Well, it is a great
privilege to be preaching God’s word, I missed the last four or five weeks, I
was on holiday. It was quite an interesting experience, sitting in row five and
being a part of the church on a Sunday, and part of me is saying: “Oh God I
want to get back there, and back in front of the pulpit, it is such a great
privilege to be able to preach and share God’s word. So, what we are going to
do from this morning and for the next six weeks to come, I’m going to preach a
series called: “Seven ways to put Jesus First.” Another way of putting the
title, it might be something like this: “Seven ways we can reorder our lives.”
And we are going to look at different parts of our lives, how do we reorder our
lives to get Jesus into first place. Because here is a thing, when Jesus is
first, God takes care of the rest. That is a big principle I want to get a hold
of, and I am absolutely convinced, we make the faith decision to say: “Jesus, I
want you to be first in this area of my life.” When Jesus is first, God takes
care of the rest. If we choose to put something else in its place, then we must
take of it, with disastrous consequences normally. My favourite verse, or one
of them, my life scriptures, we are going to talk about them over and over
again. It’s that verse in Matthew chapter sixe verse thirty three. Jesus has
been talking about money, but I believe it’s more than just money.
He said: “33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, “ Put first, first place,
first priority, first thing in your life, put Jesus first. “and all these things will be
given to you as well “I
think this is a great life scripture to hold onto. And I want to see how we can
take this verse, and we are going to look at different aspects and areas of our
lives. To say okay Lord, how in this part of my life. We are going to look
today at first in our heart. Next week, we are going to look at what about
first in our day. And then we are going to look at what about first in our
week. First in our finance, first in our family, first in our talents, first in
our identity. Here is my thinking. If we can get two thousand and fifteen off
to a start of putting Jesus very strategically and intentionally, in every area
of our lives, Jesus I’m going to put you first and let us see what happens. I
trust God that each of us would make that decision Jesus, this year; I am going
to put you absolutely, unequivocally number one spot. I guarantee we are going
to have a mazing year. Let us see how it goes. So, this morning, putting Jesus
first in our heart. I want you to think back or maybe, hopefully, you do not
have to think very far, but can you think of when you were most in love? I want
you to think for a moment of when you were absolutely head over heels in love.
Some of you might have to go way back, well,
whatever. Think about of when you have those emotions inside of
you just flowing and squelching, and all those things that emotions do. Here is
the reality; it is not an issue or an effort to please the person you love. In
fact, when you are madly in love, your whole life is about trying to please
that person you are in love with. It does not take energy, it does not take
effort, it is just your delight. You start doing crazy things, you get really
brave you buy flowers or you try to write poetry. Here is the thing. Love is
the most powerful, motivating force in the world. I remember with Kate, my
wife, and I was living separate lives. I was in Johannesburg, and she was in Durban,
and we would spend hours on the phone to each other. Kate and I am not big
talker, I do not even know what we spoke about for hours on the phone. But
somehow, when you are in love, it is like you put down the phone, no you put
down the phone. I remember it was every second weekend, driving up and down
between Durban and Johannesburg, you are not counting the price of the cost, and
all you are seeing is the privilege of being in love. Being in love is the most
powerful, motivating force in the world. And here is the big point I want to
make today. Is that I believe that God has created and designed us for such a
relationship with His Son Jesus Christ. God has designed us in such a way that
if we could live rather than following a religion or some set of rules, but
rather, if we could live our lives having such a love relationship with Jesus,
then following Jesus would not be a burden. Obeying Jesus would not be heaviness;
our whole lives would be transformed by the power of Jesus. Because we just
love Him and love being with Him. And that is the power of what it means to
have Jesus first in your heart, first in your affection. So, the question is
why would God want, why is it such a big thing for God that we would love Him
with all of our heart. Look at the ten Commandments, the first commandment,
there is no other God but Me.
It’s all about God first. We are
going to read in a moment the key text, where Jesus said love the Lord with all
your heart, why is it such a big thing that we would put Him as number one.
Well, it is not because God is insecure. It is not because that God is in any
way needy. In fact, God does not need us at all, but God knows that for our
lives to work best, we need Him in number spot. For our lives to truly count,
for our lives to fulfil that destiny plan, for our lives to be transformed and
empowered, it only happens when Jesus is in first place. And that is why it is
so powerful. Here is a thing: when you really love someone or something,
obedience is just natural. Let us take another example, what if you just
absolutely loved fishing. Well, at four o’clock in the morning, your alarm
clock might go off, and what is your response? Oh no, I have to go fishing
today. I hate fishing. But if you love fishing, you cannot wait for the alarm
to go at four, and it is out of bed, grab some coffee; grab some bait, in the
boat, in the water. You love it that is what you do.
