The best life is a God First life
If you love me, you will keep my commandments ~ Jesus
Real love is not void of consequences; Real love includes rebuke and discipline.
From the revelation of Jesus…
“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Revelation 3:19-20
God First!
This picture is of a space shuttle leaving the atmosphere. It was taken from space by NASA a few years back, where a writer noted: “Amazing, isn’t it? How nano we are in the cosmic scale.” God’s creation is larger than anyone can truly comprehend, and we, even more “Nano” on a cosmic scale than this space shuttle.
God created us in His image!
He loves, knows, and Cares about every single one of us; He knows how many hairs are on our heads. Matthew 10:30 and Luke 12:7
God sees everything!
“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Watching the evil and the good.” Proverbs 15:3
“Does He not see my ways And number all my steps?” Job 31:4
“God gave His only begotten Son that we may not perish but have everlasting life, should we choose to love Jesus enough to keep God’s commandments.” John 4:16
Although you are Nano in comparison to all of creation, you and each of us are known and loved by God as if we were the whole of creation.
God loves you!
God First!
A lot of people get very excited about sports. It’s a topic of numerous conversations. Seldom am I with a group of men where sports is not immediately part of the conversation or dominates it.
Many parents rightfully recognize the benefits of raising their children to embrace the positive principles of sports and starting them in sports at a very early age. Lifelong friendships form as parents help each other with rides and mutually encourage their children and one another. As a result, Money, Time, and Schedules are eagerly managed so that parents can support events, practice meets, or games by attending, and the value of teamwork is fortified.
Families unite over sports talk, laughs, and jokes, discuss sports greats, sportsmanship, and teamwork, and often spend countless hours watching professional sports together. These bonding moments are excellent training and help build solid friendships and good character in our young adults, helping them navigate life.
Isn’t this precisely how we should prioritize, teach, and share Christ in our lives?
Shouldn’t our conversations and social media presence include glorifying and sharing the blessings of Christ, and showing concern for others?
If we showed our love for God the way we show our love for sports, how would our lives change?
What would it look like if our interest in God took priority over our interest in sports?
Imagine how excellent this world would be if the same effort we put into sports were put into following and sharing Christ’s message with everyone we interact with?
Sports may bring a lifetime of happy moments, but they should never take priority over God. With God, our blessings go far beyond this lifetime and lead us to our eternal home, a glorious place without tears, pain, or woes, forever Joy!
God First!
During the days of creation, we find the phrase, “And God saw that it was good,” repeated several times. However, it was not until God created man in His image that scripture tells us, “God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was VERY GOOD. (Genesis 1:31)
We are God’s creation!
“For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 )
God is the creator of everything we see and comprehend; everything our minds think we know and understand; it’s all from God. So, what can we offer to God that He wants?
God wants us to recognize that He is the only God and that Jesus is His Son, who was with God at Creation. (John 1:1-5) He wants us to know that salvation comes only through the innocence of Jesus, who was sacrificed for our sins and then raised by God to sit at his right hand in heaven; King of Kings, Lord of Lords, only through Christ do we have hope of eternal life with God. He wants us to know that Jesus has prepared a heavenly home for us beyond this world if we choose to accept His grace and keep His commandments. God wants us to know that on the day of judgment, our souls will be given new heavenly bodies for our never-ending life, and He tells us so in His Word. ( See 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, Philippians 3:20-21, John 14:3-10)
So again, what can we offer God that God really wants?
God has given us every reason to love Him; He has given us the freedom to choose good over evil, and He wants us to love Him.
LOVE, love is the only thing we can give that God seeks from us, not by force but by choice.
May we all seek God first in our lives, love each other as Christ has loved us, and show Jesus that we love Him by keeping His commandments. This is what God seeks, it’s what God wants, and what God wants to reward us for.
The Greatest Command: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28-34
God First!
Stand Firm!
Study and learn God’s word so you can know God’s will for yourself rather than relying on someone else.
Pursue God’s will, for if God is with you, who can be against you?
(see Romans 8:31)
Be the Rock of faith that inspires others to learn and become rocks of faith themselves, especially to our little ones who see you as their examples.
Love others as Christ loves you.
Be mindful of this fact: The closer we draw to God, the closer he draws to us. (see James 4:8)
Trust in God!
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. “
John 13:34 ESV
God First!
Imagine being taken back in time, way, way back. You are walking beside Jesus, yet unseen by anyone as He carries the cross to “Golgotha.” You are seeing and hearing firsthand all the hatred toward our Savior. You can’t hold back the tears as they begin to seep from your eyes as you witness all the cruelty and dripping blood from His torn flesh. Watching Him struggle to carry that heavy cross. You understand the words being yelled and touted as Jesus is being mocked and ridiculed. You are helpless to do anything more than watch as the innocent Son of God is spat upon with disdain and disrespect.
You see the sign, smugly placed above His head, in laughter. “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
The spikes are then driven through His hands and feet, and you hear the heart-wrenching thud of the cross as it is stood up and dropped into place, tearing again at His hands and feet. Jesus is in agony, His flesh ragged and torn from beatings, bleeding, and scabbing. You listen intently to His every word. Then, just before He proclaims, “It is Finished,”
Jesus looks directly at you!
Tears in His eyes, and you hear Him say: I’m doing this for you!
Today, God’s Word is at our fingertips. Shouldn’t we try our best to live according to God’s will? Through God’s wisdom, everything we need to know to keep the commandments of Jesus is found in the God-Breathed Words of the Holy Bible.
