listen” (Luke 8″18). He knew it to be true: Some people hear the Word, but before they can do anything, the devil, like an opportunistic roadside crow, snatches it away from them. Others receive the Word, but it cannot take root because of their rock-hard hearts. Still others (and this was the concern in this case) hear & receive the Word, but before it can come to maturity in their hearts, the thorny cares of life choke it to death.
But some who hear the Word have hearts that are ready, like good soil with good growing conditions. They not only hear & receive the Word of God but nurture its growth and allow it to bear mature fruit in their lives. These are the ones who have and will be given more, while the other listeners will lose the farm. How you hear is what’s so critical.
By the way, when the seed fell on the “good soil” in Jesus’ story, it “yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown” (Luke 8:8). As it turns out, this person we’ve been talking about was “good soil.” So, as you might expect, their roots are already growing deep. And it wouldn’t surprise you to know that the seed is yielding an even greater crop, as other members of their family have gotten saved since then.
As you follow Jesus, consider carefully how you listen to His Word. Seize it; retain it. Persevere in it, then get ready for an abundant harvest.

Following Today
Read this entire parable (Luke 8:1-15). Describe the soil of your heart. Is it ready to receive — and to bring to maturity — the Word of the living God? Are you harboring any worries that might “choke out” God’s Word in your life?