The Brook Miami

The gods we make, make their home in our hearts. They rest comfortably behind respectable and admirable character traits. I’m not power hungry, I’m just driven. I’m not a control freak, I’m just particular. I’m not a people pleaser, I’m just a high achiever. I’m not addicted to comfort, I just like nice things and the list goes on and on. They rest comfortably as long as we appease them. They wreak havoc when we miss the mark or when something else disrupts the routine making their anger and displeasure known with experiences of restlessness, anxiety, and broken relationships. We need freedom. However, walking in freedom from the god’s we make isn’t a momentary experience, it’s a meaningful pursuit. It’s an everyday journey where the God who is reclaims the grounds of our hearts stolen by the gods we make. It’s a journey that where the first step is to face our hearts courageously and honestly. Join us as we face our hearts together and the 4 dominant gods we all tend to make.

The power of attraction creates a type of unavoidable gravity in our hearts drawing us to the things that have captured our imagination and affections. The power of addiction creates a type of glue in our hearts undeniably,binding us to things whether we like it or not. We know these powers from a physical perspective, but just like there are physical attractions and addictions, there are spiritual ones too. The spiritual ones are more powerful and more pervasive. God knows this and wants us to not just be aware but be on guard. This week we look at how God tenderly and truthfully challenges and cautions His people in love.

Making a god is as simple as making any of our favorite meals, we just follow the recipe. Interesting enough both start with a desire. When a good or bad desire becomes an ultimate desire, we’ve made a god. Unlike our favorite dishes, this product of our creation can’t satisfy, but only enslaves us. This week we look at the particulars of this process focusing on the exchange we make in our hearts, and the cost the trade off brings.

Making a god is as simple as making any of our favorite meals—we just follow the recipe. Interesting enough, both start with a desire. When a good or bad desire becomes an ultimate desire, we’ve made a god. Unlike our favorite dishes, this product of our creation can’t satisfy but only enslaves us. This week we look at the particulars of this process focusing on the assumption we make regarding the desire, and the accusation we make towards the God who is.

 

When we think of idolatry, we often think of man-made statues formed by our ancestors to receive blessings, find meaning, and make sense of the world. We also think of elaborate altars where bloodthirsty gods require sacrifice and worship— the currency to appease and control them.

We may think that through our cultural advancements we’ve moved past our forefathers, but we couldn’t be further from the truth. Though the gods we make may not appear as towering figures of gold and silver, they still tower in our hearts evidenced by the sacrifices we make. How many children have been sacrificed by workaholic parents on the altar of success? How many relationships have been sacrificed on the altar of pleasure? How many sleepless nights and money has been sacrificed on the altar of beauty? How many friendships have been sacrificed on the altar of control? The gods we make may not live in temples erected in our cities, but they do live in the temples of our hearts.

Our gods are things that capture our imagination and absorb our heart—things so central and essential to our life that should we lose them, life would feel hardly worth living. They’re things that have such a controlling a position in our hearts that we spend emotional energy, financial resources, and time on them without a second thought. Scripture would diagnose these as the gods of our lives. Truth be told they’re easy to love, but they never love us back. Unfortunately for us there are very few things as jarring and destructive as one-sided love. To love someone or something that doesn’t love us back or can’t love us back will eventually take its toll. Every time we make something other than Jesus the primary source of meaning, hope, or of j oy, we enter into a relationship with a lesser god where love is one-sided, and pain is around the corner. The gods we make, make us slaves in return. Knowing this isn’t enough—if we want freedom from the things we easily love but don’t love us back, we have to identify why we’re so drawn to them in the first place, what they do to us in our hearts, how they show up in our lives, and how they’ve become a counterfeit god that makes promises only the one true God can fulfill. Journey with us as we face ou r hearts towards the God who truly is and who not only loves us back but loves us better and loved us first.

Whether temporarily, permanently, incidentally, or intentionally, whatever place we find ourselves in life can be a time of just passing through or establishing something. In a city like ours there are obvious and hidden challenges to building a life, but what if we saw obstacles as opportunities? What if we saw chance as design? What if we believed the good to be experienced where we were was tied to contribution and striving not consuming or settling? What if we believed God wasn’t where the grass seemed greener but was with us in the here and now cultivating life for our good, other’s good, and His glory?

Over the next 4 weeks we will ask and answer those questions dealing with what could be if we joined God as we are where we are for a time such as now in a place such as ours.

Whether temporarily, permanently, incidentally, or intentionally, whatever place we find ourselves in life can be a time of just passing through or establishing something. In a city like ours there are obvious and hidden challenges to building a life, but what if we saw obstacles as opportunities? What if we saw chance as design? What if we believed the good to be experienced where we were was tied to contribution and striving not consuming or settling? What if we believed God wasn’t where the grass seemed greener but was with us in the here and now cultivating life for our good, other’s good, and His glory?

 

Over the next 4 weeks we will ask and answer those questions dealing with what could be if we joined God as we are where we are for a time such as now in a place such as ours.

Whether temporarily, permanently, incidentally, or intentionally, whatever place we find ourselves in life can be a time of just passing through or establishing something. In a city like ours there are obvious and hidden challenges to building a life, but what if we saw obstacles as opportunities? What if we saw chance as design? What if we believed the good to be experienced where we were was tied to contribution and striving not consuming or settling? What if we believed God wasn’t where the grass seemed greener but was with us in the here and now cultivating life for our good, other’s good, and His glory?