How does one deal with an idol in there lives?

[Seeker Of Jesus]

My brothers and sisters i seem to have a problem. it was a while back that i believe that God in His mercy and grace revealed to me that i have an idol in my life.

There are many people that think that an idol is something that one worships and praises aside from God or as God like budda, muhhamed, allah, mary, nature (pagans and wicca), goddesses, angels, etc but an idol can also be something that you give more attention and time to than God, that can be your wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend, kids, parents, other family members, your brothers and sisters in christ, your job, the tv, computers, video games, smartphones, and the list can go on and on and on. Brothers and sisters i have an idol in my life, and that idol is technology. My idol is the tv, my computer, my smartphone, video games, technology as a whole. I truly feel like The Holy Spirit has comvicted me about this because as a husband or wife would get jealous if his/her spouse were to all of a sudden give there undivided attention and time to another man/woman than them so does The Lord get jealous because He is as scriptures say our Bridegroom and we (the church) are His bride and it is He who is worthy of all our attention and time, and love, worship/praise.

I give so much attention to these things that i can go hours and hours on these things and go days with out praying or reading and when i do decide to finally give Him some of my time and attention i give Him (who is worthy of it all) a crappy portion. Many times The Holy Spirit tells me (i feel a very light and faint feeling or something telling me) to read or pray, spend time with Him but i choose not to because i'm doing something else that has nothing to do with Him. There are times when He does tell me and i do want to do it but my addiction to technology is so bad that many many times it overshadows that and so i go to that instead of My Lord, saviour, my Love Jesus Christ.

I know that i grieve Him and His spirit so much because of this but as i said in the last paragraph this is an addiction and an addiction is not something easy to kick. I also don't want to use that as an excuse for my actions, what i am guilty of is idolatry plain and simple and i need if not MUST deal with this but i don't know how. I'm not good at remembering bible verses but in the word it says that there is a time for everything and i believe that there can be a time where i can enjoy these things but there HAS to be a time for God and by time i don't mean the small scraps of portions of my attention and time that i many times give Him. Brothers and sisters i ask that you please pray for me that the Lord in His great and infinite mercy help me with this and pray that these idols if they can not be dealt with in a way that i can balance these things and God then that God out right CUTS these things out of my life. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Love your brother in Christ

Jonathan

 

[Fragrant Grace]

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me
Philippians 4:13

@Seeker Of Jesus

Greetings Jonathan

Firstly.... Praise the Lord and thank Him for showing you that technology has become an idol in your life
Thank Him that though Him you can accomplish all things (for His word says so....I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me)

Ask Him to retake the throne of your heart and to cast every idol away
Commit to Him any doubts and fears you have about succeeding ( Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief Mark 9:24)

Then show the Lord that you mean business
Leave all your technology out of reach.....go out somewhere and spend some time alone with the Lord in prayer and in the scriptures
Ask Him to rekindle your heart with passion for Him
Ask Him to make your heart burn with passion for the word

Shew me Thy ways, O LORD; teach me Thy paths.
Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me: for Thou art the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day
Psalm 25:4-5

The Lord is abundantly able to free you from this idol
And He will lead you in His truth....His word says so

The devil is a liar and he will be trying to trip you up and make you think you will fail
But hallelujah in Jesus you have victory.....you just need to claim that victory

Praying for you Jonathan....trusting and believing in Jesus to carry you through this

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:13

The dearest idol I have known,
Whate’er that idol be
Help me to tear it from Thy throne,
And worship only Thee.*

*William Cowper 1772

 

[AbbysAunt]

Hello Seeker Of Jesus( Jonathan),

What you are dealing with many others have dealt with too, myself included. A good few years ago I too struggled with my addiction to the computer as well as the addiction to people I was involvedwith on that computer(wrong crowd). I was spending way to much time on the computer and ignoring my family, friends and most importantly my relationship with Jesus. It got to the point that I wasn't myself at all and become with drawn and moody and even my own mother commented on it. If the computer stopped working or broke down I had literal fits and got upset and cried over it.This was not me at all. It came down to the point of for me personally having to give up the computer for a long while.





To let God work and help me through this addiction I had to stop getting on the computer. It was sort of like a fast only instead of food I fasted from the computer. I'll admit it was wasn't easy butlooking back now it was worth it because where I am at now is so much better than where I was a few years ago. You need to know that you have the power to change what you want or need to change and that strength and power comes from Jesus. There is nothing that can control you unless you let it. Don't let satan steal your joy or take away from your walk with Jesus. Technology only has the control we give it, so my advice is this my friend pray for Jesus to guide you and fast from technology for as long as He leads you too. Giving your time to Him first and foremost. Spend time inHis word and give Him Praise Daily and Thank Him for all He has done and will do in your life.







