Are You Seeking Man or Idols, or God, in Your Life?

Thank you so much for tuning in and Welcome everyone – Hope you’re well! I’m your host, Ben Lively, and you’re listening to “Shaken Awake” – Episode #68! 

 

I want to thank you for tuning in with us today, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing right this very moment. It means everything to me to share the messages that God’s lies on my heart to share. I want to give a special shot out to some new listeners in Kenya! No doubt how this podcast landed in their ears – Thanks be to God for moving these messages to those He wants to touch.

 

For those of you that follow this podcast, you know that I’ve been off for almost 2 months now.  It was needed in a spiritual way, to take a break from the podcasts and other endeavors and simply be still, with our God, and focus on Him and the direction He is wanting for my life.  His will be done, not mine.  With that said, He’s given me a Word, given me a subject, and I’m pressing forward again with the podcast episodes to share with you all and for you to share and pass forward as you and the Lord see fit.

 

And, as always, I promise you another great show – But, more than anything, my HOPE for you today, and always, is that you have an actual encounter with the Lord, not just another podcast episode.  

 

Quick ask – if you’ve found value in these episodes, would you take 30 seconds after the show to go to submit a quick review and star-rating in your app? This is what potential listeners look for when deciding whether to give a show a listen – which is confirmation from other listeners that it can bring value. Would you do that for me, IF and only IF you find value in these episodes? For those of you that already have - I can’t thank you enough.

 

Also, spread the word; pass on a link to your friends or family or colleagues that the Lord prompts you to send to – there are many people that need to hear these messages and scripture and God will see to it that it gets to them. Then, He’ll do the rest.

 

So, without further delay, let’s get ready to invite God in with us, right here, right now and allow Him to speak directly to your heart and minds.  

 

 

Today’s topic is on “Are You Seeking Man or Idols, or God, in Your Life?”

 

I know…your first thought and response is, “God”….right?  Mine also.  However, as we move into these next few minutes I have with you, we might discover it’s been the other way around – regardless of intent.

 

Before I start, for those that may have forgotten or those new to the show – these episodes are meant as lessons and convictions I, personally, have been taught by the Holy Spirit and God and I’m passing them along to you….and/or, those that I’ve struggled with in the past, that He has freed me from, and He’s asked for me to feed His sheep with these things so that He may free you also.  So with that said, We (we being Christians), believe that no matter what, we love God, we love Jesus, and we love the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity.  And they love us.  

 

However, there’s something that has likely been happening your entire life, since you became a Christian that you haven’t been consciously aware of.  And that is, you haven’t been following any one of them.  In fact, you’ve been following man more closely than you have them.  I know I had been.  And the more I get to follow and fellowship with others, the more I have grown and have been convinced that the majority – NOT ALL, but the majority of professing Christians, have been following men, or a man, more than God and have placed man above God.  The Bible calls this an idol.  God calls this an idol.  The Bible states that anything you put before and/or above God is your idol and many of us, in fact, have many idols.  That won’t fair well in the end as we well know.

 

Here's what I mean so I can place some relative context around what I just said, as I’m guessing a number of you might be ready to stop playing this podcast right about now.  You see, you’ve never been told the harsh truth, just the sugar-coating on the pulpit or on YouTube.  I’m not here to do that.  I’m here to help shake you awake by what is in God’s Word – the only truth that ever existed.

 

I’m going to ask you this - How do you KNOW God?  I’m not referring to why do you believe He exists.  I’m asking, how do you KNOW Him?  HOW????  

 

Most professing Christians, and this comes straight from their mouths; the honest ones.  Since 94% don’t ever read their Bibles, of which, I was one for the first 41 years of my life, you guessed it – they learned about Him and know him by the words spoken of Him by their pastor!  Or an occasional Bible verse that may pop into their social feeds.   Does this speak of you right now?  You see, people get excited to go to church; by the way, many professing Christians rarely even go to church these days by way of more research, studies, and surveys, so that’s even out of the picture.  But people go to church these days to hear about God and fee good….did you just hear what I said?????  THEY GO TO CHURCH FOR THEMSELVES!!!!  IT’s THEMSELVES THEY CARE ABOUT!!!!  It’s not to worship and praise God as we are asked to do on the Sabbath by God!!!!  And WHAT and WHOM are we listening to there anyway???????  A few Bible verses if we’re lucky and then a man (nowadays can be a female or even someone the Bible deems as an abomination to Christ) talks about they’re opinion or doctrine they deduce from what they’ve read in God’s Word!  So, you’re not even hearing God’s Word!!!!!  You’re hearing and listening to, and being entertained – let’s call it for what it is – by a man’s interpretation of God and His Word!!!!!

 

Yes, it’s that simple and it’s that ugly!!!!  It’s the SAME EXACT thing as if you were given a choice – spend an hour with God in a room and learn from Him directly.  Or, go into a room for an hour so that one of His appointed assistants could give you words from Him – and you choose to spend that time, focus, and attention on them instead of directly from Him!!!!  Yes, and if you’re being totally honest with yourself right now – you must agree!!!!!  Let’s call it for what it is!!!!  It’s a replacement for God and His Word Himself!!!!

