21st CENTURY IDOLATRY

Devotional for Thursday February 17, 2022

Morning Jeremiah 7:21-27

Noon Psalm 2

Evening Isaiah 6:1-13

A very subtle form of idolatry has penetrated the Christian world of the 21st century: the cult of success. A pastor is worth his results. If he has a church full of members, or a high financial budget, then it is a sign that he is a successful pastor. The god of "success" is becoming the Baal who tests our fidelity. God did not promise success to Isaiah, God predicted failure, but God also demanded fidelity from Jeremiah. God did not promise Jeremiah success; indeed, God predicted the people would not hear him, but God demanded that he continue preaching. Christ did not promise his followers success, He did not promise them temples full of people, nor great wealth, nor tall and comfortable buildings. Christ promised them a cross, a pilgrimage through the desert, abandoning everything for Him. He did not demand the results of his disciples, but he demanded that they go out and proclaim the message of salvation. Success is not negative, what is extremely dangerous is the cult of success. The cities of Sardis and Laodicea were very lively and strong, but Christ only had rebukes for them. The cities of Smyrna and Philadelphia were poor and weak, but Christ praised them wholeheartedly for their faith. May your success be praised by God and measured by the fulfillment of the great commission.

Written by Antonio Corrales,

Translated by Maria Elena Cardona

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Morning Jeremiah 7:21-27

21 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.

22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:

23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:

26 Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.

27 Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.

Noon Psalm 2

1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,

3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.

5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Evening Isaiah 6:1-13

1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

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Prayer Guide: [E.U. Diócesis Oeste-Dallas] and [México-Nva. Rosita]

February's challenge: Show love, not only with words but with deeds, to your relatives, to your spiritual brothers and the neighbors. Give them flowers, make a donation when needed, write something special to them, help the needy, feed the hungry, etc. Pray for this daily.

Annual Bible reading: Deuteronomy 3, 4, 5