Start with God start with God every day what do you mean I mean when a new day begins
begin with him just give him some time before you give time to anything else because you are
spending time like money every day that you live so just make sure you spend it on him
first so new day begins start with Jesus because guess what you are shaped by what you start with
and so if you start with Jesus by reading his word
by talking to him in prayer you're like oh prayer that's every intention of praying but I try and
I don't get it but maybe you need to get up from your knees and and walk around maybe you
need to just take a walk with God and I'm just telling you when you begin your day not with CNN
not with twitter not with uh you know some fashion magazine not with a novel not with a movie not
with a quick half a bite of a bagel quick burn your throat on a coffee and rush out because you
you snooze 17 times before you got out of bed but when you choose to set aside 15 minutes and you
say hey I'm just gonna take some time to listen to pause my heart take a moment and be silent the
bible talks about meditation which is listening to God meditating on something you've read I heard
someone say read the bible until something jumps out of you then shut it because if you rush on to
read something else before applying the first thing you're in danger of having your heart
heart into what you need to have changed and and and so and but that that's great but also on the
days where you don't get anything out of it don't be fooled by it don't be fooled if you don't get
anything out of it because you're only perceiving that you didn't what you got out of it might be
something you don't yet know you need but God wanted to give to you before the difficulty came
so so don't be tricked by that you go a whole week with were you don't get anything out that's cool I'm just going to
get into a groove I'm just going to get into a groove I'm just going to listen to God I'm just
going to talk to God I'm just going to worship God I'm not going to be tricked by my feelings my
worship is not a feeling that produces acts it's an act that at times produces feelings you see
and and know this that if you don't worship God you're missing on the chance to receive
that day's mercies because Lamentations three says they're new every morning
they get reset every day it's like a bakery that throws out as cookies at nighttime right so if you
don't get that day's mercies they're gone now there's new mercies tomorrow but you miss out
on the chance to get that day's mercies and who knows what you might have been able to do with
that day's mercy so come on somebody they don't roll over get them while they're hot each day
get that day's mercies and tomorrow's mercies because tomorrow you can't get yesterday's mercies
you can never go back in time and and be changed by God if you don't get it today you got to keep
it in the present tense all right so every day you start with God I want you to seek my face earlier
see come in the morning cause my mercies are new every morning every morning
you don't have to worry about me running out I'm gonna put out some fresh mercy in the morning
so soon as you get up my mercies are just as new as your day is and he said come boldly to
the throne of grace that you might obtain mercy and find grace to help can I just tell you today
that one of the most important things that we all need to do in our life is keep God first
Keeping God first is something that I think we have
to work at and do on purpose because there's just too many things
to crowd him out and let me just tell you something if you're too busy for time with
God then you are just too busy with stuff that is really stealing your life it's not adding to it
and most of you would probably say without hesitation that one of the hard one of the most
challenging things for you to do is to regularly spend quality time with God on a daily basis
When you get into a hard spot when you get into a difficult place in your life
you need to start with God because otherwise what will happen is hardship will come and
you'll think where's the goodness of God and you think well God's abandoned me I'm trying
to follow you and this happens I get laid off and this like this happens like and I'm trying to seek
you and will misunderstand that God always deposits his greatest treasures in the midst
of what can be the most horrific circumstances and here's what Proverbs says on that subject
that just as a refiner's fire purifies gold and silver God is seeking to purify hearts and if
we start with God when life gets difficult we will not raise our hands and condemn him
with our fists of fury we'll raise our hands up and surrender and worship him I'm telling
you in times of confusion don't doubt God seek God call out to God in the day of trouble and
he will hear you and he will help you don't just run to God when you have an emergency
to be honest whether we know it or not we're in an emergency mode all the time I mean if God doesn't
help us every second of every day I don't know what in the world would happen to us and we need
to realize that and pay more attention to him listen God is never more than one thought away
never more than one thought away if you want to experience God in your life think about him
talk to him you don't have to be in some certain posture or position
to pray prayer is just talking to God and I think a lot of times we over spiritualize it
and we make it something that it's not and it almost kills the pleasure of it
Develop the habit of having a continual conversation
with the Lord he may not always speak back to us in words but many times when you're talking with
the Lord he will put a thought in your mind and it may sound like your own voice but that's one
of the ways that God will speak back to us I didn't really like to use this phrase because
I don't do it for this reason but I think it's the key to success in every area of your life
If you want to be successful if you own a business and you want it to be a success
you better take the time before you get there spend time with God
Life's full of difficult decisions and choices where do I live and who do I marry
about job offers you're going to take and what college you're going to go to and who you're going
to do life with these are huge things and I'm saying that we should start with God not end with
God so we start with God when making difficult decisions one of my favorite verses in the book
of Proverbs is Proverbs 3 4-7 look at it in the living bible it says if you want favor with both
God and man and a reputation for good judgment and common sense then trust the Lord completely don't
ever trust yourself don't go with your gut right in everything you do put God first and he will
direct you and crown your efforts with success that's what we're after our efforts being crowned
with success by God because we didn't consider what he thinks of any decision we make last he's
the first one we go to we go to him in prayer we ask for Godly counsel and we consider that at the
highest part of our life does that sound like he can move you towards where you want to be in life
Please make God first place in your life
don't don't pray for God to give you something and then when he gives it to
you let that very thing that he gave you take you away from him
and that happens so often so often don't make the mistake of asking God to give you something
and then when you get it let it take you away from God a career you wanted a ministry a family
I know some of you maybe are young moms and you've got a house full of little kids and you
think are you crazy lady I can barely get time to go to the bathroom let alone spend time with God
well you know what God knows what season you're in and I'm not giving you time frames on what
you need to do but you you could at least start by saying good morning Lord I need you today
amen because God understands where we're all at in our life but I will say this there is no
person that's hearing my voice right now that cannot cut some quality time out of
every day of your life to spend it with the Lord not one person not one
Start with God this is crucial Jesus said it too didn't he Matthew 6:33 seek first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you our problem is we go
seeking after all the other things at the expense of the most important thing but if we put the most
important thing in the proper place then every other thing will eventually fall where it should
be as well let me tell you something men and women the incidents in our lives are not incidental
the trials in our lives are not trivial God is up to something in your life and in mine he is using
our setbacks to advance our spiritual maturity to a place where we could never go without them
he's up to something with what's happening in your life and in mine
when all the tough things are going on in your life or in mine we may not understand it but we
can know we can know one thing God is at work making all things work together for his good
God is good God can be trusted you may not know what he's doing but he's doing something don't
let the pleasure of the world material things or anything else get ahead of God
Proverbs 3:6 the living bible in everything you do put God first and he will direct you and crown
your efforts with success and we're all familiar with Matthew 6:33 seek ye first the kingdom of God
and his righteousness and all of these other things will be added unto you don't
seek what you want seek God and let him give you the desires of your heart
Psalm 37:4 delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the secret petitions and the
desires of your heart but we have to always strive and I mean that in the right sense of the way
to keep God first in our lives
because we all know if we're honest that there are so many things that can easily crowd him out
and take the place that belongs only to him I tell you right now the devil hates us
and the bible says we are not to give him a foothold
in our lives and we are not to open doors for him
and one of the quickest ways to open a door for the enemy is to know that you should put God first
and let other things get ahead of that that are useless and meaningless now here again this
doesn't mean that you can't enjoy other things and have other interests but God needs to be
first that means he needs to be first in our time first in our conversation
first in our thoughts first in our finances first in every decision that we make
if you keep God first you'll never find yourself in last place