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Have No Other Gods Before Him


Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden. For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.(Deuteronomy 4:23-24)
 
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29)

CONSUMING FIRE
        I'm listening to Isaiah during solitary car rides right now, and one of the things God keeps saying is that He will share His glory with no one. Today's passages remind me of the first commandment: "Have no gods before me." Not only are we to have no gods that we prefer to God, we're not even to have gods to "paraklete" (come alongside) Him.        
         The reason for this is simple. God is God and there is no other. (Deut 4:35, Deut 4:39, I Kings 8:59-60, Isaiah 44:8, Isaiah 45:5-6, 18, 22; Isaiah 46:9, Joel 2:27, Acts 4:10-12. Get the idea that God wants us to get this?) To put another before Him, instead of Him, beside Him or even below Him is to lie to ourselves and to others. 
          So, now it's time to step on some toes. Domestic goddesses? Humble yourselves. You are not goddesses. Praying to angels or saints? Consistently in Scripture, they have commanded you not to. There are some people who claim that praying to saints is like asking a living friend to intercede, but if your prayer is to ask that angel or saint to do anything other than take your request to God: if, for example, you ask the angel or saint to help you find something, or keep you safe while driving, or if you are praying to a saint or angel because "God is busy," beware. You're either elevating other things into God's place or pulling Him down to ours. He won't share His glory with you, with the saints, with the angels, with the stars or with anything that is not God. He is God and there is no other.

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