Put God Above All Else!

Thank you for joining us! We love sharing the insights and revelation the Lord shares with us. The Lord's Word is so rich. It is Truth which was given us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is His Word and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction. Pray that the Lord will bring His Word to life for you as you read today. Eric

It is important that we realize what is required and needful for a believer who has entered into relationship with God Almighty. We must also be aware of what challenges, persecutions and attacks we will face from the enemy in his attempts to try to destroy or undermine the relationship we have with the Lord.

The expectation the Lord has for those who desire to have eternal life and become believers (those who are in right standing with the Lord) after they have accepted the sacrificial gift Jesus provided by His shed blood, is that we would love the Lord with all our heart, soul, strength and minds. (Luke 10:27 ESV). That means we are to love God with our entire being, including our physical capabilities, our intellect, and our understanding. There is no way we could accomplish that without putting Him first place in every aspect of our life.

There is a personal cost to follow Jesus. Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 16:24, to be His disciple or follow after Him that man must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Him. In denying himself, a man has to put the interests of the kingdom first and foremost in his life. This means setting aside personal designs, ambitions and comfort in favor of God's will. To 'take up the cross' does not necessarily mean to endure being hung on a cross, but it means being willing to endure hardships and persecutions for the sake of Jesus.

Following Jesus means we live a life which mirrors Jesus! The life of one who mirrors Jesus would be characterized by love, service and obedience to all the Lord's commands. Believers, we must understand that true discipleship means we abandon all of our selfish ambitions, interests and desires. We must accept a call to humility and submission.

Jesus made a very interesting statement! In John 12:25, we read His words, "Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." To understand this Scripture, we need to look deeper at the words, 'love' and 'hate.' According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, 'love' phileo means "to have affection for." HELPSWord-studies adds that 'phileo' is "affectionate friendship - properly, to show warm affection in intimate friendship, characterized by tender heartfelt consideration. “At times phileo has a positive connotation but at other times it is used negatively - to expose misplaced affections that rival love for God.” (Bible Hub Topical Lexicon). “Properly ordered, phileo enriches the life of faith, disordered it betrays the heart. The Scripture's consistent testimony calls every believer to cherish Christ above all." (HELPS Word-studies) So, you see, if we 'love' our life above or more than our love for God, we are spiritually out of order.

The word 'hate' used in John 12:29 in regards to our lives, is the Greek word "miseo, meaning to hate, detest, abhor and by extension means to love less." (Strong's). HELPSWord-studies adds: "hate properly means to detest (or a comparative basis),; hence, denounce; to love someone or something less than someone or something else; or to renounce on choice in favor of another."

Obviously, the One Who teaches us to love even our enemies is not promoting 'hating' ourselves or our family. Looking at Luke 14:26, we read, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children...and sisters - yes even their own life - such a person cannot be my disciple." The words used for 'love' and 'hate' in this verse is comparative. We are not to literally 'hate' our family, we are to love Jesus more than we love our family. Then, more plainly we read in Matthew 10:37, "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

Jesus told His disciples that there would come a time when family members would turn against one another. (Matthew 10:21 reveals, "Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death." We pray for the believers who are experiencing this now, that God will strengthen and empower them to remain faithful to the One Who died for them. Also, we must all be aware that 'that’ time will be coming.

In 1 Peter 2, the Scriptures reveal that Jesus, Who was good, endured sorrows unjustly. Verses 20 and 21 reveals, "For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps." The word 'example' in verse 21 translated from the Greek word, hypogrammon means a pattern or model to be followed You can expect the day will come when you will be unjustly treated and have to endure hardship. When that occurs, you need to follow Christ's example and endure the suffering and continue to live a life of holiness and obedience. It is commendable before God. Know this, you will never go through anything you cannot endure. He promises to always be with you and will go through the waters and fire with you.