Today I can honestly tell you my Life is great and God has blessed me beyond measure, but even now I still have make sure I don't spend to much time online and if I do it is then I take a break for a few days from the computer. I will be praying for you and knowing that God will and is going to help you through this.





1 Corinthians 6: 12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.


God Bless you
AA

 

[Seeker Of Jesus]

The devil is a liar and he will be trying to trip you up and make you think you will fail
But hallelujah in Jesus you have victory.....you just need to claim that victory

First i wanna thank you both for replying and for your advice, i really appreciate it.


I do doubt alot and think that i'll fail which i guess is the work of the enemy, the reason why i doubt is because i many times look towards my own strength and see my weakness and see the height and magnitude of the mountain that has gotten in my way and become intimidated by it instead of looking at His strength and thats a big mistake, i mean look at what happened when peter took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the ocean which at the time there was a really bad storm and allowed fear and doubt to enter his heart, he fell in the ocean and nearly drowned. Thankfully even in His doubt Jesus was quick to come to His rescue. addiction is not a light matter and so i know that this purging process by The Holy Spirit wont be an easy journey, it'll perhaps be a painful one, after all having ones arm cut off is not a pleasurable feeling. but as Philippians 4:13 says i can indeed do all things through Christ who strengthens me.


Again i thank you both and may the Lord Bless you

 

[Fragrant Grace]

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57

@Seeker Of Jesus

Greetings Jonathan

I was reading this morning and thought of you as I read.
This is part of one of the letters that John Newton wrote to a friend in 1767

When our sins prevail, remember that we have an Advocate with the Father, who is able to pity, to pardon, and to save to the uttermost!
Think of the names and relations which Jesus bears to us.
Does He not call Himself—a Saviour, a Shepherd, a Friend, and a Husband?
Has He not made known unto us His love, His atoning sacrifice, His righteousness, His promises, His power, and His grace—and all for our encouragement?
It is better to be admiring the compassion and fullness of grace which is in our Savior—than to dwell and pore too much upon our own poverty and vileness.

Remember that He has loved you with an everlasting love—and therefore in loving-kindness has drawn you to Himself.
He will surely accomplish that which He has begun.
Nothing which can be named or thought of—shall ever be able to separate you from Him!
This persuasion will give you strength for the battle!
This is the shield which will quench the fiery darts of satan!
This is the helmet which the enemy cannot pierce! Be strong, therefore—not in yourself—but in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Remember, the growth of a believer is not like a mushroom—but like an oak, which increases slowly indeed—but surely.
Many suns, showers, and frosts, pass upon it before it comes to perfection.
And in winter, when it seems to be dead—it is gathering strength at the root.
Be humble, watchful, and diligent in the means, and endeavor to look through all, and fix your eye upon Jesus—and all shall be well.
I commend you to the care of the good Shepherd.

May the Lord bless you Jonathan....keep looking to Jesus
Keep rejoicing in His victory and He will enable you to overcome this idol

Where sin abounded grace did much more abound
Romans 5:20

 

[james1523]

You could be thirsting and hungering for something that God can only satisfy, and you are seeking it in other things, in technology. Perhaps its acceptance, enjoyment, fun, excitement, that you seek, or you are just wanting an escape from our environment, God knows.

Religious people will tell you it's wrong, you shouldn't do it, get rid of it completely, confess your sins, and try harder and better next time.
But this way is hard and doesn't work.

Being set free from an addiction, is not a painful process, it is pleasurable, enjoyable. Those thoughts that it is hard, painful, difficult, is from satan, who is a liar. When God takes something away, He gives something even better. This something better is Himself. It feels refreshing, releasing, enjoyable. Imagine someone taking a load of bricks off your back, it feels like that. If it's hard and painful, you are not relying on God you are trying in your own efforts.

As some practical advice, If you can't enjoy God apart from the addiction, why not enjoy God in the addiction. How about including God in your addiction. Pray to God and think of God as you are playing games, as you are on the mobile phone, or PC, or whatever.Talk to God as you watch TV, pray for all the characters and actors, or as you play a game, talk to God and listen to Him how to win and score better. Sometimes God enables me to get a high score when I play a game, He shows me what to do, and gives me the ability and confidence to win. Other times, He lets me lose, and then teaches me (by experience) how not to be a sore loser.
Don't beat yourself up about it, cultivate the presence of God in your life, eventually you'll love Him and His presence much more than the idols.

