Blog Post
Posted by Dion Todd May 1st, 2025 1,778 Views 27 Comments
God spoke all these words, saying, "I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God" Exodus 20:1–5 WEB.
The first of the ten commandments is that you shall have no other gods before Me. The ten plagues in Egypt were directed against the pagan gods they worshiped. The Egyptians worshiped the guardian god of the Nile River, but it turned to blood. They worshiped the sun god, but the Lord turned to darkness (Exodus 7-12).
While the Philistines had a great sacrifice for their god dagon, the Lord used Samson to bring the entire building down on them (Judges 16:23). Later, when backslidden Israel tried to use the Ark of God as a tool, the Lord allowed His Ark to be captured by the Philistine army.
The Philistines happily put the Ark of God in their temple as a trophy, and they placed it right in front of the statue of their god, dagon. The next morning, they found their god dagon lying on his face in front of the Ark (1 Samuel 5:2). So they stood him back up, but the following morning, dagon was again lying before the Ark, but this time, broken in pieces.
This may sound foreign to us, but it's so relevant today, for we are allowed to choose which god we will serve. Often we choose to be our own god and live just like we want. Sometimes, we chase after asheroth, a god of sex and fertility. At other times, we pursue baal, a god of money, the economy, and materialism.
The choice you make will be tested just as sure as Shadrach's and the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar set up (Daniel 3:7). So choose today whom you will serve, for God Almighty will not share His place in your life with other "gods."
If you want to chase other gods, you can have them, but you won't have Him along with it. As Jesus Christ said, no one can serve two masters. It's a divine election, and only one god wins the top spot in your life. Who will be the god of your life?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I choose You today! Thank You! I pray that You clearly reveal to me anything that I put before You in my life. Please help me root the idols out of my life, for I want to serve You with all my heart, Lord. Teach me, guide me, and walk with me today. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!
Note: Today is Thankful Thursday at the Ministry Events group! This event gives us an opportunity encourage each other by posting thoughts, moments, and prayers of gratitude for Him, His creation and all that He does in our lives. All our welcome! To join, just click on the group name and then the join link on the page that will follow. As always, if you have a prayer need, we are here for you! We and the prayer team are ready to lift you up at our private prayer page: RHM Prayer Network.
Site update #586: I completed a large update to the Audio Library on the left sidebar. There is now a live service archive of all past services, full-length in case you miss a service and want to catch up, as well as all of our original music. You can download the .mp3 files directly to your device now to listen when you don't have internet. I also added a pop-out player so you can listen without remaining on the page. Give it a try and let me know if you have any problems. 😀
Post from Kay Collinsworth
3 months ago
Amen
Amen
Amen. Lord give strength.
Lord, I choose you today and every day... 🕊️✝️💟
Good morning, y'all, praying you have a joyful and very blessed Thursday! 🌼🙏🫶
Comment from Dan Remley
3 months ago
I hope everyone had a blessed day. I love you RHM fam ❤️
Comment from Lynn Brown
3 months ago
Good morning to all!🌞🩷
Heavenly Father I Will Always Choose You Are The Only God I Need In My Life Amen Good Morning Everyone 😀
Lord, you are the one true God. I need you more than ever. Walk with me and guide me. Help me to overcome my demons. I want to make you proud. Amen❤️
Post from Liesel aka lisa Wardle
3 months ago
Amen and Amen!! Dear Heavenly Father, I choose You today! I thank You for waking me up again to another day having my loved ones close to me! I pray that You would clearly reveal to me anything or anyone that I put before You in my life! Please help me to root out all idols or anything that could become an idol in my life! I want nothing and no one to take first place in my life, but You my Lord and God!! I want to serve You whole heartedly!! Please teach me, guide me, direct me and walk with me and all of my loved ones far and near!! Please draw each and everyone of them to You and the saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, it's in His holy name that I ask and pray, AMEN!!!
Help me to keep You first, Lord!
Yes Abba Father, I pray this in Jesus's name, amen✝️🛐
Amen!
WE PRAISE YOU LORD “Often we choose to be our own god and live just like we want”. This stands out for me. For I ask and tell GOD what I want and and not what HE WANTS. Then I am my own god. I am sorry FATHER GOD for dictating you of what I want. In your own time FATHER, I wait patiently for the answer to my prayers. It will all be done. I TRUST IN YOU LORD.
Amen and Amen!
Thank you, Pastor Dion sometimes I catch myself putting practicing music above God that is a form of idolatry. I have to admit so then I repent and start over… Hasn’t anybody to say any thoughts or comments about my previous comment? No one anything Shirlee wish somebody had something to say OK bye for now everybody.
Amen
Heavenly Father, I choose You today! Thank You! I pray that You clearly reveal to me anything that I put before You in my life. Please help me root the idols out of my life, for I want to serve You with all my heart, Lord. Teach me, guide me, and walk with me today. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen! ❤️🤟🏻
Dion,
I’ve been taking your message and posting it on a recovery forum. I hope your words have been helpful to the people that read them.
Thanks,
Chris
Post from Wanda Pennington
3 months ago
I choose Father God of Heaven and Earth our Creator of all things. Amen!! 🙏🙏❤️
Amen 🙏❤️🙏🕊️🙏!!
I choose You, Heavenly Father! Please remove any idols in my life, Amen.
Amen 🙏🏻 Thank you for your blessings Lord and please guide me down the right path for my future. I pray in Jesus name. Amen
Amen!
Thank you Father GOD, for your Awesome word. Taught through Refreshing Hope. Pastor always brings knowledge
Amen💖
🙏
Comment from Cathy Webb
12 hours ago
What a blessing, Pastor Dion! The audio library page is easy to navigate and I truly appreciate the pop-out player, as I have many tabs open during my computer sessions and this allows me to keep the music flowing. Well done! 😊🎶
Comment from Gloria Nebarez
19 hours ago
Thank you
Comment from Tyler Velau
3 days ago
Thank you for your continuing work on the site and your efforts to bring the truth of the Gospels to people around the world via the internet. Your hard work and dilligence is appreciated.
Comment from Liesel aka lisa Wardle
3 days ago
Thank you so much, Pastor Dion, for all that you do, it sounds to me like non-stop "24-7"! God bless you and Sylvia abundantly, above and beyond! 🙏🤗
Comment from Nell Neathery
3 days ago
sounds great. I know that will be useful for me...need to write that down. Hope the Todd family have a blessed Saturday and Sunday. I do believe God gave us those 2 special days for His sake and our sake! Work hard or volunteer (myself) hard through the week. We get our rewards here on Earth and rewards in Heaven.
Comment from Lynn Brown
4 days ago
That sounds amazing Pastor Dion, thank you!!!