 

I’ve read the Bible from cover to cover for the 4th time this year and will every year until the day I go home to be with Him.  That is not me being legalistic, nor me putting myself on a pedastool.  For those that have been listening to me for some time or even have listened to my testimony know, I was the sickest person on the face of this planet. The most evil – I’m no better than any of you and will never be.  I do this every night because I cannot get enough of Him, every time I read through, I learn countless things I hadn’t even seen before, and it’s different every time I read it – it’s truly LIVING, and I cannot accept a substitute for GOD!!!!  I WILL NOT!!!! I did it all my life and should be in hell for it this very second!   In all my life, I haven’t heard 99% of what truly is in God’s Word come out of any single pastors sermon – either in person or online!!!

 

To further prove my point and again, I’m raising my hand – this was me my whole life – how many of us, if we lose our job, will first go to God for provision and then have faith and comfort in Him that He will take care of us?  How many of us, if we get a bad report from a doctor, perhaps terminally ill disease, the first thing we do is go on bended knee, and pray to our Father, understanding it is HIS will be done, and then find comfort that He has us in His everlasting arms – nothing can separate us from Him or His love for us?  And to live is Christ, and to die is gain?  How many of us, if we had the ocean build up a 1,000-foot wall on both sides of us and saw the depths of the sea built up around us for us to pass safely to the other side, would cry out a shout of praise and thanks to God, or how many of us would be in shear terror and panic?  How many of us talk to God on a daily?  On an hourly?  

 

How many of us live for Him?  Or are we living for ourselves?  Do we rely on Him for every one of our needs, or do we rely on man?  The one in the pulpit for Godly info, the one in the corporate office to pay our paychecks, the stores to have our food and water to live, our insurance to keep us secure in the event of an accident, our cars to stay running well so we can travel, money in our savings so we can live comfortably and then retire, our doctor to tell us what’s right and what’s wrong, the pharmacist to prescribe our medications when we are ill…..when will we stop trusting man over God?  My question is not are we…..but when will we stop?  

 

You see, anything less than a direct relationship with the Father is an idol. Everything we focus more on or place our faith in, over God, is an idol!!!!!

 

Have you ever heard the saying (no this is not in the Bible), but it goes – “the road to hell is often paved with the best intentions.”  Well, it’s true AND it’s unbiblical!

 

Something that we can never deny is that nothing will ever truly satisfy us. You and I both know it! Every single time we try to find joy in other things we are left stranded in the desert. Apart from Jesus Christ there is no eternal joy. Our idols give us a temporary peace and happiness and then we go back to feeling dull again. When we choose our idols over Christ we go back feeling worse than before. Christ is everything… or He is nothing.

When you fall on hard times what is the first thing that you do to ease the pain? There is your idol. Many people eat, they watch their favorite shows, etc. They do something to try to numb the pain, but these are just broken cisterns that don’t hold water. You need Christ! I’ve tried to satisfy myself with the things of the world but they left me dead inside. They left me begging for Christ. They left me more broken than before.

 

Nothing can compare to the joy of Jesus Christ. He says, “come drink this water and you will never thirst again.” Why do we choose things over Christ when He gives us an open invitation to come to Him? Jesus wants to satisfy you. Just like cigarettes, idols should have a warning label on them. They come at a cost. They make you thirsty again and they blind you from what Christ has to offer.

 

Idols are dead, idols are mute, idols are loveless, idols hold us back from moving on. Why choose something that never loved you over someone who died to have a relationship with you? It’s not too late. Repent now and set your heart on Jesus Christ.

 

If there is a chain that needs to be broken in your life, then look to Christ who breaks every chain. We should be like the Samaritan woman in John 4.  We should be excited for what Christ has to offer. Instead of giving our attentions to what the world has to offer, let’s look to Christ and worship Him.

 

The following are verses that back this up:

 

Jeremiah 2:13 “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

 

John 4:13-15 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

 

Ecclesiastes 1:8 “Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.”

 

John  7:38 “To the one who believes in Me, it is just as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.”

Philippians 4:12-13 “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

 

 

It doesn’t matter whether you believe it or not. You will become like what you worship. Those who spend their lives worshiping God are filled with the Spirit and it’s evident in their life. When you make something your idol you become consumed by it. What do you mostly talk about it? There is your idol. What do you mostly think about? There is your idol.

Worship is a powerful thing. It changes your entire being. Sadly, worship is used for bad more than good. Why do you think teens are dressing immodestly? Their gods on TV are dressing immodestly. Why do you think women are seeking plastic surgeons? They want to look like their idols.

The more that you are influenced by your idol the less content you become. Our idols tell us we’re not good enough the way we are. That is why many people try to look and act like their favorite celebrities. Idols don’t know your worth, but Christ thought you were to die for.