My dear wife Kate is not a
morning person. She has never been a morning person. And she loves running, and
she is planning to do that two oceans marathon. Now, at four thirty in the
morning, my wife who does not like mornings, loves running. Out of bed, bounces
out of bed at four thirty in the morning. I have to go run why? Because when
you love something, you naturally obey. And here is a thing: God wants us to
obey Him. We are not saved by following laws but, God’s word brings healing.
God’s word brings life. God’s word brings Him glory and honour. God’s word
transforms us, God’s word brings prosperity. And God wants us to be a people
who follow Him and follow His word. Not because we have to, but because we want
to, because we love Jesus so much. That is why loving Jesus is so important. We
think about Jesus himself. Why did he to the cross for you and I? In the garden
of Gethsemane, He was praying: “Oh Lord, if there is a way of taking this cup
away from me, but not my will, Your will be done.” Such was Jesus’ love for His
father that he was willing to be obedient, even to the point of death. It says
not that we love Him, but He loves us and gave Himself for us. Willingly
sacrificed because He loves us so much. The disciples recalled Jesus when he
went into the temple one day, they were buying and selling, it was like a
market place and Jesus takes a whip and drives people out, overturns the
tables, it was chaos, and the disciples remembered it says: “Zeal for your
house consumes me.”
Such was Jesus’ love for His
father and His Father’s house; He could take it that the temple would be
desecrated in such a way. Love is a very powerful thing, and that is how God
wants us to serve Him. Loving Jesus makes it easy to obey Him. Loving Jesus
makes it easier to overcome sin. Loving Jesus makes it easier to sacrifice. I
remember the early days of when I became a believer way back in nineteen eighty
nine, when I gave my life to Jesus, and suddenly there were new passions
inside. God put such a love inside me I just wanted to read the Bible. I have
never read it before, suddenly there was this hunger inside me, suddenly I want
to go to church every night to all the different things the church is doing.
Suddenly I want to love people, I used to think they are weird. I remember me
taping with my little tape cassette, those preaching tapes off the radio. I
used to tape those things because I had such a passion inside. When you love
Jesus, there is a hunger inside of you for Him and for obeying Him.
Here is the text I want to read this morning,
Mark chapter twelve verses twenty eight to thirty four, it says: “28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing
that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the
commandments, which is the most important?”29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God,
the Lord is one.[e] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[f]31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’[g] There is no commandment greater than these.”32 “Well
said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and
there is no other but him. 33 To love
him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your
strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself is more important than all
burnt offerings and sacrifices.”34 When
Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any
more questions.”
I want to focus this morning, and just getting really
practical then, I have convinced you of how and why it is so important that
Jesus has first place in our heart. But how do you realign your heart? How do
you get a screwdriver and make the adjustments. Let us say are you a five out
of ten, in terms of loving Jesus if you were honest, how do get from a five out
of ten to an eight or nine out of ten.
Or maybe you are a seven or an eight out of ten, how do you get it all the way
to ten? Maybe, you are sitting in the back row, maybe you are a one out of ten,
and you must be dragged to church against your will. How do you get to at least
a five out of ten? What can we do? I want to be practical, what can we do to
love Jesus more? What can we do to put Jesus first place in our heart? I’m
going to mention five things. You do not have to remember them because not all
of them apply to you. But I am hoping that at least one of them would jump out
and say, that is me. And if so, then I pray that you would make that
adjustment. Here is the first one:
1. 1John
chapter four verses nineteen: “19 We love because he first loved us.” This little verse, it is so short but it had
such an amazing impact in my life. We love, we love God, and we love others
because He first loved us. So, what that tells me is that unless we have
experienced God’s love, we will never be able to love Him back the way we
should. It is as if your hearts is like a mirror, and if the mirror of our
hearts is actually turned and focused on God’s love, will never be able to
reflect that back to Him or to others. So, if we are going to grow from a five
to a ten, if we are going to increase our love for Jesus, the place to start is
to experience God’s love more and more. Many people grow up with a Christian
background, they might have gone to church when they were young, and they have
learnt to be religious and to do religious things. The know about God, but the
problem with religion is that it keeps Jesus at arm’s length, where we can
control things. Have to do this, have to do that, and it is all about doing
things rather than entering into a true, loving relationship with God. And
sometimes because it is based on religion is what we do to please God, we
sometimes end up we know that God is a bit disappointed in us, or we sometimes
live with a sense of condemnation or unworthiness, because God must by now be
fed – up with me.
