“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3
“Thou shalt have none other gods before me.” Deuteronomy 5:7
• God’s presence is the master key to life! It unlocks everything else that may be bound in our life but we have to make room.
• Isaiah 55:11: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
• God should come first in every relationship and in every routine in our lives.
1st Fruit Principle
“For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.”
Romans 11:16
• Whatever you put first in your life is in complete control of everything else in your life.
• Whatever you put first, you have relinquished complete control over to it. “It” could be a habit, a person, etc. You will yield your time, work ethic, and finances over to what comes first.
• Every area where God is number one, He pours out His blessing on everything that comes after. If His is not first or is getting the left overs, He is not in control of what comes in that area.
• Who comes first and where does God fit in that order. He should be first in your: time, energy, habits, worship, prayer, priority, finances, etc. Everything else should follow after God.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord , and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”
Proverbs 3:5-10
• We should acknowledge God first and then He will direct our paths. There is no sense in getting on a path and then consulting God and realizing you’re on the wrong path. Acknowledge Him first!
• Example: If Jesus is first, you cannot enter into a relationship with someone who would cause you to put Jesus second. Jesus should be the foundation.
• Whatever you put first will end up controlling everything else.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Matthew 6:33
• When you have an area in your life that is not surrendered to the Lord, He does not have dominion in your life over that area.
• When God has dominion and seek His kingdom, everything else that we’ve been running after and worried about will be added to us.
• You don’t exercise your will where you don’t have dominion, God doesn’t either. His will doesn’t work in areas He doesn’t have dominion. Dominion and will are attached together.
• What has your mind occupied and has you fearful? Verse 33 tells us to seek His kingdom!
• Go into the New Year determined that you won’t give God leftovers. No leftovers!
“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord . And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord . And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.”
Genesis 4:1-5
• Cain brought an offering to the Lord “in the process of time,” not first! (Genesis 4:3)
• Abel brought the “firstlings” of his flock. (Genesis 4:4)
• Although there is a deep significance of the two offerings provided, one being the fruit of mans works and the other being the blood of a lamb, we cannot ignore the details that God gave us in that the offering brought in the process of time was not respected whereas the one given that put God first was respected.
“All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.”
Deuteronomy 8:1-3
• There are times when God puts us in a position for us to see what is in our heart although He knows what He is going to do. Do we trust His word over our bread?
• Jesus also quotes this scripture in Matthew 4:4
• When God provided food in the wilderness for the children of Israel, it was called mana! Mana means WHAT?!?!?!
• When you put God first, He will do something in your life so grand that all you can do is say WHAT!!!!!
Scriptures to add to your notes for personal study:
• Exodus 13:12-13
• Exodus 12:1-13
• Joshua 6:18-19
• Exodus 23:19
• 2 Chronicles 31:5
• Jeremiah 2:3
• 1 Corinthians 16:1-2
Ask yourself, “Where am I not putting God first in my life?” This is the area where you have limited God’s blessing and His best!