Putting God First Is More than a Slogan  

I have noticed a recent ad campaign by a local news station. They will mention one of the many municipalities in our metropolitan area by name while declaring that they are putting that particular community first. When I initially saw one of those TV spots, I wondered why they singled out that specific town. However, it wasn’t long before I saw another commercial making the same claim about a different locality, and then another. They are obviously attempting to make the residents of that designated area in each ad feel like this news station is making them a priority. However, how can they be putting all of these communities first? And if they did, wouldn’t that put them all on the same level? If everyone is first, doesn’t that mean that none of them are really special? It doesn’t make sense and detracts from the whole idea of giving greater attention to the needs of these communities.

I am afraid some of us have been guilty at times of doing something similar concerning our priorities in life, especially in relation to the Lord. The Bible makes it clear that He is to be first in our lives. Jesus told His followers to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). He also made it clear that we must love Him more than we love our families, and even our own lives, or we cannot be His disciple (see Luke 14:26). Jesus also confirmed that the greatest commandment we’ve been given is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). These scriptures and others suggest it should be the testimony of those who follow Jesus, “I am putting the Lord first.”

However, there are other things that compete for that top spot in our lives. Often, while claiming to be putting God first, we still try to put these other aspects of our lives as our main priority as well. “I need to put my family first – my spouse – my children. Family comes first.” “I need to put my work first – I need to provide for my family.” “I have to put myself first. No one else is going to look after me, I have to look out for number one. Pursuing my own happiness and fulfillment has to be my main priority.” Other competitors might include our favorite sports team, our hobby, or some other big interest in our lives. Don’t get me wrong. Many of those other aspects of life can be very important. Some of them need to be priorities in our lives. However, there can only be one number one. There can only be one top priority. Not everything or even several things can really be first in our lives. We are fooling ourselves if we are claiming to be putting God first while allowing other aspects of our lives to be just as important or on an equal basis with Him.

If we will be faithful to give the Lord the preeminence He deserves, He will take care of all those other significant aspects of our lives. If He is our top priority, we will be better able to be a blessing to our families. If we seek God first, He promises to provide for our needs. If we love Him with all our hearts, we will find what we need to have a meaningful and fulfilling life. All those other things in our lives will fall into their proper place if we will put the Lord first.

Let’s make “Jesus first” more than our pious-sounding slogan. Let’s seek to make it a reality.    

 

Jesus Is Both Inclusive and Exclusive  

It is not unusual to hear the word “inclusive” used to describe Jesus these days. It is certainly true that while Jesus lived and ministered on this earth, He included many people whom others in His day refused to have anything to do with. Everyone fell within the scope of His love. He reached out to women, Samaritans, Gentiles, Romans, lepers, servants, and those who were considered immoral. No one was excluded from being a potential member of God’s kingdom in Jesus’ sight.

However, many today are emphasizing the concept of Jesus’ being inclusive as a way to justify accepting people who claim to follow Jesus but who are not submitting to what He says about becoming a true believer. They want us to acknowledge adherents of other religions as being equally in a right relationship with God even though they don’t believe in Jesus as God’s Son who died on the cross as the sacrifice for our sins. They want us to welcome others into the fold of Christ not as fellow repentant sinners, but as those who are proud of their immorality and who insist on others accepting it and even celebrating it.

While Jesus was inclusive in inviting all to come to him, He was also exclusive in the sense that people had to be willing to accept Him and His way of salvation. Here are just a few examples of Jesus’ exclusiveness that many people today ignore or try to explain away.

  From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus preached the message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). It wasn’t a message that “you are acceptable to God just as you are.” Jesus called people to repent – to change; to turn around. They couldn’t be included in His kingdom unless they were willing to acknowledge their sin and submit to God.

Jesus also declared, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). While Jesus loves everyone and reaches out to all, it is only those who are born again through faith in Him and through receiving His Spirit to come to live in their hearts who can know the reality of His kingdom.

Jesus made numerous statements about what an individual needed to do or else “he cannot be my disciple” (see Luke 14:25-33). Additionally, Jesus spoke about the fact that to enter into life and His kingdom was by a narrow gate, and that few people would find it. In contrast, He said, “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it” (Matthew 7:13). Jesus loves everyone and gives them the opportunity to enter into a right relationship with Him, but many refuse to accept it and go the way of destruction. In a sense, Jesus doesn’t exclude them, they choose to exclude themselves.

