First Priority

We have in the following verses a story about a man who had a hard time prioritizing the most important thing in his life and lost out on all Jesus had for his life.
Luke 9:61-62 (NKJV)
⁶¹ And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."
⁶² But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." 
This man had an experience with Jesus evidently that changed his life. He had a real desire to follow Jesus which was good. But he would not fully commit his life to Jesus. He didn't want to just say good bye to his family, but he put his family before following Jesus which means he was not worthy of God's kingdom. He was more attached to his family than he was Jesus. Jesus said we must be willing to leave all to follow Him.
Matthew 10:37-39 (NKJV) 
³⁷ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
³⁸ And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
³⁹ He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
 Jesus told the man no one who has started out with Him and then looks back or turns from following Him is worthy for the kingdom of God. Quite a statement from Jesus! How many do you know that started out with Jesus and have now turned back from following Him? They have put other things before Him. They have given up the best for something less. How unfortunate! Where do you stand? Have you put other things before Jesus. What occupies most of your time? What or who controls your thoughts? Where does Jesus rate in your life?
  Jesus has made a promise to all who follow Him as a priority.
Jesus says in Matthew 6:33 (NKJV) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 
Jesus always knows what is best for us at all times. No one can be all he could be or accomplish great things apart from Jesus in his life. Nothing should ever take priority over the will of the Master. He has purchased us with His precious blood. 1 Peter 1:18-19 (NKJV) ¹⁸ knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 
 Jesus has the right to tell us what to do because He gave His all for us. Those who do decide to follow Jesus where He leads can never go wrong. He will always lead us in the the right way. It will always be the most productive for our lives. And there are so many rewards for being obedient to the Master. All we have to do is look at those who are totally committed to Jesus and compare their life with those who are not fully committed to  Jesus.

Jesus will always take care of His own. He will never leave us nor forsake us. 

Hebrews 13:5-6 (NKJV) ⁵ Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

⁶ So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" 
All this to say you will never regret selling out completely to Jesus and there will be suffering and loss if we fail to put Him first. Jesus is worthy of all of us because no one has ever done for mankind what He has.

I close by telling you that if you don't know this Jesus, He wants to save you from Hell and lead you in the path you should follow here on earth. He wants you to be fully blessed and have the abundant life. He wants to take you to heaven when this life is over. If you would like this in your life, ask Jesus to forgive your sins against God and then invite Him into  your life to take charge of you. Put Him first in your life and you will be glad you did. Nothing else compares to Jesus Christ. Go to church and be baptized in His name. That is part of what He commands for those who would follow Him. May God bless you as you make the decision to place Jesus above anyone or anything else.

 

The Royal Command

Matthew 22:37-40 (NKJV)
³⁷ Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
³⁸ This is the first and great commandment.
³⁹ And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."                                                     There are many teachings on serving God and living for God in this old sinful world. There are other teachings on how to be successful in this life. Still other teachings tell us how to have joy and peace in our souls. All of these are good. But there is one thing that usually is not discussed in these teachings. That one thing is your relationship to God. Many claim to be Christians, many go to church, serve, and give to God's work but the thing that is missing is that all consuming love for God through Jesus Christ the Lord. Until one has seen and confessed the sin in his life and asked Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son to forgive that sin, one can never love God much less anyone else and therefore can never please Him at all.
The bible says in Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." 
 John 3:18 (NKJV) He who believes in Him (Jesus) is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.                   
After you ask Jesus for His forgiveness of your sins against a Holy God that is not the end but the beginning. Your love for God starts there at forgiveness and should then continue on till this life is over. Anything done without love is useless and profits nothing. 

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NKJV)
¹ Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
² And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
³ And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love for God is what motivates us to do the things He requires. We are not to do anything for God out of compulsion. As was stated in the previous scriptures if we serve God out of anything but love it profits us nothing. Godly love is concerned about the welfare of others, not self. When you begin to serve God do you ever stop to consider why you are doing it? What is your motive? If it is not out of love for what God and His Son Jesus Christ have done for you then it is all in vain. God can not bless the service of one not fully loyal and committed to Him. So what I am saying is that the first thing we must do before we can accomplish anything for God is to draw as close to Him as we possibly can.                                                James 4:7-8 (NKJV) 

