First Things First - Part B

God is saying here what I don't want any rivals. I don't want any competition. I am the Lord your God summit hearing that would say what God is awfully insecure. No, just the opposite friend. God is so cute. Basically he's saying I'm the only game in town. All those other gods don't exist or not real people made about their all products of somebody's imagination here I am the only true God revealing myself to you.

Thus I want exclusive rights when it comes to devotion and obedience. Television is packed with reality shows the worth of people singing showing off her talents survive in the desert islands were racing around the world.

Couple things are necessary. First, they have to win and to win, they often need to convince everyone that their abilities exceed everyone else's stuff.

Most lose out today and connect with Skip weekend edition Skip part two continues our series, God stopped to the message. First things first. Everything impacts the first commandment Skip reminds us that God is and in competition with anyone. These exclusive and supreme will see more of that coming up next. But before we do. We want to tell you about this much connect with Skip resource. The book of Genesis contains some of my stories.

Did you know that there is no deep spiritual significance in each of those familiar stories creations to discover how much God loves his creation and how he considers humankind's crowning achievement in the story of the fall of man. The very first we find God's plan to the ones we would help you uncover first book of the Bible by cityscape hi to you can understand just get a fresh look at a deeper understanding of the stories of the very foundation scanned the book of Genesis are seen.

Your generous gift of $35 or more to help expand the vital teaching outreach of Skip ice so called out to get your copy of this site will resource 892 1888. You could also get on my secure connectwithskip.com/on. I hope you follow along today or Skip Heitzigs it takes is through Exodus chapter 20 verses one through three. So open your Bibles. Let's join him there. Now putting it all in context. Chapter 19 and 20 together. I would say God is saying to them three months ago 90 days before this, you were slaves in Egypt.

You were being beaten you're being tormented you're being humiliated.

I opened the Red Sea for you.

I brought you through it. I brought Manna down from heaven, water from the rock protected you from your enemies. Did any of the gods or goddesses of Egypt help out in that deliverance to you or for their own people in Egypt.

Ditto Cirrus the God of the Nile help the Egyptians did check out the frog goddess provide any protection for them or help you.

Did Apus the bull or jab the earth. God have any kind of help available to you or to them know I am the Lord your God, who delivered you out of the slavery of Egypt not understand what this meant to them. This was so pivotal that the entire Jewish calendar was centered around that redemption for God said after the deliverance in Exodus 12 this month shall be your beginning of months it will be the first month of the year to you so everything started.

Once they were redeemed by God with his mighty hand. That's other to order their year. Based upon that deliverance is sort of like I member the first time a 30-year-old walked up to me and said, congratulate me I'm two years old today and I thought your wing that today that's for sure. So we need two years all this that I've been a believer in Jesus Christ for two years. Today's my spiritual birth things are okay now I get see that person.

Everything started brand-new. The moment he received Jesus Christ. It was the beginning to him like second Corinthians 5 tells us if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. All things become new.

So who God was, to them and what God had done for them was very important was it God was of supreme value. For that reason there is a Sunday school director in Columbus Ohio named Dennis Avery actually is a musical director for church.

He said he was walking by classroom one day and her little eight-year-old boy praying in one of the classrooms he had bowed his head and he was publicly praying in front of the class. God bless our mommies and our daddies and our brothers and our sisters and our aunts and uncles and our puppies ON God, please, please take care of yourself because if anything happens to you were sunk.

What is God done for you. What blessings has God provided for you see, those are things that we need to keep in the forefront of our minds because the commandment in the commandments are all based upon so that in mind, let's go to the commandment itself hears God's command. He said this is who I am to you. This is what I've done for you.

Now God says is what I is what I want from you.

You shall have no other gods before me. That really is the commandment. You shall have no other gods before me some you notice about all the commandments, for the most part their short, punchy little statements.

Some have some elaboration attached for the most part, the just short little pity statements God can say at all in just one little no other gods before me know graven images don't murder.

Don't steal. Don't commit adultery. And we get it. There's a woman whose husband died and she contacted the local newspaper and she wanted to write that obituary and so she said this what I want you to write. Bernie is dead but that and newspaperman of the phone symbol, ma'am. You know if money is an issue you you get six words for $25. So she said okay right. Bernie is dead Toyota for sale very very practical woman. God is very practical is basically saying I'm God, you're not do this stuff keep me first number one on the list.

