First Things First

First off, I want to tell each one of you that read the last post: thank you. I have never had that many people read one of my posts, and I have never had that much response from it. It is great to have people that I believe I can call friends, and I thank each of you for the support you have given my family. I hope that what has happened to us in the past year will be used as a testimony to a God that is faithful, whose timing is impeccable, and rescues and saves.
OK- enough gushing. I hope you were able to get to church this weekend. Don't worry- I won't judge you if you didn't. That's not my job. We did, and we are so glad. Check out the lesson we learned yesterday:
"Don't put Jesus FIRST this year."
I am reading your mind. It is saying "WHAT? HERESY!! OF COURSE YOU PUT JESUS FIRST! THE BIBLE SAYS SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD! WHAT KIND OF FRUIT LOOP CHURCH ARE YOU ATTENDING?!?"
Please quit shouting mentally.
The teaching goes like this: If you try to make God your first priority this year, above your family, your job, and whatever else, you shove everyone and everything else to the backburner. This can mar relationships. Taken from Colossians 1: 15-18:
"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,¹⁶ for through him God created everything  in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—  such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He existed before anything else,  and he holds all creation together.¹⁸ Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything."
Christ is ALREADY first. You cannot put Him first, because He is already there. The real idea is to put Him at the CENTER of all your other priorities.

• With your family, honor God by serving others, and by speaking life to your family or other relationships.
• With your career, honor God in your career, according to Col. 3:23. This is done by altering your perspective and your performance. Act like you're working for God, because really you are.
• Honor God in your circumstances. In Col. 1:17, it mentions that He came before anyone else, and holds everything together. The KJV says that "And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist." As it was put so well yesterday, "Our faith is not in our circumstances, but in our God...It is important to act out of what you know, not what you feel."

When we put God at the center of everything, He is glorified. His light shines in our lives, and through this, people will see that He is first. It isn't that controversial after all.