WHO'S FIRST?
by
Dr.
Michael E. Gudorf
The Word of God is crystal clear on the subject of who and what should come first in our lives. It is also clear on the benefits associated with living in this manner.
Matthew 6:33
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things [things you need in life] shall be added unto you.
Proverbs 3:9-10
9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
Matthew 22:37-38
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.
Don't you just love how clear God's Word makes things?
And how do we keep God first on a practical level? God has made that crystal clear as well. One of the best ways we, as believers, can do this day-by-day is to follow this wonderful exhortation found in Proverbs.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
During the majority of his life, King David provided a great example in this aspect of the walk for believers to follow. Research his life and you will find that the phrase, "And David inquired of the Lord" occurs over and over again. Here are just a few examples.
I Samual 23:2
2 Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah.
I Samual 30:88 And David inquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.
II Samual 2:11 And it came to pass after this, that David inquired of the LORD saying, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron.
II Samuel 5:1919 And David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? Wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.
II Samuel 5:23-2523 And when David inquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. 24 And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines. 25 And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.
Over and over again we see that when David inquired of the Lord FIRST and THEN proceeded as the Lord directed him, positive results always ensued. The Lord granted him the victory. This is a major part of what it means to keep God first on a daily basis in our lives.
There is the old story of the preacher who builds a brand new church building only to have it partially swallowed up by a sinkhole several years later. When he cried out to the Lord how this could have happened, the Lord replies, "You never asked me where to build it!"
God describes David as a "man after mine own heart."
Acts 13:21-23
21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. 23 Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:
Walking in great love, David desired to do things God's way. It's one of the main reasons God had David anointed to be head of His people. We can follow the example of his walk today.
GOD KNOWS BUSINESS
by
Shane M. Hutzenbiler
I started my medical supply business awhile back and I wanted to develop the habit of hearing God and following his instructions. I figured I would let Him be the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and I would be the COO (Chief Operations Officer). I had learned about giving to God’s work and how He could help me know where to go to get business and I would go get it. I figured this would be a much more effective use of my time. I was asking God where I should go for the week. My plans were to stick around Billings and develop more business in the local area. Instead, the directions God gave me went like this: “The most important thing to do this week is to go to Cheyenne, Wyoming” (about 400 miles away). My question to God was, “What if I don’t go?” I asked this simply out of curiosity. I got a vivid picture of a tin cup with a few quarters in the bottom. I then asked, “And if I do go?” The image changed to the same cup overflowing with quarters. That got my attention. I ended up going and prospecting in the area for two days. I found the town of Cheyenne to be wide open for my business. I also found another town only forty-five miles away that was also in need of my services. I have now gotten numerous other calls for business out of this one trip.
Malachi 3:10
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
God opened the windows of heaven and guided me right to where the blessings were that He had just waiting for me in Wyoming.
GOD KNOWS WHO
by
Bill K. Porta
Had an interesting thing happen during a recent trip to Nashville. A younger believer and I were walking towards our hotel at about 1:30 a.m. when a guy approached us. He said "Hey, I don't want to impose, but do you guys have some spare change?" I immediately asked God what was up with the situation. I got a green light to talk to this man. He told us that he had just gotten out at 4 p.m. that day after having spent 16 years in prison. He was hungry and wanted something to eat. He said that he had become a changed man in prison and that he wanted to do things right. As we talked, I moved closer to his face, poked my finger on his heart and asked, "What about in here?" He said, "Oh yeah." He knew what I meant. He had met up with a preacher in prison and had started to read and to study the Bible. He quoted to me many verses that he had learned. I asked him if he knew anything about holy spirit. He said he did so I asked, "Do you speak in tongues?" He said, "No," but that he had heard about it from his preacher friend. I then spent about fifteen minutes telling him about the benefits of speaking in tongues, and how it is direct, spiritual communication with the Father. He was blessed beyond measure and so were we. I then got a green light to lead him into speaking in tongues. God showed me that this gentleman had done it before, but that he didn't know what it was. Here it was, 1:50 in the morning in downtown Nashville and we're leading this guy into speaking in tongues!!! It was awesome! His face was aglow realizing that he was for sure heaven bound.
The following evening, a different guy approached my friend and me in a similar fashion, but this time the guidance from God was totally different. I got a loud and clear, "NO! Don't have anything to do with this one." So I didn't. My younger believer friend looked at me puzzled. I then had the opportunity to share Proverbs 3:5 and 6 with him.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Just because situations appear similar doesn't mean that they are. Each and every situation warrants checking in with God to see how best to handle it. That's the way to keep God first and to always get it right.
GOD KNOWS ME
by
Terri L.
Hutzenbiler
God really knows me and I love how He works with me right where I’m at. We needed a car. Not really knowing exactly what kind of vehicle we would need, we kept an eye out for anything that we could use for long distance travel. We also knew that we definitely wanted something safe. My husband Shane’s only condition was that we could pay cash for it so that’s where I set my believing. I tell you, God did it up in style. Shane found a car one night while I was away and he loved it. But he had only seen it at night. He knew it was blue, but that was it. The next day he had me go and have a look at it. Boy oh boy did I ever love the car he found. Melted my heart as soon as I saw it. Why? You see, several years back when we were looking for our first car, I had made a list of the secret dream car I really wanted. We didn’t get it then, so I just thanked God for what we did get then, and I completely forgot about my dream car. God didn’t forget though, because this car was everything I had written down on my list and more. Powder blue exterior, navy blue interior, leather seats and sunroof. A beautiful used Mercedes Benz, four door sedan. Wow, I was so in love. And when we checked in with God on it, we got a loud and clear “BUY IT!” so we bought it the very next day.
I love my car-- with the price and all the little things that were right from my list. I had completely forgotten about my dream list, but God sure didn’t.
Psalm 139:1
1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise. You perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
God really knows me inside and out and I really, really like it that He does.
GOD KNOWS BABIES
by
Misty R. King
Have you ever had one of those days where you wished you had never graced the day with your presence and instead, just stayed in bed? That day started like that. The morning began in the bathroom. Morning sickness later turned into afternoon sickness. After that, it was off to work. The restaurant was busy all evening. It became obvious that most of my crew was cranky and I felt more like a babysitter than a supervisor. My shift finally ended and I headed home. I started thinking about the day and some other things that had been really bothering me around that time. Before long, I worked myself up into one heck of a frenzy. I finally thought to go to God with all the things that were bugging me -- better late than never. I got to thinking about a scripture that I had heard in fellowship recently.
Psalms 62:8
Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.
When I got home, I went directly to my room to have some private time with God. That night wound up being one of the most amazing nights of fellowship I've ever had with God. We went on and on about everything. He melted my heart over and over again. Most importantly, he gave me peace of mind and some real solutions to my situations. Then we came to the last issue on my long list. "God, how is the baby? Is he or she growing healthily?" The only thing that God said to me was, "They are going to be just fine." I asked back, "What! God, what do you mean by they!?!" He did not say a thing more that night, although when I think about it now, I could almost swear I heard a little chuckle when he made that last statement.
Two weeks later I went in for a sonogram. If I had not been lying down, I would have fainted when the doctor said, "babies." I was having twins!! I then realized what God meant by "they."