2. So, our hearts can become closed, and we
do not get to enjoy God’s love. And remember if God’s love is not going in,
then God’s love in not going to come out. We love because He first loved us.
Here is what I am asking all of us to do. God loves you not because of you. Not
because you are lovely, not because you are worthy, not because you deserve His
love, but God loves you because of who He is. It says God is love. That means
His unconditional love. And God wants you to just open up your heart and let
His love flow in. Sometimes we can be hurt and disappointed and all we do is
sometimes build walls and fences around our houses, we build them around our
hearts as well. And so if you want to have access, you push the And sometimes
we have a relationship with God and you say God, you can push the buzzer
outside. Imagine if you start the year d say God, I want to open my heart to
you and let you love me. The more we experience His love, the more our love for
Him begins to grow. I really want to invite some of you this morning who has
never truly to experience His love, to take that risk. I remember, growing up,
I have been to church and have done the youth things, but it never changed my
life. But on that fateful day, nineteenth of
August nineteen eighty nine, that was the day and I remember praying and
I remember I went to the altar and there was a real sense of “Okay Lord, I’m
going to really let you in this time.” And I really let Jesus in, when His love
penetrated, that is when love for Jesus exploded.
3. How
do we put Jesus first? This is a story about a sinful woman, that was how she
was described. Now, use your imagination, I do not know what she did, but she but
she was known as a very sinful woman. She had a reputation around the town, so
she hears about Jesus, who is having lunch at a particular person’s house. She
comes to the house with a bottle of expensive perfume, she breaks it and pours
it on Jesus’ feet, she is weeping she has a brokenness in her as she is
weeping, tears are flowing. She lets her tears fall on Jesus’ feet, she takes
her hair from all those times of brushing and cleaning, she takes her hair with
the dust, salt, and tear infected feet,
and she begins to wipe them to wipe them and clean them. This is an incredible
display of her love for Jesus. The disciples, they see this and say” What are
you doing, do you know who she is? You are supposed to be holy and unclean, do
not let her touch you.” Judas looks at all the money that was wasted and say:
“Oh, what a waste.” Jesus’ response is very different. He says in Luke chapter
seven verse forty seven: “47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as
her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Think about that for a moment. She knew
that that she was a sinful woman, who needed lots of forgiving, and the result
was, she loved a lot. I’m going to ask you a question.
Has God needed to forgive a lot, or has God needed to forgive
you a little. You might be sitting next to you, looking at the person next to you. Look at Brian, compared to Brian, God you do
not have to forgive me much. Here is a thing, religious people look around at
other people and say, “actually God, you probably do not have to forgive me
much.” That is why religious people do not have a passionate love relationship
with Jesus. But here is a thing. When we understand that it is not about me and
my righteousness, but when we get a revelation of the holiness of God. So let
me tell you, maybe compared to the person sitting next to you, you have not
done as badly as them. But compared to the holiness and splendour and beauty of
Jesus, all of us, need a lot of forgiving. An amazing thing happened with Paul.
Paul, that great apostle who wrote most of the New Testament, he was a very
religious person, everything he worked hard on self – righteousness, he would
do everything right, all his ducks were in a row. He obeyed all of the law. In
fact, God, there is nothing to forgive me of because I am just doing it all
right. Then, he met Jesus. And after his encounter with Jesus, this man who had
done nothing wrong, suddenly he said; “But in me, the worst of sinners.” Is not
that amazing? Someone who was self - righteous encounters Jesus, and now it is
I am the worst of sinners. I think I can argue with Paul, about that one. I
have a feeling that I am worse than him. I know my heart, and you know your
heart, but here is a thing. When we understand oh God, just how badly I need a
saviour. We begin to see the power of the cross in a new way. You see, if you
think you have not done much wrong, then you do not really need the power of the
cross. But when you say oh God, I need that bread, that wine, symbolizing
Jesus’ body and blood, recognizing Jesus’ death and resurrection, I need that. Those
who have been forgiven much love much. Maybe this morning, what you need is a
fresh glimpse of the wonder of the cross. Of Jesus. Compared to Jesus, all of
us are dirty rotten sinners, and all of us are in desperate need of the saving
blood of Jesus.
