Only ONE

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Exodus 20:2, 3   I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.   Thou shall have no other gods before Me

Deuteronomy 5:6,7   I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  You shall have no other gods before Me.

Deuteronomy 5:29 . . . fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!

Deuteronomy 8:19   It shall come about if you ever forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against your today that you will surely perish.

Psalm 81:9   Let there be no strange god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god.

2 Kings 17:35   . . . with whom the Lord made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down yourselves to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them.

 

God wants us to keep Him first and foremost in our hearts and minds.  In fact it is a commandment, the first commandment.  I believe they are all important, but I think that first one is the most important.  He deserves to be honored and revered, and wants to make sure our selfish, self centered minds remember that He created all, ALL.  He knows all, is everywhere, sees our sins and our good deeds, He knows our hearts, and He knows the creatures He created, and the ease with which we often think we are the most important in our narrow world.

Because He knows who and what we are, how easily we slide into selfishness, He designated the first commandment to be remembering He alone is God, our Creator, and He made it ALL.  We need to revere Him.  It is so awesome to realize how all things interconnect—our world is awesome!

Think of our bodies.  We breathe in and out, usually with ease, and probably rarely think of the act.  Our heart beats routinely, sometimes maybe speeding up with exercise, or getting excited or frightened—but it’s automatic.  If you need a bit more blood flowing for a while, then your heart speeds up.  You take in food and drink which all gets swallowed and processed, eliminated once the necessary nutrients are taken from it via intestines or kidneys.  How cool is that!  God conceived that humans would live and process air and food in this manner.   We have miles of blood vessels to deliver oxygenated blood to all our cells, tissues, and organs, and miles to bring the old blood back to the lungs and heart to be refreshed and renewed with new oxygen to go about its design as He set up.  Wow!

But He did it for all creatures!  Fish swim and eat what God has provided, using their gills to “breathe” and suck out the oxygen in a manner that is right for them.  Dolphins and whales need to to breathe air, but live underwater, so they need to be able to exchange air with a quick surface, then can swim and live their lives during sea mammal things. 

God created trees, all sorts of different trees.  Some are fruit producing, some are sap producers and show off gorgeous colors at different times of the year.  Some are so sturdy and mammoth and with root systems that are not too deep, but may extend out several feet in all directions.  There are multiple and varied flowers and plants, sometimes many different kinds within one species.  How awesome is our God?!  He created all.

I want to always keep it in my mind how wonderful, powerful, loving and creative is our God.  Living in this area, we can have remarkable sun rises, and stunning sunsets.  We can see the ocean come in and out each day—sometimes with a temper and impressive power, other times with serene beauty.  But that is another of His creations—and it serves us food, through educators with National Geographic, Smithsonian and others, we can be taught about the world beneath the ocean teeming with life, fish, coral and all.  It all interacts and both land and waters give us food, beauty, and many reasons to be thankful. 

My God is such an awesome, loving creator and He CHOSE me.  Wow!

I    I am the Lord thy God, thou shall not have any gods before me  (idols, foods, and on and on…)

II   Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain

III  Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day

              These are the top three, and these are all about recognizing God is Supreme, He deserves to be honored, and thanked each and every day—including times when things may not be running smoothly.  We are blessed.  We are chosen, and our God loves us.  He wants to see us prosper.

                Father, my God, thank You for ALL Your creations.  You are an awesome God.  Thank You for all Your blessings for me and ‘mybellaviews.’