The best life is a God First life

Category: Goodness (Page 3 of 4)

Want to Save America?

I would love to see America saved from the direction it’s currently headed. Hope is not lost if we each take action to change direction.

Scripture tells us in James 4:8: “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you…” It stands to reason that the opposite is also true; the further we are from God, the further He is from us.

We must embrace and share the Goodness and Love of God found in Scripture. We must learn to be and teach others to be as Christlike as possible. It sounds too simple to be the answer but putting God First really is The Answer!

A Country without God is a Country lost; a country with God is a Country Blessed!

God First!

It is what it is, but it will be what we make of it!

This statement applies to many things, but today I think of social media. Platforms like Facebook turn so many people off because many abuse freedom of speech with disrespectful, attention-grabbing rants, gossip, foul language, crude or distasteful images, etc.; I’ve heard many refer to social media as “the devil’s workshop.” Well, this may all be true, but; “it will be what we make of it!”

Social media can indeed be viewed as a workshop, but it doesn’t have to be just Satan’s.

No, If every Christian turned off by these abuses decided to post, share, like, and love only good things rather than walk away and be quiet, they could help make social media a better place. The simple truth is that Satan is in this world, his actions are all around us, and “we can’t make a difference if we don’t try.”

Jesus charged us to share the gospel with all the world; we are charged with planting seeds of Truth. So, when we choose to walk away from farmland that is ours to cultivate and plant, we leave only Satan planting seeds of weeds and destruction. So, rather than decide social media is not for me, rather than be quiet, why not be engaging? Simply refrain from negative comments and use your platforms to encourage and share the truths of life with Christ.

You don’t have to post articles, but you can support good ones with likes, Loves, and encouraging comments. You can share articles and memes of truth and good thoughts. Don’t take negative statements personally. They are often spewed from ignorance (hint: the seed lands on all soil types); cast it and let it grow, let God provide the growth. Jesus Himself cast numerous seeds and was rejected by some in much worse ways than a negative or hurtful comment.

Social media can be a tool to teach what scripture says rather than feelings. You can share links to sites that specialize in sharing Truths, Sites like The apologetic Press, Search of the Lord’s Way, among others whose sole purpose is to teach truth according to scripture rather than what they feel Scripture meant. I personally don’t want to gamble my soul’s eternity on what someone feels scripture meant when there is so much understanding to be had by gaining a fuller understanding of God’s Words themselves.

It is what it is, but it will be what you make of it!

God First!

How would you feel?

How would you feel? Your daughter’s been a bit of a tomboy most of her life, you love her with all your heart, and she gets engaged to marry. Now, you are a master at sewing and spend months sparing no expense, gathering the perfect materials, designing, preparing, sewing, and tweaking to perfection the most beautiful wedding dress the world has ever seen. With each adjustment, love flows exuberantly from your heart. Your imagination is unstoppable as you visualize your daughter walking down that aisle. You are creating ”A Work of Art,” just for her! And you know in your heart, she’s going to recognize and appreciate all the love you’ve put into creating this gorgeous wedding dress. In this dress, she will be the bride of brides and forever grateful. (talk about precious memories!) When your daughter sees the dress, she exclaims how beautiful it is; she tries it on and is simply stunning. She hugs you, and thank’s you profusely. (You smile!)A few days later, you come home and see your daughter in jeans and a t-shirt doing what she loves working on her pickup truck with tools, parts, dirt, and grease all over the place, which is kind of normal for her, what you don’t expect to see is the wedding dress under feet being used as a drop cloth to protect the driveway.

How would you feel?

Are you disappointed, hurt? I know. This is absurd and would never happen, right? Yet, in a sense, it has happened and does happen. Not, to the creator of a wedding dress, No; It’s much worse. This is how ”Our” creator gets treated by His creation.