4. How
do we put Jesus first? Well, here is an interesting verse in Romans chapter
twelve verse eleven: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your
spiritual fervour how? Serving the Lord.” Here is something, that
people who are passionate about Jesus and live lives in continual passion of
Jesus, they have discovered, you have to take that passion and use it to serve
God by loving others. Something happens when we give our lives in humble
service to other people, it is like something gets stirred up inside us. I want
to encourage church, every one of us, to consider ourselves apart of Outlook
Church, I would love you, this year, if you have not been actively involved in
somehow serving, and this is the year to get involved. We joke about a money
back guarantee of all our outreach trips. We say if you come along with us on a
trip and God does not meet with you, and change your life in some way, then we
will refund your money. Unfortunately, no one has claimed their money back.
Because here is a thing, when we step out in obedience, to serve, and go, and
to do what Jesus has called us to do, something comes alive inside of us. That
is talking about my trips, but that is the same thing right here. We have
another service at the municipality, at one o’ clock today, every Sunday, we
have a service for the homeless people. We serve lunch, and we preach the word,
and we have a church meeting with them. A couple of weeks ago, Adam my youngest
son, I said to Adam why do you not come with me? “He said, Dad, I do not know.”
He is a bit nervous, so I said come along with me. So, he comes along with me
to that church meeting at the municipality, we are just sitting and having
lunch with some of the homeless people just talking and chatting, Adam said:
“Dad, that was amazing, can I come with you again?” Something comes alive when
we begin to step out and serve Jesus. So, here is a new year’s resolution, if
you are not in somehow involved right now, I want to encourage you to get
involved in serving in some capacity.
5. Sometimes
it takes a real step of repentance. There is a scripture in Revelation chapter
two verses four and five, when Jesus spoke to the churches, he said:
“Yet this I hold against you. You have forsaken your first love. Remember the
height from you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did at first. If you
do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”
We fall into a dangerous condition when we get so into the rhythm and routine
of serving Jesus, of doing the church thing, of going through the motions of
being a Christian, but we have lost that first love for Jesus. And what Jesus
says here is: “I want you to repent. I do not want you to settle for just doing
Christian stuff without having a passion for Jesus inside. I want you to repent
and do the things you did at first.” Now I remember I just want to be where
Jesus was, I just want to spend time with God. I just want to love people; I
just want to serve Him. Do the things you did at first. It is a strong word
that says, you have forsaken your first love. Sometimes we are just neglecting
our relationship with Jesus, getting distracting with business or the world, or
life or this or the kids or that, and we neglect our love for Jesus. If that is
you this morning, God’s word to you is; repent. He wants you to come back to
that place of the fire of love for Jesus burning brightly inside of you.
6. Give
your treasures to God, and your love will follow. Do you know that your
treasure and your heart are linked? Jesus said it clearly in Matthew chapter
six verse twenty one: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” What
do you treasure most? Are you a money person, or is it a relationship, or is
there a possession? What is it that is the greatest treasure in your life? Or,
is it your relationship with Jesus? Because whatever your greatest treasure is,
that is what your heart is going to be connected to. And the danger is as soon
as we elevate anything to be a greater treasure than Jesus, well, the Bible
calls that idolatry. Listen to this encounter, God spoke to Abraham in Genesis
chapter fifteen, it says: “After this the word of the Lord came to
Abraham, I am your shield and your very great reward. But he said what will you
give me, since I am childless, and the one who inherits my estate is Eleazar of
Damascus.” Abraham made a big
mistake. God came to Abraham and said: “Abraham, I am your shield, I am your
reward. In other words, I am your treasure. Abraham said oh God, what can you
give me? God said I will give you that son, I promised I would, and guess what
happened? Abraham gets his son, what he has just revealed right here, what is
his heart really inclined to? Maybe his son rather his reward who is God. So,
what has God have to do? God said to Abraham one day: “Abraham, I want you to
take your son and sacrifice him on the mountain. What happened to Abraham is he
fell into the trap of letting himself to treasure something more than what he
treasured God. So, God had to put him to the test. He passed the test, and God
poured out His blessing. My encouragement to all of us is let us not fall into
that trap. Our treasure is Jesus. We sing that song Christ is enough for me. My
question always is, is that true of your life? Is Jesus really enough? The
power of God flows through our lives when we are passionately in love with
Jesus. It is so much easier to obey Him. It is so much easier to serve Him, it
is so much easier to love others, it is so much easier for God to change us and
mould us when our hearts are inclined to Him. Church, my challenge for the
year, is let us starting off by putting Jesus as number one. And I will ask you
now, is Jesus really number one in everything. In your heart, has He got first
place? Put Jesus first, and God takes care of the rest.
Senior Pastor: Brent Brading
Webite URL: Outlook Church
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