3D Bible Study Recap #2

Let's start off with a question :)

Q: How can you tell what is a priority in someone's life?

Some of the answers some of you came up with during bible study:
1) spending time on something/someone
2) talking about it
3) investing your time and resources into it
4) having an emotional attachment to it
5) caring for this thing
6) describing yourself through this thing
7) fighting for it

Okay, now another question

Q: What is an idol? (really spend some time thinking about how you would define what an idol is.)
Here's what you guys came up with
1) something that we put lots of time into
2) anything that takes the place of God
3) any type of distraction that strays you away from your relationship with God
4) something that you think you value more than God

Some thoughts:
From the song Clear the Stage by Jimmy Needham, you can get some ideas about what an idol is:

Anything I put before my God is an idol.
Anything I want with all my heart is an idol. 
Anything I can't stop thinking about is an idol.
Anything that I give all my love is an idol

Let's go back to the very beginning of Creation (Genesis 1). What is the most important distinction between us and God?
He is the Creator and we are creation. He is the author of life and sustainer of all things, and we, his creation, are wholly dependant on Him for sustenance and definition.
- Therefore in the simplest sense, an idol is a false god, something that WE make as our god (deify) - we wrongly look to this image for sustenance and definition.

It is also interesting to note that it is easy to oftentimes associate idols with a carved statue or a golden calf. We think of the Israelites and their false gods- inanimate object like Buddha or a statue of a Greek god. However, idols still exist in our lives today, just in subtler forms. Because, like we mentioned before, idols are anything that we put before God , want with all our heart, can't stop thinking about, and give all our love to.

These 4 things should describe our relationship and attitude towards God: putting God first, wanting God with all our heart, thinking about God, and giving all our love to Him. Where we go wrong is when we turn to other things for love, sustenance, and give these things our love, attention, and priority.

So, another question:
Q: Why do we turn to these false gods when we know that they were not meant to be our sustainer and true love?

Some thoughts:
- Because of social pressure (our world glorifies these things (idols); e.g. money, relationships)
- We may sometimes feel like God can't/won't meet our "needs" so we go looking elsewhere
- Because of our lack of faith and trust in God that He knows what is best for us
- We have a relationship (involving two parties) with God; We talk to Him and He has the ability to say "yes" or "no" to our requests. VERSUS and idol is an inanimate object that cannot say "no" to you; you do your part (e.g. make a sacrifice) and you feel like you have done your part/everything you need to do in order to get what you want- like a slot machine mentality; you may even feel better afterwards (i.e. immediate gratification) because you may feel like you have some sort of control over the situation

Let's turn to Matthew 6:19-24
Q: What are the 3 activities that are going on in this passage? What is the result of each of these activities?

1) Storing up treasures: storing up treasures on earth will result in destruction and loss; our hearts will be consumed and stolen- where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (v.21) - just like how sin destroys and consumes our hearts
2) Focusing on/looking to: what we expose ourselves to/focus on can consume us and affect our whole being; you become what you worship (e.g. if your eye is dark, your whole body will be dark also)- statues are mute, deaf, and blind -> people who worship idols become like them and therefore may not be able to understand the Word of God- Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not (Jeremiah 5:21)
3) Serving: can only follow and serve only one thing; our heart cannot both belong to God and something else


So hopefully you will begin to see and recognize that we all store up other treasures for ourselves, focus on, and love/serve other things. So how do we move from worshiping and replacing these false gods to worshiping the One and only true God?

1) Recognize the idol: For starters, you can think about what is taking priority over God in your life, what you think about all the time/consumes your thoughts. what you love. It is NOT to say that just because you love something/someone, that they are your idol. But it's good to just start thinking about what really matters to you, and then think about if it does have precedence over God, and if you are using this thing for sustenance and definition.
Recognizing idols may be challenging because sometimes we just don't want to go there.. we don't want to view ourselves as these needy, false idol worshiping creatures, so we just don't think about it.
Also, idols are not necessarily bad things! Idols can be inherently good, however we have simply mistaken what its purpose is.
It's also hard to identify our idols as we are immersed in it through our culture (see David Foster Wallace's commencement speech: 0 s-1:10 to illustrate this point)
2) Recognize the need that the idol is filling (and that it is in the wrong place): God has designed things (his creation) to fill certain needs, and this is all good. But where we go wrong is when we use these things that have been designed for a certain purpose and try to fill other needs with it.
e.g. relationships are good things that God has ordained (e.g. marriage) but our need for acceptance and love and worth cannot be entirely filled by simply another human being (significant other, friend)
3) Recognize how that need is meant to be filled (in God's design or by God himself): Back to the example above, we must realize that our need for acceptance/love/worth can only truly be satisfied by the Lord himself, not by another human being (although relationships are, again, not bad).
4) Move towards this: releasing the idol and putting it in its place/filling needs: This may be a long and challenging process, but it is important to remember that it is ultimately God who helps us through this; we cannot do this ourselves!

