Advocate for Christ

The best life is a God First life

Category: Obedience (Page 7 of 8)

How would you feel?

June 29, 2021 / / 0 Comments

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!

Be sure your enemy is not; you

May 27, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Throughout the Bible, we are given numerous examples of people attempting to do their own thing instead of what God asked them to do, and; we see the results.

In the following scriptures we are told not to add or take away…

  • Deuteronomy 4:2
  • Deuteronomy 12:31–32
  • Revelation 22:18-19

God’s Words are Perfect to accomplish His will! They are not written to confuse.

It takes the efforts of mankind to cause confusion, efforts that, if honestly viewed, are derived by personal desires (most likely, the most well-intended desires) or worse yet, because we think we have a better way than God.

Somehow some are convinced they are not really adding to God’s Word when they add to God’s word. They think they are just making it more interesting to pique interest and get more people to come. They have affixed themselves to the tactic that unless worship can constantly appeal to the senses, it’s boring so, it must be entertaining to get people in the door.

Maybe, with this thinking, the heart is in a well-intended place, but we need to adopt God’s way if it’s to be in the right place.

When we try to improve on worship, leadership, and structure beyond what God-breathed scripture gave us using God’s writers, examples, commands, and inferences under the New Testament. We become that which we would say; we stand against. By approving of these additions, we make ourselves liars, False Teachers, enemies of God.

In reading the warnings of these Scriptures, I would say we should treat God’s Word with the utmost respect and be ever so careful not to add or take away from them.

Jesus says; “if you love me, keep my Commandments,” which we find throughout the New Testament. All God’s commandments hinge on loving God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind because, if we love God in this way, we will question our own desires, we will question our motives, even when they seem right in our eyes.

“For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Matthew 12:50
  • 1st Corinthians 14:33
  • 2 Timothy 3:16 – Gods inspired Words
  • 2 Timothy 4:3-4
  • Mark 12:30 – Greatest command
  • John 14:15–24 – “keep my Commandments.”
  • Proverbs 3:7, 21:2 – In our own eyes
  • Jude 1:1-25 – once for all delivered
  • John 14:6 – through him
  • John 5:23 – Honor Son and Father
  • John 6:38 – God Will by Jesus
  • 2 Peter 2:1-22

God First

Writer: Wayne Johnson

Satan is the evil one

April 26, 2021 / / 0 Comments

One of the most ridiculous things we can do in this world is to blame God for Satan’s actions.

“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

God made us in his image, he gave us the freedom to choose, and the one thing God wants from mankind that is ours to give is “Our love.” 

“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’”

Acts 17:24–28

”We love Him because He first loved us.”

1 John 4:19

“Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”

Psalm 136:1

God First!

“will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?”

April 23, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Some spin God’s word to accommodate their desire rather than God’s plan, and others follow them. There are many reasons people do this, but I personally believe the main reason is not intentional but rather willful ignorance. Willful in the sense that one must have a willingness to study and accept scripture as a whole, and this takes effort and time. When we hear or read something different than what we actually practice, then why? For me, I want to know what Scriptures support that practice. Does it add or take away from God’s Word? Deuteronomy 12:32 and Revelation 22:18

The Lord’s path is straight and is available to us through God’s inspired word. We have no excuse for not exercising due diligence with self-study.

We are always learning, so; we can be mistaken; the real question is: Do we seek to correct ourselves when we realize we are wrong, or do we decide it’s a non-issue and do nothing? The bible is an accumulation of God’s Word and took thousands of years to come about. When we dismiss any of it as a non-issue, are we not effectively telling God His words are not important, we know better? (2 Timothy 3:16)

Paul is addressing the false prophet Bar-Jesus in Acts 13:9-10…

“But Saul (also known as Paul), filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at him and said, “You who are full of all deceit and all wrongdoing, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness – will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?”

God First! Every second of every day!

Written by: Wayne Johnson

If you were to die tomorrow, what would you wish you had gotten done today?

If you were to die tomorrow, what would you wish you had gotten done today?

March 31, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Several days each week, my sister-in-law Julie and her two teenage children meet to go on evening walks with some other brothers and sisters in Christ. Yesterday, on the ride there, in an attempt to spark conversation with her teenage son, she asked him this question: “If you were to die tomorrow, what would you wish you had gotten done today?”

She expected a secular answer, but his response: “Be Baptized.”

This lead to further discussion, and my nephew Michael Jr. Johnson (affectionately known as Mikey) made the absolute best decision any of us ever make in this life. Mikey decided he wanted to have eternal life in heaven by being baptized and following Christ for the rest of his life.

So, last night, Michael Jr. confessed Jesus as the Son of God and was baptized into Christ in the name of The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of his sins. Later, Mikey told me he had been thinking about it for a while. You just never know what’s on someone’s mind.