I just love the way this is introduced. This is who I am to you this what I've done for you. No other gods for me. Like Corrie 10 boom used to say stop giving God counsel just report for duty just report for duty so have no other gods before him are literally besides me. The words I stand alone. I'm not one among many.

You can add me to the pantheon of gods and goddesses from Egypt I and I alone am unique you not to worship Angels you're not to worship people dead people are alive people. Some people worship, Luther or Calvin or Arminius or a host of others know God is God and he's the only one that deserves utmost total absolute obedience and veneration. Okay, now in camping on this commandment.

In bringing this toward a close, I want to frame this for you if I can. Historically, first of all, historically we see why God gave this commandment.

First, to the children of Israel being delivered out of Egypt. Keep in mind where they came from a polytheistic culture. Egypt and they were going into Canaan. Another polytheistic culture.

So let me kinda tell you three things that were going on in the culture, and a really all sort of fit together. First of all, in Canaan there would be polytheism. The people of the land believe there were many gods was the god of the sun, the God of the moon, the god of the sea, God of the rivers got of the plane etc. etc. they all had individual gods that they had to keep track of and worship now. A second thing they had in the land of Canaan, that sort of as part of the first, but a little bit different is called had no theism. That is not only were there a multiplicity of gods and goddesses, but they all were assigned jurisdiction over certain people in certain areas so usually when there was a conflict between one nation and another nation they sought in Canaan as the gods fighting it out and be the best God when that is why when you read in first Kings chapter 20 the children of Israel fighting the Syrians and the children of Israel get victory over that first battle that one of the advisors goes to the Syrian king Ben had data listen to what he says there gods talking about the children of Israel there gods are the gods of the hills. Therefore, they were stronger than we if we fight against them in the plane we will be stronger than they see they had this not only polytheistic idea but that there were certain gods that govern certain areas and are gods of the gods of the valleys of the plane. So let's have it out in the plains.

There's 1/3-ism. This is perhaps the most dangerous not only polytheism not only had no theism but syncretism.

Here's what happened.

What happened is that the people of Israel started becoming like the people of Canaan instead of exclusively worshiping the one true God. They worship God and bail worship God and*worship God and Malec. They started worshiping all of the gods of the land, along with Yahweh. That's why Elijah on Mount Carmel in first Kings 18 said, how long will you falter between two opinions. If the Lord is God, follow him.

But if bail is God and follow him. Okay God is saying here. Look, I don't want any rivals. I don't want any competition. I am the Lord your God. Note some hearing that would say what God is awfully insecure. No, just the opposite friend. God is so secure the basically he's saying I'm the only game in town.

All those other gods don't exist. They're not real. They people made him up there all products of somebody's imagination here I am the only true God revealing myself to you. Thus I want exclusive rights when it comes to devotion and obedience to the gods of the other nations were contrived all the gods of any other religious system. Even today there made up they don't exist. The only thing they would be is maybe some demonic spirit behind them deceiving people in the worshiping.

There's only one true God so historically we understand why God would give this commandment. She's the only one, but also pragmatically God gave this commandment. You see, God knows that the human heart can only be fully satisfied when it's in relationship with God. So, for God to say I am the Lord your God, who delivered you from your past, you will have no other gods before me.

God is also speaking to the human heart. Knowing that nothing else and no one else will satisfy if you think about it worshiping any other God is sort of like hugging a mannequin you can you can see how frustrating that would be you could hug a mannequin but you will get no response. You can imagine the response I heard speak to me. It winked its IME. I'm even a modern Dave Dall has more response than any of those false gods or goddesses or images lately she can pull a string and I love you are a myriad of other things they say now and they do now see that was David's contention when in the Psalms. He pointed to the false beliefs and idols of other nations and he said this.

They have eyes but they can't see they have ears but they can hear they have noses, but they can't smell feet, but they can't walk hands, but they can't touch. There's only one true living God. I've I've been throughout Asia and the continent of Africa on the subcontinent of India. I've watched people dowel before their gods and light candles in and put all sorts of Paignton ritualistic incense four hours, I've never yet seen that God supposedly make any kind of responsible, no response at all. You know it. The other but a few weeks ago I was on the phone I thought I was talking to some guy got carried away. I talked a long time not knowing that I lost the call.

