So Shall He Be

I flipped on Oprah today to see what the god of the week is. She’s usually all over the map with her ideologies, looking, looking, looking for she knows not what. And today was no different. But the god she’s promoting today is the ultimate god that nearly everyone worships at one time or another: SELF.

The show started out with the most narcissistic ramble I have ever heard. It’s no secret she has battled her weight for many years, but this is not about that at all, even though the program was ALL about that. Most of us, unless we are naturally thin or have never had a crush on food, or starved ourselves as young women, will struggle with that till the day we die, at which time it will certainly cease to dog us. But what really made me nuts as she went on and on about her life and her weaknesses was the endless I-me-mine that was just so appalling. She’s exhausted, she hasn’t made time for herself, she doesn’t feel like going to work. She also said that Marianne Willliamson, her equally lost guru, said she is eating because she is in need of love. OK, Oprah, who is loved by millions and who clearly loves herself, if this latest rant is any indication, is looking for love just like the average joe, but has no idea where to find it. At this rate, I ask myself, when will it be ever enough? Well, for the one who is their own god, it IS never enough. She made that abundantly clear. What an ego, it borders on nauseating.

If she were an average woman/American, I would say she is suffering from things that are common everyday mood swings. But – and this is a big but – (sorry) she’s not doing it for minimum wage and the hope of maybe paying the rent. People who live like that really ARE exhausted and scared and we all know it. It could be us tomorrow. No, she’s doing it to maintain her status as one of the richest people in the world, and as one who will never worry about paying the bills again. She’s got it all, and no rebellious kids to worry about either. But she’s not happy. She’s filthy rich, but fat. Oh boy, I wish I had some sympathy for her, but I don’t. I do feel sad for her lost spiritual condition, but beyond that, a simple bit of gratitude on her part for her amazing blessings in this life would go a long way toward the temporal happiness she so desperately seeks. If she is so spiritual, why hasn’t she learned to rise above this muck? Oprah, how’s that New Age junk workin’ for ya? Have you figured out that you are insufficient to meet the challenges of life by your own strength? If not, when will this dawn on you?

The Bible has a verse that has me endlessly fascinated and I think really answers a lot of questions. Solomon said in Proverbs 23:7, “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” It doesn’t say, as a man thinketh in his brain, it says heart. More insight to this verse is found in Matthew 15, and comes from the Lord Himself. ^{” 18}But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. ¹⁹For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: ²⁰These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.” So when people insist their brains are miswired and that is why they are messed up, they are not in agreement with God’s Word on where the mess originates. Our messed up emotions and thoughts come from our fallen nature, our hearts that are fixated on self at the expense of others’ feelings and futures. When we give ourselves to anger and rage and such, we poison everyone around us. But what do we do when our anger, hatred, jealousies and false witnesses spill over and cause deep pain and hurt? We either become indifferent and apathetic, or if we have a conscience left, we go to the shrink, and get a dose or two of chemicals to “fix it”. Dear reader, no chemical compounds made my man will ever keep our unregenerate whims and moods from spilling out of our mouths. No amount of ‘counselling’ can ever replace confession and repentance before the Lord, the only One who can forgive and change us.

What plagues you? Fear? Give it to God. Worry? Confess that too. If people only truly believed that whatever we think on we will become, we would hopefully begin to see ourselves in the light of reality, and then allow our Maker to do what He needs to do in us day by day to prevent a meltdown. Solomon’s statement is actually scary in itself, because today, people are so unyielding, so uncorrectable, that unless they see this as sin and repent of it, they will continue to have a hard heart about whatever they choose, as their own god of self dictates to them. It might be a hard heart toward truth as found in the Bible – this is the ultimate danger in this day of rampant apostasy! Frightening indeed, but this seems to be where people are at today.

God is very concerned about what goes on inside of us, as it will affect us physically, mentally, and spiritually one way or another, for better or worse. We dare not think we can get away with evil thoughts that originate from within; we must never play with fire and allow ourselves to be given over to unprofitable and harmful emotions and decisions. What is taking place in your heart today? If it screams of self-love and the welfare of our tiny little universe, shake it off and replace it with His thoughts, His life, His peace.