Devotional Day 31: There's Only One

•  1 Kings 8:60 : "That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else."
• 1 Samuel 7:2-4 : "It was a long time, twenty years in all, that the ark remained at Kiriath Jearim, and all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the Lord. And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, "If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only."
• Many times when we are  desperate for God is when we turn to Him. What happens when things don't go the way we want? What happens when we experience hardship? Can God trust us to still put our faith in Him?

     In 1 Kings 8:60 the message is simple. There is only one God. There are to be no false gods or idols put before Him. We are to trust Him fully even given hard times! Sometimes we get angry with God or confused. Sometimes the thought of Him is hard to grasp! That's where personal faith comes in. However, some people turn to other means of worship through false gods who they feel can help them. I'm sure you all know the story of the golden calf. The people decided to worship this material thing because of selfish motives rather than trust what God has in store for them even through the bad times.

     In 1 Samuel 7:2-4 above it speaks of the Israelites and there struggle to trust God. Time and time again they would turn to God then turn away. Then they'd go back to God and turn away again wasting their time worshipping false gods. In a way we all do this when we struggle with our faith! We make others things a priority over God. In the Israelites case they were quite literally worshipping other gods hoping for a more favorable outcome for themselves through selfish motives. In our case things we "worship" or idolize are our false gods. When things are good we often stick to our texting, facebook, games, hanging with friends, social time, and many other things. It seems that we always turn back to God only when things get really bad, and we don't know what else to do. God should be able to trust that we will have faith in Him. That's why He gave us free will so that He will know when our faith is genuine. He will know by how much time you spend with Him making Him a priority or how much time you spend with your "false gods." I'm way guilty of this! When things are going good, and I'm having a great day I often forget to stop and thank God for those simple things. I spend too much time wrapped up in my fun! This message ties a lot into the lessons of trust and quiet time. Put no other things before God! You can only trust in one God. All other things will expire with time and leave you desperate for more than what you have. God will never do that to you. 

                                                                         Questions/Application

• Why do you think the Israelites kept the false gods close at hand?
• What do you consider to be your false god?
• How can we learn to make God a priority and recognize things we shouldn't put before Him?
• How do you think God feels when you don't fully rely on Him? What about when you do?