Tag: God is One

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God Is One

Daily Reading

Psalm 26-31

Daily Thought

Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one,” is called the Shema by the Jewish people. It is the centerpiece of Hebrew worship. The word Shema means “Hear,” the first word of the verse. A Hebrew will utter the Shema twice daily, their first words in the morning and final words before bed. A daily reminder that there is one, and only one, God, and he is our God and we are his people.

The message of the Shema undergirds all the Psalms: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; The Lord is the stronghold of my life” (Psalm 27:1). The Lord our God, the Lord is one. But more than the Lord one, he is number one. God is the preeminent of all of life. 

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple. ~Psalm 27:4

How many walk into church as if God should be glad they are there? David, rather, sought God’s permission to enter! When the Shema becomes the center of life, our Sunday morning question changes from “Do we have to go to church today?” to “Do we get to go to church today?”

Our social apps invite us to post photos in the places we visit. One family took a selfie at church on a Sunday morning and commented, “God 1st.” Later that afternoon, the family took another, this time at Oracle Park, “Baseball 2nd ~ Go GIANTS!!!” 

They got it right. God is One. Everything else get in line.

Daily Prayer

God, my Savior, I offer myself, body, soul, and spirit, as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to You. I love You, heart, soul, mind, and strength. Transform me, God, to reflect Your glory, to resemble Your Son.

You would rather I obey Your Word than play at religion. My obedience is not merely a demonstration of righteousness, but a display of love. I want to know Your Word, follow Your ways, and live in Your love. God, my strength comes from You; my life centers around You. Nothing more, nothing less.

Amen

Daily Question

What is first in your life? Is it obvious?

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any god will do

Daily Reading

2Chronicles 28-31

Daily Thought

Ahaz was the next king who “did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord” (2Chronicles 28:1). He crafted idols to the Baals and sacrificed his own sons in the Valley of the son of Hinnom. He borrowed indiscriminately the gods of the nations around him. Any god will do, “and he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree” (2Chronicles 28:4). He even adopted the gods of the Damascus after losing a battle to Syria, reasoning, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me” (2Chronicles 28:23).

Any god will do, it seemed, except the one God, the true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of David and Solomon, of his own father Jotham, the Lord, the God of Israel. Ahaz broke up the furniture in that God’s temple, using the wood to make altars to his new gods, “and he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord” (2Chronicles 28:24).

When any god will do, there is one God who won’t. Isaiah was prophet when Ahaz was king, and proclaimed the words of the one true God, “I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols” (Isaiah 42:8). God does not play nicely with others. He does not share. “I the Lord your God am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5). These are not words of petty jealousy, but the deep passion of love, familiar to us, “forsaking all others, I keep only unto you.” No flirting with others.

This was the first of the commandments, “I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2-3); the greatest commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5); and the cry of Israel, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). This is how truth works. It is pure, it is holy, it is one. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). God stands alone.

Daily Prayer

My God, Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, King of kings and Lord of lords, there is none like You. You and You alone are God, and You are my God, my first love. May my love be full and pure. All of life, a life abundantly full of love and good and justice and grace, is from You. I seek other ways at my own peril, and yet I do. The results are never good. Thank You for allowing me to run home to You again and again, and for greeting me with open arms again and again.

Each day will begin remembering it is Your day, a day You have created and sustained. I commit my life to You, to Your praise and pleasure. What a way to live!

Amen