You drop a call, you know, but you just thinking going on in 10 minutes of gone by and they hadn't heard anything and it's pretty frustrating and it got to do it all over again. How frustrating is it to pray for minutes or hours and it sort of like I'm sorry the number you have reached is been disconnected or is no longer in service. See that's why Elijah on Mount Carmel when they were going through all of the rituals of praying to bail for hours. Elijah started marking them call their maybes on a vacation.

Maybes predisposed see in real life, you need a God who can hear you in real life, you need a God who is strong in real life, you need a God who will never leave you will never forsake so because I am the Lord your God and I did something for you by delivering you from your past, there's something I want from you know other gods besides me.

Historically, we understand why. Pragmatically we understand why nothing satisfies our hearts except a relationship with him and until then you will never be satisfied friend in closing personally. Personally, we have to discover why this is an important commandment out just once again see the flow of this commandment, the flow is I am your God by creation. I am your God, by redemption, I want to be your God. By devotion, this is why am is what I've done now, I want some personal response from you. Your devotion if I am God that I want you to set no one else before me, that is, I want your supreme love and devotion.

So I want to do two things are actually we all need to do a couple of things number one ask personal questions and here's a question I would ask you what you think about in quiet moments, what you think about in quiet moments, you could take a compass and you can point in any direction what you let it settle. It's that magnetic north that the needle always settles on elicits and out of whack. Compass always goes to North in your mind in my mind is very much like the needle of the compass can do a lot of different things and focus on a lot of different directions in any single day. But when you let it settle word is a point what you think about the girl guy hobby goal thing more cash, stock market, God, you see that is a very fundamental internal question. The Bible says as a man thinks in his heart so is he. So that's the first question what you think about quiet moments after the personal question we need to make a personal choice. Really, this is a choice that we make when we give our lives to Christ. I believe, but I also believe that we need to reevaluate that choice.

From time to time. Jesus said, no man can serve two masters. He's in a loved one and hate the other. Cling to one and despise the other. Joshua said much the same thing in his final State of the Union message famous one in the end of the book of Joshua as he gathered the people together in his old age, and he said choose this day whom you will serve, whether it's going to be the gods. On the other side of the river that your fathers worshiped all of those pagan idols that you came from, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell now but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord not the Lord plus them just the Lord, to the exclusion of all the others but he said choose this day whom you will serve.

It could be that some are thirsty, who have even come tonight. Nothing is satisfied that thirst you tried a lot of different things to fill that void inside. As we say that deep thirst that you have but nothing is filled.

Nothing is satisfied even church doesn't satisfy all get involved in church even being involved in church even ministry won't satisfy. It won't cut it. No, no, no, first things first, a relationship with Christ, for Jesus Christ Lord and God first and banish all of the rivals in your life. St. Augustine said it so well. Oh Lord, we are restless until we find our rest in the until we find our rest and Hoosier God Hoosier God.

Whom do you serve, who has delivered you from sin and giving you life. That's the one to serve, you know, six weeks before Elvis Presley died. A reporter came up to him and said Elvis when you first started playing music. You said you wanted to be rich and famous, and happy are you happy that's a great question.

He knew he was rich and famous. Are you happy Elvis said I'm terribly lonely course is terribly lonely thank you very much. You can have it all mystical.

So no matter how much we have be satisfied until we have a relationship with the God who truly exists was a plan for the God who desires to save us.

Sure hope you take time to learn more about them today connectwithskip.com is a great place to start. Just click know God learn what a relationship with God really is. Today's teaching was part to a first things first. Our current series God's talk to is available together as an audio CD package or purchase the messages individually. Again, that's all connectwithskip.com you can find out about this month's special offer never walk into. You may never catch up. One well seems to miss the opening book you have questions. Genesis is the foundation it's the ground floor. If we don't understand the book of Genesis, we won't understand what follows the book of Genesis.

That's divisive reminding our redemption and resurrection starts book of Genesis, God says to say I will put enmity between you and the woman between your seed and her seed promise is seen a lot of the rest of the Bible rediscover the foundation of your faith and understand the book of Genesis. Our gift to you $35 or more today and request your copy when you get online securely connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-9200 92 1888. It's our priority to get solid teaching in your hands at the Skip Heitzig Roku channel today and enjoy a verse by verse, line upon line studies through every book of the Bible there also great topical studies and more.

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