Mar 30, 2021 … Nosey Idols? …

Berry Patch Devotions in 2021 - Day 89 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...   Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing… You Are God Alone …  poignantly singing how we Christians must worship God, and God alone, setting aside any/all idols in our life. 

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Highlight Passage:  Exodus 12:12 [ESV] ... 

12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.  

… God’s curse on Egypt which led to God’s curses and judgments on the gods of Egypt and the death of all their first-born.       

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Highlight Passage [Context]: …  Exodus 12:12-19  [ESV] …  USE THIS LINK … 

… God’s edict on Egypt to execute God’s judgment on the gods of Egypt.       

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Reference Passage: … Exodus 20:3-6 [ESV] …  USE THIS LINK …  

…  God’s law and commandment against idol worship. 

Reference Passage: … Jonah 2:8 [ESV] …  

8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 

…  Jonah’s recognition, in prayer, that those who worship idols forsake the steadfast love of God. 

Reference Passage: … Colossians 3:5 [ESV] …  

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  

…  God, thru Paul, exhorts fellow Christians to put their idolatry to death, … that is, … ANYTHING we might worship above our God, especially the selfish passions of the flesh. 

Reference Passage: … 1John 5:21  [ESV] …  

20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him Who is true; and we are in Him Who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. 

…  God, thru John, warns His children against the idols which are so easy to “worship” in our world, taking the place of our worship of our Savior.  

My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Mike Wittmer, AT THIS LINK …  tells of the many examples, found in Egyptian antiquities, of statues of idols or gods with noses removed by historical vandalism. {See photo}  Apparently experts believe it was invading enemies of Egypt who were trying to render the Egyptian gods powerless.  That is, … no nose = no breath = powerless god.  And the ODB author was trying to get readers to look at our lives to see if we need to cut off the noses of any idols or “gods” in our lives. 

In other words, …  we need to render the idols - i.e., the false gods - in our lives powerless; … that is anything which we allow into our lives to get in the way of our worship of our God thru the way we live.   An example of one such category of idols, which is becoming pervasive these days, especially among young people, is the addictive use of digital devices, which is capturing the WORSHIP of our world.  

So, … from this ODB entry, … we need to ask ourselves if there is ANYTHING which is becoming an idol in our lives; and then “CUT OFF ITS NOSE” to be able to worship, as the inked song sings, our God as God alone !!!     

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, King Jesus, … showing me the way to worship You by destroying the idols in my life.  

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me today, … to cut off the noses of any idols in our lives.   … Amen

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Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.