Hello friends,

Here's my LESSON 3: "PUTTING GOD FIRST!"
Same lesson I was sharing with the kids yesterday (1/14/2018).

"Putting GOD first"

What should my PRIORITY & ATTITUDE be as I start this year 2018?
What is worry?
How can I overcome it and live a confident life?
Why is it important to put GOD FIRST in my life?

Thank God for this brand new year! It is an opportunity for a new beginning for us! Hopefully by this time, we have gotten over the holiday season and have finally decided to move on in life! And so as we start this New Year, we may all have a lot of things to think, do, and accomplish in life – goals to achieve, deadlines to meet! We all have different priorities in life, things we consider very important – family, career, business, studies, ministries, and many others. And with all of the many concerns we have to consider, it results to a life of worry. Worry is normal to every human person. But what concerns me about worry is that it affects both our physical and mental health. Worry also affects our relationship with others as well as our relationship with God. That is why the Lord does not want us to stay in our worries, but to move form worry to complete trust in Him! So this time, let me challenge us all to PUT GOD FIRST in our lives!

REFERENCE:
Matthew 6:25-33

Philippians 4:6-7

This passage is part of our Lord’s ‘Sermon on the Mount’ long teaching to His disciples and the crowd starting in Matthew chapter 5 until Matthew 7. Our Lord Jesus gives clear instructions as to how believers were to live their lives according to His Kingdom values (The ‘Be-Attitudes’ for believers). And in this section of chapter 6, He stressed on the important topic of ‘worry’. In fact, he mentions the ‘worry’ six times emphasizing us ‘not to worry!’ In fact, our Lord commands us ‘DO NOT WORRY!’ three times! And in our text, our Lord Jesus points out three things – food to eat, water to drink, and clothes to wear. And all of these represent our EVERYDAY BASIC NEEDS!

Teaching the kids with the lesson 'the kids way'! ( January 14, 2018)

Now being a Master-Teacher, our Lord Jesus uses basic everyday things that could be seen around us in order to help the listeners understand His teachings. Here He uses the ‘birds of the air’ and the ‘lilies and the grass in the fields’ in order to point out God’s divine care over all of His Creation (God’s Providence)! Here we are told that God shows careful and consistent concern over all He has made! He even mentioned that King Solomon, the wisest and the richest King of Israel, was not even dressed as majestically beautiful as the lilies in the field! Jesus wanted His listeners then and us today to know that God lovingly cares for us as well! That is why we should not stay worried over the things we need in life because we have a loving God who cares for us!

The word ‘WORRY’ means ‘a feeling of unrest of the human soul over things we have no control’. It is a constant and repetitive mental and emotional process of thinking over things we do not have or have no control over in life. And our Lord Jesus doesn’t want us to live a burdensome life of worry because this is not fitting for a believer! He wants us to move from a life of worry to a life of confident trust in God’s faithful and loving care.

‘What happens when we worry?’

1.) IT SHORTENS OUR LIFE – Jesus said it cannot add an inch to our height or a single hour to our lives! Health experts would tell us that worry contributes to stress and causes many physical and mental sicknesses. People who tend to worry more are those who ages more quickly and have more health issues while those who are normally joyful are healthier and have a more positive outlook in life. Friends, let us live happy and healthy lives as we stop worrying and start trusting God!

2.) IT LENGTHENS OUR MISERY – Worry makes our lives miserable. It affects not only our health, but our attitude as well. Worry affects not only ourselves but our relationships with others also and causes them misery. No one would want to constantly be around ‘worriers’. Let us choose to stop worrying and start enjoying life with God and our love ones!

3.) IT DISTORTS OUR IMAGE OF GOD – Constant worrying will overwhelm us and cause us to have a wrong understanding of who God is. We then tend to think that God is impersonal, distant, and uncaring. Worry is very dangerous.

4.) IT DESTROYS OUR FAITH IN GOD – Lastly, worry destroys our faith in God. If prolonged for a long period of time, it can sap your spiritual passion and can eventually shipwreck ones faith! Friends, let go of worry and trust God!

(Lesson ongoing... 1/14/2018)

friends, these are just a few devastating results of what worry can do to our lives. God’s Word tells us that we are to stop worrying over our daily needs. Instead, we are to trust God’s faithful and loving care! He promised to provide for all our daily needs IF we would choose to SEEK HIM FIRST! However if we do not make God our number one priority in life, it would result to a life of WORRY and LACK! On the other hand, a life that is fully trusting and satisfied in Him results to a CONFIDENCE in God’s PROVIDENCE (providence means ‘God’s governance and sustenance of our World’).

However it must be made clear that God’s promise of provision in this passage concerns our ‘NEEDS’ and not our ‘WANTS’. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much and cares for us! He is faithful and can be trusted! His promises are sure! However, He cannot and should not be obligated to provide for our WANTS and desires! In the same way, every good and responsible parent is and should be obligated to provide for everything their children NEED, but not everything they want! Parents should not give whatever they would ask from us, especially if it is something that they do not need as of the moment!

Giving in to the demands of thekids will result to them growing up spoiled & thinking that they are entitled to everything they want in life!

Perhaps some of you here have gone through personal ‘crisis of faith’ and have questions like, ‘I have been praying and asking God for something that we really need, but still God has not answered yet, why?’ This is a very valid question. My answer is two options: first is that perhaps it is not yet the right time to receive the answer to your prayers. Second is perhaps what you are asking for is not according to His will for your life and perhaps He has something much better in store for you! So I encourage you this time, ‘friend, do not worry! Keep trusting in our faithful and loving God!’

CONCLUSION:‘What can we do when we are tempted to worry?’ God’s word gives us a wonderful option: PRAY! The apostle Paul encourages us in PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7, ‘6 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.’ Friends, instead of worrying, PRAY!

APPLICATION: ‘What should I do as a response to God’s message?’

First is DECIDE TO TRUST GOD! He is our Heavenly Father who loves us and cares for us! He hears us every time we call on Him! Second, DETERMINE NOT TO WORRY! Both to Worry and to TRUST is a CHOICE! Choose to trust in God! Third, DELIGHT TO PRAY! This year, let us make a decision to pursue faith, hope, and prayer! Let us PUT GOD FIRST! Amen!

I'd be glad to see your comments. I'm open for insights and reactions.
ENJOY READING! God bless!

Truly yours,

@winoxez

Credits to my mentor Rev. D.T.E.
Special thanks to my motivator @jassennessaj

Check out the Lesson 2: ALL or NOTHING at all