Put God First

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Are you feeling motivated this morning?

I certainly hope so. I know that I am.

Bill Keller has written a remarkable
devotional based on his thoughts about
the effects of Hurricane Katrina.  I
recommend it and quote below:

The temporal things of this world will
all be gone one day. Nobody would even
try to argue that in the year 2005,
the United States is a highly
materialistic society.  We have taken
materialism to unprecedented levels
over the last 50 years.   The Bible
has much to say about the "temporal
things of this world."  The temporal
things of this world are the material
things of this life that not only come
and go, but will be meaningless when
this brief journey is over.  Nothing
drives home the truth of God's Word
about how fleeting the temporal things
of this world are better than a
natural disaster like Hurricane
Katrina.

Sadly, many have taken for granted
not only the most basic material
needs of life, but so many people act
like they must have every material
thing this world produces.  We get so
focused on acquiring "things," on
having the most current "thing," that
we lose sight of the fact that these
material "things" of this world come
and go.  They are here today and gone
tomorrow.  In our drive to have the
temporal things of this world, we end
up paying very little attention to the
eternal things of God.

Every day here at Liveprayer we deal
with people who have "lost everything."
Each day I deal with people who have
lost ALL of the material possessions
they owned overnight through natural
disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes,
and floods, to tragic events like
house fires, to being burglarized, to
a divorce where a spouse takes
everything.  It is at those moments in
life that a person realizes what really
is important, what really matters.  It
is at those moments in life a person
realizes that the temporary things of
this world can come and go, but the
relationship we have with the Lord is
the only thing we can always count on
being there.

Let me ask you a question.  Is there
something in this world that you love
more than the Lord?  I have no doubt
some people will pause as they think
of the love they have for their spouse,
for their parents, for their children.
As much as we may love those special
people God blesses us with during our
brief journey through life, our love
for Christ MUST always be first.
This is a truth most people are able
to understand and accept.

More to the point however, is there
some THING in this world that you
love more than the Lord?  We say we
love Christ, we say Christ is first in
our life, but is He really?  Let me be
a bit more specific.  Is Christ first
in your life, ahead of your career?
Is Christ first in your life, ahead of
your hobbies and special interests?
Is Christ first in your life, ahead of
your "things!"  Be careful now, we
know what the RIGHT answers to these
questions are, but are they the TRUE
answers?

Even though I know you don't want to,
let's go a bit deeper.  Does your work
or career take priority over the Lord
in your normal day-to-day life?  Do
you invest as much time each week into
the Lord as you do your hobbies and
special interests?  Do you invest as
much time each week into the Lord as
you do the temporal things of this
world that will one day be meaningless?
One of the profound statements Jesus
made was, "for where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also."
Since that is a great measuring stick
of where our heart is, how much of your
treasure goes to the Lord as opposed
to the pleasures of this world?

Listen, PLEASE do not misunderstand
what my message to you today is.  I
am NOT saying that your career is not
important.  After all, it was God
who gave you the gifts and talents
you have to be successful in your
career, it was God who opened the
doors for you to be where you are at,
and it is God who gives you favor and
blessings each day in your career.  I
am also NOT saying that your hobbies
and special interests are not important.
Again, it was God who gave you the
desires and passions for the things
you enjoy in this life.  Nor am I
saying you should not use some of the
resources God has entrusted to you to
enjoy the abundance of this life.

What I AM saying is that we have to
take inventory of our life from time
to time and ensure that we are keeping
Christ first at all times, in all
things.  We can fall into patterns
at times and slowly ease the Lord
out of our day-to-day life.  Not
consciously, but often without even
realizing it put other things in our
life ahead of Him.  This is a subtle
trap of the enemy since once the Lord
is no longer first in your life, you
are wide open to be attacked.  This
becomes an open door for satan to
enter your life and harm you.

I love you and care about you so much.
It is out of that love that I am
sending you this warning today.
Simply take a moment and ask yourself
the tough questions in regard to where
Christ fits in your life.  Is He
first in ALL areas of your life?
Don't play games with yourself, since
this is for YOUR benefit, not the
Lord's.  This is to protect YOU from
giving the enemy any room to operate
in your life.  It is critical to never
lose sight of what is truly important
to us.  The things of this world that
will one day pass away, or our
relationship with the Lord which will
last for all eternity?

I will be praying for you today.
Praying that you will never forget
that Christ MUST be first in your life
at all times, in all things.  We can
never allow any person, our career,
our hobbies or interests, or the
"things of this world to become more
important than Jesus.  He has got to
be our first priority and our first
love at all times.  The Lord gives us
special people to share this life with,
He gives us gifts and talents to use
in our careers, He gives us passions
and desires for the things we enjoy in
this life, and it is the Lord who
blesses us with the material goods we
have during our life.

We must never fall into the trap of
loving the things of this world more
than we love Jesus.  When this life
is over, the things of this world
will pass away and it is only our
relationship with Jesus Christ that
will last for all eternity.  Don't get
so focused on the "temporal things of
this world" that you miss the eternal
things of God!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can
contact me through my personal
email at bkeller@liveprayer.com

***ARE YOU 100% CERTAIN WHERE YOU
WILL SPEND ETERNITY?  The fact is you
will die one day.  At that moment,
you will either spend eternity with the
Lord or be cast into everlasting
darkness forever separated from God
your creator.  To know for certain you
will be forever with Jesus, go to:
http://www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html

***GET YOUR FREE LPeMAIL ACCOUNT!
Never miss receiving your Daily
Devotional again.  LPeMail is an
effective email SPAM filtering
application that most ISP's charge
$10/mo, for FREE!  Get your LPeMail account now
at: www.lpemail.com .

***I am excited to let you know that
the Liveprayer Daily Devotional is
now available via AUDIO each day.
Simply go to
http://www.liveprayer.com/DailyDevotionalAudio.html
Also, you can now listen to the Daily
Devotional by phone by calling
727-856-7055, or access it on your
wireless device by going to:
http://wapdd.com

(C) Copyright 2005, Bill Keller
Ministries. All rights reserved

Thank you for considering these
important thoughts!

May God bless you!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005, Donald W. Mitchell