Putting God First c2-head***


Putting God First

by Mary Wilkey
(Ohio, USA)

The First Basic of the Bible: Putting God First!

This purpose of this Back to the Basics of the Bible study will be to get us all back to the basics that our dear Lord has given us in His love letter to us, the Holy Bible.

Briefly, those basics are simply stated in the two New Testament commandments at Matthew 22:37, when Jesus said: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.

"This is the first and great commandment. And the second is just like it; you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

"On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

So, straight from the horse's mouth, as it were, love is to govern all our actions.

Think about it. If we all actually love our Lord and each other, there is no way we could sin against anyone or break His original ten commandments, at least not intentionally.

The operative word in the preceding sentence is "intentionally." As Christians, we do not knowingly (I hope) hurt anyone. Of course, we also all know that we sometimes do. And for that we must ask their forgiveness.

And that is why our Lord tells us that the original ten commandments are fulfilled (hang) on the keeping of the two New Testament commandments.

But He also said that the prophets hang on these two commandments as well. You may ask, what on earth does that mean? And we'll get into that next time.

Today, however, many will question how we can possibly love God, whom we cannot see with our physical eyes. And the answer is two-fold:

1 — Loving God is not necessarily emotional like human love, although it will segue into that realm, the longer we serve Him. (Remember that old song, "The Longer I Serve Him the Sweeter He Grows"?)

2 — Our Lord states that, if we love Him, we will obey Him and keep His commandments (John 14:15). So we express our love for Him by obeying all of His commandments, and since all ten of the original commandments of the Old Testament are expressed in the two New Testament commandments, that becomes simple. Not always easy, but simple.

To qualify that last statement, let me say that, if you truly are a born again Christian and are following in the steps of Jesus, you probably have no trouble when it comes to the basic "thou shalt nots," e.g., stealing, adultery, coveting, etc., because those all fall under the second new commandment of "love thy neighbor as thyself."

The hard part is loving God! What?!

You may never have considered this before, but loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind is not easy because of the myriad of distractions that we live with daily in this complex world of ours.

To love the Lord the way He commands means totally putting God first before anyone or anything else. But many times He comes last in our daily priority list. To me, relegating Him to our "leftover" time, if any, is an insult.

It's totally disgusting to realize that many, if not most, "Christians" consider everything else more important than spending some quality time in His Presence every day. They aren't putting God first in their daily lives.

When I first set about to establish this daily habit, I decided I would spend just seven minutes first thing in the morning reading the Bible and/or praying. That time very soon and very easily grew to where I was actually spending the first two or three hours with Him, and they were the best hours of the day!

Try it and see for yourself, if you don't already have the habit.

To sum up then, the first basic is to honor our Lord by spending time with Him daily, preferably first thing after you get up.

Now, does anyone have any other suggestions for putting God first and prioritizing daily time with our Lord?

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Putting God first means you are acknowledging your total dependence on God NEW
by: Gabe

Hi Mary
I agree according to 1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God that we
keep ALL His commandments and His commandments
are not grievious.
I ask the readers. Do you actually keep all 10 commandments
If you are from the mainline Christian
denomination, you are only keeping 9
and the one that you are leaving out one which
is considered by most christians as the
least convenient when God clearly said
in His word -that His commandments are not grievous. Most people do not keep the Sabbath
on the 7th day-Saturday.2things are involved
Observing the Sabbath from sunset 6pm Friday to 6pm sunset Saturday. When people ignore this very important 4th Commandment-they are actually showing
that they don't love God and they are missing out
on God's plan of salvation. You cannot love God
if you dont keep His commandments and obey Him
Proverbs 3:5 & 6
I challenge the readers on the question of the Sabbath and i am not a 7th day adventist either.
It's something most christians have eithet not understood or have chosen to ignore.If there is one
thing that i have learned over 30 yrs is that when you ignore God-you are the eternal loser
My understanding is that if we must trust God
completely if we are to reap eternal life and not give in to our own preferences or man's traditions
and explain away the 4th commandment to keep the sabbath according to God's will.

Can the pot say to the potter- i have got a better idea than you on how you shoud have done things for me.

God created the Sabbath for man and people areignoring it-how rude is that?
Matt 6:33 But Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.
When we seek God diligently-nor day dreaming but in
sincerity and truth -he will help us overcome
the trials of the day. The Lord said in Revelation
To whom that overcomes-I will give him the crown of Life. It's true that we have yet to rxperience the fiery trials that are coming our way via the great tribulation. But how are to achieve victory in the big things if we are not overcoming in the small things of life.
May the Lord bless you and speak to your heart
so God's will is our delight

Psalm 37: 3 & 4
Love in Christ
Gabe

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Assistance please
by: Anonymous

Maybe someone can help me...I have known the Lord for about ten years. He came to me, instructed me and I think I have been following Him. I commune with him daily, thinking of Him almost every minute. His presence is wonderful in my life but I am also bothered by a form of what I would call strife. I try to put God first in everything I do but I am continually being nagged by this thorn in my side. Does anyone have a similar problem or a suggestion as to how to handle this constant problem? Please pray for me to the Lord almighty. Thank you. May the Lord bless you abundantly.

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PUTTING GOD FIRST
by: SHIRL

The Holy Spirit has accomplished what He desired in me so I share this with people frequently. First it included the degrees of growth the Bible talks about from milk to meat. The Scriptures are designed to wake up and instruct, guide, love and mature your peice of Jesus that's already abiding in each of us. God's elect are assured of His love, knowledge and wisdom. I allowed God to do to me what He said in His word that He needed to do after that I was delivered from there to here. What is here? my position in Christ has been realized and I live it daily. It causes me to have the sweet peace and sleep that my Heavenly Father promised me. I want you to know that God is not a respecter of people but He is a respecter of Faith.

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I am giving up my time to spend more time with God for Lent
by: Anonymous

Hi! This website is AWESOME! I am excited that I was led to this site and this particular article. I am not Catholic, but my family does practice Lent. This year, I decided to give up my time for God which is why I was excited to read this article. It is true that we do not spend enough time with God. How can we carry out the greatest commandment of loving one another if we do not show love to God? I know that it may be difficult waking up an hour earlier to read my word and pray before work because I love to sleep; however, I know that it will definetly be worth it. Thanks again for the information. God Bless you all!

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Putting God First
by: cheryl

You asked for suggestions on how to put God first...
I think we must purpose it in our hearts, And also ask for His help...it doesnt come naturally. He tells us to love Himself with all of our heart soul and will.
If He commands us, then He always makes that provision for us...So we should ask our Heavenly Father for that help.And then when He by His Spirit quickens our hearts...we need to respond and say Yes and submit our time unto Him....because He gave us the hour and the breath...We thank Him and ask Him to help us to number our days...that we may prioritize what truly is important.

I agree also that a journal is a great way to keep track of our time...and of the amazing things he does in our hearts.

Grace and peace to you in abundance!!!

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putting God first
by: Anonymous

God must be put first in all aspects of our life.

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This is great!
by: Ameerah

Hi Mary,

I just wanted you to know that I really agree with you. It is so vital that we as Christians take time to really connect with God.

You asked for other ideas of ways to prioritize daily time with God. One thing that has really helped me in that area is keeping a Christian prayer journal. Because I date each of my entries, I am able to look back and take an honest look at how long it has been since I have really spent time with God. It also helps me to keep my mind stayed on God during our time together.

I am interested to see what other Christians do to put God first and prioritize Him on a daily basis.

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