Baal

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Judges 8:33-34 Forgetting What God Did

No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. Judges 8:33-34

When things are going well, it is easy for people to forget who helped them get to that point. People are quick to push out of their memories the struggles and battles they had been in time of prosperity.

Instead, they worship ideas and things that they believe helped them become successful, rather than the truth.

Sometime after Gideon had freed the Israelites from captivity he had died. Immediately upon his death the Israelites began to worship the false God of Baal and forget that God had rescued them from their enemies.

God works many times behind the scenes in the life of a believer, rescuing him from troubles and the enemy. At points things look horrible with no possible chance of good to come from it, then suddenly everything turns around for good. That is when God had worked in one’s life.

Many believers are quick to forget or ignore what God had done in their life. They turn back to the world and sinful ways of living, rather than growing closer to God and serving Him more. They feel that it was the things of the world or pure luck that rescued them, rather than God.

God has done many different things for the individual believer. He has forgiven, healed, provided for, rescued, guided, protected and much more. One must never forget these things and go back to the sinful ways of the world, thinking the world, self or good luck did these things.

Only God is to be worshipped and served.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will see what God is doing in your life; that you will remember what God has done in your life; that you only worship and serve God; and that you will trust God with your whole life.

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Numbers 25:3 Are You Tied To False Gods?

So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them. Numbers 25:3

It is very common for people to idolize someone or something in their lives. Focus is so much on a person or a thing that they put everything else to the side and dedicate their life to what their focus is on.

Acting in this way is so common and accepted that it is often promoted and encouraged. The things that people put their life focus upon are often the gods or masters in their lives.

The Israelites had chosen to bow down to some Baal idols of the Moabite women after having relations with women. God’s anger burned against them.

Losing focus and following the idols of the world is something that is easy to do and is often done among believers. People get caught up in the moment of self-pleasure and choose to bow down to sin and make something an idol in their life, rather than serving God.

The false idols in people’s lives may be people, things or a false belief. These can be things that are directly evil or even inherently good. Anything or anyone that takes the place of God or causes one to sin against God is a false idol.

False gods are abundant and may give a temporary pleasure in this life, but they are dead and only cause death. They pull the believer away from the one true living God.

Believers need to have their entire life focused upon God and His word and His desires. The moment one chooses to believe in Jesus, he has dedicated his entire life to God. Turning back to anything else is rejecting God and accepting a false god. All false gods must be rejected.

Many things will try to call your attention and desires away from God. Flee the idols that the world will place before you to trip you up and cause you to sin against God and follow those false idols. Those idols will only bring about death and destruction in the end.

Dedicate your whole life to God and choose to follow Him and Him alone. Let God bring you the joy, peace and provision the false idols of this world promise but are unable to deliver. Following God will bring about eternal life with more than any false idol will ever be able to give.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that God will open your eyes to any false idols in your life; that you will choose to make God the master and only God of your life; and that you will know all that God can and will give to you.

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2 Kings 10:28-29 Not Completely Cleaned Out

Half cleaned room

So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel. However, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit–the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan. 2 Kings 10:28-29 

Cleaning out a house is something that can take work and time. Most people will only clean one or two rooms of the house at a time. Only during spring cleaning does a person usually clean the entire house.

The challenge with only partially cleaning the house, is that there is still dirt and clutter in the rest of the house. As one cleans one part and neglects another completely, the whole house continues to stay dirty. In order for the house to be clean, the whole house must be cleaned, otherwise it is still dirty.

Jehu had become king of Israel and worked hard successfully at destroying all Baal worship in the land. However, he did not remove the worship of the golden calves from the land. Despite getting rid of worship of one false god, he left worship of another false god in place.

The lives of people are houses. They are supposed to be the temple of God, His house, His dwelling place. When Jesus died on the cross, He died to remove all sin from those who believe in Him. He was there to clean the entire house of dirt–sin.

As many believers follow Jesus, many will allow one part of their life to be cleaned up. They will turn away from one or two sins, however, they will continue to hang onto another sin. Following some way of the world, that is against God, continues to happen. The temple of God is no longer fully clean, but contaminated with sin.

