The Idol Mind. ...

The word of God is very clear about Idolatry. .. but I think we as individuals sometimes forget what that really means. .. Over the last couple of years I have watched as God brought into focus for me what some of those things look like. ... There are what I consider the obvious things like worshiping money. .. and in America that means the economy. .. we should have a strong economy. .. but not at the cost of our seniors and our children. .. is any amount of money worth more than a human life. .. Is a statue of individuals who fought against this country worth more than a human life. .. Is a flag that is the symbol of oppression and slavery worth more than a human life. .. Should an athlete who kneels during the national anthem in protest of police violence be accused of disrespecting the flag. Is that flag worth less than the words of the constitution if he knells. .. or is that flag worth more than the lives of the people dying at the hands of systemic racism. .. And now America is in turmoil. .. the economy, the pandemic, and an Oppressed people crying out

If you can not honestly say yes in each of these situations .. you may be guilty of Idolatry. ..Think about it. ... if we put any of these things ahead of your brothers or sisters . .. Then you are guilty of Idolatry. .. There is a judgment for Idolatry. .. and America is not the first nation to be guilty of such. ..Israel and Judah are the examples for us. .. And this is what God said to Jeremiah in Chapter 44: 1-12. ...

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, and Memphis, and in the land of Pathros. .. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

You have seen all the disaster that I bought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. .. Behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them. .. because of the evil that they committed. .. provoking Me to anger. .. in that they went to make offerings and serve other gods that they knew not. .. neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. ..Yet I persistently sent to you. ..

All my servants the prophets, saying, Oh do not do this abomination that I hate!

But they did not listen or incline their ear to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. .. Therefore My wrath and My anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they became a waste and a desolation as at this day.

And now thus says the Lord God of Hosts. .. The God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil against yourselves, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? Why do you you provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands. .. making offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to live, so that you may be cut off and become a curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth?

Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, the evil of the kings of Judah, the evil of their wives, Your Own evil, and the evil of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? They have not humbled themselves even to this day. .. nor walked in My Law and My Statutes that I set before you and before your fathers. ..

Therefore thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set my face against you for harm to cut off all Judah. .. I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live and they shall All be consumed. .. In the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine they shall be consumed. .. From the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, and they shall become an oath, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. ..

Verses 13 through 30 are just as dark. .. read it. ..God was not happy. .. We have to consider our ways and hear the voice of God. .. He is calling us out. .. Not even the Pastors and Prophets are exempt. ..

Jeremiah 23:1-2: Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! declares the Lord. .. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. .. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. ..

Jeremiah 23: 9-22. .. Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. .. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. .. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, It shall be well with you; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart. .. they say No disaster shall come upon you. .. For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord to see and to hear His word. .. or who has paid attention to his word and listened? Behold, the storm of the Lord! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of His heart.. ..In the latter days you will understand it clearly. ..

I did not send the prophets, yet the ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. ..

But if they had stood in my council. .. then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds. ...

May the Grace and Mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be upon you. .. Amen