Proverbs 29:3 Whoso loves wisdom rejoices his father: but he that keeps company with harlots spends his substance.
God gave a straight and forward commandment to mankind. Ex. 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. This eight word commandment is clear and without doubt as to its meaning. No other gods mean just that, no other gods! Yet, many of us live our lives prostituting ourselves with other gods. We don’t think of them as gods or see them positioned on street corners as in some Eastern cultures, but nonetheless, they are all around us.
The dream home, dream car, dream vacation, and the dream spouse and so on are the gods of our time. You might say, “I don’t bow down and worship these things in my life.” I say, “Just think back to the last argument you had with God about sacrificing that something God had pointed out was in danger of becoming an idol in your heart.” Was it easy to say “Yes, Lord, I give it up freely.” If it was not easy to hand over that god or idol, then there is another god in your life. Matt. 22:37 Jesus declared, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
The dream home, dream car, dream vacation, and the dream spouse and so on are the gods of our time. You might say, “I don’t bow down and worship these things in my life.” I say, “Just think back to the last argument you had with God about sacrificing that something God had pointed out was in danger of becoming an idol in your heart.” Was it easy to say “Yes, Lord, I give it up freely.” If it was not easy to hand over that god or idol, then there is another god in your life. Matt. 22:37 Jesus declared, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
You might be in a checkout line at a grocery store and the magazine rack conveniently at eye level will display a variate of modern day goddesses and advice on how you can become one. Aphrodite the Greek goddess of love and all her tentacles with her worldly interpretations of love is available for the price of your soul.
Hand over your well-earned money to this goddess who will promise you true love and attraction forever. Paul the Apostle says that real love does not boast, brag or gloat and yet the foundational success of Aphrodite and her promises of erotic love are built on the very things Paul says is not real love. 1 Cor. 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud or rude. 5 It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
In our time Aphrodite has wreaked havoc with the hearts and souls of young people whose body images do not line up to her so called perfections and values for acceptance. However, the Lord loves us the way we are and actually helps us become His unique person. Rom. 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Hand over your well-earned money to this goddess who will promise you true love and attraction forever. Paul the Apostle says that real love does not boast, brag or gloat and yet the foundational success of Aphrodite and her promises of erotic love are built on the very things Paul says is not real love. 1 Cor. 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud or rude. 5 It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
In our time Aphrodite has wreaked havoc with the hearts and souls of young people whose body images do not line up to her so called perfections and values for acceptance. However, the Lord loves us the way we are and actually helps us become His unique person. Rom. 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Tyche, the Greek goddess of fortune and prosperity, has overruled our good senses to the point of seduction and falling for so-called free money. This easy wealth is available to us on a scale never seen in history. Individuals with half a million and million dollar plus debt is no longer uncommon. The goddess of prosperity has given us lavished privileges, promises, and assurances that overextending our ability to pay off debt is no big deal.
She says, “Don’t worry, just trust me and I will bail you out in time.” Not so! The word says clearly, the borrower is the servant and slave of the lender. Prov. 22:7 The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. Enslaving ourselves to Tyche will make us ineffective in the kingdom of God. Our energies and commitments will be elsewhere because our thoughts will be consumed with the pressures of debt.
This idol of prosperity shines bright in the beginning but soon we find out she is made of fool’s gold. Let God be your master of true prosperity and you will come out as pure gold. Mal. 3:3 He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the LORD.
Ares, the Greek god of war, has offered us trophies and assurances of success if only we would become workaholics and indulge in cutthroat business practices t
Ares has no mercy for his followers and for what the Lord is trying to build in our hearts. Gal. 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. The law of Ares is slash and burn and take no prisoners, but the law of God is set the prisoner free. John 8:36 So if the Son shall set you free, you will be free indeed.
Ares has no mercy for his followers and for what the Lord is trying to build in our hearts. Gal. 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. The law of Ares is slash and burn and take no prisoners, but the law of God is set the prisoner free. John 8:36 So if the Son shall set you free, you will be free indeed.
These prostitutes and idols have made their way into our world and lives by cunning and stealth. We cannot defeat them on our own by simply trying to take them down. We must replace them entirely with the one Lord and Savior Jesus.
When Jesus is reigning on the throne of our heart, then we will have the power to tear down strongholds that try to become the idols of our heart. 2 Cor. 10;5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. There is only room for one God in our heart. May it be the Lord of lords and the King of kings. God bless you.
When Jesus is reigning on the throne of our heart, then we will have the power to tear down strongholds that try to become the idols of our heart. 2 Cor. 10;5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. There is only room for one God in our heart. May it be the Lord of lords and the King of kings. God bless you.
Thanks Norm. I am interested in the references to the Greek gods and how they are still very much alive in our day. Keep posting these great articles.
Blessings!
Good one Norm.