In His parable about a wedding feast in Matthew 22, Jesus shows how inclusive He is, as the servants are sent out into the highways to invite as many as they found to the feast. Nevertheless, there were those who rejected the invitation and who “were not worthy” to be part of this event. Even someone who came to the feast was kicked out because he didn’t belong there.   

There are many other examples of Jesus revealing the exclusive nature of His kingdom, including His numerous references to everlasting punishment and His declaration that He is the way, the truth and the life.

Don’t be deceived by these twisted notions about Jesus being inclusive. Let’s be thankful Jesus’ love includes faulty people like you and me. However, at the same time His kingdom excludes those who refuse to believe in Him, repent of their sin, and submit to His will.

 

The Cross Is Still the Answer  

One morning I was doing the little online word puzzle I typically do each day, trying to figure out what that day’s five-letter word was. After two guesses I had determined three of the letters contained somewhere in the word while eliminating a number of others. As I prepared for my third guess, I concluded that the middle three letters were likely “ros.” I thought of numerous combinations of letters and options, but wasn’t coming up with any likely answer in light of the letters I still had left to work with. Suddenly it hit me – “cross.” I tried it, and it was the correct answer. Here I was, not only a follower of Christ but a preacher, yet the word “cross” didn’t even enter my mind for a while. Getting the answer in three tries isn’t bad, but I felt like hanging my head in shame that it took me so long to think of this word that is so vital to my faith.

The cross is the answer to many of life’s puzzling questions. When I refer to the cross, I am talking about how Jesus gave His life as the sacrifice for our sins, taking on Himself the punishment we each deserved, and satisfying the justice of a holy God. It was a pivotal event that answers key questions about God, the meaning of life, God’s love for us, Jesus’ purpose in coming to this earth, and especially the question about how we can get our hearts right with God. Christ’s sacrificial death is not only a central tenet of the Christian faith, but it is a primary component in dealing with so many issues we face in life.

However, many people are like I was as I worked that word puzzle. They think of a host of other options without giving any real consideration to the cross as the answer. It is not even on their radar. Others have thought about the cross, but have rejected it as a valid choice. It may not fit in with their worldly wisdom or their philosophy of religion. They may view it as some outdated, weird belief. There are even those who claim to be adherents of the Christian faith who have rejected the idea of the cross as being the answer to the questions about sin and salvation. They see salvation coming through loving others and treating people right. Such good works should be manifested in our lives, but they are not what saves us. They are the fruit that springs from our having been saved through faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross.

Let’s be careful that we don’t allow ourselves to be deceived and drawn away into any of these ideas that would diminish the role of the cross and the death of Christ in our salvation. Listen closely to what is being taught and proclaimed about the cross by churches and ministers. Make sure it is Christ and Him crucified being preached and not simply some religion of the goodness of man or of our being saved through our good works.

Additionally, even though we may not reject the idea of Jesus dying for our sins, let’s not allow the significance of the cross to drift into the background of our faith. We can allow other things, even religious activities, to become more prominent in our lives to the point that we lose some of our affection for the cross or fail to give it the attention it deserves. Let’s keep cultivating the spirit expressed in a beloved hymn that declares no matter what others do, we will still cherish and cling to that old rugged cross.

Nothing can take the place of the cross. It is still the answer today.

 

When We or Our Churches Grow Cold  

As I walked from the hallway of our church building into the sanctuary, I suddenly felt a chill in the air. I realized that it was colder in that room than usual. After checking and adjusting the thermostat, I arrived at the conclusion that the furnace used exclusively for that part of our building wasn’t working. Although a repairman responded quickly and diagnosed the problem, since it was Saturday, he wouldn’t be able to get the needed part until Monday. Therefore, we were facing the prospect of a cold worship service on Sunday morning. Thankfully, the outside temperatures didn’t dip too low that night. So setting up a couple of space heaters resulted in our sanctuary being only slightly cooler than usual as we gathered for our service the next morning.

  While the physical temperature of a place of worship can be a distracting factor if it becomes uncomfortably cold, we should be even more concerned about the spiritual temperature of our gatherings. I have attended services in which I immediately felt a different kind of chill in the air. It was a coldness that indicated a lack of the warmth of God’s presence or of the fire of His Holy Spirit. It might be masked behind an abundance of activity, a crowd of people, and various forms of religion, but it was evident that there was something missing. If the fire had ever been there, it had been allowed to burn low and maybe even go out.

As we tend the spiritual fire in our churches, here are a few factors to consider. Are we continuing to give due respect to what God has revealed about Himself and His will for us through His inspired written Word? When we start explaining away certain portions of scripture, ignoring its clear teachings, or treating it simply as man’s fallible words rather than the infallible, authoritative Word of God, we are removing a major source of fuel for our spiritual fire. Additionally, when we substitute the motions and rituals of religion for a real personal relationship with Christ, we are dousing the flames of true spirituality. When we are more concerned about not offending people or making people happy in order to build our organization rather than calling them to holiness and making them into disciples of Christ, we are putting out the fire. When we get more focused on ourselves and quit reaching out in love and grace to the people in need around us, we are allowing our hearts to grow colder. When we neglect prayer through seeing ourselves as self-reliant and losing sight of our dependence on God, we are diminishing the fire.    

We need to keep an eye on our own spiritual temperature, as well as that of our gatherings with other believers. Maybe if you or I were to get more “on fire” for God, it would spread to those around us. No matter what others may or may not do, let’s seek a closer relationship with the Lord. Let’s make Him the priority in our lives that He deserves to be, while separating ourselves from anything that would hinder us in that endeavor. Let’s spend time fellowshipping with Him in His Word and in prayer. Let’s ask God to stir up the fading embers in our own hearts. As He does so, let’s pray that the Lord then might use us to be a source of spiritual heat in our church and among others whose light and warmth may be growing dim.  

“Lord, revive me. Bring back the fire in my own heart. Then use me to raise the spiritual temperature in the atmosphere of wherever I am, including in my church.”

 

Let God Use Your Competitive Spirit  

My brother-in-law passed away last week. He was a testimony of God’s grace and the dramatic difference Jesus can make in a person’s life. I only knew him after he had put his trust in Jesus as His Savior. Therefore, I saw him as someone who was devoted to the Lord, loved his family, and had a generous spirit. However, he would tell you that those admirable qualities in his life were all the Lord’s doing, because he wasn’t always like that. Jesus is the One who can make that kind of a difference in our lives too.

One of the notable characteristics of my sister’s husband was his competitive spirit. It caused him to excel in softball, winning numerous national championships and getting inducted into the Senior Softball Hall of Fame. However, that spirit was evident even at family gatherings as we watched football games on TV or engaged in a game of cards. He lived out the idea that if you are going to compete, work hard at it and strive to succeed. I have always enjoyed sports and have been rather competitive myself. Nevertheless, the Lord has taught me over the years that, despite what some coaches may advocate, sometimes there can be higher priorities and more important factors in life than winning a game. If we tend to be competitive, that can be a good quality in many ways. I don’t believe we need to rid ourselves of it, but we may need to make sure we keep it surrendered to God and even channel it in certain directions.

For example, we should recognize who our real opposition is in life. It isn’t other people. The Bible says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). Our main enemy is Satan and his cohorts. He is the one we need to be fighting against. In reality, he is already a defeated foe – Christ has won the victory over him. However, as he continues to try to hinder God’s work and destroy our souls, we need to steadfastly oppose him and his evil plans.

We also need to compete for God and for good. We should be putting all we have got into being everything that God wants us to be. The Bible compares our lives to running a race. “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it” (I Corinthians 9:24). It doesn’t use these words, but basically it is telling us to be “in it to win it.” This runs contrary to any notion of simply doing the minimum in order to squeeze into heaven. It keeps us from sinking into complacency or becoming spiritually lazy. I am not suggesting that we are saved by our works. However, if we are following the Lord, this suggests that we should be seeking to get as close to the Lord as we possibly can. We should be doing all the good we can in our short years here on this earth. We should be competitive in that way.  

If we will view our journey as more like a race in which we are competing, and seek to run it well, then we will be able to say what the Apostle Paul did when nearing the end of his life. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (II Timothy 4:7). I believe that was the case with my competitive brother-in-law. May it be so with us, too.  

 

The Lord Is with Us through the Storms  

As recent storms approached, I headed down into my basement after receiving notification that we were under a tornado warning, in addition to seeing the weather radar indicating that the twister could be targeting our specific community. As the TV meteorologists encouraged people to take various precautions and make preparation for the possibility of damaging winds, I added my own activity to the list. I prayed. I asked for protection for us, our family, our church family, and others in the path of the storm. I prayed that this angry red blob pictured on the radar might weaken and not be as big a problem as it portended. Thankfully, the threat did dissipate from our area rather quickly. The warning was cancelled. I am not sure what happened meteorologically speaking, but I gratefully give credit to God for answered prayer and for our being spared the brunt of the storm.

