Taking Down Our Idols

Talk you in this message about the importance and the necessity of identifying and destroying the idols in our lives. The things that actually prevent us from honoring God and giving place and deference to God and loving him and worshiping him and serving him as we are called to do. He was a wimp who became a warrior and his story comes your way next on this Tuesday edition of Destin for victory hello and thanks for stopping by today. Pastor Paul Sheppard Texas once again to the story of Gideon.

One of the judges of Israel during the Old Testament era as we pick up the account today will see that each of us like Gideon has a divine calling. But in order to achieve that calling the first lay down any false gods in our lives is a great reminder of the faithfulness of God, even when our own faith just a bit, stay right here to visit Pastor Paul.net to listen on demand. That's Pastor Paul.net there is Pastor Paul. Today's Destin for victory message taking down our items. Judges chapter 6, beginning with verse 25.

That same night.

The Lord said to Gideon, take the second bowl from your fathers heard the 17 years old. Tear down your father's altar to bail and cut down the SQL pole beside it, then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this type using the word of the SQL pole that you cut down all for the second bowl as a burnt offering. So Gideon content of the servants and did as the Lord told him but because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town. He did it at night rather than in the daytime will conclude our reading there as we continue to look at the story of one of the judges of Israel in the Old Testament, a man named Gideon whose life we are studying as a case reference so that we can determine not only what God did in bringing him to become a warrior for God but along the way. We're learning that the journey that Gideon took of the journey you and I are having to take as followers of the Lord, in Gideon's case when the angel of the Lord comes to him in Judges chapter 6 he finds them being quite warrior.

He is worried that the Midianites who have been defeating Israel for seven years at that point are going to continue to do what they been doing and he's quite worried he is trying the first week in a wine press but the angel of the Lord speaks to him and says the Lord is with you, mighty warrior in the back. The Lord had called him to be a warrior even though he was acting like a warrior in the fact of the matter is, God has a calling on each of our lives, and that calling does not depend upon what we act like it doesn't depend upon our present life condition. But God calls us according to his purpose and his purpose determines what is to happen in our lives and so we said that the first step in the journey of going from where you are, where God is destined you to be is… Take to heart your calling. We talked about taking to heart our calling from God to take seriously what God says about our lives, we are not what we act like we are not what our conditions would dictate. We are who God says we all we can do what God says we can do and we are called to take to heart our calling in the last message we looked at a second step in the journey of becoming what God has called us to be. And so it involves not only taking to heart our calling, but number two we said it involves taking away our excuses in the last message we look to the back that Gideon was a man who had excuses when the Lord said, I will raise you up and that you are going to the feet many and I go to put them in your hands and repeat them. Gideon said, you gotta have the wrong guy.

You can't be talking about me because I come from Manasseh, which is not a particularly strong tribe in terms of its members. He says that I've been the weakest clan in the tribe. And I am the least in my family that's three different excuses. He said I'm in your league, Lord, but I'm in the worst division in the league. I'm on the last place team in the worst division in your league and I'm the guy who rides the bench on the last place team in the worst division in your league. All of excuses just like some of us after why we're not living better are doing better are going the places God wants us to go in our lives and in our spiritual growth. But the reality is, God said to him, I'm not worried about any of that. You just said because I am with you and I'm the one who will give you the victory and I want somebody to know that it really is not about who you are or what you think you can do if God be for us, who can be against us. And so we saw that it involves taking a heart our calling and taking away our excuses. Now I want to take a step with you on this journey of becoming what God has called us to be given this message. I want us to look at the third step is not only balls taking the heart.

Our calling and taking away our excuses, but number three. It involves taking down our idols taking down our idols.

I want to talk you in this message about the importance and the necessity of identifying and destroying the idols in our lives. The things that would militate against God the things that we preempt the worship of God with the things that actually prevent us from honoring God and giving place and deference to God and loving him and worshiping him and serving him as we are called to do.

Now I don't want anybody to think well okay I can. Gotta skip this message and I'll just wait for the next step in the journey because I don't have any idols in my life.

I go to a Christian church.

