176. Wala ka sa Lolo ko. He is grateful for the Lord relented and did not bring further disaster on him.
9 July 2021
The Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster.
The Golden Calf
Exodus 32
3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.
4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt.
10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?”
14 Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
Exodus 20
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Then here in Exodus 32, the Israelites turned to worship an idol cast in the shape of a calf.
The Lord was to burn His anger against the Israelites, Moses interceded, he pleaded and sought the favor of the Lord for the Israelites. The Lord relented and did not bring disaster on His people.
Exodus 22
26 If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset,
27 because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
What is idol worship? What is idolatry?
From britannica website/topic/idolatry:
Several forms of idolatry have been distinguished. Gross, or overt, idolatry consists of explicit acts of reverence addressed to a person or an object—the sun, the king, an animal, a statue. This may exist alongside the acknowledgment of a supreme being; e.g., Israel worshiped the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai, where it had encamped to receive the Law and the covenant of the one true God.
A person becomes guilty of a more subtle idolatry, however, when, although overt acts of adoration are avoided, he attaches to a creature the confidence, loyalty, and devotion that properly belong only to the Creator."
From crosswalk website/faith/spiritual-life/things-christians-need-to-know-about-idolatry:
Nearly Anything—Even Good Things—Can Become Idols. They can just as easily be more intangible things like power, fame, wealth, or popularity. In fact, they are often good things which have been given as gifts from God. The problem comes when we forget the Giver and instead worship the gift.
It’s a normal and human thing to desire the gifts that God gives. But it is important to rightly order our desires, keeping God Himself and knowing Him as our greatest desire, saying with the Psalmist:
As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul
thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God? (Psalm 42:1-2)
Idols Take, God Gives.
God is called a “jealous God” many times in the Bible (e.g. Exodus 20:5, Deuteronomy 4:24, Joshua 24:19, Psalm 78:58, Ezekiel 39:25) and humans are called to worship Him alone. At first, this description of God might seem like a negative trait, as if He is being demanding or selfish. But He is also omniscient, meaning He knows everything, including the fact that we will never find true fulfillment apart from worshipping Him. That is why he is continually calling out—through the law and the prophets and the gospels and the epistles alike—that He is better than any idol we could possibly devise. We will find salvation and true satisfaction in no one else."
When life was good, a stable job, a house, a car and children were going to private school, I attributed it to my ability. I should say that's the tendency for most of us.
That tendency is "Praise Me". I would have a good night sleep feeling secure with the amenities in life. Illness was far from my mind as I was physically and mentally well. The prospects of life were good, nothing to worry.
I did not necessarily need help from others.
It was a subtle drifting to idol worship of self. It was a thin line between dignity and pride. It was a slow feeding of self with praise, like how termite works.
Then disaster struck, I had no stable income in the next 5 years when my children were starting college.
I was tested with the praise of self that I was little by little craving for, feeling accomplished.
Disaster had fallen on me, I cried out to the Lord, I asked for His forgiveness, I repented, He relented and He did not bring further disaster on me and in turn He restored me.
The Lord heard the cry of my heart. Family and friends were God-sent in my long hour of affIiction.
One would say it comes easy to say "Hallelujah. Praise God." when life is good. It should follow.
The Lord put His praise in the lips of my heart. Praise for family and friends. I had a change of heart, Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Hallelujah. Amen.
For me, Hallelujah is for bad times and good, it is a heart lifestyle.
Let's continue to pray for the pandemic to come to an end and for life to return to normal. Let there be no other gods in our life before the Lord our God.
Let's plead and seek the favor of the Lord for Him to relent from bringing further disaster on us.
Jonah 3
9 “Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
""Relent, LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us — yes, establish the work of our hands" (Psalm 90:13-17). Lord, do not bring more disaster to our country, this I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
5 January 2018"
My children's children will someday say, wala ka sa Lolo ko; he is grateful for the Lord relented and did not bring further disaster on him.
May you be blessed with God's Word.
Dear blog viewers in Ireland, Sweden and Russia, if you will read this blog I am eager to get feedback from you (and from everyone else for that matter), either through blog comment or email: pbgonzales@gmail.com.
Maraming salamat sa lahat na magbabasa ng blog na ito.
Comments
Post a Comment