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Are your favorite saints a football team? In this episode of Truth of the Spirit Patti Brunner looks at the False gods that we have allowed into our homes and how the first commandment of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob continues to be relevant today. “I am the Lord your God, you shall not have false gods before Me” There doesn’t have to be a Buddha on your night stand to have false gods in your house. It is attitude and time spent and the priority in our life we give to things. What do you treasure with your whole heart, soul & mind? Does your treasure love you back? God loves us. God loves us even when we turn away from him and the great I AM is always waiting for our return.
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Too many people think that false gods came and went in biblical times. But in our day many people have allowed the god of sport and the god of entertainment to rob their very souls. These gods demand to be watched every waking moment and to be read about faithfully. False gods have even invaded the Lord’s Day very slyly.
Welcome to Truth of the Spirit. My name is Patti Brunner. Our topic today is “False gods”.
The first commandment is: “I am the Lord your God, you shall not have false gods before Me.”
The Lord gave the people in the desert this commandment and continues to give it today. “I am your God and deserving of all your worship.” The covenant states “I will be your God and you will be my people.” Have people forgotten? Did they ever know?
Do we sit in church, wishing Father would hurry up so we don’t miss kick-off or the start of the race? Do we skip mass because our children have sport tournaments on Sunday mornings?
I know what I’m talking about. I know about the god of media. Instead of a meal prayer, I watched a soap opera called “All My Children” every day for 26 years during my lunch until the Lord helped free me from it. My older children grew up without a full time father because of college football on Saturday, professional football on Sunday, and Thursday night, and Monday night football. The god of entertainment came into our bedroom at night with HBO, and let me tell you, a lot of their shows didn’t encourage you to think of the Lord God Creator of heaven and earth as a partner in your marriage bed.
What is your household god? Must every one speak in hushed tones so as not to interfere with it? Do we hang on every word it speaks or action while ignoring our families and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?
There doesn’t have to be a Buddha on your night stand or end table to have false gods in your house. I’m not saying that sport or entertainment or TV are bad in themselves any more than the gold used to build the molten calf was bad in itself in the time of Moses.
It is attitude and time spent and the priority in our life we give these things. The gold in my wedding band is a symbol of the love between me, my husband and our God. But when we place gold and what it can acquire for us as the most important thing in our lives then we have crossed the line drawn by the first commandment. Have you made money a god in your house?
Do we make ourselves gods? Do we believe that we should be in control of every one in our lives? Are all our choices selfish ones?
The false god TV’ is constantly influencing us to bow down to the gods of prestige and greed. The “3P’s god” – Power, Prestige and Possessions demands that the people buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like, with money they don’t have. One of the biggest fans of this god is the credit card industry.
I still remember a commercial I saw years ago for Discover card. This guy comes into the store with his little kid and all of a sudden he sees a huge wide screen TV. He ignores his child, kicks back in a recliner in front of the TV, and while sexy angels take his credit card, he states, “A little bit of heaven!”…..
Can you see now how our nation has a real problem with false gods? Or are you thinking, “Man! I wonder if it comes in 4K UHD with ambient mode & if I can get it on Amazon?”
In the New Testament of the bible, Paul wrote to the Ephesians and to the Corinthians that having greed was the same as worshipping a false god. “Greed is the same as worshipping a false god”. Greed: that’s when plenty is never enough.
Have you ever read the first commandment as it was given to Moses in Exodus, chapter 20, verse 2-6: (or at Deuteronomy 5: 6-10)
“I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them.
“For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation, on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
You might say, but that’s the Old Testament, that’s true. But remember there were 10 original commands from God.
In the New Testament Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 22(:36-40):]
Jesus was asked, “Teacher, which commandment of the law is the greatest?’ Jesus said to him: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. (Jesus said) The second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments the whole law is based, and the prophets as well.” And these laws are not to be written on stone but on our hearts.
What do you treasure with your whole heart, soul & mind? Is it your job, your retirement account, your wardrobe, your family, or is it your God?
What happens if the people do not want to change their priorities and repent? The Old Testament is full of doom and gloom that the prophets warned the people about if they didn’t repent. And usually the people did not repent and the worst case scenario happened.
Part of the warning recorded in the book of Nahum chapter1 reads, “A jealous and avenging God is the Lord…The Lord is slow to anger, yet great in power, and the Lord never leaves the guilty unpunished, … the Lord says…From your temple I will abolish the carved and molten image; ” At this point Nahum gets pretty graphic on the terrible things that will happen to Nineveh because they had false gods and they refused to repent. These included invasion by enemies, looting, and “even her little ones dashed to pieces at the corner of every street”.
The great Mercy of God is known to people but too many rely on mercy to prevent the “wrath of God” to sort of “do away” with justice. But justice cannot be done away with because our God is The God of Justice. 132 chapters in the bible stress the justice of God. And justice demands that we get what we deserve. Judgement based on our actions is harsh – the only remedy is mercy.
The Lord wants us to show the people that unless they devote every aspect of their life to Him, they may be standing in line for mercy for a long time. Mercy only allows for a lessening of punishment for those who do not fully repent. Those who turn completely away from God and embrace darkness will have eternal darkness. That’s what they’ve chosen.
I hear you thinking: “wait a minute, that’s the Old Testament God. The New Testament God is the God of love and mercy.” My friends, God didn’t change. God is constant, and loves us constantly, and in his mercy and love (John 3:16) Just as He sent Jonah to Nineveh to lead them to repentance, He sent his only begotten Son to not only lead us to repentance but to suffer and die an innocent death on the cross so that we might have salvation and the forgiveness of sins. We receive forgiveness because of God’s mercy and love. And we receive it through our repentance.
