Idolatry

1 john 2:15-17
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For
everything in the world; the cravings of sinful man, the lusting of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does
comes not from the father, but from the world.

Whatever you spend much time doing, neglecting God is idolatry. We all have heard of idolatry often times, and if we
should be asked if we practice it, we would confidently say " No!" but in reality almost everyone does these days, apart
from the worship of idol religious people practice, like praying to a cross, to a carved or man made object, there are other
forms in which the majority worship idols without their knowledge.

It takes the spirit of God in a man brought about by the gospel to reveal that which is keeping him in bondage, because
the devil has blinded the eyes of men, making them walk in darkness without realizing it. Walking in darkness makes
them stumble due to their blindness which makes it difficult for most of them to follow Christ even when they want to,
why? because there is something their heart is still engaged in without their knowledge, chained by this spirit of sin, they
rise and fall even when they decide to live a holy life.

To be free from every bondage to follow Jesus, one has to first have a gospel knowledge of that which is hindering him
from following Christ, you can't actually fight what you don't know. If a rat keeps eating your fish, thinking it was the cat
in your house, will you still have your fish when you haven't gotten rid of the real culprit.

There are many spirit of sin that keeps a man in bondage, but today we'll be dealing with just one, one which has been
neglected by so many, " idolatry." Most people have the spirit of idolatry in them without them knowing, and if you have a
trace of the property of Satan in your life you can never, never enter the kingdom of God, because it is the soul that get
there, and once your soul is contaminated, you're rejected.

The world has been in the hands of Satan right from time, after all God casted him down from heaven, and God allowed
him to tempt men in order to select those who can truly reign with Him in His kingdom. The world been in the hands of
Satan, ( though the holy spirit still at work, ) has been devised and programmed in such a way by Satan to deceive men
into darkness. Just as we advance in technology, the spiritual realm also advances in ways to draw souls into darkness
or light. In fact our increase in knowledge is as a result of an advancement in the spiritual.

The soul of a man can be chained to three bondage of the devil; the bondage of the world, the bondage of the flesh and
the bondage of sin. But I'll be talking about the bondage of the world, since its the most common and idolatry actually
falls under it. As I said earlier, the devil has blinded men to think they are walking in the right path when they are not.
Although many idols have been destroyed, many alters brought down and many, if told to serve a man made object,
would definitely reject it. The devil knowing this has brought idolatry also into the hearts of men by making the things of
the world more enticing and desirable, he makes the world more competitive, he makes the world more frustrating so
people will give most of their time to making money and other unnecessary things, while neglecting God.

Whatever you spend most of your time doing neglecting God, is idolatry, our God is a jealous God, He created us to
worship him and when we refuse to give our lives to him in holiness which is our true act worship, when we refuse to
give Him our times, we are indirectly giving ourselves to the worship of idols.

Take for example; the songs we listen to, God gave man wisdom, to create and advance in knowledge for His glory and
for the expansion of His kingdom, but whatever man created, Satan also ues it against him. God gave man the desire to
sing melodies unto Him, but Satan, has taken this to his advantage, he created in man the desire to sing songs contrary
to God, all of these worldly songs we sing, not only drives us from God but also feeds our soul with spirits of sin, be it
anger, lust, most especially.

You might ask, what if someone sings a song with no immoral content? yes it is not bad, but know that God created you
to worship Him, and so if you spend your time singing songs that are not of God, it takes us far away from the Father,
which will make us vulnerable to sin.

Is it the movies we watch, there's no movie you'll see these days without a love affair or even worse a sex scene in it.
Most of us have even turned to worshipping men, we spend our time studying and bragging about a celebrity, a
footballer or let's say a musician. Come to church, no! follow God no! Study your bible no! come to church on time no!
but if it is to go for a celebrity's concert, you'll even be there before the stage is set.

When are you going to give God your time, the suffering most of us are facing today are not just there by coincidence,
they're forged by the devil to engage the hearts of men in unnecessary things like money making, having money is not
bad, even scripture say we should find something doing with our own hands, but when you work and forget God, you
have given your self to the spirit of Mammon as your idol. Students will spend all their time talking, partying, plotting
strategies on how to please a girl or a guy, leaving little time to study, therefore leaving zero time for God. Even some, all
they do is study like a machine because they want to have a first class certificate.

So many things we spend our time doing makes us an idolater. Check your life properly to see if there is any thing you
spend your time doing that makes you forget your God. It has become the habit of young people these days to make
gadgets, technologies, their God, they wake up in in the morning the first thing they do is gaming, is it you who has make
social media your God, you can chat from morning till night, but when it has come to the things of God, you can't even
give one minute.
Satan wanted glory for himself and so he rebelled against God, However that glory he was looking for, men are the ones
giving it to him. You know when a man sings worldly songs, he is glorifying the devil, or whatever he does that is not of
God.

All these distraction whatever they are to you, draws you away from God, and if you say you want to enter God kingdom
with them, then you're lying to yourself. No one who is bond to the world, who cares about the things of the world, will
enter His kingdom. How long are you going to live this way? whatever you do that is not of God is of the devil. In this
world there is only black and white, no neutral, if you don't worship God then, you are worshiping the devil. Live as if the
world doesn't matter, indeed they don't really matter.

This world will pass away like a dream, and all you had, the pictures album you've made making you worship your fake
beauty will be gone, you won't take them with you where you're going, if you'll be going to hell, your burnt and decaying
body in hell will be worse and whenever you remember your old flesh you'll weep, but those who will enter heaven will
forget about the old, because they will be given a glorious body we cannot imagine until we see it, we shall be like Jesus,
and it'll look as if this world never existed.

This world is just a business ground to make investment for our eternity, what kind of investment are you dealing on? Is
it of God for a greater reward or do the devil for eternal condemnation.

Be less concerned with the things of the world, and you'll see that you'll walk in the presence of God, with salvation being
your reward. The reason why men are too far from God, the reason they can't hear from God is not because God doesn't
want to speak to men, it is because they are too engaged in the world. Why do you think we have more of God's general
in the past, men who walked the earth in God's power as supernatural beings, they walked the dimensions of heaven on
Earth, because they were no longer attached to the world of to the flesh.

Those born again, unless you separate from the world and the flesh, you'll leave this world unfulfilled, because God's
original purpose for you live will not be established. You should know that every Christian will be rewarded according to
how much they invest their time to God while on earth, if you live normal, you'll be a poor man in heaven, but those who
did greater things, will be rewarded greatly.

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