Part of the idea for the Monday Motivator is to begin the week off with God because how you start gives you a better chance of finishing strong.
That got me thinking…
Have you realized the first four words in the bible are “In the beginning, God…”
What if we started the week off with God?
What if we started our days off with God?
What if we quit putting God last and made Him first?
When you start with God, you overcome.
When you start with God, you are spiritually prepared.
When you start with God and stay with God, you finish in God’s will and victory.
We will finish in His strength and grace if we start with God.
We cannot take on everything in our strength. We need the power of God on our side. We need His wisdom to handle life’s challenges.
I challenge you to start your days and week off with God.
Don’t just start, but take Him with you throughout your day. Finish with Him!
Don’t make the mistake of starting with Him but finishing without Him and then wondering where things went wrong!
God wants to walk with you throughout your entire day.
Take Him to breakfast, take Him with you to get your kids, take Him to work, take Him shopping, and take Him with you when you lay your head down at night.
We are limited in our ways and thinking, but God’s ways are always higher and greater. He is the secret to success. Wouldn’t you want someone like that to be on your team?
God sees every path and the ending.
This is why He has given the Holy Spirit. To be with us daily, accessible at all times when we need him.
How do you take God with you everywhere? 1. By meditating on His Word 2. Praying without ceasing 3. Praising Him throughout your day
I encourage you to begin this practice of starting and finishing with God and see how the outcome is greater than if you were to do it on your own.
Joshua 1:8 says, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”
1 Thessaliones 5:16-18, says, “Rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Hebrews 13:15-16, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise — the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
If there were one thing I could teach or give a lesson on, it would be to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.”
This short sentence holds the key to a peaceful, fulfilling life.
To seek His Kingdom and righteousness is simply to seek His will and way of living.
Many people have been held in captivity by the feeling of needing material things.
Not realizing God is the creator of it ALL.
God has provided all material things, such as clothes, food, money, etc., for our good. First, to meet our daily needs, but also to enjoy life.
Yet, without realizing it, many of us have made creation our lord instead of Jesus, the Lord of lords! It is an easy trap.
We must remember that the God who has created all things can also provide all things!
He calls us his most prized possession out of all his creations.
When you own something of worth, you treat it as valuable. You do not neglect it. You take care of it and keep it safe. So our Father will never ignore us or our needs because we are the most valuable thing to Him.
Many have given first place in the hearts to materialism, but if we shift our focus back to God, making Him first, all these things will follow.
Ask yourself, did God ever neglect those in the bible who sought first His Kingdom? No, he didn’t. He always had provision and does for you and me too.
A heart after God unlocks provision.
As you live out each day, seek his Kingdom and righteousness first, and God will provide!
Matthew 6:23, “But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
My wife, Marsha, has already told me what she desires. I hope you have found gifts for your loved ones too!
Valentine’s Day holds a special place in my heart. Not just because of the opportunity to express my love to my wife, but Valentine’s Day is also the day my father was born. He would be 100 years old if he were alive – wow!
As I reflect on our time together, I remember the fundamental lesson he taught me about love.
You see, my dad lived the example of love. Of course, my mother received great love on Valentine’s Day, but he always took it a step further.
He had a friend who owned a flower shop. So when Valentine’s Day rolled around, my dad would deliver flowers to people’s doorsteps free of charge. He said, “There was nothing more exciting than when someone opened the door, and there was that bouquet of flowers.”
My father taught me that love comes with great joy and pain. That pain might be from losing a loved one or another kind of loss. So, a day that might bring happiness for some of us can also bring sadness for others – this is true for every holiday.
Over time, we all learn the complexities of love and loss.
Remembering this lesson has me reflecting on God’s love.
God’s love was so great that He sent his only Son to die for us.
Can you imagine the pain of sacrificing your own Son? Yet, God knew that you were worth it! Through His Son’s sacrifice, the Lord gained more children.
God could not fathom the thought of losing YOU.
For this entire week, especially tomorrow, I want you to focus on the gifts you received and the gifts you’ve given. And meditate on the extravagant gift of the Father’s love to you!
Jesus died so we could have life – life enteral with the Father.
He loved first so that we could love.
P.S. There is no one better to comfort and understand the loss of a loved one better than the Father. So lean on Him this week!
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” -John 3:16
Valentine’s day is two weeks away, and candy shape hearts and chocolates surround us as we shop.
Many of us are thinking of special ways to shower our love on those around us. And for others, Valentine’s day is a reminder of loss, resentment, and the opposite of love.
So, what is the opposite of love?
Immediately we think, “well, hatred” – this is a great answer, but hatred is only a fruit of a much deeper issue.
I believe the opposite of love is hostility!
Hostility is the feeling of having enemies. Hostility is built on betrayal, selfishness, and division and always brings destruction.
It starts as an emotion: feelings of unfriendliness, enmity, ill will, and antagonism.
Then it becomes an expression. We are actionable in unfriendliness, antagonism, warfare, acts of war, and ill will.
And lastly, after an expression, it becomes an experience. We build barriers and walls to keep people out.
Ephesians 2:14-16 tell us how Jesus breaks down the walls of hostility through the cross.
What if those who have experienced God’s love help break down barriers by sharing this transformation?
Let’s take advantage of February being the month of love by expressing God’s love to everyone.
But I challenge you not to let it stop there!
Let’s make this an everyday practice!
Ephesians 2:14-16, “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostilityby abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.”
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