Putting God First
When I was a new Christian, The Lord taught me many lessons
about putting Him first. I was raising my daughter, and I was
always so concerned about her well-being and education. It
seemed that my life was revolving around her. One day, The Lord
spoke to me that if I continued putting her first; He would have
to take her home to Himself. He told me that she was "His"
daughter, and that He had chosen me to raise her up in the way
she was to go. I was putting my daughter on a pedestal without
realizing it. Later, I was fixing up an old home, and it took me
three months to paint the home, plaster the cracks and to clean
it. I remember that I was just enjoying the home so much after I
finished the work, and I would often think of how much I loved
the home, the yard and the beauty there. The Lord again spoke to
me, and He asked me, "Would you be willing to leave this home
right now if I asked you to leave?" I thought about it for a
second, and I said, "Yes, Lord". He then allowed me to stay in
the home for several years after that. God requires first place
in our lives as He did with Abraham when He told Abraham to
sacrifice his beloved son. We always talk about the blessings of
Abraham, but Abraham was totally obedient to God in being
willing to obey God. We will be blessed when we put God first in
every area of our lives. The Lord taught me about money many
times. I remember one day, when I was making plans to attend a
Christian Breakfast Meeting that would cost $6.00 for myself and
my daughter. At the time, I was going to school, and so it
seemed like an extravagance, and I decided not to go because I
needed the money for other things. The afternoon before the
Breakfast Meeting, my good friend came to my house, and she told
me that The Lord spoke to her to come to my home and give me a
specific amount of money. She then took six one dollar bills and
counted them out in my hand. My daughter and I went to The
Breakfast Meeting, and I learned that where God guides; He also
provides. Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto
you." Our main concern must be to seek what is important in
God's Kingdom above everything else. Most of all He requires our
love for Him, and others, and to do His will in our lives. We
must always be willing to say Lord, "Not my will but Yours be
done". If we are not willing to say and pray that wonderful
prayer; we need to ask The Holy Spirit to reveal what is
blocking our total surrender to The Lord. We are never to be
striving after the attainment of money, reputation, prestige or
titles because all that we should have will be given to us as we
seek The Lord first. Our love for Him is first, and all else
will fall into place when we love God above everything else in
our lives. Many ministries have fallen because their emphasis
was raising more and more money. They had gotten off of the
straight and narrow road which leads to the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 7:13, Many Christians have gotten off the straight and
narrow road in order to seek after the things of the world. The
love of the world lured them onto an insidious side road. 1 John
2:15, The Lord wanted the rich, young ruler to give up all of
his worldly goods out of love for Him. We will all be tested in
this area. God wants us to always care more for His commandments
and His will than we do for our money and possessions. We must
always be willing to give away all that we own if The Lord tells
us to do that. 1 John 3:17, God doesn't need our money, but
money is a means of exchange, and when we refuse to use it
according to The Lord's will and for His glorious purposes; it
can become an idol. Money is a common idol, but an idol can be
anything that separates us from putting God first in our lives.
An idol can be a husband, a wife, a child, our home, our
savings, our jobs, our title, our education, our ministry and
the list can go on and on. An idol is what we think about, talk
about and seek after more than we think, talk about and seek The
Lord, His Kingdom and His righteousness. An idol is anything
that has become a god in our lives. For those in sin, it could
be alcohol, sexual lusts and/or perversions, gambling,
pornography, adultery, fornication, lying, stealing and the list
can go on ad infinitum. We must always make sure that our source
of strength, wisdom, love, joy, hope and faith is based in The
Lord Jesus Christ. If we are looking to any other source for our
contentment; we must repent and get right with God. We must come
back to our first love of The Lord Jesus Christ. Today, He is
looking for those who will be sold out to Him and not to this
world. The world is everywhere, and it permeates every area of
our lives, but we must look beyond the world, and the things in
this world. We need to be like the five wise virgins, who were
instantly ready and prepared to meet The Lord. The Holy Spirit
in them was burning brightly. They had their eyes fixed and
their hearts focused on their Lord. They were ready. Are you
ready? Are you watching and waiting for Him? Rev. 3:3, None of
us know when our time will come to meet Him. Our breath is as a
vapor. (Luke 21:36),We are commanded by The Lord Jesus Christ to
"watch and pray". Why? So that we will be accounted worthy to
escape all these things that shall come upon this earth, and to
be able to stand before The Lord Jesus Christ. We are not to
wait until a disaster comes, or to wait until we are ill or
dying, but we need to get right with The Lord today. Now, during
our good days; we are to seek The Lord with all of our hearts,
and to put Him first in our lives. (Psalm 32:6), Some Christians
during these times, think that they no longer need God or His
wisdom, and some even think The Bible is old-fashioned, and that
the things of God should be modernized. They use Madison Avenue
