Whose on first?

As this year begins the Lord is reminding me of the importance to keep His first in all things throughout this year. Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you." Jesus said in several places that if we want to be His disciple that we must follow Him. This concept of God being first and of following Jesus is one and the same. Many people claim to love Jesus and that is great but let's remember that Jesus said in several places that if you love Me, you will obey my commands. This too is the same principle of putting Him first and following Him. May the Lord inspire us to live a life this year of taking the words of Jesus at face value and follow Him by loving, serving and obeying Him with our whole hearts. I can only speak for myself but I long to have His favor and blessing upon my life which will come when I do the things that Jesus said was important. By the way the things must important to Jesus is to put Him first, love Him, serve Him, follow Him and to do these things with a heart of worship through grace. None of what I said can be accomplished through obeying the letter of the law but it is all accomplished through a passionate intimate relationship with the one who saved me, called me, and strengthens me. I desire to see more fruitful activity of God this year and that will only happen when I trust Him to work in and through me. We do not need to work harder this year but we do need to trust Him in all things whether big or small. I believe God wants to manifest Himself in the lives of His children. Ephesians 1:3 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ."
May the God of all love and grace bring this into reality in our lives.

Pastor John