When Jesus emptied Himself and became a man for us, He put aside all self-centeredness, pride and selfishness. He lived a life of selflessness and servanthood. Philippians 2:3-8 gives us an excellent example of Christ's humility, which we are to follow, " Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Jesus was totally obedient to the Father - to the point of facing and enduring the brutal, shameful suffering and rejection of the cross. Amazingly, He also bore the wrath of God in our place! What humbling and amazing knowledge that is for us to have!

We can clearly understand why King David was declared to be a man after God's own heart (Acts 143:22) when we read the expression of David's heart which we find in Psalm 63:1 and 3, " A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. ... 3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you."

In our quest for putting God first place in our lives, it would be good if we would pray the prayer the Apostle Paul and Timothy prayed for the believers in Colossae. Colossians 1:9-13, "And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,"

Then in verses 16, 17, 21 and 22 of Colossians 1, we see why Jesus is worthy to be put first place in our lives. Through Him, we have been transferred from the power and authority of darkness into the Kingdom of Christ. Through Jesus' death, He has made us holy, unable to be accused of anything. (When we continue to live faithfully for Him.).

According to Romans 13:14, we are to “'put on the Lord Jesus Christ' (adopt the character and virtues of Jesus) and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” That means, we take upon ourselves His teachings, love and righteousness and make no provision for our old sinful nature.

Let's look at Colossians 3:2, "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." 'Set your minds' is defined as: to seek in order to find; "making an active ongoing effort to focus on heavenly realities rather than earthly concerns." (Bible Hub Study Bible). 'Things that are above' are eternal and 'things that are on earth' are temporal. We must focus our thoughts and attention on the things that are important to God, the eternal.

Our 'worldly' success counts as nothing in the kingdom of God. Paul, after entering into a personal relationship with Christ, considered all his past achievements as loss. In fact, he claimed that compared to knowing Christ Jesus as his Lord - every worldly thing which he put aside or lost, he considered to be 'rubbish' (dung or refuse!). (Philippians 3:7,8).

When we make our relationship with Christ more important than the things of the world - we die to self. That is what the Lord requires of us.

1 John 2:15-17 instructs, "15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life--is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." We can appreciate God's creation however, "we must never prioritize worldly desires over spiritual ones." (Bible Hub Study Bible). 'If' in verse 15 indicates a choice that believers must make. "IF anyone loves the world." If you desire and follow after things that are temporal and self-centered, the love of the Father is not in you.

Pure and simple - if you are full and consumed with worldly desires, you lack a genuine relationship with God.

So, how do we avoid the pitfalls of the world? How do we put and keep God first in our lives when we are suffering unjustly, being rejected and hated by those around us, including our family?

Colossians 4:2 (NIV) is the key. "Devote yourselves to prayer and being watchful and thankful." The word 'devote' means: to persevere and to give constant attention to and implies a steadfast and unwavering commitment. It is important that we have persistent and continuous communication with God. Prayer must be an integral discipline of your life as a believer. Being 'watchful' means to be alert and vigilant. Remember when Jesus told His disciples to 'watch and pray' in the Garden of Gethsemane so they would not fall into temptation? When we watch and pray, we will have spiritual awareness that will help us perceive the spiritual realities and challenges that we will face. That knowledge will help us to stand when the temptations, trials, persecutions and rejections come, we will be forewarned and we will be prepared to face what comes, with the Lord by our side.

Realize also that we learn to hear and recognize God's voice and will from His Word. Spend time in His Word and prayer daily. (actually, He instructs us to pray without ceasing.)

“Our relationship with God is strengthened and our devotion and worship of Him grows deeper as we spend time praying and studying the Bible. We need the Word and prayer to become part of who we are, part of our ‘spiritual DNA’ so that they influence and direct all aspects of our lives.” (Truth in Action in the New Spirit Filled Life Bible).

I want to share these closing thoughts which I read on gotquestions.org with you:

"Putting God first translates to: He is more important than any other person, His Word is more valuable than any other message, and His will is weightier than any other imperative."

"We totally invest in our relationship with God."

And finally, "Everything we have and are is devoted to Him…We hold nothing back."

All Scriptures are taken from the English Standard Version unless noted otherwise.

NIV New International Version