 

It’s a horrible thing once we fall into the trap of worshiping things over God because you get deeper and deeper involved in them. This is one of the reasons that it is hard for those who are involved in voodoo to turn from their wickedness. Idol worship blinds you to the truth. For many of us idols have become a way of life and we probably have been so consumed by them that we didn’t even know that they have become idols.

13. Psalm 115:8 “Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.”

14. Colossians 3:10 “and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

 

 

There are many believers who are spiritually dry because they have replaced God with other things. They feel like something is missing in their life. Idols create a brokenness and a hunger in us. Jesus is the vine and when you separate from the vine you separate from the source.

When you unplug your phone charger from your phone what happens? It dies! In the same way when we get unplugged from the Lord we slowly start to die spiritually. We feel like God is distant. We feel like God has abandoned us when truly it was us who have separated ourselves from Him. You are told to “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

 

Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”

 

Psalm 107:9 “for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”

 

Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

 

“If you want to follow Jesus because He will give you a better life, that’s IDOLATRY. Follow Christ for the sake of Christ. He is WORTHY.” – Paul Washer.

 

“Idolatry is seeking security and meaning in someone or something other than God.”

 

“For what is idolatry if not this: to worship the gifts in place of the Giver himself?” John Calvin.

 

“False gods patiently endure the existence of other false gods. Dagon can stand with Bel, and Bel with Ashtaroth; how should stone, and wood, and silver, be moved to indignation; but because God is the only living and true God, Dagon must fall before His ark; Bel must be broken, and Ashtaroth must be consumed with fire.” Charles Spurgeon

“An idol of the mind is as offensive to God as an idol of the hand.” A.W. Tozer

“We make a god out of whatever we find most joy in. So, find your joy in God and be done with all idolatry.” John Piper.

“If we make an idol of any creature, wealth, or pleasure, or honour – if we place our happiness in it, and promise ourselves the comfort and satisfaction in it which are to be had in God only – if we make it our joy and love, our hope and confidence, we shall find it a cistern, which we take a great deal of pains to hew out and fill, and at the best it will hold but a little water, and that dead and flat, and soon corrupting and becoming nauseous (Jer. 2:23).” Matthew Henry

“As long as you want anything very much, especially more than you want God, it is an idol.” A.B. Simpson

“When anything in life is an absolute requirement for your happiness and self-worth, it is essentially an ‘idol,’ something you are actually worshiping. When such a thing is threatened, your anger is absolute. Your anger is actually the way the idol keeps you in its service, in its chains. Therefore if you find that, despite all the efforts to forgive, your anger and bitterness cannot subside, you may need to look deeper and ask, ‘What am I defending? What is so important that I cannot live without?’ It may be that, until some inordinate desire is identified and confronted, you will not be able to master your anger.” Tim Keller

“Whatsoever we have over-loved, idolized, and leaned upon, God has from time to time broken it, and made us to see the vanity of it; so that we find the readiest course to be rid our comforts is to set our hearts inordinately or immoderately upon them.” John Flavel

“The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him.” A.W. Tozer

“I fear that the cross, without ever being disowned, is constantly in danger of being dismissed from the central place it must enjoy, by relatively peripheral insights that take on far too much weight. Whenever the periphery is in danger of displacing the center, we are not far removed for idolatry.” D.A. Carson

My final statement and question for today’s podcast is this:

 

Do YOU walk with Him and talk with Him, along that narrow way?  As that beautiful hymn once read.

 

Hang with me another minute or two, folks.  Listen to this:

 

I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today

I know that He is living, whatever men may say

I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer

And just the time I need Him, He’s always near

He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Christ Jesus lives today

He walks with me and talks with me

Along life’s narrow way

He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Salvation to impart

You ask me how I know he lives?

He lives within my heart

In all the world around me I see His loving care

And though my heart grows weary I never will despair

I know that His is leading, through all the stormy blast

The day of His appearing will come at last

He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Christ Jesus lives today

He walks with me and talks with me

Along life’s narrow way

He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Salvation to impart

You ask me how I know He lives?

He lives within my heart

Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian lift up your voice and sing

Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ, the King

The Hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find

None other is so loving, so good and kind

He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Christ Jesus lives today

He walks with me and talks with me

Along life’s narrow way

He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Christ Jesus lives today

He walks with me and talks with me

Along life’s narrow way

He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Salvation to impart

You ask me how I know He lives?

He lives within my heart

What a beautiful hymn!!!!

 

Someone needs to hear the following today, in which I’ll end today’s show with….someone has unknowingly needed to hear this for so very long…take a listen and God bless everyone: 

 

“He Lives” song (music)

 

 

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So, before we end today’s show, I just want to thank you all again for tuning in and I HOPE you were touched by today’s message and scripture. If you’d like to reach out to me, please call me directly at 4074933208, email me at ben@shaken-awake.com, or check out the show at shaken-awake.com.

 

Until next time, take great care of yourself and each other, and God Bless You ALL.