Too Many Lovers: A Guide to Freedom from Idolatry

Too Many Lovers: A Guide to Freedom from Idolatry

by Paul Taylor
Too Many Lovers: A Guide to Freedom from Idolatry

Too Many Lovers: A Guide to Freedom from Idolatry

by Paul Taylor

eBook

$6.49  $6.99 Save 7% Current price is $6.49, Original price is $6.99. You Save 7%.

Available on Compatible NOOK Devices and the free NOOK Apps.
WANT A NOOK?  Explore Now

Related collections and offers


Overview

“Me? Have a problem with idols? You’ve got to be kidding! That’s just something that was practiced by people in ancient religions who weren’t as well educated as we are today…right?” If this was your first thought, you couldn’t be more wrong! The problem of idols and idolatry is not an outdated practice of extinct religions; it’s actually alive and flourishing today in our “modern” society. True, our current idols aren’t typically made of wood, stone, or gold. That’s because idolatry is simply the act of loving and worshipping something or someone more than the one person who actually deserves it – God Himself. So by this definition, we can turn anything or anyone into our personal idol –and we will suffer for it! Most people, even Christians, who practice idolatry aren’t even aware of it, but here they are suffering spiritually, emotionally, and even physically but can’t seem to connect the dots between misery and the practice of idolatry. This study guide was developed to help people find out if idolatry is a bigger problem than you realized. It was put together to help you - and maybe a group of your friends - get real and get honest with each other and with God. This guide was designed to complement the book, Too Many Lovers and to go deeper into God’s truth together. It’s an opportunity to discover the freedom you’ve only dreamed of! This study guide is packed with information, examples, challenging questions, practical steps, and personal application to move you from bondage into personal healing!

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781468539868
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Publication date: 01/25/2012
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 342 KB

Read an Excerpt

Too Many Lovers

A Guide to Freedom from Idolatry
By Paul Taylor Jerry Beneventi Susan King Beneventi

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2012 Paul Taylor
All right reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4685-3988-2


Chapter One

Unit 1: Idolatry Then & Now Session 1: Becoming Aware of Idolatry

The Rules of the Road

I needed a car part in a hurry. The auto parts store was on an access road that was no longer easily accessible because of a recent makeover to the intersection. My solution was to cut through the parking lot of a local fast food restaurant which emptied out onto another road, and there I was—at the auto parts store. After all, I was in a hurry. Thinking back, I remember seeing a police car sitting nearby but thought nothing of it. However, just as I was turning into the auto parts driveway, I discovered that same patrol car was now behind me and had his emergency lights on. "How odd," I thought. "I wonder what that is all about." I was about to find out.

The officer approached my window and his first question was, "Do you know why I stopped you?" My response was both surprised and truthful. "I haven't got a clue!" It turned out that my shortcut was against the law. "Against the law? You've got to be kidding!" I discovered that police officers with their emergency lights on who stop cars are in fact, "not kidding." Not only was he "not kidding," but my decision to take that shortcut had a $120 fine attached to it. I was floored! I had no idea that my little maneuver was wrong! But not knowing it was wrong didn't exempt me from the consequences of having to pay the fine. I wanted the privilege of driving, but it came with the responsibility of learning the rules of the road. My ignorance did not excuse my wrongdoing. My mistake was certainly understandable, but the truth was—I did break the law.

This experience showed me that I always have a choice in life. If I wanted to avoid the pain of paying tickets in the future, I needed to learn the rules of the road and obey them. If I want things to go well in my life, I need to learn the rules and principles God has woven into the Christian life, and I must obey them. My other choice is to muddle through my Christian life wondering why I suffer over and over and secretly curse God under my breath for being so hard on me.

Being a Christian does not exempt any of us from learning and following the "rules of the road" that God built into life. The number one "rule of the road" is illustrated throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelations and clearly stated in Exodus 20:3, "You shall have no other gods before Me." To ignore or be ignorant of this command may be the primary reason you, your family, your business, and all of society is suffering right now—whether you know it or not!

There is a danger that emerges when we think we already love God enough, and then gradually, we begin to live lives separated from Him in search of something more. God's desire is to have His children see the truth, repent, and come back to Him as their "first love."

