Faith is not Self-Assurance nor a Positive Mindset.
1) Prophets of Baal who desperately cry out to an Idol Which Cannot Speak
| In God’s plan before the Fall, our original form existed. However, after the fall of mankind, the original form was completely shattered. The only way to find and experience the lost original form that God planned and dreamed of before the Fall is through faith alone. Faith is believing in the truth. Truth is ‘what cannot be otherwise, the real,’ and it can only be known within God. Giving meaning to baseless facts and positive thinking is not faith. Satan deceives by calling these thoughts, certainties, feelings, and emotions ‘faith,’ thus obscuring the truth. Ultimately, this leads people to ignorance about God and into confusion. Satan’s purpose is to mislead people, making them follow false beliefs, busily struggling in pain, only to eventually fall into hell together. Furthermore, the belief that one can achieve a certain result through active and positive self-confidence is also false. People commonly believe that if they earnestly desire something, it will ‘happen as they think and speak.’ However, this is nothing more than trusting oneself and others. Placing faith in the ever-changing human thoughts, hearts, and emotions is both foolish and naive. In faith, there must be a clear and reliable object of trust and a well-founded content of faith. Christians believe in God. God is a personal God who saves sinners and personally communes with them. He is an omnipotent and faithful God who plans and accomplishes everything He has promised and speaks through His Word. |
》Scripture Prayer
(1 Kings 18:25-28) Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.
(1 Kings 18:36-40) And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.” And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.
》Pray that the Word may become the Conclusion.
1. No matter how much the prophets of Baal called upon their god, Baal did not answer. Even when they worked hard to sacrifice a calf and hurt themselves, nothing happened. Serving idols they themselves made is a futile endeavor. Today, there are still sinners who serve idols solely to fulfill their own desires and greed. Let us pray to break the wickedness and stubbornness of those who worship idols and turn to the living God.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. (Colossians 3:5-6)
2. Let’s pray for those who think that “what you think and say will happen” is faith and strive their best in vain. Also, let’s pray that all thoughts and ideas that encourage positive and proactive thinking, leading to selfish desires, be broken down. Pray that Christians may be renewed through a genuine faith that takes place within a personal relationship with God.
All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. (Isaiah 44:9)
2) Israelites’ Worship of a Golden Calf
| The Israelite people, who had endured oppression and suffering in Egypt for 400 years, experienced the living presence of God in a profound way during their journey out of Egypt. However, when their leader Moses was temporarily absent and not visible to them, they became anxious and created an idol—a golden calf—that they worshipped. Regardless of what they called the golden calf, their faith was not in the true God; it was merely idol worship. They did not have faith in the unseen God and turned away from the living God. Why did the Israelite people choose a golden calf as an object of faith? It’s likely because a golden calf, something they could control and shape according to their own desires, seemed more appealing to them than the personal, holy, and just ‘burdensome’ God who demanded a lot from them. They foolishly chose an object for faith rather than the true object of faith. The apostle Paul concluded, “they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”(Romans 1:21-23) |
》Scripture Prayer
(Exodus 32:1-4) When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
(Exodus 32:11-12,14) But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, “O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.
(Exodus 32:18-20) But he said, “It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.” And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.
》Pray that the Word may become the Conclusion.
1. The Israelite people believed that the golden calf they crafted and brought out of Egypt was their god, whom they worshiped as the Lord God. Similarly, many people in today’s world live by considering things they have created as their gods instead of the true God. They think of something other than God as God and offer their devotion and sacrifices to it. Let us pray that God would tear down the false foundation of belief and to truly know the God of the Bible.
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)
2. Am I getting lost and anxious in the circumstances I am facing? Let’s firmly believe that God’s goodness and mercy are responsible for and guiding our entire lives. Regardless of the situation we’re currently facing, let’s confess, “whatever God has allowed is best,” and offer gratitude and praise for God’s grace.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
3) Who is the God we Believe in?
| The God we believe in is not just a concept or an illusion within our thoughts. God is the living Creator of the entire universe and all things, actively governing and overseeing everything. Therefore, God is by no means an idol made by human hands from gold, silver, or stone, unable to speak, see, or hear. God loves us and desires a personal relationship with us, demonstrating His abundant mercy and compassion by giving His Son for us. It’s time to put aside the practice of creating idols to justify our desires and cravings. Instead, let’s focus on having a personal relationship with the living God and enjoying His abundant love. This is the true faith that truly pleases God. |
》Scripture Prayer
(Acts 17:24-29) The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
(Matthew 7:7-11) “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
(2 Corinthians 1:20) For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
》Pray that the Word may become the Conclusion.
1. Our God is personal God who enjoys intimate fellowship with us. Also, he is an almighty and faithful God who fulfills what he promises. He is a loving God who deals with sinners only with love. The more we know God, the more we can rely on His promises in prayer, realizing how safe and certain it is. Let’s offer joyful prayers to our faithful God.
if we are faithless, he remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself. (2 Timothy 2:13)
2. Let us consider the heart of God when He says, “Seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” How wide open is God’s heart towards us! According to God’s promises in Christ, when we pray, He answers. Let us glorify our God by saying “Amen!” to him who answers to our prayers whenever we pray according to the promises of God in Christ.
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:13)
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