Number One

Number One
Words of Faith 12-13-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Exodus 20
[3] "You shall have no other gods before me.

No other gods. That is... number one... and only. The first way we love the Lord God is not to have other gods. That makes sense. The number one way that a husband loves his wife and vice versa is by "forsaking all others and keeping only unto you as long we both shall live." No other wives. No other husbands. The Lord asks nothing less.
The Lord is a jealous God. He encourages us to be in many other wonderful relationships but the place of God in our lives is singular. There is room for only one God. He does not ask to be our "favorite" god or "best" god. He requires that we have only one God. Big 'G.'
So what are the other "gods" that vie for that supreme place? After all, we don't have polytheism like in the ancient world. Well, think of it this way. A god is anything we turn to as a source of meaning, power, or provision. Our "god" is anything we place our trust or "faith" in so as to be the source that gets us out of a jam or just helps us make sense of life. The gods of our culture are many. Whenever we place our trust in something other than the one true living God Almighty, we have worshiped another god.
The first god we are tempted to worship is none other than the Self. The first temptation in the Garden of Eden was for Eve to "be like God" and become her own source of judgment (Genesis 3:5-6). Some have called this the sin of "godship" because our fallen nature tends to claim the place and role of god for itself. We claim the position of our own god when we live life without regard for the true God. We practice godship when we judge others or seek the approval of others or act in a perfectionist way. We practice godship when we become self-absorbed, self-sufficient, self-adequate, or self-centered. When we declare ourselves to be independent of God in judging right and wrong or when we control people around us, we have made ourselves into our own god.
Of course, there are many gods other than the Self to worship in our culture. Sometimes we put our faith in another person as our source, meaning, power or provision. We may put our trust in a system or group of people as our god. Religion itself can become a god. And, of course, there are the many occult practices and secret organizations which worship strangely named gods. The Lord God Almighty demands that He be the only God in our life.
So how are you doing with the "no other gods" part of the flight plan? Have you been slipping into that place of judging for yourself or controlling those around you? Judging others or living without regard to the teaching of God Almighty? Self-sufficient or self-absorbed? The answer is to surrender to the one true and Living God.

Lord God, You are God! You are my One and only. I surrender to You as the source of power, strength, meaning, and provision in my life. Reveal to me the moment that I slip off that track. In Jesus' name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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