"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place." Revelation 2:4-5

SUMMARY

* I always have a choice in life

* Avoiding pain requires learning the rules of the road of life and obeying them

* Being a Christian does not exempt me from learning and following the rules of the road

* God's #1 rule of the road of life is no other gods

* Ignorance or indifference to this truth is the primary cause of pain and suffering in individuals, families, and nations

Questions for Reflection

1. Why do you think ignorance of the law is not an excuse in traffic court?

2. Is it possible to sin without being aware of it?

3. How does God deal with you when you commit an offense against Him or others in ignorance?

4. Is pain the best way to learn the rules of the road? Why or why not?

5. How does your behavior change when you know there is a police officer watching?

6. How does our relationship with God change knowing we always have a choice in life?

7. Can you think of any popular ideas today that excuse our sin choices?

Practicing Idolatry Today

Unfortunately, most Christians are practicing idolatry today and don't even know it. It's time we become aware of the rampant, yet unrecognized sin of idolatry that has gradually corrupted the precious relationship between God the Father and the people who are called by His name. Christians are suffering spiritually, emotionally, and even physically from too many lovers without realizing it.

How does this happen? Instead of loving God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength, Christians fall back in love with the world they just left perhaps because of an offense towards Him or the excitement and pleasure they feel they are missing out on. With our lips we tell God we love Him, but our thoughts and actions are telling Him a completely different story.

Listen to the problem from God's perspective as recorded in Isaiah 29:13, The Lord says:

"These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is made up only of rules taught by men."

What we are really saying is, "God I love you but—I need someone or something else." So we find other "lovers" that eventually consume our time, money, affection and attention. From God's point of view this is simply adultery in the form of idolatry. When we repeatedly give the best of ourselves to what God created, instead of the Creator Himself, it tells Him He isn't our first love anymore. God has a word for it that we don't like to hear and He calls it prostitution.

"They ask a piece of wood for advice! They think a stick can tell them the future! Longing after idols has made them foolish. They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God." Hosea 4:12

SUMMARY

* Idolatry is a rampant, yet unrecognized sin today

* Idolatry corrupts the precious relationship

* Idolatry affects me spiritually, emotionally, and physically

* Idolatry begins with an offense or a belief that I will miss out on excitement or pleasure

* My lips and my life may tell two very different stories

* Idolatry always leads away from God; it reduces our relationship with Him to rules

Questions for Reflection

1. Do you generally think of idolatry as a problem in the lives of people in the Old Testament or the New Testament? Why?

2. Read Colossians 3:5 below. What does this passage teach about idolatry? "Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry."

3. Which idol do you think is more dangerous—an idol of gold or wood on the fireplace mantle that you can see and touch, or "immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed"?

4. Why do you think we try to keep God and our idols instead of worshipping just one?

5. Isaiah 29:13 indicates idolatry eventually reduces our relationship with God to a set of rules. ("Their worship of Me is made up only of rules taught by men"). Some refer to this as "religion over relationship." Have you ever attended a church that fits this description? What was it like? Did it leave you wanting something more?

6. Comment on this statement: "Idolatry begins with an offense or a belief that I will miss out on excitement or pleasure."

How Many Lovers are Too Many?

What if you came home and found another lover in bed with your wife or your husband? Can you imagine the feelings of jealousy, anger, rejection, and rage that the betrayal would produce in you? How would you feel if he or she then tried to convince you that the three of you can live happily together? What if your spouse also tried to convince you that you were still loved—but the new lover was loved too?

To tolerate or nurture this kind of marital perversion will result in the destruction of the family, and will send a curse down the family line. The same is true when we try to mix devotion to false gods with our devotion to the one true God.

Most of the time we actually believe idolatry is not a big deal. Let me give you an illustration while still staying with the topic of marriage. If you hope to be, or are currently married, how much of your partner's love would you feel comfortable with them giving away to another lover? Would you feel comfortable with him or her giving seductive glances, touching hands, exchanging kisses and caresses, and sharing words of love and affection with someone they are not married to? How would you feel if you knew your spouse spent the day thinking about someone else? How about if your beloved took the best gifts you gave to him or her and gave them away to the other lover?

What does this kind of behavior say to the faithful partner? Probably several messages are sent. Here are some examples: You aren't good enough; you don't satisfy me; something is wrong with you; you don't understand my needs, or you aren't meeting my needs; you aren't exciting enough; you're holding me back. Well, this is exactly how God feels when we give the best of ourselves to other lovers. He calls it idolatry and it makes Him jealous. You don't want to make the God of the Universe jealous!

Exodus 34:14, "Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God."

Questions for Reflection

1. In your relationship with God, how many lovers are "too many" lovers? Why?

2. Do you ever feel that God is unaffected emotionally by you or your behavior?

3. How would your behavior change if you knew for certain your actions were making God feel jealous or hurt?

Jealous for Your Love

Our God isn't afraid of idols or idolatry. In fact, He is a compassionate and merciful God who may be saying to you, like the police officer, "Do you know why I stopped you?" We may even sense His anger, but it is the anger of a loving Father who hates to see His children damaged by sin. Like any good father, He wants His children to have the best, but it just so happens that HE IS THE BEST! He is not indifferent toward you or toward your love—He is jealous for your love. He is jealously calling out to everyone who is called by His name, to turn from the other so called "lovers" and come back to Him.