Sometimes the best place to start isn't seeking out the idols in our life, as this may be extremely difficult, but simply by seeking out more of the light of God (which pushes out the darkness of idolatry in our life)

1) We can start by replacing our thoughts with God (instead of our idols that we can't stop thinking about); goes back to the "focusing on/looking to" part of Matthew 6.
Read Philippians 4:8
- Take notice of what you think about; do the attributes in this verse describe the things that you spend most of your time thinking about?
- Think about things that are described by these attributes. Perhaps think about these things?
- Try to think about God more throughout the day (goes back to our first bible study about realizing God's presence in our life and responding)

2) We can replace our loves with God (our idols- the things that we love with all our heart); goes back to the "loving/serving" part of Matthew 6.
Read 1 John 3:16

3) We can replace our desires with God (things that we want with all our heart); goes back to the "treasures/what our heart desires/values" part of Matthew 6.
- This is related to both the first and second points as things that we desires are things that we also love and therefore consume our thoughts.

3D Bible Study Recap #1

So this year's theme for 3D is "Clear the Stage" (idea originating from the song Clear the Stage by Jimmy Needham). Sounds good right? But what does it really mean to clear the stage? Why do we even need to clear the stage?

The obvious answer would be : to make room for God (just like how we all have had to clean our room/closet/desk/drawer to make room for something else). But again, what does that look like? What would it look like to have a life with God in it? You may be able to answer this question with a lot of good, practical applications for your life, but ultimately it starts with the foundation of our relationship with God: faith.

Faith. This is something that is often talked about and this word is used frequently in church settings, but what does it really mean? The simplest way to look at it is the idea of believing and trusting in something/someone, despite not necessarily being able to prove it or see it. 

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

- Hebrews 11:1 (ESV)

You might think to yourself that having faith in God is tough. And you're right, it is. What are some of the reasons why faith in God is hard for you? Some common answers might be because faith in God does not result in immediate results/benefits (we can't always see the cause and effect relationship), because our world doesn't encourage this type of behaviour and instead teaches us the "trust only yourself" type of mentality, or that because we cannot actually see God in the flesh. 

The funny thing is, faith itself is a very natural thing. We put our trust in a lot of things that we don't even think about. For example, you are trusting right now that the chair you are sitting on will hold you up and not collapse on you. You don't spend too much time (unless it's a terribly unsturdy chair) thinking about whether or not you are going to fall. You are also trusting at this time that your heart will faithfully continue to pump blood to your body and that your lungs will not collapse. You don't spend hours thinking about whether or not your heart is going to stop beating, nor do you focus on your heart beat very often. The reason why we don't worry too much about these things is because it's ultimately out of our control. We cannot force our heart to continue beating by trying to control our brain and our thinking. It is out of our control, so we just let it be, trusting (in most circumstances) that it will continue on doing its job. 

So one of the main reasons why we might struggle with having faith in God is because we want to be in control of our life and our destiny, and sometimes may even want to control God so that we can get what we want. When we feel that we can't trust in God (and ultimately his character), and therefore feel like we have to take matter into our own hands, that is when our faith in Him is lost. We may even treat God as a bargaining tool- being "good" for something in return from Him.

In what area(s) in your life do you feel the need to control? In what area(s) in your life do you have difficulty entrusting into God's hands? 

How do we trust/have faith in something? First of all, we have to give up control. Realize that we cannot control God, and that He does know what is best for us. But giving up control also only happens if we know that we can trust in  that thing to care for us. 

Read Romans 8:28-39. This passage is so rich with the evidence and assurance of God's love and His Sovereignty in our lives. We can surely entrust our lives and have faith in this God.

Our lives are usually filled to the brim with school, work, family, friends, volunteering, and many other activities that make it hard for us focus on just God most of the time. But the goal is not therefore to shut everything else out and just focus on God- that is impossible! But instead, to see and notice God more often in your everyday life. Our lives are kind of like a television screen, where different parts of our lives, or even each day is like a different show or channel. The goal is to have God flash across the screen more often compared to anything else.

This again, is not a natural thing for us to do. It is oftentimes difficult to see God in our everyday lives, especially if we are not looking for Him. But what is amazing, is that He doesn't leave us alone! God comes and draws us closer to Him. Those times in your life when you see God and know He is working are orchestrated by Him- that is Him pulling you closer to Him. Those moments when you can feel God with you, that is the work of the Holy Spirit within you, drawing you close to God. It's not a matter of just "trying harder" to see God and realize His presence in our lives. By His grace, He has not only redeemed and justified us, He is continually at work pulling you closer to Him by the work of the Holy Spirit!
And every time God does this, it is important to remember to respond to His calling! Acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit allowing you to see God more in your daily life. Thank Him for his everlasting love that is pulling us to know Him more. Pray and ask God to reveal himself to you more.

Psalm 46 (read it!) is a great reminder of God's presence in all situations. We see that despite different circumstances (we see natural disasters, internal affairs- civil war, and war from this chapter), God is still present, and He tells us to "Be still, and know that [He] is God" (v.10) in the midst of everything.

So what can we take from all of this? Remember that faith is needed in order to live a life with God in it. And He is a God who can be trusted. We see that through different circumstances, He is there. And by His grace, only He can (and will) continue to draw us near to Him in our everyday lives. Acknowledge it, and thank Him for this gift. The goal is not to just focus on God every second of your life (for that is impossible), but with time, to be able to see Him flash across that screen more and more, trusting that He does and that He will! Try to be intentional and spend some alone time with Him. It is not that we have to talk to Him as a Christian, but that we are so blessed to be able to keep company with Him.