The timing of his mother’s question and a follow-up question of “why wait?” Seemingly perfect.

Welcome to the Lord’s Church, Michael Jr. Johnson

God First?

written by: Wayne Johnson

God is my refuge

March 4, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Thankful that with God, we don’t have to face life’s difficulties alone.

Cast your Anxieties on the lord. (Share in prayer)

“casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

1 Peter 5:7 ESV….

No need to be Anxious

.“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6-7

God of All Comfort

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.”

2 Corinthians 1:3-5

God First!

We have authority

March 3, 2021 / / 0 Comments

In Matthew seven, Jesus spoke as one who had authority because, Jesus has authority.

We have been given authority also. Christians have been given the authority to share the message of Christ to the world. With this authority comes an obligation that is driven by our love for others and Christ.

This love motivates us to study and understand what it means to keep Jesus’s commandments according to the will of God. Sometimes in our attempt to understand or please, we edit God’s instructions, His teachings, precepts, and commands. When we do this (Accidently or not), we are demoting God to being less than perfect and promoting ourselves to having better ideas or ways than, God. Maybe this, in part, is why we are instructed not to add or take away from scripture. (Rev 22:18-19)

God’s way is the best way, its from God!

We do not have the authority to change the message of Christ!

We do not have the authority to do things our way!

God is the creator of everything we know and understand. We are servants to the King of Kings, and Jesus is our loving master. The perfect Son of God sacrificed his life, that we Might live forever.

What can we offer God? We can offer the one thing God wants from us. The one thing that all the laws of the prophets are summed up into, Our Love. We can be examples of God’s love for others by our efforts and actions. We can do everything in our power to share it all, God’s Way!

  • Matthew 22:34-40
  • Matthew 28:16-20
  • Deuteronomy 4:2
  • John 3:16
  • Matthew 7:1-29
  • Genesis 11:1-32
  • 1 Timothy 6:1-21

God First!

Favorite bible verses change, what is yours today?

Favorites; Yesterday and Today

February 26, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Recently I saw a post asking, what’s your favorite Bible verse? As I briefly pondered this question, I realized my favorite Bible verse has changed over the years. 

For years I leaned on the following verses and repeated them most often: Matthew 7:7-8 and Luke 11:9-10.  At that time in life, I did not have a good understanding of these Scriptures, yet I latched onto them as my favorites. They helped prod me to ask, seek, and knock. 

In recent years other verses come to mind most often. The following would now be three of my favorites:

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:33-34 ESV

“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 ESV

“…The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:16b

At this moment, no matter where we are in our spiritual life, Jesus, through God’s Word, can help us. When we study Scripture, we gain from the verses and stories we read. Some will become our favorites. One thing to keep in mind, As we journey and grow in our biblical understanding, we can rest assured, “If it’s good, it’s from God.”  James 1:17-19

What are your favorite verses?

The gift we can give God that God Wants

The gift we can give God that God wants?

February 24, 2021 / / 1 Comment

God gave mankind a unique opportunity. He created us in His image and gave us the ability to give to Him the one thing He really wants from his Creation. “Our Love by Our choice” I can think of nothing else we can offer God that He simply could not create for himself. In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus points out that all the law of the prophets is dependent on Loving God with every ounce of our being and loving our neighbors as ourselves. In John 14:15, Jesus tells us, If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And in John 13:34-35, A New commandment to love others as Christ loved us.

How can we know God’s commandments if we don’t study? Someone said to me, “it does not matter what we believe; we are all headed to the same place.” Why would God document thousands of years of interactions between Himself and mankind, that we may know him and provided us a pathway through the sacrifice of His Son on the Cross if it doesn’t matter what we believe?

We have been given the opportunity to accept God’s Grace through our loving obedience, which we strive earnestly to give because we love God. It’s that love that creates in us the desire to do God’s Will, according to God. While it might be comforting to say, it doesn’t matter what we believe, teach and practice, it’s not what we find in the words, examples, and precepts of Scripture.

The Bible is the most available book on the planet, and according to God’s word, all scripture is “God-breathed.” (2nd Timothy 3:16). I never want to hear Jesus say to me the words He mentions in Matthew 7:21–23. According to Scripture, it matters to God what we believe, what we teach, and the example we set.

I never want to take God’s love for granted; Instead, I want to give God, The one gift he values from you and me. “Our Love” We can do this by studying and sharing the message of Christ, keeping his commandment, pursuing righteousness. Doing all that we can to follow the commands, examples, and precepts of God according to God’s Word, not ours.

God First!

yes, no, checklist

Absolute Truth

February 18, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Absolute truth is the only truth from God. 

Shades of gray have nothing to do with God.

Jesus put it this way…

“Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil.” ‭‭MATTHEW‬ ‭5:37‬ ‭ESV‬‬

God First!

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