October 17, 2019
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Exodus 34:14
When this verse says that God is a jealous God, that may sound like a bad attribute. But for God, it is a holy attribute. You see, I have no right to be jealous of another preacher because I am not the only preacher in the world. For a singer to be jealous of another singer would be a wrong attitude, because there are many singers. One singer doesn’t own all the singing in the world. There is room for many singers. For an athlete to be jealous of another athlete is wrong, because he doesn't own athletics. But there's only one God.
Therefore, He has every right to own the worship, adoration and praise that has come to him. He deserves it.
Put yourself in God's place for a moment. You're the one who made heaven and earth. Then imagine people worshiping a frog or a beetle or money or sports or family or their own intellect or denomination or church. Then you'd understand why the Bible says, ““I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:2-3).
And when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He replied, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37).
When you die to self and worship God, you will begin to experience the fullness of God in a way that transforms your life.
I try to unplug each morning with Jesus with just my rocking chair, my Bible, and a pen.
Having a secret place is very important because I know that Jesus is always there waiting for me. I know where I can find Him! His presence is everywhere, but there are places where it is so thick you can cut it with a knife. You may not even have a front porch, but there is a secret place for you as well. God’s invitations are for anyone who will respond. There is no more important request than the one found in Psalm 27:8: “My heart has heard You say, ‘Come and talk with Me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming.’”