Bible Studies

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This is the end of the matter; all hath been heard: fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecc 12:13)

When we read through Bible, God has commanded us to put Him first in all things. Now what does FIRST mean here? To me F.I.R.S.T. means like this:

FINANCE
INTEREST
RELATIONSHIP
SOCIAL LIFE
TROUBLES


God requires first place in our lives as He did with Abraham when He told Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son. We always talk about the blessings of Abraham, but Abraham was totally obedient to God in being willing to obey God. We will be blessed when we put God first in every area of our lives.

Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.“

Our main concern must be to seek what is important in God's Kingdom above everything else. Most of all He requires our love for Him, and others, and to do His will in our lives.

We must always be willing to say Lord, “Not my will but Yours be done”. If we are not willing to say and pray that wonderful prayer; we need to ask The Holy Spirit to reveal what is blocking our total surrender to The Lord.

We are never to be striving after the attainment of money, reputation, prestige or titles because all that we should have will be given to us as we seek The Lord first. Our love for Him is first, and all else will fall into place when we love God above everything else in our lives.

Matthew 7:13, “ Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:“

Many Christians have gotten off the straight and narrow road in order to seek after the things of the world. The love of the world lured them onto an insidious side road.

1 John 2:15, “ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.“

The Lord wanted the rich, young ruler to give up all of his worldly goods out of love for Him. We will all be tested in this area. God wants us to always care more for His commandments and His will than we do for our money and possessions. We must always be willing to give away all that we own if The Lord tells us to do that.

1 John 3:17, “ But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?“

God doesn't need our money, but money is a means of exchange, and when we refuse to use it according to The Lord's will and for His glorious purposes; it can become an idol. Money is a common idol, but an idol can be anything that separates us from putting God first in our lives.

An idol can be a husband, a wife, a child, our home, our savings, our jobs, our title, our education, our ministry and the list can go on and on. An idol is what we think about, talk about and seek after more than we think, talk about and seek The Lord, His Kingdom and His righteousness.

An idol is anything that has become a god in our lives. For those in sin, it could be alcohol, sexual lusts and/or perversions, gambling, pornography, adultery, fornication, lying, stealing and the list can go on ad infinitum.

We must always make sure that our source of strength, wisdom, love, joy, hope and faith is based in The Lord Jesus Christ. If we are looking to any other source for our contentment; we must repent and get right with God. We must come back to our first love of The Lord Jesus Christ.

Today, He is looking for those who will be sold out to Him and not to this world. The world is everywhere, and it permeates every area of our lives, but we must look beyond the world, and the things in this world.

We need to be like the five wise virgins, who were instantly ready and prepared to meet The Lord. The Holy Spirit in them was burning brightly. They had their eyes fixed and their hearts focused on their Lord. They were ready. Are you ready? Are you watching and waiting for Him?

Rev. 3:3, “ Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.“

None of us know when our time will come to meet Him. Our breath is as a vapor.

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