⁷ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
⁸ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
All this is to say the first thing God wants from you is all of you fully committed and faithful to Him in spite of everything else. Think of it. If all Christians were fully in love with God what a different world this would be. To fully love God we must make every effort to read His word daily because it is more important than anything else as it guides our lives in the way God would have us go. Talking to God in prayer is a must if we are to maintain a our love and close relationship to God. Taking time to listen to God speak to us is most essential in loving Him with all our being. Only when we have sought God with all our hearts will we ever accomplish great things for God. Remember the scripture we just read says as you attempt to draw close to God, the promise is He will draw close to you. If you are reading this and you know in your heart that you do not have that close intimate relationship to God, ask Jesus to forgive you and then make every effort to draw close to God through the power of His Holy Spirit. You will find yourself more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ our Lord. You will live in more victory over the problems of this life than you ever thought possible and you will find yourself accomplishing great things for God. If you want the best life has to offer and you want to please God you will obey His first and greatest commandment. When you love God with all you are, you will experience more of His love in return. And of course those around you will also benefit from it too because you will be loving them as yourself and your reward will be great in heaven. As you " Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.  James 4:10 (NKJV)  
What have you got to lose but your worries, doubts, and fears? You will gain exaltation from the Lord Himself. What more could you possibly want?

Wisdom For Living

When we take a trip, we first get out a map and begin to plot out our course. We would not dare take a trip before knowing how to reach our destination. We would plan each spot we would stop for rest, food, shelter, and fuel. The same is true for our spiritual destination this year. We should already be reading our maps and figuring what we need to do to have the most successful spiritual trip through the rest of this year. If you think about it, we need rest for our lives. We need spiritual food. We need God's protective shelter from the devil. We need spiritual fuel and it is found in God's Holy Spirit.
You see our spiritual journey will bring success in the natural or physical realm as we follow God's map. The map I am referring to is the bible. When we direct our steps in this life according to the bible we will not fail. The bible says in:
 Proverbs 3:5-8 (NKJV) 
⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.
⁸ It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.
There is the key to successful living. God says to trust in Him with all our heart. The focus is own trust  - having complete confidence in God and His word for our guidance. Trusting God will bring us the rest, food, shelter, and fuel we need for each day. His word says we must trust Him with all our heart. Not trusting one minute and doubting the next. We must be completely convinced that God knows best because He knows what will happen this year and how we can best live the abundant life He promised in: John 10:10 (NKJV) 
¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

We are not to trust our own understanding because compared to God's it is faulty because of sin. The devil is there every day to try to lead us astray by stealing from us, trying to kill us, and destroy us. We don't know what tomorrow might bring. Verse 6 says we are to acknowledge God in everything we do and then He shall  direct our paths. We can count on it. There are not many things we can count on in this world but we can always trust God to keep His word. 

We are not to try to be Mr. Know It All, but we are to fear (reverence) the Lord God. After all our life is in His hand. He controls our next breath. We can know if we are fearing and reverencing God as we should if we are departing from evil. We have nothing to do with evil. Sin and evil kill. Living for God brings His blessings and favor.
Trusting in God and following Him and His way bring us physical as well as spiritual health. Reverencing and fearing the Lord gives strength to our bones or inner most being.
Reading God's word daily for advise on how to live and talking to Him in prayer will keep us from a lot of problems we would in otherwise encounter. Remember God not only created us but He also knows what is best for us as we live our lives here on earth. God's will as found in the bible is to prosper us with an abundant life John 10:10b.
Which do you choose for the rest of this year? Your way or God's way. If you and I are wise we will choose God's way. As for me I will to choose God's way, I've tried the other and it failed miserably.
May God give us the power to live for Him and fear Him as we avoid the evil in this world that would endanger us and rob us of His best for our lives.
To those who may not have a personal relationship with God but you would like to so you can trust Him for your life, here is how you can have a personal relationship with Him. First recognize your sins before God. Ask His Son Jesus Christ to forgive your sins against God and save you, then invite Jesus into your heart to take charge of your life. When you do and you are sincere God's Spirit will come into your life and give you the power to live for Him.  Tell someone about what has happened and live every day as God would have you do under the power of His Holy Spirit within you. Go to a church and be baptized. Read God's word each day as much as you can. A little is better than nothing. As you read God's word you will begin to find how God feels about you. You will begin to grow in His blessings, favor, love, mercy, and grace. You will experience a joy that you did not know existed. It is not found here on this earth, only Jesus can give you that joy in your soul. Won't you seek His wisdom?