Believers need to allow God to clean their entire house–their lives–of all sin. Then they must be willing to keep it clean. Do not go back out and pick up the dirt.

God can work in your life to remove all sin and sinful habits. It is going to Him and trusting His work in your life. Focus your life on loving and serving Him. This is more than just not doing sin, but doing something for God.

As you live for God, you will not have time to live in sin or allow sin back into your life. Strive to keep your life clean of all sin, not just some sins. Worship God with your whole life.

I pray today that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will allow God to remove all sin in your life; that you will seek to serve God with all of your life; and that your life will be a clean temple for God to live in.

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1 Kings 18:21 Make A Choice

Choice of two paths

Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. 1 Kings 18:21 

It is very common for people to not want to make a concrete decision. Many people do not like to have to make a final choice in a situation. They like to be able to have the option of two or more different ways and change choices as they go along.

With the choices available, people like different things with both options. So rather than lock themselves down with one side, they waver in the middle and go back and forth all the time.

As God was ready to bring the drought to an end, Elijah called all the people together with the prophets of Baal. His first statement was that they needed to make a choice. They had to choose who was the real God. He left it up to them to decide between God and Baal.

For a number of years, the people would serve both God and Baal. Depending upon the time and situation, they would waver between the two. Yet, there was only room for one God and they had to make a choice.

The same problem occurs today. Although no one follows Baal anymore, there are other things that people follow as though it was God or a god, as they also follow God on Sundays. On Sunday they go to church and worship and serve God. As soon as Sunday is over they are serving self and following some other God–jobs, people, sports, money, or anything else.

When people live like this, they are not making a choice in who is God. They are being lukewarm in their life and in the end will be cast out. God wants a choice to be made. He prefers that He be the real God in each person’s life, but it is still a choice, one way or the other.

As a believer you have made a choice at some point to believe God is God. Now you have a choice to live that way. Take a look at your life and see if you are wavering between God and some idol.

What thing(s) or people are getting in your way between you and God? Make a choice as to who is God and then follow that God with all of your life. Don’t waver and get kicked out.

I pray today that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will serve God with all of your life; that you will not waver in your belief in God; and that you will not waver in your following God. 

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Numbers 25:3 Being Chained Up

Yokes

So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the LORD’s anger burned against them. Numbers 25:3

While most people will never agree to be a slave or being tied to someone or something, it is a common thing to occur. People are very quick to sell out themselves to someone or something. It is done for popularity, to go with the flow, for personal gain or some other reason, but people allow themselves to be chained to things or others.

There are people who will go into extreme debt, chaining themselves to an object, because of desire to have what someone else has. They then live their lives for that object.

Others will allow themselves to be chained to a false god. Hanging around people who follow some false god, they begin to allow themselves to believe in that god, rather than be faithful to God. They are deceived by those around them into thinking that the false god is the way to go.

As the Israelites were traveling through the wilderness, they came up to some Moabite women. They were invited to be friends with them and were deceived into following the Moabite gods. After a short time, they chained themselves to these gods, causing God’s anger to come upon them.

God is still looking for people who will bind themselves only to Him. He has provided life for every person and deserves their full service. God does not share His position with any other god or object.

Jesus had died on the cross to remove all sins and give eternal life. No other god or object has ever been able to do that. Yet, many people are deceived into following false gods all the time. There are believers in the church who are following false gods, while going to church, appearing to be faithful to God. God’s anger is kindled against the person, though still loves them.

Do not allow yourself to be deceived into follow some false god in your life. The world is ready with many false gods that look enticing and good, but they are still false.

Chain yourself to God and God alone. Follow Jesus, since He is the only One who has died for you and is able to provide eternal life for you. In this way, you will not kindle God’s anger against you, but will know His love.

I pray today that you will know the life God offers you; that you will serve God and God alone; that you will not allow any false gods into your life; and that God will give you strength to turn from any false gods.