You’ve heard it many times. The first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). It reminds us to worship the one God of Truth and Love that the Bible teaches, and to honor this singular God in everything we do.
But do we?
Yes, I’m sure we each do in many ways. But how many other gods get into the mix during the day that detract us from worshipping the one God?
Quasi-gods come in so many different forms. Food, money, fame, disease, health-decrees, and more often mesmerize ignorant perspective. These quasi-gods are anything in the daily routine that capture our attention and hold it with undue fascination or fear, and cause us to forget that the one God, divine Mind, reigns and rules above all and is the source of everything we need to thrive.
To successfully serve God and reap the benefits that come from living an inspired spiritual life, we must stay on alert that attention doesn’t devolve into a lesser place of worshipping or fearing a worldly god.
Love the one God with all your heart, mind, and soul, the Bible tells us (Matt. 22:36, 37).
Keep God uppermost in thought. Let Truth be your North Star, your guiding Light in everything you do.
Honor the one God above all gods. You will prosper.
Thank you, Evan.
To keep the one God uppermost in my thoughts, the following hymn is an obvious
one that will help us as we keep it running in our thoughts.
All power is given unto our Lord, / On Him we place reliance; / With truth from out His sacred word / We bid our foes defiance. / With Him we shall prevail, / Whatever may assail; / He is our shield and tower, / Almighty is His power; / His kingdom is forever.
Rejoice, ye people, praise His name, / His care doth e’er surround us. / His love to error’s thralldom came, / And from its chains unbound us. / Our Lord is God alone, / No other power we own; / No other voice we heed, / No other help we need; / His kingdom is forever.
O then give thanks to God on high, / Who life to all is giving; / The hosts of death before Him fly, / In Him we all are living. / Then let us know no fear, / Our King is ever near; / Our stay and fortress strong, / Our strength, our hope, our song; / His kingdom is forever.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 411:1–3)
Thank you Maggie and Evan! I’ve been working to open my thought to really understand that God’s omnipotence in every situation and what that really means. This morning I woke up with the hymn above in my thought, and was thinking through all the stanzas. And then I open SpiritView, and you’ve written it all out here! I’m definitely getting the message-Divine Mind at work!
Thank you Evan. I am. guilty as charged. Guilty of massaging and cultivating a belief in compromised mobility for nearly 4 years. Guilty of believing I have an issue with my eyes which may get worse. Guilty of thinking my beautiful and clever daughter won’t find a lovely partner and is going to go through life single ( as certain people have stated, she is too particular!!)) Guilty of thinking negatively about many situations. I could go on!!! I will endeavour to think of God good foremost. When ones mind is filled with good there is no room for bad! Thanks to all the amazing people on Spirit View and huge thank to Evan.
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Thank you ever so much, Evan, for this profound treatment. I especially love this paragraph: “Quasi-gods come in so many different forms. Food, money, fame, disease, health-decrees, and more often mesmerize ignorant perspective. These quasi-gods are anything in the daily routine that capture our attention and hold it with undue fascination or fear, and cause us to forget that the one God, divine Mind, reigns and rules above all and is the source of everything we need to thrive. much, Evan, for this profound treatment. I especially love this paragraph: ”
The activity of “fascination” is so important to watch out for. Fascination is NEVER of God and is a clear sign that animal magnetism is at work to distract us from the allness of God while having us chase the false promises of mortal mind.
Excellent thought on the word fascination Bob.
Thank you. ❣️
Thank you Evan for reminding us of those other gods lurking out there. I know I don’t need that dish of ice cream & cookies every evening. Thank you Maggie for the words to hymn 411. I have my hymnal open to 411 now and will review it again. Thank you all of you SpiritViewers for your comments and links to articles that you supply. All have a GoOD Day!
Really wonderful…..and eye opening! Thank you for everyone’s comments as well. Great way to start the day. ❣️
‘’No other gods ‘’ is dangled before us in so many ways…how sneaky is mortal mind.
I was noticing lately that so much we see every day digs us more deeply into materialism. Large sections in our food stores are headed ‘’free from’’ clothing from ‘’ more sustainable ‘ sources even some medical treatments are supposedly ‘’less invasive’’ Of course it’s all helpful for many but in the end oh so materially based. It came to me that as a student of Christian Science I’m so grateful I can read articles , listen to talks and of course pick up my Science and Health…which I now have a separate category for…it’s ‘’’Free from Fear’’
Thank you to everyone for all your sharing here on SV and of course thank you dear Evan.❣️
another quasi-god: the news! the latest in politics, AI, scrolling, youtube, instagram, tiktok etc…. Thank you, Evan!
Ahhhh.. thanks Evan. I think this message is very important! quasi-gods indeed! I’ll be on the watch for them.
Thank you Evan – this has really hit home for me today! I like some others plead guilty to entertaining too many quasi-gods.
One of the most insidious quasi-gods is allowing critical thoughts of others to dwell in our consciouness. It’s amazing how just one instance of fuming mentally at a rude driver while on the road can be like throwing a rock in a serene, calm pond, causing the resulting ripples to interfere with the pristine reflection of the clouds in the water!
The hymn that Maggie posted above has another setting: hymn #10. It is based on a hymn by Martin Luther and is truly one of my favorites.