Don't Be Fooled, God Is All You Need
What do you do when you’ve tried everything, but nothing seems to work?
Frustration has a way of tempting us to try just about anything to heal a sickness, solve a financial problem, mend a broken heart, or get piece of mind. When we reach the point of desperation we become vulnerable to those who would prey on our weaknesses for their own personal profit.
Whether it’s the snake oil salesman who sells a bottle of sweet water as a miracle cure or the traveling faith healer who heals every sickness from cancer to the common cold for a generous offering, there are many who would take advantage of the vulnerability of the frustrated masses.
There are millions, especially in the South, who, in their frustration, turn to voodoo doctors, witchcraft, and palm readers. They spend tons of money consulting their psychic connections. No one likes to admit it, but there are millions of African-Americans who are influenced by South Louisiana Voodoo even though we sit in churches on Sunday.
Millions, seeking to rid themselves of enemies or to resolve complicated personal situations turn to Voodoo spells, even though they call on the Lord on Sunday.
For centuries Voodoo witchdoctors have cast their spells on Black America and any others who listened. These witch doctors concocted a brand of religion unique to Louisiana called Hoodoo, which involved incantations, voodoo dolls and the blood of animals. Even today, tourists find voodoo dolls and chicken bones being sold in novelty shops all over Acadiana.
The Hoodoo, espouses a belief in God, but it teaches that God disconnects himself from the daily affairs of people. Instead there are spirits that can be called on to do godly type work if we call on them with the proper chant and seek atonement or demonstrate humility by shedding the blood of an animal.
Thousands of Hoodoo proverbs are repeated in African-American homes just as if there were biblical:
-- If you lay a broom across the doorway at night, a witch can't come in and hurt you.
–If a woman is your first visitor on Monday mornings it is bad luck for the rest of the week.
--Don't borrow or lend salt because that is bad luck.
--If you sweep trash out of the house after dark you will sweep away your luck.
--If a woman sprinkles some salt from her house to yours, it will give you bad luck until you clean the salt away and put pepper over your door sill.
--If a woman wants her husband to stay away from other woman, she can do so by putting a little of her blood in his coffee, and he will never quit her.
--You can give someone a headache by taking and turning their picture upside down.
--You can harm a person in whatever way you want to by getting a lock of his hair and burning some and throwing the rest away.
It may seem hard to believe but there are millions who believe Hoodoo teachings although they sit in Christians churches every Sunday. At church they pray to God but they have horseshoes over their doors for good luck, believe a broken mirror will give them seven years bad luck, and think a rabbit’s foot brings them good luck.
They have been bewitched.
The bible warns us to be careful regarding bewitching individuals, ungodly practices and unfaithfulness. We are warned repeatedly to trust in the Lord and lean not to our own understandings.
When it comes to troubling times it is best to remember the words of David in Psalm 71:1 "In thee O Lord do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion."
As Christians, we should always be vigilant that we trust only in God and not in the army of false prophets and ideas that will bewitch us and pull us away from our faith.
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God Dwelleth in you?If any man defile the temple of God,him shall God destory:for the temple of God is holy,which temple ye are. 1Cor 3:16-17
A temple is a holy place, consecrated for the service and worship of a power greater than ourselves.
In this first verse we are reminded that the temple of God is our bodies.
The place where a man expects to meet God first is within the narrow confines of his consciousness. The place where he should expect to commune with God is within the hallowed sanctuary of his heart. Our text therefore specifies that God's primary house is within us.
The spirit of God dwells in his house, and if you want an encounter with God, you have to meet him at his house. If you want to show gratitude for what God has done, it begins with the attitude of your heart. You can't meet God in a public demonstration unless you've first had a talk with him in a private situation.
But God's spirit will not dwell in an unclean temple. If I want to make my heart the temple of the Holy Ghost, I must clean up act my act.
I heard the psalmist say, Create in me oh Lord a clean heart. ..Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
I heard the song writer say, I'm not asking for the riches of the land ,I'm not asking for high men to know my name ...but give me Lord a clean heart...a clean heart, that I may follow thee.
A lot of things can be accomplished if we talk to God in his house. Prayers can be answered, problems can be solved, inspiration can de found, if we talk to God, in his house.
I hear the hymnologist saying Have a little talk with Jesus, ..just a little talk with Jesus makes it right!
In our smartness we give ourselves too much credit
There are many today who rely totally upon their own intelligence, imagination and intuition to achieve what they call success. These are the individuals who believe that with a good education and a little luck, success is just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. They believe it is their skill and knowledge alone that accounts for their climb. They attribute everything else to sheer luck. Obviously, education is an important factor in any persons development. Imagination, intuition and skill are all essential to personal development. Yet these do not supersede the need to have God in our lives.
In our smartness, we should never revel in the fact that we have graduated from Grambling, Southern, Morehouse, Dillard or some other fine institution of learning. The sheepskin diploma that hangs on our wall attests to whats in our head, but we count on the power of God to take whats in our head and put it in our hands and feet in a productive and spiritual fulfilling way.
When Solomon finished his foolish living he concluded that whats really smart is that we trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. At best, our understanding of life is miniscule and Lilliputian. Anything one who thinks he succeed by his own efforts is mistaken. He represents the type that makes us shake our head and ask, How can someone so smart, be so dumb? We need the Love of God to make life real and meaningful.
Instead of simply being a slogan on our money, In God we trust should be a testament to what we really want to do with our lives.
Closing
Finally, brothers and sisters we must consider that if the world gives us questions, Jesus is the answer.
All over Samaria people came to Philip with a large array of questions about their health, wealth and their state of the souls. He gave them one remedy, Jesus is the answer.
To those who have been bewitched by voodoo and witchcraft and caught in the sticky snares of possession and delusion, like Philip we say, Jesus is the answer.
It’s not a psychic connection, palm reader or metaphysical quack that can resolve our dilemma, Jesus is the answer.
Philip preached Jesus because powerful things happen when you call upon the name of the Lord!
When you call upon the name of the Lord:
--The wicked will cease their troubling!
--The weary will be at rest!
--Mountains can become molehills and valleys can be exalted!
--Enemies can become friends!
--Hatred can be turned into love!
--Setbacks can become starting points!
Simon eventually believed and was baptized. He learned what we already know. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
Jesus is the answer.
That’s why we don’t go to witch doctors, soothsayers, and false prophets; we take it to the Lord in prayer.
I don’t know about you but I’ve learned that prayer changes things.
Prayer can:
--Turn deviant children into obedient siblings
--Turn wayward husbands into loving fathers
--Turn the hard hearted into the tender hearted
--Turn upside down lives right side up again!!
Jesus is the answer!
Jesus, the Lily of the valley!
Jesus, the bright and morning star!
Jesus, who died out on Calvary!
Jesus, who rose after three days and nights!
Try Jesus!
He'll make everything alright!