Monday Nov. 28, 2011 The Journey 2011-17

And God spoke all these words. "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." " You shall have no other gods before me." "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of their fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."

Good Monday Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is Monday and the day we pray for our leaders, those in Washington, and those in our state houses across this great land, and also those local leaders, and please remember to pray for those who lead our schools. Please pray today for David who is having surgery today and for Dennis who had surgery on Friday, both of the surgeries are heart related.

Wow, we had a great thanksgiving and dare I say the only one unhappy about the whole day was "The Turkey." It is a shame for he just seemed to lose his head over the whole ordeal.

The Journey 2011 Day 17: Exodus 20:1 - And God spoke all these words. 2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." 3 "You shall have no other gods before me." 4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of their fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." (NIV)

Before getting into the events that lead up to Christmas and beyond, I need to touch on the Ten Commandments. This will be a quick review this week as we want to keep moving along. So come on, get in the sleigh, we are putting the top back down as the rain and flood are over and we are once again looking down on the early days of our earth, the days before the birth of our Lord Jesus.

While a lot of folks bill these ten commandments as the original commandments we have found that God already commanded things of us, meaning man. It started in the garden when Adam was told to keep his mitts off of the tree in the middle of the garden. He told Eve and she messed up. Today, however, we will look at the first few of what we call "The Ten Commandments." On the first commandment found in Exodus 20:2/3 2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." 3 "You shall have no other gods before me." (NIV)

You will find later as we do the Two Great Commandments given to us by Jesus how the first of the Ten and the first of the Two are very nearly alike. Here in Exodus it tells us to have no other gods before our Lord God and in the words of Jesus, He tells us to "Love the Lord with all of our heart and soul and mind." In Exodus the second commandment tells us to not make an idol in the form of anything.

If I were to pick one thing that people make an idol out of and put ahead of God, I think the number one thing might be "themselves." Yes, I think some folks think of themselves above God, above the law, and my second choice would be close between money and those sports idols or sports heroes. While I am a lover of old cars, I do not worship them or put them ahead of God, family or even those in need. So, folks, if you want to get those Bibles out today, why not turn to Exodus 20 and look over the "Ten Commandments" and find out which ones come with strong punishments and which ones come with many, many blessings if you follow them. Oh, and you don't need to tell me, but even if it was just once, how many of the commandments have you broken over the years? I know I broke a few and wish I could correct them, but the good news is, I have been forgiven for those I broke.

Let's go to God now and ask Him to forgive any of us who broke commandments over their life span... Remember when it comes to asking for forgiveness you need to do this one on your own. I can only lead you...

Dear Father in Heaven, Please forgive me for breaking not just commandments, but also your laws and rules and even suggestions on how I should live... I am a sinner in need of the saving grace of Jesus... Please honor our prayer requests according to your will. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

Now go forth and share your blessings... God is good, as you can see I started this early this morning and then I got caught up in a full day of things that had to get done... and also needed to just get off my legs for a while. Please pray for my legs... Love ya, Pastor Dan.