​“You shall have no other gods before Me..." Exodus 20:3 That was God's first commandment to His people. Then, before He went on to the other nine commandments, He further emphasized you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God... Exodus 20:5.

You don't have idols, graven images and you certainly don't worship other gods.  But that isn't what He said.  He said "You shall have no other gods BEFORE me..."  Ask yourself, "What or who do I put BEFORE God?"  God wants no one and nothing to take a position in our life that is above Him.  We may think of things of the world, money or even that sin that trips us up every time.  But what about "good things"?  What about the people we love?  God does not want us to even place our spouse or children above Him!  

Have you ever known someone who lost a loved one, especially a child, too soon and they became angry at God?  Maybe they even turned their back on God and cursed him.  Their loved one's place in their heart was before God.  God was not first in their life.  My brother and sister-in-law were an amazing example of a couple who placed God first in their lives.  When their 16 year old daughter was killed in a car accident one beautiful October Sunday after church, they were never angry at God.  They, of course, were devastated; but their faith never wavered.  Their trust in God was not shaken.  People were amazed at their peace and composure in a horrific situation.  That only comes from a deeply rooted unshakable faith in God and an intimate knowledge of who God is and how BIG He is.

Have you known people, who, when trouble and hardship comes, get angry at God and "punish" him by turning away from him and losing faith?  Their money and possessions were placed above God.  Read the story of Job.  Job was in right-standing with God, his attitude was right.  There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil... God thought so highly of Job that He even allowed Satan to "test him" because God knew Job would withstand whatever Satan threw at Job. Satan believed that Job would curse God, as so many in times of trouble do. Job, though tested and tried, placed nothing and no one before God.   Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.  And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?”

So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”

So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”

And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.”

So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.  Job 1:1; 6-12

Satan will use anything you place above God to separate you from God and ultimately destroy you.

Have you seen Christians lose faith and turn against God and their church when their pastor or favorite celebrity minister sins and is publicly "outed"?  God was not first in their life.  Their faith was in their pastor or TV minister, not God.

Far too many believers don't really know just how BIG God is.  They don't know who He is.  If they did, they would have  a reverential fear of God and be far less likely to sin against God.  Christian leadership would feel the weight of their calling and responsibilities and never take advantage of their position.  They would pray and  seek God before spending God's money, when making decisions and when prophesying in His name.

We have made God small in our eyes.  We meant well when trying to correct the old image of an angry God throwing lightning bolts at us when we sinned.  We talked about our loving God with His never ending grace and mercy for us.  We sang that God was our friend.  Yes, He loves us and we thank God for His grace and mercy; but God should not be thought of as our 'friend'.  He is our Father.  He has the loving correction of a Father.  As a father would punish and correct us to help us grow up in the way that is right, so God does for us.  My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,  nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.  Proverbs 3:11-12

The Holy Spirit keeps bringing me back to "you shall have no other gods before me" and reminding me that those who consider themselves His people have made Him small in their eyes.  If we truly understood just how BIG and POWERFUL our God is, our faith would be unstoppable.  He spoke our world into existence!  Nothing is too hard for Him.  The only thing lacking is our faith and getting our priorities in order.  

Consider this....who or what is first in your heart?  Does anything come before God?  When we face that truth, and get our priorities in proper order, we are on the path to righteousness, peace and prosperity...our Promised Land!

Be blessed,
Arlene

We like to feel deep.  We like to think we know more than other people.  We love to be entertained. That is religion in a nutshell. That is true whether we are in the world, or we are Believers--followers of Jesus Christ.  But none of that has anything to do with being a citizen of the Kingdom of God!  

Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 18:2-4  Jesus made the Gospel so simple. He told parables (stories) that people could relate to and understand, but that held spiritual Truths.  If you approach the Bible--God's Holy Constitution--with that understanding you will understand what God is saying to us.

Do you want to be a citizen of the Kingdom?  
Do you want to live a Kingdom life?
Do you want to spread the Kingdom everywhere you go?  
It is simple....

Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  John 3:16
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.  John 14:6

Dive into God's Word.  
When you are full of God's Word, the Holy Spirit will bring scriptures to your mind in every situation.  I have found the more Word I get in me, the easier it is to be guided by the Holy Spirit.  Read the Old Testament to learn God's character--what does God love?  What does God hate? Read the four Gospels--Matthew, Mark, Luke and John--to learn the Kingdom gospel Jesus preached.  Study the life of Jesus and how he preached, interacted with people, with His disciples.  Everything He said and did is a Kingdom life lesson.  Truly everything we need to know about life is written in those 66 books!

Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.  Psalm 119:104-105  What you let in through your 'doorways'--your eyes and ears--should be judged by God's Word.  Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. II Timothy 2:15-16  When you are filled with God's Word, it is easier to know what is straying from God's Truth.  You will not be deceived by 'winds of doctrine' (religion). ...that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ.  Ephesians 4:14-15

Strive to be obedient.
...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God... Romans 3:23   ​Sin separates us from God.  Repentance brings us back into His presence.   From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  Matthew 4:17  We all sin and fall short and thank God for His mercy and grace.  When we do, we must repent and pluck that sin from our heart before it becomes a rooted iniquity.   

Have faith--unshakable, unwavering faith.  
If you really know who God is, God's Character and His Word, your faith is unquenchable.  And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”  So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”  Matthew 21:20-22

Listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit in everything you do.  
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.  And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  Romans 8:9-10

Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.  John 16:7-11

Salvation
God's Word
Obedience
Faith
Listening to the Holy Spirit (our Governor)

That's what it all comes down to.  The more complicated we make it, the more likely we are to fail or get wrapped up in religion and doctrines that stray from Truth.  

People often ask the question, "why aren't my prayers being answered?".  I suggest the following:  first check yourself in all the areas I've listed above. Be totally honest with yourself.  No one but you and God need to know, and He already knows.  Only you need to face the truth of where you are spiritually.  

Ask yourself if what you have prayed lines up with God's Word.   Just as parents aren't going to give their children something harmful because they love them, so it is with God.  (Remember, if you pray--speak--something that is against God's Word, you may receive it, but it won't be from God.  Demonic forces will send it your way for your destruction.  For example, you pray that a man will leave his wife and be your husband.  If it comes to pass, it is sent for your destruction and separation from God)

Then, it comes down to faith and knowing that our timing is not God's timing. This is when resting in Him and trusting that it WILL come to pass in His timing. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6-7

Now that you are filled with the Spirit and God's Word, go out into this lost and dying world of darkness and shine!  You are a Kingdom citizen and you don't need to just pray for the world, you need to infuse the Kingdom into the world everywhere you go and draw the lost to Him.  Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” John 12:35-36

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:14-16

Shine, and be blessed!

Arlene