When Facing Your Idol

1 John 5:20-21

We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

See God's strategy for overcoming idols. He lives among the idols. He walks among the idols. Between the people and the idols, he "will be their God" and they will choose to "be my people" as in Exodus 6:7. His actions and power alone produce a response from the people. See the testimony of a changed life. His power casts down everything that is not of him according to 2 Corinthians 10:5. If our lives are the temple of the living God in 1 Corinthians 6:19, it is God's right to rearrange anything he pleases inside or outside it. That includes your finances, your love life, your plans, your likes, your dislikes, prejudices, your job, and anything that is in his way. It may not be an idol to you but that does not mean it is the best for you. God's heart is on display. Notice the progression from an unbeliever in wickedness to idolatry with other things before God. The grace of God "leads you to repentance" in Romans 2:4. He's like that mate that you hated at first sight, but whom you just kept seeing every time you turned around. You could not listen to him without cursing him, yet his truth was spoken into your life. Then, you began to see he was right. Then next thing you know, you are asking him into your life to speak to you and counsel you all the time. Notice the relational nature of God. He is not just a being or a power; he is personal. We see in the last phrase the adoption of God contains his sons and daughters. See, this is the Scriptural relationship between God and his children. This nonsense that Jesus is my brother is demonic. The devil saw himself as equal with God in Isaiah 14:12-14 just before he fell. God will not tolerate anything else before him or on the same level as him in 2 Corinthians 10:5. His love and presence, described in 1 John 4:11, casts down everything that is against him.