Idols of Wood and Stone 9-9-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Surrounded by spiritual darkness, I pray for the light of Your glory to arise in my spirit. Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. Greater is the light of Your Holy Spirit abiding in me than the darkness that surrounds me. I worship You in my heart and in the place. ... We have traveled to southern region of Tamil Nadu, India to the city of Madurai. They call this "the temple city" because of the huge temple in the center of the city and smaller temples literally everywhere else. The people go to the temples every day to bow down to the thousands of gods at each one, to offer their sacrifice and money they don't have to give to idols of wood and stone painted in grotesque images. They worship what they fear to appease the gods, to bring good luck, and to protect them from bad luck. How it must break Your heart. "We know that no idol in the world really exists, and that there is no God but one. Indeed even though there may be many so-called gods in heaven or on earth -- as in fact there are many gods and many lords -- yet for us there is one God, the Father from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist" (1 Corinthians 8.4-6). These temples of wood and stone give access to the presence of the so-called gods and lords who masquerade as the true God, demanding worship and ritual that does not bring love, but brings fear. Our Lord is what we submit to lord over us. Our God is what we worship. Your heart is that we be free from the power and dominion of every false god and every false lord. So in Your love and Your mercy, You have commanded us to worship the Lord our God, and no other. "What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, 'I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you and be your Father, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6.16-18). Let our hearts be the city of Your temple. "We are the temple of the living God." Come dwell in power and glory in the temples of Your people. Let us shine as light in the midst of the darkness because the glory of Your manifest presence is shine in the midst of our hearts. Then wherever we go, darkness must flee from Your light. And the eyes of the people will be opened to see their true Father, the true God, who longs to call them sons and daughters. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays