When Jesus Is First

"Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love." 
(Revelation 2:4)

"There is so much good in this church (of Ephesus) that we are surprised to discover they had left (not lost) their first love. 
The honeymoon was over (Jeremiah 2:2)! 
No amount of separation, sacrifice, or service can make up for your lack of love toward the Lord." 
(Warren W. Wiersbe With The Word A Devotional) Commentary P. 847)

Everything that is successful in the Christian life, stems from our love for the Lord. It begins there. And if we love the Lord with all of our heart, no matter what the circumstances are, or the people that we are dealing with, we will obey the Lord in all things.

In the Christian life, there is too much focus on self. We can get really busy on programs and activities, that we forsake our time to fellowship with the Lord, and give Him the worship He deserves.

Or we can constantly complain about our circumstances, and what the Lord has called us to do, that we drag our feet, and become ineffective in our ministry for Him. Putting attention on ourselves instead of loving the Lord, and putting Him first, can have devastating results.

In the Christian life, it does not begin with the work, it begins with a relationship with Jesus Christ. From that mutual loving relationship there will come a most dynamic and effective ministry.

Let's love the Lord First and foremost, and let Him lead the way, to a successful ministry for Him! GP
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Oh How I Love Jesus

"The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have Me." 
(Mark 14:7)

At two different times Jesus was anointed with costly perfume.
(1) By a sinful woman in Capernaum (Luke 7:36-50)
(2) Mary from Bethany (Mark 14:1-11) During the Passion Week.

 Both women from different situations wanted to show love and gratitude to Jesus. In their actions with anointing Jesus with expensive perfume, they displayed an act of worship. The sinful woman was criticized for her sinful lifestyle (Luke 7:39) and Mary from Bethany, was criticized for wasting the expensive perfume. (Mark 14: 4-5)

 What really stood out to me as I read these two accounts, is that these two women did not care what people thought about them. Nothing was going to stop them from showing love and gratitude towards Jesus. Nothing was going to stop them from worshiping Him in this way.
And the question comes to us: Why do we let people, things, and certain situations, stop us from showing our love and commitment to Jesus?

It comes down to the question: Is Jesus first in our lives? He is our Savior, our Shepherd, the one who wants to provide the best that heaven has to offer. How much do we love Jesus? (GP)

Oh how I love Jesus
Oh how I love Jesus
Oh how I love Jesus
Because He first loved me.

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Our Connection With God

"God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 
(John 4:24) 

In Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman, we find two essentials in worshiping God. It is not in the physical place, or in the physical posture, but in the connection between God's Spirit, and our own. God is a spiritual being, and to make a connection with Him, we must approach Him from our spiritual being. And of course we are to approach Him in accordance with His Word, and our sincerity.

Wherever we are , we can approach the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16) and fellowship with the Lord there. There are people who ask: "I don't feel the presence of God anymore, why is that? Did I do something that caused that feeling to go away?"

 I believe that it is like it is with any relationship. The more effort we put into it, the better it is going to be. The more we pray, the more we take in the Word of God, the stronger that connection will be, with God.

We have a feeling of peace, comfort, and security. And where this connection really is a blessing, is when we go through time of trails.
We find an inner strength, and a peace that does pass all understanding. (Philippians 4:7)

We need to keep the cord of our heart plugged into the presence and power of God. Prayer is a powerful tool. Better than a smart phone.
Free access, anytime, and anyplace. And the benefits are fantastic! GP  7/5/2017

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Sincere Worship

"Guard your steps as you go to the house of God, and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know they are doing evil." (Ecclesiastes 5:1)

 How would you describe the way you worship God? Do we understand the essence of our worship? Do we go through the motions of worshiping God, yet lack sincerity?

 In our text, when Solomon tells us to "guard our steps", when we come to the house of God, he is not cautioning us on physical stability, but he is wanting us to take heed to our thoughts, and our words.

Too often in our worship services we find ourselves talking more than we are listening. The "sacrifice of fools" is the giving of hypocritical prayers, and the hasty and insincere words, that we present before God.

In (v.2) Solomon says: "...let your words be few.." There is value in being silent for a time, and, allowing God to speak to us, instead of us doing all the talking, and saying things that we don't really mean.

I believe that Solomon is trying to get to the heart of what true, genuine worship, should be. When we come before God (Not just at the house of God) but wherever we are, we are to come to Him with humility, and sincerity of heart.

When we sing together, pray together, observe the Lord's Supper, and hear the words of the sermon preached, may our hearts be focused on how we can be honest with God, and not appealing to the praise of men.

May our worship be as the words of a song written and recorded by Steven Curtis Chapman: " Got To Be True." May all that we say, and do, before God, be sincere, and true! (GP)

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Gather To Jesus

"And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore." (Matthew 13:2) 

It amazes me how many people will fill a stadium to watch a college, or professional football game, but our churches are declining in attendance. I am not putting down the exciting and thrilling experience of going to a professional sporting event. But for a lot of people, this takes precedence over worshiping God.

Some will ask: "Why is worshiping God so important?" The true God of creation, and the God who sent His Son to die in our sinful place, deserves our worship and praise. The reason that heaven can be ours, is because God in His grace gives it to us, through the sacrifice of His Son.

God is not disappointed when we go to a few sporting events. But when we refuse to assemble ourselves together to fellowship with Him, when the doors of His house are open, is total disrespect; total disregard of who God is, and what He offers.

As a pastor, I would like to see when Jesus sat on the shore, and a whole multitude of people gathered together to Him, happen today. There were so many, that Jesus got into to a boat, and spoke many things to them. (Matthew 13:2-3)

Yes, I would like to see that in all of our churches. It has really bothered me that attendance in churches is declining, and churches are even closing. That is not the will of God for the Christian community today.

We need to strive as hard as we can to gather ourselves to Jesus. To sit at His feet, and together worship the God, who loves us more than we can ever imagine! GP

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"No other gods before Me"

“You shall have no other gods before Me." (Exodus 20:3) 

In many cultures, and through many generations, the worship of false gods, has been practiced. We remember that Abraham was apart of a culture that worshiped idol gods, before he left to follow God's leading. (Joshua 24:2)

 Time will not permit me here to get into the various world religions, and their worship of false gods. But I want to address what we as Christians think, concerning idolatry.

It may not be the bowing down to a statue, or a material image. But anything that places God in second place in our lives, is considered idolatry. When it comes to our worship of the one true awesome God, there is nothing that should be placed before our fellowship with Him, and our service for Him. God must come first in our lives.

Jesus said: "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24)

God wants us to assemble together to worship Him (Hebrews 10:25) God wants us to remember His Son, and the sacrifice He made for us on Calvary. (Luke 22:14-20) God wants us to share the Gospel of His Son, every opportunity that comes our way. (Matthew 28:18-20) God wants us to be a living sacrifice, giving our all to live for Him, and serve Him. (Romans 12:1-2)

We are not to love anyone, or anything more than God. But the great thing about our worship is: when God is first, He blesses our lives with the best He has to offer.

We are first in God's eyes. will He be first in ours? GP

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What About Our Worship?

How would you define "Worship", and how important is it, in your Christian life?
  "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." (Deuteronomy 6:5) 

Our love for God is the heart of our worship. We can be involved in many aspects of Christian ministry and service, and yet, not have a strong feeling of love for God. As there is in this world, selfishness can dominate our motivation for doing a lot of things in the name of Christian service. And it is clear in our lack of interest in praying, reading the Bible, studying the Bible with others, witnessing concerning our faith, and attending church services, that our love for God is just not there.

Can we say that God worships us? His love for us is so sincere, and so deep. If the giving of His only Son, to die on a cruel, humiliating, agonizing cross for our sins, is not demonstration enough of His love and devotion to us, I don't know what is.

In loving God, and worshiping Him, we need to remember that
1) It is not just a Sunday affair, but it is an every moment of our life affair. 2) It is not the attitude of what we will get by loving God, but of what we can give to Him. The Apostle Paul says that our life is to be 
"a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1). The giving of all that we are, and all that we have, to Him, and for Him. 3) Loving God affects every aspect of our lives. Our Christian growth, our relationships, our work, and service, and much more.

In our Christian walk, loving God, is not the end result of our Christian endeavor; but the main foundation, that affects all that we will become, and all that we will accomplish,on our Christian journey.
I ask you today: Do you love God?

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Doorkeeper In Worship Or Dweller In Wickedness?

"For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness." (Psalm 84:10)

 As Christians, do we really value going to church? Do we really see it as a real boost to our spiritual growth?

*"A recent Barna Survey said church attendance has been declining nationwide over the past 10 years. The March 25, 2014, report states regular church attendance has declined from 43 percent in 2004 to 36 percent in 2014.Sept 27, 2015. (*Rick L. Stonestreet From page C3 | September 27, 2015)

There are various reasons why people attend, and don't attend church services. The Psalmist in our text, expresses a strong desire to be in the Lord's house to worship Him. Even if his role was to be a caretaker in the temple, he would rather do this, than to visit the places of wickedness, and be involved in sinful activities.

It was a priority in his life to be faithful in his attendance to worship the Lord. The question should never be: "What will I get out of this? The question should always be:"What can I give, as I come to worship the Lord? And in our offering of our attendance, as well as our talent and money, we will receive back so much more. When worship is looked at as a privilege, and a priority, it becomes a true blessing for our lives.  GP

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At Church

"For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good." (Psalm 122:9) What is your attitude when you come to church? People come to church with various motives and goals. Some look at coming to church as being apart of a social club, and they look for that opportunity to climb that social ladder. Others look at coming to church as a way to show off what they have, and to contend for power and prestige. Others come to be entertained, by the programs, and the people participating in those programs.
 *"How the people loved Jerusalem! it was a holy place because the temple was there, an honored place because David's throne was there, and a happy place because the tribes were there to celebrate the greatness and goodness of God. (*Warren Wiersbe - With The Word Devotional Commentary - Psalm 122) The church is not the building, but the people of God. We come together first and foremost to worship God. And how we act at church is very important. When we come together, in our actions, we are to fulfill the two greatest commandments. To love God, and to love others.(Matthew 22:34-40) May it be seen that our love for God is not just giving lip service, but is sincere. And may our concern for each other, in this time of worship and fellowship, be sincere as well. We are the family of God. And family members are to love and support each other, as we take on the work that the Lord has called us to do. (Matthew 28:18-20) May we all say with love and humility: "I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go into the house of the Lord," (Psalm 122:1) GP
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