Let’s put our wisdom aside and pursue the Wisdom of our Creator. It’s not found in one verse or chapter; it’s found in the 66 inspired books God gave us!
“If you love me, keep my commands.”
John 14:15
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16)
Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
1 Peter 3:21-22
God First!
Being the recipient of brotherly or sisterly love reminds us we are loved, whether the love expressed is on a grand or minuscule scale, whether it’s a card, a visit, a gift, or simply a caring wave from across the way.
Showing our love for others can make a positive difference in someone’s life while also adding Joy to ours. Don’t discount the little stuff, like a simple phone call. It says we care enough to call.
Make time to reach out; don’t think of the call as obtrusive but rather inclusive.
You’re not making a sales call; you’re making an “I Care Call.
”Why wait for sickness or turmoil to make a call? If they can’t answer, leave a short message; if they are busy, simply let them know you are thinking of them. The call says: You care!
Phone calls are such simple, easy ways to do good and express Christ-like love for others; you never know how much your phone call could mean in someone’s day, or even how it could provide comfort precisely when someone needs it most.
Time is one of the most precious gifts we have to offer; Making an “I care call” reminds others they are loved; who wouldn’t want to do that?
God First!
We were gifted with the morning light as it cast these rainbow colors across our tile floor. As I pointed it out to my wife, I thought, how cool! Its presence then sent my mind down a pathway of thoughts to carry.
Like the rainbow in the sky, this simple patch of colors reminded me of God’s promises. That God cannot lie and will always be with those who love Him. How Jesus said: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
While sipping my morning coffee, my mind kept highlighting snippets of God’s Word, “God is the God of All Comfort”, “the closer we draw to God, the closer God will draw towards us”, “Ask, and it will be given, Seek and you will find, Knock and the door will open”, “Pray without Ceasing!”
It is comforting to remember how much Jesus cares for us and to be reminded to be humble and to cast all our anxieties on Him.
This little patch of light reminded me that Faith includes Trust. “Never give up on doing good.” Lean on Jesus, especially in times of trial when the challenges of life are heavy, and things don’t make any sense.
So much was brought to mind in this little patch of rainbow light.
Jesus has prepared for those who love Him a place with many rooms where tears, death, mourning, crying, and pain will be no more. It gives me peace to remember this world is but a temporary home; our forever home is, as a song states, “Beyond the azure blue.” Scripture tells us, “Do not love the world or the things in the world.” All this world and its desires are passing away, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
God First!
– If you feel farther away from God today than you have in the past, the question becomes, WHO MOVED? HINT: it was NOT God.
“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:8 ESV
It stands to reason that the opposite is also true if we move away from God.
“And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,” Romans 1:28 NASB
– If there is any evil in it, it is not from God
– God is Love
– God is Good
– All the Time
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” ISAIAH 5:20
Sometimes, we are tempted to blame God when our hearts are torn in anguish and pain. We struggle to reason why tragic things happen to good people, innocent children, loved ones, or maybe to ourselves. We might ask, why me? Why us? Why them? We may experience a tragic loss or have other life-altering events we don’t understand. Crime, Cancer, Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Covid, Heart issues, Blood or Breathing issues, accidents, Lyme disease, to name only a few.
We want an explanation, we want to assign blame, but blaming God is misplaced.
As we see from the scriptures above, there is NO evil in God. There is, however, refuge, hope, and prayers answered. There is the possibility of eternal life in heaven for those who choose to become “In Christ” and keep His commandments according to God’s will, NOT our own.
“For He makes the sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45)
Satan is the evil one; take refuge in Jesus. When we move away from Jesus, we are moving closer to Satan; closer to forever tears.
Jesus is our only hope for eternal life, where there are no illnesses, pain, or tears. Where our souls will live with new bodies, and our hopes become reality forever in heaven with pure love.
Acts 2:38-41, 1 Peter 3:20-21, Colossians 2:11-13, Romans 6:4-5, John 3:5, Mark 16:16, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Titus 3:5, Matthew 28:19–20, Acts 10:48
God First!
Jesus would not be swayed from His purpose, and His purpose was to do the will of His Father! As Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights, Satan tried but could not sway Jesus. When Jesus was weak and hungry, Satan pushed to exploit Jesus’s hunger and provoke Him to perform a miracle.
Satan: “Tell these stones to become bread.”
Instead, Jesus quotes Scripture, telling Satan that life comes from “Every Word of God.”
Satan then endeavors to get Jesus to prove He is the Son of God by throwing Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. However, Jesus instead quotes scripture: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Satan then shows Jesus the splendor in all the Kingdoms of the World and offers them to Jesus if He will bow down to him.
Jesus tells him: “BE GONE” and quotes scripture a 3rd time.
“You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.”
This is an excellent example of not allowing Satan to sway us from our purpose, but rather of putting God first, seeking all His righteousness, learning His Word, holding fast to it, and trusting God. The full scripture demonstrates that Satan knows scripture and will use scripture to mislead us.
This Scripture is a great example of how knowing scripture can help us overcome temptations and discern the truth. It points out that we are NOT to test God and are to worship and serve God only.
God knows what’s best for us; if we love Him, we will keep His commandments, and through study, we can shew ourselves approved unto God. If God is for us, who can be against us?
May God be with us all!
Matthew 4:1-11
2 Timothy 2:15
Romans 8:31
John 14:15
God First!
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