techniques to raise huge sums of money, and they copy the music
and entertainment of the world in order to attract people who
love the world and its ways. (Matthew 7:21-23), These leaders
cannot make true disciples of Jesus Christ because they
themselves are not disciples of Jesus Christ. These "religious"
leaders are making their own disciples which are manipulated
into their own images. They are not making disciples of Jesus
Christ because those that follow them will not be able to know
or find the true love, fruit and character of The Lord Jesus
Christ in them. They will find a counterfeit Jesus that is
formed in their own image. Their main goal is to gain more and
more popularity which then produces more money, power and
prestige. They sacrifice the real truth found in the whole Word
of God in order to win many people to themselves. They find
Scriptures that entice their followers into believing that their
luxurious lifestyles are Biblical. People who are not grounded
in the true Word of God are easily deceived. Jesus Christ warned
us about these hypocrites repeatedly in His Word. (Matthew
7:15-17), These religious leaders are not putting God first or
His Kingdom because they are building their own kingdoms. All
that they are building through their own efforts will be burned
up as wood, hay and stubble. Only The Lord Himself can build His
church, and then the gates of hell will no longer be able to
prevail against it. These charlatans preach an easy salvation
without the conditions necessary for true conversion. These
religious leaders and those who think that their salvation is
easy and light need to have a fear of the living God. We have
heard about a God that is of our own creation, but we need to
study the Word and find the real Jesus Christ, and the real
Gospel message. (Phil. 2:12), The Word of God tells us that only
those who obey God and endure to the end will be saved. The
attainment of our salvation by Jesus Christ on the cross was not
easy, and our denying ourselves, taking up our crosses and
following Him will not be easy, but by The grace of God we can
finish the race victoriously. Tit. 2:12, Our blessings are not
automatic, but they are based on contingencies. These
requirements are clearly stated by our Lord throughout The New
Testament. Jesus commanded us to love Him first, to love even
our enemies, and He said that if we loved Him; we would obey His
commandments. 2 Tim. 3:12, Are you suffering persecution because
of your walk with The Lord Jesus? Many true Christians
throughout the world are suffering persecution because they
follow the Lord. Many are being persecuted by the religious
leaders and their many followers because they are preaching The
pure and holy Word of God. When you put God first; you will no
longer be a man pleaser. If you are still trying to please
people for your own purposes; you cannot be a servant of Jesus
Christ. Gal. 1:10, When we refuse to put God first and as Head
in His church; the church will not have its needed power,
authority and effectiveness. When we stop doing everything"our"
way, and we start doing everything in the church His way; we
will experience the magnificent, glorious power of God in The
church. When The church becomes one, and it becomes all that God
ordained it to be; the people of the world will know That Jesus
Christ is The Son of almighty God. When they see Him and His
love in His people; then they will believe and know The Lord
Jesus Christ. Many "religious" leaders want to make their own
doctrines, their own rules, and their own methods which are no
different from the ways of those who never knew The Lord Jesus
Christ. These are those who believe that they are rich,
well-dressed and they think that they know everything and can
see, but Jesus says that they are poor, naked, miserable and
blind. It is very sad because those who have so much of the
world's goods, titles, prestige, money and power are unable to
discern or understand their true condition. Jesus says to them:
Rev. 3:17-18, Jesus is giving these "Christians" wonderful
advice, and He is even standing at the door of their hearts
trying to come into their hearts and lives. They have ceased to
put God first in their lives. Wealth, prestige, possessions and
power have turned their heads away from God. They think that
they no longer need Him or His Truth. They have become very
"prosperous", but it is not the kind of prosperity that The Lord
honors. God honors the prosperity found in a soul that is
totally yielded to Him. God's prosperity consists of having a
pure heart, a right spirit and clean hands before Him. There are
so many godly men, women and children who are humbly working out
their own salvations with fear and trembling. They are following
The Lord Jesus Christ every day, and seeking His Kingdom and His
righteousness. These are those who will go through much
persecution because they have chosen to live a godly life and
live righteously in a world that is completely opposed to living
a pure and holy life. Mat. 5:10, These are those who have put
God first, and they will be greatly blessed.
The Lord came to earth with nothing, He didn't have a place to
lay His head and He was of no reputation. He came to set the
supreme example for all of us as He said that we are to deny
ourselves and take up our crosses and follow Him. He had
nothing, but He accomplished more than all others by laying down
His life, and by putting His Father first. He only did what His
Father gave Him to do. He had given up everything in order to
fulfill God's glorious purposes. We are called and commanded to
do the same. It is not an easy salvation, but it is a great
salvation that cost God and The Lord Jesus Christ everything.
Through God; we can do all things and nothing that He requires
will be impossible to those who believe and trust in Him. Real
success is putting God first in every area of our lives.