God created us for pleasure and to enjoy life. There's nothing wrong with pleasure and enjoyment. The problem is the source. The problem is we our self turn to things other than God to obtain pleasure and life. So the cure, is to find more pleasure in God more than the idol. And when we turn to God at the same time we are enjoying an idol, the idol loses its power and grip over us.

At the same time the Spirit convicts us of something, about this time satan will come and accuse us before God, to try and make us feel dirty and worthless, and basically feel bad. At this time we need to remind ourselves of what Christ did for us on the cross, shedding his blood for our sins, and us being covered by the blood, and us being righteous in Christ not in ourselves. At the same time your conscience will condemn you, and make it seem much worse than it actually is, aka self-condemnation Then we need to remind ourselves that there is no condemnation in Christ, He does not condemn us but loves us and makes us feel good. The issue is not the idol thing itself but the self which feeds off the idol. That is, our self which gets pleasure from the idol thing. The self which obtains pleasure and enjoyment from the idols, must now obtain pleasure and enjoyment from Christ.

We need to love Christ more than the self. And we need to deny our-self. To deny our self means to deny the pleasurable feelings we get whenever we turn to the idols , feelings of comfort, joy, happiness, contentment, satisfaction, fun?. We need to deny these nice feelings and pursue Christ through prayer, harder and stronger, until we gain enjoyment from Him. The best way to get started is to be honest with God. e.g. tell Christ you don't love Him much. "Lord, I don't love you". He seems to appreciate that kind of honesty, and enjoy a heart to heart talk with God. Idols do not give life, only Christ gives life. And with Christ's life comes enjoyment and satisfaction. Idols give temporary pleasure but don't give genuine satisfaction. They make us feel empty.

So spend as much time with God as possible, reading the bible and praying to Him, and reading the bible as you pray (i.e. at the same time) , and ask to be filled with the Spirit, until you feel full and satisfied, based on experience, it will take about 30 minutes at least, and then the desire for the idols should reduce, and you should be able to see what they are, just pieces of silicon chip and electrons, that are taking up your valuable time. Time you could spend praying and looking for a lovely girlfriend or wife, starting a new business venture, or finding a better job, getting better school grades, whatever. Think of all the things that could be done with the time lost through idolatry, and see the idol for what it is, a waste of time, and waste of money, the idol is a stealer, a thief and a liar.

God is using this addiction so that you can experience His grace and goodness.
All things work together for good. Rom 8:28.
This addiction is for your own good.
He lets us fall down, then he picks us up again.
You will experience for yourself that nothing other than God can satisfy your inner man and give you life. Technology is a useful tool that God has given us, but it doesn't give life.
Then you will experience Christ as the life giving water so that you never thirst again. John 4:13-14.

 

[Seeker Of Jesus]

Thanks for advice james1523, i appreciate it .

It's very true what you said about the thing itself not being the problem but what self (my flesh) feeds off of it. It's not easy to not feel the enjoyment or satisfaction i get when i'm interacting with technology after all i myself have conditioned my mind to feel a sense of content and satisfaction when i'm interacting with it. The mind is a very powerful thing, we can condition it for our good or bad, in my case i have (not on purpose) conditioned my mind to find enjoyment, and satisfaction in interacting with technology then interacting with God and doing the things which pleases Him. One way we can condition our selves is if lets say you are in your house alone and you are very bored and so you do something to try to fill and satisfy that feeling of being bored, now the first time it may not do anything to your mind but as you progress and continue to lets say only do that thing when you're feeling bored and nothing else then you are actually conditioning (or programming) your mind to only feel content and satisfied when you are taking part in a certain activity. That conditioning can get worse though, due to the point where you only associate that feeling of satisfaction when you are taking part in that particular area. Which is how addiction is formed especially addiction to drugs. The thing with these feelings is that it is all an illusion, it's a feeling that is only temporary, it's a counterfeit to what God provides, because the satisfaction and joy that He gives is everlasting unlike the things of this world which are temporary. To fix this God has to repair our minds and fix the damage done by calibrating our minds back (or condition it back) to it's original state where God has always wanted it to be so that i can finally come to the realization that He and only He can truly and fully satisfy us and give us true peace, joy, excitement.

This is something that only The Great I AM can do and no one else, and i feel a sense of joy now as i type this because i know that He is going to Glorify Himself in my situation. All Glory and all praise be to He who was the same yesterday, is the same today and will be exact same 893482347892589464894389238948989539050658938935 years from now, and while i myself dont know how to pronounce that number....no, that is not an exageration

Thanks again james1523

God Bless