In the letter to the Hebrews chapter 8 (8:7-12), Paul reminds us that Jesus came to us as the new covenant. He writes, “if that first covenant (the covenant in the Old Testament) had been faultless, there would have been no place for a second one. But God, finding fault with (them), (with the people) says…’for they broke my covenant and I grew weary of them, (says the Lord), But this is the covenant I will make …I will place my laws in their minds and I will write them upon their hearts; I will be their God and they shall be my people…I will forgive their evildoing, and their sins I will remember no more.”
Jesus wants all of us to come back to him and ask forgiveness. The very first teaching that Jesus did in his public ministry was to tell the people to repent.
Jesus has made it so simple for us. He gave us the sacrament of Baptism and the sacrament of reconciliation so we can make up with him after we have rejected him and his goodness by being disobedient and selfish and for courting false gods.
God loves us. Many times people forget that the great I AM is always waiting for their return. Many did not have parents who loved them. Many have been too selfish to give and receive the type of love they were created to have. Let me put your minds to rest. Punishment is only for the wicked who do not repent. And Just because you feel guilty after repentance it does not mean you deserve punishment – It just means you are not fully healed from the effect that the sin had upon you
I love Jesus’ story of the prodigal son. I love to picture our heavenly Father, constantly looking down the road, waiting for us to return to him, waiting to hold us in his arms again and show us how much he loves us and how much he missed us.
When we finally decide to return, He doesn’t stand on the porch and chew us out for being gone so long. And he doesn’t chew us out for all the mistakes and wrong things we have done. He forgives us, and rejoices that we have come home. He is so happy he will throw a party to share that happiness!
But the ones who don’t repent and don’t come home are missing out on the joy of the Father’s love. The Father still loves them, but they refuse to accept it.
Our hearts need to be purified to fully become a temple for the Holy Spirit. God will forgive every act if the people repent. God will mend every split from Him – if they will repent. That’s a big ‘if’. He will calm all your fears if you will soften your hearts and allow His grace to penetrate. How much room is in your temple? Is it cluttered with icons for media and greed?
Can you clean out the garbage that was devoted to something besides the Almighty? The Lord wants you to make more room for His Holy Spirit in your heart. He has provided his priests so you can unload all the trash and be washed clean in his sacrament of reconciliation.
God wants to cleanse the hearts of all people now He wants them in His kingdom now. To save this generation He must have workers in the fields chopping the weeds before they overtake the entire harvest.
Just as I was given this zeal to reach out to others, the Lord, the Holy Spirit will give you zeal. Jesus will hold you in His arms and allow you to feel safe. Together the world will be set free from destruction. Jesus has conquered evil — the people must not allow it any right to reign in their hearts ever again.
Listen to Moses as he told his people in Deuteronomy chapter 6: [DT 6:4-9]: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all you strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. (Moses said ) Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the door posts of your houses and on your gates.”
Listen to the Lord say in your heart, “I am the Lord God, king of heaven and earth. I Am who Am. There are no other gods before Me. I will lead the people in their darkness to the light of my Son, Jesus Christ, true God and true Man. And by his light, all darkness left in the world will dissipate and the kingdom of Light and goodness will reign for ever and ever.
I want to end by telling you why I am here talking to you and not curled up on the recliner watching soap operas or binge watching Netflix. It is because the Lord has placed a fire within me that I have come to know as the Holy Spirit and I would just burst if I couldn’t share this fire with you. When I was a young woman, what seems like just a short time ago, I was complacent in my faith. Oh, sure, I attended mass every Sunday, went to bible study, and volunteered in various ways at my church. But I had no zeal! I had no understanding of God’s Word! I had no true knowledge of God’s kingdom! Unaware, I kept a few false gods in my life.
Then, I opened my heart to the Lord and told him I would accept whatever He wanted to give me, and the True God has given me the most precious gift of all, Himself! Jesus let me know him. He helped me purify my life until there were no false gods in it. He gave himself to me. It was a package deal, because he gave me His Holy Spirit too. I didn’t understand that the Holy Spirit was in me until the Spirit’s gifts began to manifest. And I discovered that with these gifts comes the responsibility of using them to build up God’s church.
If you have been baptized, the same Spirit that burns in my heart is also in yours. You have a right to have the Holy Spirit to dwell in you because of your Baptism. And when you were confirmed, the Holy Spirit placed a multitude of his gifts at your disposal. Each of us begin to receive gifts of the Holy Spirit as soon as we are Baptized. The gift of faith is strong among Christians because it is freely accepted. It is through this gift we can believe in God, the Father almighty and that Jesus is the Son of God. We can believe that the Holy Spirit is sent by Jesus to be our helper.
Consider the angle of the Holy Spirit’s help in overcoming the desire of false gods. All needs are satisfied when you are filled with the love and trust of God. The Great Provider gives you all that you need. Just step forward in faith and accept it.
Your gift of faith brought you here to this podcast. You could have stayed on Netflix and binged watched something else, but the Lord used his Spirit and your gift of faith to draw you here to learn. And this same faith has challenged you to grow.
The next time your feel the desire to pull away from the true God remember these points:
The True God loves the people he created
The True God chooses all people and waits for their response.
When people turn away from the True God, they are choosing to cut off the supply of His grace.
When people repent, the True God accepts their repentance and forgives them.
Never did, never does, never will, the True God stop loving them all!
You’ve been listening to Truth of the Spirit. I’m Patti Brunner. We invite you to subscribe, its free, and come back for more. With the Holy Spirit there’s always more!
