false gods

Every now and then, I like to poke my head out into the world to see who and what is being said by the elite, leaders, and celebrities that the masses follow. Today, I found myself visiting a famous talk show host's website. This is a person who has a disturbing amount of influence and power in this world, but sadly does not claim Jesus as her Savior. She is a person who I will continue to pray for, but refuse to follow or recommend no matter how big a philanthropist she may present herself to be.

Anyway, on her website, this talk show host has dedicated an entire section to showcase all things spiritual... at least spiritual to her. There, her flavor-of-the-month assigned spiritual advisor is showcased under the headline "How to be Spiritual Every Day" along with the following quote, "While it's good to have strong relationships with the people in your life, it's important to put your relationship with your 'Source' at the top of your priority list... Your Source can be God, the Tao, Divine mind, Krishna or whatever else you call your higher power—the key is that you make this bond your number one."

Ladies, do you realize that society has stopped looking to God's Word for answers and has instead decided to daily seek the "spiritual" advice offered by a talk show host and her paid network associates? Let me just say that again... A TALK SHOW HOST AND HER PAID NETWORK ASSOCIATES!!!! And the "spiritual" advice presented is BAD ADVICE, to say the least! Anyone who wants to stand up and publicly proclaim that I should hold the ONE TRUE GOD as an equal to the shuffled deck of false gods created by men until I find the one who is best matched to work as my "source" of choice is pointing me in only one direction... toward SATAN! Call on whatever "god" you wish... it doesn't matter... if you are not following JESUS CHRIST... you will only find eternal death and separation from your Creator.

Look in 1 Kings 18. King Ahab and the people of Israel were following the many false gods of Ba'al. Elijah boldly stood up against the wicked king and his prophets to offer a challenge. His purpose: to show Israel WHO was the real God... the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob... or the false gods of Ba'al. Here is what happened:

THE CHALLENGE IS MADE
Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the Lord's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire - he is God." Then all the people said, "What you say is good."

BA'AL... ARE YOU THERE?
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

GOD IS GOD!
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it... He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."

"Do it again," he said, and they did it again. "Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The Lord - he is God! The Lord - he is God!" (1 Kings 18:22-39)

The times of Ba'al actually parallels the "spiritual" beliefs of today in so many ways. Here were the Israelites who had finally settled into the promised land only to be convinced by the elite, leaders, and celebrities of their day to worship God as an equal alongside the other gods and idols of Ba'al. Mind you, the Israelites never abandoned the idea of worshipping God. They simply added the syncretism to also accept the politically and socially acceptable Ba'al into their lives. Sure, God was who they would continue to call upon in real crisis and emergency. But Ba'al was more up-to-date... more modern... more in tune to everyday. Ba'al gods were recognized as the spiritual source of worship for all things natural, fertile, peaceful. Even though Ba'al promoted all sorts of sexual immorality, the desire for power and motives for personal and selfish gain, that wasn't really discussed. Rather, the gods of Ba'al were worshipped by followers who had high hopes that they would receive back from the generous gods in control of the earth so they could live their best life NOW... sound familiar?

Considering this, I strongly urge you to read what the Lord says in His Word...

"You shall have NO OTHER GODS before me." (Exodus 20:3)

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." (Exodus 20:4)

"Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the aliens living among you must not do any of these detestable things, for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you." (Leviticus 18:24-28)

"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:14-15)

Ladies, the day is approaching when Christ will return and claim His throne. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is the ONE TRUE GOD... that Jesus Christ is LORD! And when unbelievers cry out in the name of their false gods...there will be no response, no one will answer, no one will pay attention.

I encourage you to consider who you are listening to for "spiritual" guidance and what false gods, sources, and idols you have accepted into your life. Are you following the unchanging, all-knowing wisdom of Jesus Christ, Creator of the Universe, Who Was and Is and Is To Come.... or are you following the feel-good advice of a talk show host?

Please think about it. Choose whom you will serve. But as for me and my house... WE WILL SERVE THE LORD!

Blessings!

~Victoria