Applying Truth to My Life

What was the most meaningful statement or Scripture you read today? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________

Reword the statement or Scripture into a prayer of response to God. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________

What does God want you to do in response to today's study? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________

* * *

For Further Study

Read Chapter 2 of Too Many Lovers and answer the following questions:

1. Idols distract us from Godly thoughts and behavior. What things distracted this husband and wife from dealing with issues that led to the first affair?

2. How does God respond when we sincerely repent of our sins and return to our First Love?

3. How do you think the wife in this story justified her actions following the return of her husband?

4. Why did the wife think it was acceptable to have two love relationships at the same time? How do you think she divided her attention between her two lovers?

5. Do we sometimes invite other lovers into our relationship with God and divide our attention between Him and those "lovers?" How does God respond to our infidelity?

6. Consider this statement: "Idolatry often starts with small decisions that over time have big consequences." What "small decisions" led this husband and wife into the idolatry that distracted them from each other?

7. Which spouse exhibited the Godly response to infidelity? Describe his/her actions.

8. Which spouse exhibited the Godly response to confession and sincere repentance? Describe his/her actions.

9. How did the husband rid himself of idols?

10. How can his experience help you to identify and remove idols from your life?

Unit 1: Idolatry Then & Now

Session 2: Uncovering the Idolatrous Heart

Idolatry: Then and Now

Some people think idolatry was only a problem in Old Testament times. The truth is that idolatry in the Old Testament was just easier to recognize. People directed their devotion to a visible object called an idol, which often took the form of a man or an animal. Idols were ascribed "god-like" abilities upon which people relied for their well-being. Idols were typically associated with public places of worship, such as temples, or "high places"—hills, mountains, or tall, elaborate man-made structures. This type of idolatry is found throughout the Old Testament, and was even displayed by God's people at times you might least expect it. Read the following passage from Exodus 32:

"When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him." Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 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." When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD." So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'" Exodus 32:1-7

In New Testament times (which includes those of us in the church today), idolatry is not so easy to recognize. People do not always direct their devotion to a tangible object. Devotion may not be associated with the worship of a god, and often is not connected to a religious site. Because of the subtlety in New Testament idolatry, it is critical that we expose the common thread in both Old Testament and New Testament idolatry—the idolatrous heart.

For the idolatrous heart, worship of a physical object is not the real problem; an idol is simply a demonic tool used to encourage the manifestation of idolatry in our hearts. Satan is happy to give some type of supernatural manifestation to anything in order to encourage the sinful desire already rooted in the hearts of every one of us—rebellion against God. This same rebellion, rooted in Satan's heart, caused him, as well as the angels who joined him, to be thrown out of heaven, leaving their appointed positions of authority under God.

"How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!" Isaiah 14:12

"And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day." Jude 1:6

(Continues...)



Excerpted from Too Many Lovers by Paul Taylor Jerry Beneventi Susan King Beneventi Copyright © 2012 by Paul Taylor. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Table of Contents

Contents

a. Rules of the Road....................1
b. Practicing Idolatry Today....................3
c. How Many Lovers are Too Many?....................5
d. Jealous for Your Love....................7
a. Idolatry: Then & Now....................9
b. Uncovering the Idolatrous Heart....................12
c. The Most Powerful Idol....................14
a. God is Love....................21
b. His Love through the Ages....................22
c. Israel's Response to His Unfailing Love....................26
d. God, Our Forever Faithful Partner....................29
a. The Adulterous Partner....................35
b. Judgment and Mercy....................39
c. Idolatry from God's Perspective....................43
d. The Folly of Divorce....................45
a. Losing Our Senses....................49
b. Losing Our Worth....................50
c. The Effect on Future Generations....................53
d. The Ultimate Cost....................56
a. Idolatry Confuses Our Worship....................61
b. Idolatry Corrupts Our Leaders....................64
c. Healing the Church....................66
a. A King After Their Own Hearts....................71
b. Changing the Hearts of Our Leaders....................74
c. The Worst Kind of Disaster....................78
d. Spiritual survival Kit....................81
a. Are You Ready to Get Rid of Idols?....................85
b. Hidden Motives; Hidden Idols....................89
c. True Repentance....................92
a. The Deception of Delayed Consequences....................99
b. Time Exposes the Heart....................102
c. Time to Repent....................105
d. Delayed Gratification....................108
e. A Few Thoughts about Removing Idols....................111
a. A Testimony....................117
b. How to Live Idol-Free....................123
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews