From Pastor Gary

Putting Jesus First

Posted on Oct 29, 2019 in From Pastor Gary | 0

Sunday we talked about putting Jesus first and that meant reordering your life around Him as the center and prioritizing what you have to serve His purposes first and foremost.

The challenge was to continually determine if He was first in your life by your thoughts and actions. Take the test again today…

QUESTION 1: Am I trusting and leaning on God or myself?

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) ⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. ⁶Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths.

How am I doing on living out the reality of these truths? Give yourself a score from 1-10: 1 being not good at all and 10 being I am rocking it!

God is the source of all good and He wants to provide for me.
I don’t have to worry because I believe that God will meet all of my needs
I trust God and then look to see how He wants me to partner with Him.

When we fully believe those statements we will live accordingly. Our actions will line up with what we say we believe.

So in the midst of trying situations we will not budge from the fact that God has promised to meet all of our needs and He will fulfill that promise.

QUESTION 2: Who or what is the object of your affections?

Our minds, like the needle of the compass, can focus on many things during the course of the day. But in the end when it is left to settle it will settle on the objects of our greatest affection.

What does your mind come to rest on?

Put these in order of priority.

God
Your job
Your family
Your girlfriend or boyfriend
Athletic pursuits/Sports
Money
Personal accomplishments
Personal possessions
Other ______________________________________

The person who serves no other gods but God will find that his thoughts usually swing around until they focus on God. He thinks about God, meditates on his truths.

He worships Him and sees Him in everything around him.

QUESTION 3: Who are you trying to impress?

Circle the one that is number 1.

I live to please myself
I live to impress others
I live to impress God.

People who serve God alone will be controlled by what God wants for their lives. They will find themselves asking God to reveal His plan for their lives so that they can do what He wants. They will find themselves saying, “God I will follow you wherever it leads and no matter the cost.” They will seek to see where God is at work and join Him instead of inviting God to join them, because they truly want to impress God and no one else.

QUESTION 4: What are we living for?

We have only one life to live and at the end we will stand before God and give account for it.

What will be the overriding theme of your life? Another way to put this is to ask yourself, “What do I want on my tombstone?” Take a moment to write that down.

Having done the test what do you need to do to make Jesus number 1?