However, others weren’t so fortunate. Some people did get hit hard, experiencing significant property damage. There were even a few lives lost in the midst of this weather event and its aftermath. My guess is that I wasn’t the only one praying that day. Maybe some of these same folks who suffered loss from this storm were also seeking God’s help and protection. It raises questions as to why some people are spared while others are not. Skeptics might view it all as random acts of nature, leaving God and the effects of prayer out of the picture altogether. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that prayer makes a difference. Additionally, Jesus clearly showed that He has the power to calm the winds and the sea (see Matthew 8:23-27). The psalmist also suggested that God is in control of the winds, fulfilling His word and His will through their activity (Psalm 147:18; 148:8). While natural forces are at work in the weather, I believe God can still intervene to redirect or calm the storms.

We may not know the reasons why some are spared from the effects of the storms while others are forced to face them head on. That applies not only to those tempests in nature, but also to the other upheavals and challenges we face in life that we often refer to as storms, including sickness, financial hardship, and even death. Nevertheless, if we are trusting the Lord we can be assured of His presence and help whether it is in avoiding those adversities or in navigating our way through those rough waters and their consequences in our lives. He may calm our storm, or He may guide us and strengthen us to make it through that difficulty. Either way, we can count on His abiding presence.

I have come to better appreciate a song I previously had associated primarily with funerals. While it does relate to death, it also applies to other aspects of our lives. It expresses the desire for the Lord to “abide with me.” Part of it states, “I need Thy presence every passing hour…Who, like Thyself my Guide and Stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.” If the Lord is with us, we can endure whatever comes our way, whether cloud or sunshine, whether in our relief of being spared from the storm or through our efforts to pick up the pieces, deal with the loss, and rebuild.

While we may rightfully pray for God’s protection and rejoice when we witness His answering those cries for help, our main concern should be for His abiding presence in our lives no matter what comes our way. If we have Him in our hearts and lives, we have what we most need to face the storms.

 

What Are You Relying on for Fulfillment?  

One day I noticed that a tire on my car looked like it could be a little low on air. No warning light had come up on my vehicle yet, but I thought I would go ahead and proactively take care of this potential problem. I mistakenly went to one of those machines outside a convenience store that is prominently labeled as a dispenser of air. After putting in my quarters, I connected the hose to my tire valve only to hear the hissing sound of air leaving my tire, but none being put back in. After several attempts, it was obvious that the hose wasn’t working properly. But even more frustrating was the fact that my efforts to solve the problem had only made it worse. Now a warning light was flashing. The machine that was supposed to fill my tire with air had actually only sucked more air out of it.

We often find a similar experience when we encounter the good-sounding promises of this world. We are assured that if we pursue these avenues we will find happiness, fulfillment, and success. Whatever it is that may be lacking in our lives, there are various dispensers around us clamoring for us to try them out as the answer to our deficiency. They promise us love, acceptance, wealth, power, fame, health, or any of a host of other attractive options. They assure us that if we will invest our time, emotion, money, and effort in that direction, we will be rewarded.

  In some cases, there may be some temporary benefits from those pursuits. However, in the end, whether immediately or in the long run, we will discover that those promises of this world fall short. They fail to satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts. They may put a bandage on the wound, but they don’t really heal the injury. And in many situations, like that faulty air hose I encountered, they actually make things worse. Instead of bringing us happiness, we experience heartache. Instead of fulfillment, we fall into despair. Instead of success, we hit rock bottom. We find out with the writer of Ecclesiastes that all such pursuits end up leaving us empty.

One of the ways they make things worse is by steering us away from the true source of those goals we desire to reach. As we invest our hopes, dreams, and efforts in these other things, we ignore God and the guidance He has given us for finding joy, fulfillment, and real success in this life and in eternity. We look for love in the wrong places, while overlooking the One who loves us more than anyone else ever could. While we are trying to get relief from the symptoms of our spiritual sickness, we refuse to consult the Great Physician who created us and knows exactly what can heal our souls. Or maybe we turn up our noses at the medicine He prescribes because of its initially bitter taste even though it will bring us health and happiness in the end.    

 What are you looking to and putting your trust in to supply what is lacking in your life? Don’t rely on the wrong things. Don’t fall for the false promises of this world. Don’t invest your affections and energy in the wrong direction. As an old song declares, “Only Jesus can satisfy your soul.” A new romantic relationship won’t do it. A promotion won’t do it. Winning the lottery won’t do it. Your team winning the championship won’t do it. Losing weight won’t do it.

Invest in pursuing a right relationship with the Lord. He can fill our hungering hearts with what we truly need.