God created this beautiful, fascinating universe for us, and after creating each piece, God said: “This is good” BUT, after creating, mankind God called it all “VERY GOOD.” God was pleased with His creation. God also sacrificed tremendously for us. His plan included the life, death, and resurrection of His son through which God extended an offer of grace to everyone that we might all have eternal life in heaven. At some point, many learn of Christ and put on Christ in baptism; we thank God profusely and recognize His love. We put God First in our lives, then often get caught up in skewed self-absorbed priorities and quickly lose sight of what’s really important. We let honoring God trickle down our priority list. This is when we really hurt our Creator. God watches when we treat ”His artwork” as if it was worthless fabric, as we step-on, trample, smudge, dirty, and abuse His perfection, His labor, and Gifts of pure love; God knows our hearts! The Church is the bride of Christ; those who are “In Christ” should always be mindful of God’s precious gifts. God told us how we could demonstrate our thankfulness. Jesus said; if you love me, you will keep My Commandments, and “the greatest command is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. God gave us freedom of choice; the one thing we can offer God that is ours to give is our choice. Our choice to love God by following Christ and keeping His commandments to the best of our ability. It’s all God really asks of us!

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

Isaiah‬ ‭61:10‬
May we always keep God First in our lives, every second of every day!
  • Genesis 1:31
  • Exodus 20:3
  • Exodus 34:14
  • Psalm 18:31
  • John 5:44
  • 1 Timothy 1:17
  • John 3:16
  • Galatians 2:20
  • Matthew 6:33
  • Romans 12:1-2

God First!

••• Viewing the Soul •••

  • If you’re attractive – so what!
  • If you’re ugly – so what!
  • If you’re poor – so what!
  • If you’re rich – so what!
  • I could care less if you’re black, white, yellow, green, purple, or red…
  • So what!

When I wave at you, I wave at a soul when I smile at you, I smile at a soul, but more importantly, when God looks at you, He sees your soul. When God looks at you, He sees your heart and knows your mind.

May we always live to bring honor and glory to God, striving to be someone after God’s own heart, willing to do all God’s Will to the best of our ability. Pleasing to the loving eyes of God.

“And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.”

Acts‬ ‭13:22‬

‬God First!

The glories of life

If you saw the glories of life through my eyes; You would go to sleep each night with great anticipation! Looking forward to the next morning’s air, its sunshine, its birds, and playful squirrels in the trees.

Through my eyes; Each morning brings a new opportunity to hear the voice of those I love and do my best to see them smile and hear their laugh. To tease them, hug them, play with them or even; just sit with them and soak the glories in!

Through my eyes; We all miss out when we sleep in late and must rush to start the new day’s race. But even then, I do my best to start their day at its very best! To bring a smile upon their face, they can carry through the day’s race.

~Boo Boo

If only we all lived each day in this way, what a blessing it would be to everyone around us. What Joy we would have in our hearts, what Joy we would bring to others all day long.

Written by: Wayne Johnson

Save yourself with honesty.

When good minds and hearts succumb to telling lies and being deceitful, it produces guilt, and guilt is heavy on the heart. When we choose to hide the truth rather than correct the issue with honesty, we carry unnecessary burdens. These burdens of sin allow Satan to set up residence and dwell in our minds. For example, if we lie or deceive someone (like a spouse) regarding an important matter, we carry that unresolved lie with us daily?

Sometimes, rather than confess, we tell ourselves things like ”no real harm done,” it’s better if they don’t know.” ”Why hurt them with the truth?” however, by doing so, we seal that burden of guilt in our hearts and minds, maybe for years or till death when honesty sets us free.

Our cover-up then gives Satan permanent residence in that part of our mind, and guess what? It’s not hidden from God. God knows the truth and has told us to always speak with the truth.

God hates lies!

When we fess up, confess, ask forgiveness and repent, we simultaneously kick Satan to the curb, kicking him out of that permanent dwelling we’ve furnished him in our mind. Don’t let Satan settle in, save yourself with honesty, pray, tell the truth, face the consequence and stop Satan from building a mansion in your mind as one lie leads to two, then three, then four, and many more…

The above thoughts bring to my mind the parable of unclean spirits and following scriptures.

