Idolatry results from a lack of trust... and most people don't even realize they are committing it.

It can be in the form of a zeal for money. I cared for a person that had books all over his house that taught how to gain wealth... but I didn't see one bible. Or it can be in the form of a zeal for power. Some are so obsessed with gaining control/power that they will forsake everything for it. The most common form is that of a zeal for a person (because we are all betrothed therefore we are seeking that person out) but what often happens is when something goes wrong we blame God for it instead of trusting Him to either make it work or send us someone better-- perhaps another person we were really supposed to be with all along? I could keep going but it would take all night because it can be in the form of a zeal for anything one puts above his/her zeal for God.

The reason it is such a sin to forsake God and put our desires/needs before Him is because He is our provider therefore He wants us to "allow" Him to provide for us instead of stressing ourselves out by grasping at straws, but in order for that to happen we have to allow Him to provide for us by trusting in Him and choosing to have a relationship with Him.. otherwise our desire for these things will take up all of our time and thus crowd Him out of our lives so that we will never be satisfied because ultimately what our soul desires first is Him.

God also has one primary desire and that's to reach us. He wants us to feel the same way about Him. Once we do that He will give us the desire of our hearts.

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God warns against these things for our own benefit... not for His.

He loves us unconditionally and He only wants the best for us.

Idolatry in any form leads to destruction because we are led astray by it and into Satan's grasp. And Satan knows this. That is why he does everything in his power to make us fall victim to it. But God desperately wants to protect us from it so we should choose Him. There is nothing He cannot give us once we do. Satan wants to destroy us and keep us from our callings. He wants to steal our hope and trust in God so that we will allow him to destroy us... that is why he has influenced people to set up those other misleading twin flame sites. He works through the internet and the media. To steal the hope of God's children. And get them to break His heart by turning away from Him.

I've noticed that the theme of a lot of famous love stories is idolatry and thus ends in tragedy. It's just another one of Satan's ploys... his major tactic is to steal the vitality of the Holy Spirit by undermining love, hope, faith etc but he is the father of lies. There is nothing more powerful than the fruit of the spirit. He can try all he wants, but he can never conquer it.

• I always hated the ending of Romeo and Juliet.. because I thought, ‘If he'd have only waited.. instead of giving up and committing suicide.. then they could have been together.' I think that’s probably how God feels when we miss out on all the gifts He has for us because we're committing idolatry.

"So, what does it mean when the scriptures say God is a “jealous God”? We think immediately of a jealous lover who is controlling and demanding, and flies into a rage without the slightest reason. But what God is revealing is far different from the sin of jealousy.  The sin of jealousy is addressed in a different context throughout the scriptures.

The Greek word often translated "jealous" is zēlos, from which we get the English word "zealous," referring more to zeal and ardor rather than jealousy.

God was showing the Israelites that within His heart burns the zeal of the loving parent who sees the possibilities and potential of His children, but is brokenhearted when those things are not realized or, worse, wasted.

God is personal. He cares. He loves and He alone saves. The Bible says, “You are not your own; you have been bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). But we often forget that and carry on as though we can do whatever we please, justifying our behavior by appealing to our “gods.” This offends the true God because He loves you so much. Christ died in your place so that you can truly come alive and follow Him. He sees that you are allowing yourself to be robbed of life’s best – namely His love!

According to God, making a carved image and bowing down to it is the No. 2 offense on His Top 10 List. Today most of us don’t carve images of God and bow down and serve them, do we? So why would God include this commandment so high on His list? The Israelites didn’t worship such images, did they?

Indeed they did. Remember the story of Moses and the golden calf? When he ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments (Exodus 19:20), Moses left the Israelites for 40 days and 40 nights (Exodus 24:18). The people became fearful that he would not return to them and asked his brother Aaron to make gods for them (Exodus 32:1). Aaron yielded to the Israelites, gathered up their golden earrings and melted them down into the image of a golden calf. He then built an altar before the idol and the next day the Israelites made offerings and celebrated a “festival to the Lord.”

There were really two phases to their idolatry. The first phase was more subtle and less obvious, and the second was more blatant and radical. And as we’ll see, the second phase always grows out of the first.

The root of their open idolatry was the previous departure of their hearts from the Lord by leaning too much on the one who was God’s instrument: Moses! Moses himself was their first idol, and the golden calf was their second. The Israelites were essentially saying, “This faith of Moses is too high. We still want spirituality, but let’s just lower the standards a bit to something we can ‘see and touch,’ something that appeals to the senses."

Notice also how the Israelites rationalized their idolatry by calling it a “festival to the Lord.” You may be out all night breaking the commandments of God but then you’ll say “grace” before a meal as if that will somehow “satisfy God” or make what you are doing acceptable to Him. What they were doing would be like saying, “Lord, bless this night as we get drunk and commit fornication.”

God doesn’t like us bowing before images.

Psalm 115:6 (speaking of idols) says, “They have ears, but they cannot hear; they have noses, but they cannot smell. … Those who make them become like them.” A man becomes like the thing he worships. If he puts anything in the place of God, he ultimately becomes like it."