40. FIRST PLACE
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I am the Lord thy God.... Thou shalt have no other gods before Me (Ex.20:2,3).
1. God will not tolerate your putting anything else first before Him and His Work and human souls and their eternal salvation!
2. The most important time you have to spend is with the Lord!
3. Take time to be holy.--Wholly His and whole in body, mind, and spirit!
4. If you put anything else before the Lord, it has become your God.
5. To neglect your fellowship with the King of kings because you're so busy with the affairs of the kingdom can be disastrous to your spiritual life and communion with the Lord!
6. Dear Lord, keep us from having our lives so full of good things that we don't have time for the best.
7. God may appreciate the bedroom slippers you're making for Him, but He'd rather have you!
8. God made all kinds of love & He expects you to enjoy them all in Him, according to His rules--putting Him first.
9. God will not take second place even to His service!
10. "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me"--not even lost souls!
11. God will not take second place! He will not let Himself in the person of His Prophets be pushed back into the background!--With God, it's all or nothing at all!
12. Witnessing is not the most important thing. Our fellowship with God is most important.
13. Christ is not valued at all unless He is valued above all.
14. God's voice will fade if attention isn't paid!
15. Don't ever tell God you haven't got time for Him to reveal something to you.
16. God will not tolerate being put in second place nor His work neglected!
17. You always have time for the things you put first.
18. "For behold the bridegroom cometh! Come ye out therefore to meet him, & waste not your oil upon the unworthy but save the best for your betrothal, unto Him whose right it is! For not all are worthy!"
19. He knows, He loves, He cares!
Nothing His Truth can dim!
He gives the very best to those
Who save the best for Him!
20. "You must not squander your strength on too many children, lest you have none left for your Lord!"
21. "You must seek first the King & His Kingdom! Then shall all these others be added unto you by His power & His strength & His Kingdom & His might & in His time, if you give first place to Him!"
22. "The Queen's bedchamber is a sacred hallowed spot where only the chosen may enter, & where she must save herself for her King & rest in His arms from her labours! All may not enter therein, but she must choose only those who are called & chosen & can do their best for their Queen, to strengthen her & help her & uphold the crown & the honour of the Kingdom, in love for her Lord first of all!--And she shall find rest to her soul!"
23. The first place must belong to Him in peace & quietness & rest & feeding & fellowship.
24. You've been drafted by the Lord, into His Army, and His duties come first.
25. Whatever you put before God, He'll take away.
26. "Save first place for Him & His Word & His Love & His power, & from this shall your strength be!"
27. The Lord is your Lover & you can only belong to Him. No one else can truly possess you & nothing else can ever satisfy you.
28. You don't belong in this Family if you put anything first but God Himself! He will not take any other place but first place--either in your life, heart, mind, family, strength, time or economics.
29. Deliver us, Lord, from this spirit of "busyness"!--Too busy for you, & too busy for Your Prophet!
30. Probably the greatest mistake of sincere Christians is to make a god of God's service!
31. When you first wake up, before you call anybody or talk to anybody, talk to God, for God's sake!--Get your orders from Him for the day!
32. Help us, Lord not to be so pressured that we put off our time with Thee. Help us even as we go out this morning, to bask in Thy sunshine for a little while & to breathe deeply the refreshment of Thy wonderful fresh air, to put Thee first each day, to spiritually bask in Thy sunshine, rest in Thy arms, drink deeply of Thy Word & inhale of Thy Spirit.
33. If you love the material World more than the spiritual, then it becomes a form of worship of the creation more than the Creator, & God in His Spiritual World refuses to take second place in your affections & your interests or even in the activities of your life.
34. The Lord doesn't mind your being beautiful & having nice things & a good time & enjoying life, as long as you continue His Work & help others & don't neglect the Lord, the Word, your prayer life, your devotions, & all the things that you need to do.
35. To seek first, means foremost & above all!--Before everything else, above everything else, beyond everything else, & more than anything else! It means working for God & others more than for yourself, more than for money, more than for riches, more than for pleasure, more than for health, more than for government, more than for anything else.
36. Help us, Lord, to be willing to sacrifice & to do without some things so that we can enjoy the most important essential & necessary things, like Thy Word, Lord.
(See also No.74, 98, 191, 320, 697, 934, 1040, 1380, 1427.)
37. GEN.22:12 And He said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me.
38. EXO.20:3,5a Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God!
39. EXO.34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
40. DEU.6:5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
41. DEU.10:12,13 And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the Lord, and His statutes.
42. DEU.32:16,21 They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods. They have moved Me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked Me to anger with their vanities.
43. 2KI.17:35b,36 Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them: But the Lord, Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, Him shall ye fear, and Him shall ye worship, and to Him shall ye do sacrifice.
44. PSA.84:10 For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
45. PSA.96:4 For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: He is to be feared above all gods.
46. ISA.42:8 I am the Lord: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images.
47. MAT.6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
48. MAT.6:33 But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
49. MAT.10:37,38 He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.
50. LUK.10:41,42 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
51. ACT.5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
52. 1CO.10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
53. COL.3:1,2 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the Earth.
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family