  • John 8:34 – slave to sin
  • James 5:16 – confess
  • Matthew 12:43-45 unclean spirits
  • Philippians 4:8-9 rethink
  • Romans 1:28-32
  • John 8:32 – truth
  • Matthew 5:23-24 – Reconcile

God First!

God’s Standards are fixed!

By what standard do you define good and evil, right and wrong?

We live in a society where a large percentage of people adopt whatever standard is exclaimed at the moment. It’s a variable floating standard with no foundation.

God’s standard is absolute, unchanging, and defined by scripture which is God-Breathed. It’s the only standard by which we can obtain eternal life, living forever in Heaven with the creator of everything we know. The Father, The Son, & The Holy Spirit.

If you’re looking for righteous discernment, it’s in God’s Word. The best standard by which any can live our lives. God’s Word defines right and wrong. God’s standard is fixed in pure love as God is Love!

God First!

Seen by God, Rewarded by God

Have you ever gone out of your way to do good and help others in difficult times only to be overlooked or forgotten? Maybe as they recall the experience, you find your efforts credited to someone else or not even in their recollection. This forgetfulness sometimes happens in different situations. Stress can definitely affect what we remember. Maybe, you’re just so close to them that their mind categorizes your efforts differently as we sometimes do with family members.

I remember several times thru the years when my wife would become annoyed with me because I shared something with her I had recently learned from another.

Virginia’s annoyance was not with the info but rather, the fact that she had told me the same thing herself (maybe more than once), and here I was, giving all the credit to someone else and excitingly telling it to her as if it was the first time I had ever heard it. Yi yi yi!

The point is, not being credited, thanked, or having the credit given to someone else can be slightly discouraging, but it happens.

We just need to ask ourselves, why do we do good things? We see a need, and we step up. Are we looking to be praised? No, for most, we simply want to help others through the love and compassion in our hearts. It’s not about us. It’s about them.

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

Galatians 6:9-10
  • Getting Credit doesn’t matter
  • Being forgotten doesn’t matter

What really matters?

  • Sharing God’s Word matters
  • Continuing to do good matters
  • Showing love matters
  • Making a difference to the glory of God- these are the things that matter.

Jesus tells us:

“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Matthew 6:3-4

God First!

Writer: Wayne Johnson

Worldly means vs The good life!

Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)

This verse really stands out to me; why? Because I spent years with my priorities skewed. I spent years doing what I wanted, seeking more fun, money, adventure, and things. I attempted to find and express my worth to self and others through what scripture refers to as “worldly means.”

At this time in my life, I found wisdom in my own eyes. It was self Indulging manipulating wisdom.  As a result, I spent those years treating Our Creator as if He only mattered when nothing else did.

The big issue here is I knew better! I had an understanding of “The Good Life,” The one that is given to us by God through scripture, and I knew much of what I was doing went against God’s will for us. As a result, I lived those years apart from God, not truly realizing the negative impact I could have on others.

To look back and pine for those old times and start longing for that old lifestyle indicates my love for Christ is neither hot nor cold but rather lukewarm, and by not looking toward Jesus, the path I plow would become crooked. I would effectively be longing for a time when I was ”apart from God.”

How then would I be fit for the Kingdom of heaven?

Jesus Tells Us:

I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

Revelation 3:16-17

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,”

HEBREWS 10:26
  • Proverbs 3:7 (wise in our eyes)
  • Isaiah 59:2 (separation)

God First!

Smiling with our Eyes

When I go to the store, the post office, gas station, I see people and say hello to strangers. Sometimes I nod or wave to acknowledging their presence.
 
In a mask or not, we can still be courteous and greet others with smiles in our eyes and comfort from our words of kindness.
 
By sharing the joy in our hearts, we encourage others to share the joy in theirs.
 
God First!
 
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