Society hasn’t gone completely down the drain, at least, not yet. But look around!
How much of everything we used to count on as dependable in this nation now seems to be ‘hanging by a thread.’
From the pandemic to the supply chain, from politics to the pulpits, nothing is what it was three years ago. As Americans, it seems that everything we’ve depended on is literally hanging by a thread; that thread seems to be breaking.
The Bible promises:
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV
As mentioned in the previous word God gave me, Jesus did not go where the Romans were sacrificing animals to their gods. He knocked over the tables of corruption in his Father’s house. Note, in 2 Chronicles 7:14 it says ‘my people,’ as in GOD’S PEOPLE. What nonbelievers do or don’t do is not part of the equation. It’s up to us Christians to turn from OUR wicked ways.
I know most Christians do their best to follow 2 Chronicles 7:14, but what if there are ‘wicked ways’ permeated so deep into our culture that we don’t see them as wicked?
That is what God revealed to me.
This sin that I’m about to lay out pinpoints exactly why everything is ‘hanging by a thread.’
It’s amazing how God works. Seemingly out of nowhere, He’ll give a massive data-dump that leads to not only an awakening, but repentance. Being led to repentance not only frees us from our sins, but reveals how those sins have harmed us. Idolatry is one of those sins.
If you’re a Christian reading this, you might be yelling inside, “I don’t commit idolatry!”
Oh, but WE have.
For example, When You Wish upon a Star was written in 1939, by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington, and was most famous for being sung by Jiminy Cricket ( voiced by Cliff Edwards) in the Disney film, Pinocchio. I’m willing to bet we’ve all sung it. In Disney’s Sing-Along Songs, Disneyland Fun (1990-1994) there’s an additional line that I don’t recall being in Pinocchio. In it, a gender was given to fate. That gender is female. It was that version of the song that was stuck in my head when God told me to look up the origins of the word fate.
What I discovered disturbed me.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fate-Greek-and-Roman-mythology
The three weird sisters were goddesses who supposedly measured the destiny and length of people’s lives with thread.
Like all pagan gods and goddess of the time, the three fates were worshiped. The problem is that they are still prayed to and worshiped TODAY, even by God’s own people.
Once God revealed the connection of the widely used words, ‘fate’ to past idols, I immediately thought of this scripture:
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Galatians 6:7 KJV
Hanging by a thread…
Of course God is dealing with us in a way that replicates what we’ve so carelessly worshiped.
I have no idea whether or not giving the three fates glory was intended during the writing of When You Wish upon a Star. Obviously, I wasn’t there. However, that song is just one of MANY examples of how praise to the three fates is spoken.
How many times have you said, “It was fate,” or have even added the word fate right on par with God?
I have. Guilty! Not only have I said foolish phrases like that, I’ve sung the song listed above many, many times. God brought me to repentance for these sins. I hope He does for you, too. I pray (to God not fate) that He will bring society to its knees in repentance for this.
I really feel that God’s had it with this sin: Idolatry is a SERIOUS sin!
“But because the rest of you have forsaken the LORD and have forgotten his Temple, and because you have prepared feasts to honor the god of Fate and have offered mixed wine to the god of Destiny, now I will ‘destine’ you for the sword. All of you will bow down before the executioner. For when I called, you did not answer. When I spoke, you did not listen. You deliberately sinned—before my very eyes—and chose to do what you know I despise.” Isaiah 65:11-12 NLT
What we listen to, what we watch, how we speak, and even how we pray has been contaminated in ways most Christians don’t see or even realize is there!
It’s almost like a veil of confusion has muddy the significance of what we do and say. As Christians, we should know better, especially if we read the Bible, yet we mindlessly go along with whatever standards the world sets. Like drones, we say whatever governments, the media, and corporations say is right. Sure, it may help our social standing and gain acceptance among men, but that’s not what God wants.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. Matthew 16:24-27 NIV
You can’t exactly pick up your cross and follow Jesus if you’re doing and saying what the world says you should do and say.
“Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. Make the LORD of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. Isaiah 8:12-13 NLT
Not fate, destiny, lady luck, the stars alignment, or karma should be feared. It is God whom we should fear; it is God whom we should serve. Nothing is equal to Him.
Remember, our God is a jealous God:
I will put an end to all the idolatrous priests, so that even the memory of them will disappear. For they go up to their roofs and bow down to the sun, moon, and stars. They claim to follow the LORD, but then they worship Molech, too. And I will destroy those who used to worship me but now no longer do. They no longer ask for the LORD’S guidance or seek my blessings.” Zephaniah 1:4-6 NLT
Serve only the LORD your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him. Deuteronomy 13:4 NLT
I am GOD, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of slaves. No other gods, only me. No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatsoever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don’t bow to them and don’t serve them because I am GOD, your God, and I’m a most jealous God. I hold parents responsible for any sins they pass on to their children to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation. But I’m lovingly loyal to the thousands who pray and keep my commandments. Deuteronomy 6:6-10 The Message
Those who worship false gods turn their backs on God’s mercies. Jonah 2:8 NLT
Christians must draw a line. We can no longer turn our backs on God’s mercies. Once we see the idolatry, there is no going back to it; not if we truly love God. No matter how popular it is, we must separate ourselves from evil. Period. There is no gray here. Don’t bow to man, cling to God!
Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live with them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 NLT
God led me to the passage in 2 Corinthians 6, the very day He convicted me on my idolatry to fate.
Not only is God’s love so astounding, but His great mercies never end (Lamentations 3:22) so let’s honor Him by leaving pop-culture in the rearview mirror.
Let’s turn our backs on the false gods, so we can receive God’s mercies.
There’s only one Creator of the universe, and it’s His favor and His alone that we should seek.
How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world. Psalm 31:19 NLT
It’s not too late to proclaim that God, NOT fate, is who guides our steps and controls the universe. It’s not too late to get rid of sin in our own lives, which in turn will heal our land.
The outline is given in 2 Chronicles 7:14, LET’S LIVE IT!
Kimberly Humphreys