I read the Christian Bible and so I don't have any idols I don't have to worry about this message does not apply to me. I got a word for you by long answer back to the matter is there are some idols that we have not really thought about what they are very active among those of us who name the name of the Lord through you are not worshiping that some alterable false God you don't have to contend with workable bail as is being contended with in our text is true that you have never bowed physically before some some false God some image and worship. That is true but that is not to say you and I don't have some idols that we got to identify and then destroy and what you're going to see as we talk through this in this message is that an idol doesn't have to be a religious artifact created a will all stone and I don't can be something in your life that you have never physically bound to, but as we take a look at it you're going to see there are some things in many of our lives that contend against the will of God and we are called they were going to experience victory. We are called to take down those idols what Gideon had to learn and what you and I have to learn is that you cannot make war with Midian until you make peace with God, and you cannot make war against the enemy of our souls and we cannot experience the victory that God wants to give us until we have made peace with him and making peace with God means you can have no other gods before him. He says in his word from Genesis to Revelation. I'm a jealous God on your maker on your creator on your Redeemer on your sustainer and may you live and move and have your being the only true and living God. Everything else you serve everything else you give deference to the me I will have no other gods before me. And so we're going to have to take a good hard look now before I walk you through this. Let me ask you to do me a favor. The way to be blessed by this message is gotta throw away your shovel and pull out your rake is what I mean a lot about the experience of listening to a message and apply that the folk we know you never done that, let's be honest. Now you listen to a message with shovel mentality that's a good point. I sure wish he was here to hear that because that point. This law him and you toss that point over to somebody you know what is being preached even when you said manual signifying somebody said amen. It really doesn't mean I agree with the truth and I'm trying to apply the my life is a signifying many other in the amen is really aimed at somebody down the row right next to them is a man never asked you to put away your shovel. You don't need to settle for this message. I would ask you to pick up your rake when your shovel and your tossing away from you when you're breaking it you're saying it's me, it's me, it's me oh Lord, speak to me about my life speak to me about my issue. I want to be in the center of your will. I want to do what you called me to do so put away your shovel pickup your rake to Brussels because he wants to bring about victory in our lives. The only way that's going to happen is we will apply this truth and take down the idols in our lives. Now let me give you a working definition for idols. The reason why I said that you and I cannot say we have no idols. Just because we don't worship at the physical altar of some false God. Here's why I say that working definition for idle Glasgow technician to put it up on the screen shot this down in your notes and I want you to not only meditate on it throughout this message but I want to meditate on it in the weeks and months and years to come and remind yourself constantly. There are to be no idols in our lives and I know is any practice passion priority or partnership that we submit to.

Even though it is contrary to God's word and will jot that down and I don't waste any practice passion priority or partnership that we submit to. Even though it is contrary to God's word and will now you can see by this definition that you don't have to bow your physical knee at a physical altar directed to a false God like a bail in the case of Gideon or any false religion in order to be in idolatry. You can practice idolatry if there is anything in your life or in your thinking or in your patterns of living or in your perspective that militates against God and when he competes with God when were the word, and the will of God. That's the truth in your life, my friend. I come to let you know there is idolatry in your life and God has called us to renounce it and to destroy the idol and to make him the center of our lives walk through those points and how be done second half of Pastor Paul Shepard's message is coming right up.

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Not when you give. We have a gift of our own to share with you and tell you all about it. After today's message, now with more lessons from the life of Gideon. Here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's message taking down our idols the ball practice since our practices must be consistent with the word and will of God. When I talk about practices I'm talking about habit patterns of things we normally do as we live our lives. Your regular actions your normal activity, but things that make up and characterize your patterns of living your lifestyle, your actions, the Bible is calling us to make sure we don't practice idolatry with regard to actions that how can our actions be idolatrous. We have actions we have patterns of living. Behaving that are against the will of God.

But we still yield to him rather than the we say yes to God's will and change those actions practices are inconsistent with the word and will of God, my friend, you are practicing idolatry and you will never experience God's victory.

You will never be on the road on the journey to becoming what God has called you to be as long as there is idolatry with regard to your practice is not. Here's how to evaluate your practices in mind, here's how we look at what we're doing in our lives.

First of all, if you want to make sure your practices are consistent with the will of the word of God do not evaluate them on the basis of what you think about them don't say well I know what the Bible says, but under my circumstances based on what's going on in my life. Based on my family situation. Based on my job based on my marriage.

Based on my singleness, based on the season of light, amen. Based on the hardships I'm experiencing.

Based on my upbringing based on the way people raise me based on what ever it is. Think I ought to be the exception to the rule know what God says and normally I know that God really wants everybody to live this way but circumstances I think God understands and if you can see your self clear as being the exception God's role.

