The Lord Alone

There shall be no foreign god among you; nor shall you worship any foreign god. Psalm 81:9  All over the world there are many different religions and beliefs. Worship of many different ‘gods’ is a common thing to see among religion. Some will even worship many ‘gods’ even within one belief. There is another type of ‘god’ that many people worship. It is things, self, position, and other people.…

Monday, 5/19/25

SCRIPTURE:

Then Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, “If you are turning to the LORD with all your heart, then get rid of all the foreign gods and the Astartes you have.  "Set your heart on the LORD!  "Worship Him only!  "Then He will deliver you from the Philistines’ power.” ~ 1 Samuel 7:3

OBSERVATION:

What "foreign gods and Astartes" do have in my life?

I know of some I wrestle with...

and I'm sure there are even a few more than I care to admit...

...to confess...

...even to myself...

But He knows... 

APPLICATION:

Turn to the Lord! 

Get rid of all my "foreign gods"!

Set my heart on the Lord!

Yearn for Him! (Verse 2)

Worship Him only!

Be delivered from the enemy!

PRAYER:

Delivering Father God - I seek Your forgiveness for the willful following of distractions and selfish behaviors that keep me from being wholly Yours - Thank You for Your Son Jesus and Your Holy Spirit Who continue to urge me to seek and follow Your will - May I respond to Their leadings for Your glory and honor above all - In Jesus's Name... 

As always, yours always, in all ways - by and through Him!

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There shall be no foreign god among you; nor shall you worship any foreign god. Psalm 81:9 In some countries the people will actually believe in and serve many different types of gods with the purpose of calling them gods. The number of gods in some places numbers into the thousands. In other nations, the people don’t really serve physically false gods as gods, but they do worship things and…

Monday: Reflection on the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Revised Common Lectionary Proper 26 Roman Catholic Proper 31

Complementary Hebrew Scripture: Jeremiah 5:18-31

But even in those days, says the Lord, I will not make a full end of you. And when your people say, “Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?” you shall say to them, “As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.”

Declare this in the house of Jacob,  proclaim it in Judah: Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,  who have eyes, but do not see,  who have ears, but do not hear. Do you not fear me? says the Lord;  Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,  a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail,  though they roar, they cannot pass over it. But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;  they have turned aside and gone away. They do not say in their hearts,  “Let us fear the Lord our God,  who gives the rain in its season,  the autumn rain and the spring rain,  and keeps for us  the weeks appointed for the harvest.” Your iniquities have turned these away,  and your sins have deprived you of good. For scoundrels are found among my people;  they take over the goods of others. Like fowlers they set a trap;  they catch human beings. Like a cage full of birds,  their houses are full of treachery;  therefore they have become great and rich,  they have grown fat and sleek. They know no limits in deeds of wickedness;  they do not judge with justice  the cause of the orphan, to make it prosper,  and they do not defend the rights of the needy. Shall I not punish them for these things?  says the Lord,  and shall I not bring retribution  on a nation such as this?

An appalling and horrible thing  has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely,  and the priests rule as the prophets direct; my people love to have it so,  but what will you do when the end comes?

Semi-continuous Hebrew Scripture: Joshua 4:1-24

When the entire nation had finished crossing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua: “Select twelve men from the people, one from each tribe, and command them, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood, carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you camp tonight.’” Then Joshua summoned the twelve men from the Israelites, whom he had appointed, one from each tribe. Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites, so that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever.”

The Israelites did as Joshua commanded. They took up twelve stones out of the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord told Joshua, carried them over with them to the place where they camped, and laid them down there. (Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day.)

The priests who bore the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan, until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people crossed over in haste. As soon as all the people had finished crossing over, the ark of the Lord, and the priests, crossed over in front of the people. The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the Israelites, as Moses had ordered them. About forty thousand armed for war crossed over before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for battle.

On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him, as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life.

The Lord said to Joshua, “Command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, to come up out of the Jordan.” Joshua therefore commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.” When the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet touched dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before.

The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. Those twelve stones, which they had taken out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal, saying to the Israelites, “When your children ask their parents in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel crossed over the Jordan here on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we crossed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, and so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”

Complementary Psalm 5

<To the leader: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.> Give ear to my words, O Lord;  give heed to my sighing. Listen to the sound of my cry,  my King and my God,  for to you I pray. O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;  in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch. For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;  evil will not sojourn with you. The boastful will not stand before your eyes;  you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies;  the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.

But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,  will enter your house, I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you. Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies;  make your way straight before me.

For there is no truth in their mouths;  their hearts are destruction; their throats are open graves;  they flatter with their tongues. Make them bear their guilt, O God;  let them fall by their own counsels; because of their many transgressions cast them out,  for they have rebelled against you.

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;  let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them,  so that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord;  you cover them with favor as with a shield.

Semi-continuous Psalm 128

<A Song of Ascents.> Happy is everyone who fears the Lord,  who walks in his ways. You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;  you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;  your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.

The Lord bless you from Zion.  May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem  all the days of your life. May you see your children's children.  Peace be upon Israel!

New Testament Lesson: 1 Thessalonians 2:13-17

We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God's word, which is also at work in you believers. For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you suffered the same things from your own compatriots as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out; they displease God and oppose everyone by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they have constantly been filling up the measure of their sins; but God's wrath has overtaken them at last.

As for us, brothers and sisters, when, for a short time, we were made orphans by being separated from you—in person, not in heart—we longed with great eagerness to see you face to face.

Year A Ordinary 31, RCL Proper 26, Catholic Proper 31 Monday

New article has been published on http://bibleblender.com/2017/bible-stories/old-testament/genesis/god-sends-jacob-to-bethel-without-foreign-gods-genesis-35-1-35-15

God sends Jacob and his people to Bethel - without their foreign gods (Genesis 35:1 - 35:15)

As entrepreneurs, we’re constantly being tempted to go after money, power, beauty and fame.  That’s what is portrayed to us by the media, society and culture.

Chasing after these things will never bring out your true entrepreneurial purpose in life.

Why?

Because you’ve made these things your god, and so these things lead your decision making, and therefore they produce your identity.

Deuteronomy 32:12 talks about the Israelites being led by God and gives us direct instructions for success when being led through the dessert

The lord alone guided them; they followed no foreign gods.

Godpreneurs chase after God and His will for your business life, and the fruit of that is purpose and abundance in the promised land.

I chased false gods for 9 years in my business until 2014 when I started letting God be the CEO and personal business coach development trainer and I would allow Him to shape who I would become today.

Today, God alone leads me through the good times and the bad (because the bad times don’t stop, they just become more manageable).  Be diligent to watch over things (foreign gods) that could be taking the lead in influencing your business.

One way I protect myself is by starting every morning off reading the bible, a devotional, and prayer to listen to God as to what He wants me to do that day.  This way I’m being led from the start.