#2029 0921 14P

          God loves His creation and wants everyone to be saved from the approaching destruction, so He gives His Truth to the world—that Truth is for any individual or group of people on earth—but after knowing it, they have to believe it, accept it, and live it every day!

            There is a goal and purpose of God’s Truth—it is the removal of any idol in our life. A true surrender and repentance before God is to achieve one goal—to give up our old way and be willing to accept God’s new way—of faith and trust on Him alone. God promises success in reaching this goal.

            Ezekiel 36:25 “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

            That is God’s promise to deliver us from idolatry—and to also give us an accurate knowledge of Him—which enables a right relationship with Him. It enables us to love Him and trust Him in faith for all things in life. That Truth is for everyone on earth, and all would be saved if they believed it and accepted it and lived it each day that God gives them in this world.

            Abraham, Job, and Joseph—were just three who were enabled by God to get rid of human plans and led back to faith and trust on God alone. If we will allow God, He will train us every day with every situation we deal with—and showing us how to trust Him through the trial; how to enjoy our divine inheritance; how to be contented; and how to be sure of His eternal kingdom.

            Living with God forever is involved in all this; that is why Jesus said that true believers, who really knew God and really trusted Him in this life, would be as few today as they were in Noah’s day—a small fraction of a large population—even though God’s Truth is for everyone!

            The central sin is idolatry—which is trusting something or someone other than God. When idolatry is taken out of our heart, other sins go with it, because all sins are fruits of idolatry. When the idols are gone from our heart, we are able to trust God—that divine and Bible Truth has been ignored by most Christian organizations today.

            Many—who profess faith do not actually possess faith. Those who are not really living God’s Truth think that those who are living it, are fanatics! A true believer and Bible Christian, however, wants to actively trust God for all things in this life—spiritually, physically, financially, and in everything else. Actually, it is only commonsense to do that—to have such incredible Power at our side and not take advantage of it—that is fanaticism!

Jesus assured us Matthew 28:18-20, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.  Amen.”

            It would be foolish to trust some new drug at high cost, when we have the Maker of the human body willing to heal us at no cost. All too many people are preached into Heaven by ministers who have not trusted God in their own life. The truth is that no one can be preached into Heaven—we can only enter Heaven by believing God and trusting in the atoning Blood of Jesus Christ.

            So many today have a veil over their hearts and do not see the value and intent of God’s Truth on divine trust. 2 Corinthians 3:15 “Even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.” There is much teaching today that hinders people from seeing what faith in God really is. The Truth God wants us to know, is the need to get rid of the idols of human trust. Our trust must be transferred to God and God alone!

            It is necessary to understand the seriousness of the sin of idolatry. Hebrews 11:32 “For the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”

Many since that time have proven God’s love, mercy, and power in their own lives, when they trusted Him with that same faith. Real faith does not begin until the bridge of retreat is destroyed.

God is always seeking to lead us to a position of total trust on Him—where no one else and no other power is our source of help, healing, for finances, or anything else—God and God alone.

            There may be some people somewhere who trust God in faith for this life, but the majority of even religious organizations do not teach God’s Truth. Such people think it is unnecessary, foolish, and fanatical to trust God in the Bible way. 1 Corinthians 1:27 “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound [put to shame] the things which are mighty.” There is little faith in the Christian church of today.

The children of Israel did evil in the sight of God, so Midian overcame them. God did not want them to be oppressed, but their decision hindered His power. The devil had deceived Israel, and they kept sinning by keeping idols. This human trust, however, is not considered sin today. The world considers it foolish not to do now, what they did then—trust in human things.

            Judges 6:8-10 “The Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites. He said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of slavery in Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and from all who oppressed you. I drove out your enemies and gave you their land. I told you, ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now live.’ But you have not listened to me [ye have not obeyed my voice].’"  

            God is saying—do not put faith in anything man has made—Do not trust on medication or drugs for healing; Do not trust on a lawyer to right your wrongs; Do not trust on insurance to protect you financially—etc. What the world says is right—God says is wrong! Isaiah 5:20 “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness.”

            God considers it a sin to trust in anything or anyone but Him. The human heart is so idolatrous that it will put more confidence in a pill it can see, than in the living God it cannot see! God is aware of that, and He knows that the only way we can really trust Him without seeing Him, is to get the idols out of our heart.

            The cause of Israel’s trouble was trusting in something besides God. As long as they kept the idols, He could not protect them or help them. An angel says Judges 6:12-13, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!" Gideon said to Him, "O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites."

The average church member thinks the Lord has forsaken them, so they do not trust Him for anything. Gideon’s father kept an idol they worshipped—it was blatant idolatry. That caused the trouble—Gideon had to destroy it. The Lord said Judges 6:25-26 "Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down."

Gideon had to remove the idols in his life, just as we have to destroy the idols of drugs; insurance; welfare assistance; company pensions—and other sources of human trust in our life. Gideon’s army consisted of too many, so God reduced the number. Judges 7:2 “The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her.”

            If God allowed ten thousand Israelites to go against thousands of Midianites and Israel won, they would say their own strength, ability, and skill gave the victory—they would be worse idolaters than before. Their number was reduced, and God enabled three hundred to defeat a huge host! God used Gideon to deliver the nation of Israel—but only after they got the idol out of the way.

            The principle of truth in this story is: When the cause of the trouble is revealed, and we act to correct the problem, God’s power works to give the victory. If we are depending on something—and this dependence can be hidden deep in our heart—it must be revealed and corrective measures taken to remove it.

            Anyone who gives their life totally to God, will be led to the place where they are truly trusting Him alone for everything—it will increase their knowledge of Him, and it will perfect their faith in His power to heal, deliver, protect, and save.

            The most important aspect of it all is an actual preparation for eternal life. The spiritual blessings involved in getting rid of all idols, and receiving all our victories in God’s way, are of much more importance than the victories themselves—as valuable as they may be.

            If we will choose to trust God in faith, we will prove that God has not changed; that He is no respecter of times, or places, or persons—and that anything He did for anyone in the Bible, He will do for us today—when we meet the same conditions and place the same faith in Him—that is the Truth God wants everyone to know and live!