My plan you are practicing idolatry and let me tell you something else you are self deceived your self deceived the worst deception we can experience is self deception in the Bible talks about it in James chapter 1 James says do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. He says what it says is what James meant. All you do is listen to the word about you do is read your Bible, all you do is show up at church and have the word of God preached to you, but rather that apply it, you insert what you think about it when I know what the pastor said well I know what that Bible verse said what I know what the Bible teaches under the circumstances I believe even God understands that that don't apply to me right now and some of us can be so self deceived until we think that we cut a side deal with God and God that well yes this is my will for most of my children you know in your case I know what you're going through in your case would just keep on the down low. Don't tell anybody but I will let you do what you want to do in this area of your life and we have a side deal.

You and I understand so publicly, dates what you're doing and I tell anybody else how to live, but I got to if you live in such a way that your practices fall outside of the wheel and the word of God and yet you believe you're right with God, my friend. You are so deceive self deceived not by the way, let me just as I go to the residence message I came prepared to encourage myself. I don't want anybody feel bad because this is one of those messages you resort to God.

The Bible says that anybody was going to quit word God. You gotta be instant in season and out of season. That means you gotta speak the truth when poker loving your message will have the best method I ever heard. I love that mother will be the first in the seating that message you preach. When they do echo sometimes encourages us in an bill. It gives us promises and all that but there are times when the word rebukes us and convicts us and it gets in our business and against region out of season reaching when they don't like the message everything when they are bored to see the line that you have to be able no matter what Sharp expected to love everything that I got a preach on the mailman as some of the male female so I want to know.

I know that I can breathe it over the years. Help me to be strong do not appear to people's faces and all that. And so what I've learned to do is to have built-in encouragement and so you don't hereby want you to feel free to just let this message find you where you stand up and when you write a brief is all right.

I got all that going on inside of me so you can sit there with the word of God want you to deal with me while I'm saying to myself brief about the boat is right you telling the truth preach anyway so I'm good. I know you know you have me understand that I appreciated but I'm good. I'm all right I practices have to be consistent with the word of God. You can't determine the rightness or wrongness of you living by asking yourself what you think about it, you can't determine the rightness or wrongness of your practices by asking what do other people think about because the will of God is not up the popular vote we live in a democracy, but God is not up about he could care less what we think God is not beholden to us lasting to everlasting one that showed up late and settled in heaven and it will not change because the popular opinion you can put God on the ballot and bought out his will and I know you said you don't like this, but we all decided it's okay. The Bible says let God be true if it makes a liar out everybody so German the will of God or the rightness of our practices by asking the question what do others think about what is think about it. What is Dr. Phil think about what is… Think about it will think about it every talk show your favorite favorite favorite self-help author favorite person without their writing, but that's on the New York Times bestseller. That's all but dead with the will of God will of God is revealed in the word of God is forever established in heaven want to get the right answer you after my question in the right question is what is God say about my practice because he's the final Court of arbitration. One day everyone of us will give an account to him and at that point you want to hear about what other folks thought and so we are called according to the word to this title, a personal opinion of popular opinion. I can do what I want. It's my life. It is not your life.

God says we belong to him where he is by creation with here by redemption where he is because he sustains us because of the live and move and have our being. And one day we will all answer to him. It is appointed once every person the die judgment and so the right question is what is God thanks so much for joining us for pastor Paul Shepard's message taking down our idols. Today's message is part of pastor Paul series from warrior to warrior look for it online@pastorpaul.net well as we navigate our way through some trying times in American all over the world see the destined for victory audience continue to grow adversity very often brings with it a degree of spiritual awareness and growth and friends like you make it possible pastor Paul to minister to a growing audience. Thanks so much for lifting us up in prayer and for financially supporting Esther in these times today would like to lift you up in prayer from the homepage of pastor Paul.net click contact us and tell us how we can pray for you while you're there, be sure to ask for pastor Paul's monthly letter of encouragement. Yours, at no cost or obligation in here something else for you for your generous donation to destined for victory today would like to send you a booklet from pastor Paul Sheppard called little is much when God is in it. If you ever felt like your talent or your resources weren't enough to do much good this book that was written with you in mind. It's a great reminder that in the hands of God, whatever you have is always more than enough. Again, that's little is much when God is in it is our gift to you today by request for your generous donation to destined for victory. Just call 855-339-5500 to give over the phone or visit pastor Paul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. You can also mail your gift to destined for victory PO Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538 says worship God. People use things.

Some of us practice idolatry.

And we end up worshiping things we end up using people. Sometimes we end up even using best tomorrow and pastor Paul Shepard's message taking down our idols. Until then, remember he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in Christ, you are destined for victory