Giving God The First Part Of The Day

“Giving God the first part of the day.”

Luke 5:16

HOW LONG IS MY LIFE SOURCE: “New Years - NOW IS THE HOUR!” by Melvin Newland, Minister, Central Christian Church, Brownsville, TX

A few years ago People Magazine:

? published an article entitled “Dead Ahead”

? telling about a new clock that keeps track of

? how much time you have left to live.

It calculates an average life span of:

? 75 years for men and 80 years for women.

? So you program your sex and age into the clock, and

? from then on it will tell you how much time you have left.

It sold for $99.95.

- think about it, how much time do you have left

- Thinking about the brevity of life can be startling

- Especially if you think in terms of living on borrowed time..

When you are young:

- you never think of time being limited

- as you get older

- you don’t want to think about time being limited

The Psalmist tells us to do - to number our days.

“So teach us to number our days

that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

Psalm 90:12 (ESV)

We are to value our time:

- not to have all the fun we can have

- but to gain a heart of wisdom

- that comes from God

In fact the Bible tells us not to:

? count on tomorrow because

? tomorrow may not come for you or for me.

? All we have is right now.

What are we going to do with the life we have remaining:

- it may be 10 minutes or less

- it may be many decades

- what are we going to do with those seconds, days, months and years?

As you may know already:

? this year ACC’s theme is “I surrender all”.

? Each of us likely have areas in our lives, that

? we could surrender more of to God.

Surrendering ALL to God:

- means putting Him first in everything everyday

- means God gets His way every time, not sporadically

- in a nutshell we decide to live out what we have already committed to

That is that:

“Jesus is Lord of my life….and I surrender ALL to Him”

Below is a list of the sermons be delivering over the next few weeks:

- with the intention of moving you closer to God

- to give God more and more territory in your life

- until WE have given God unrestricted control over us…

“God first” series

1. Give God the first part of every day.

2. Give God the first day of every week.

3. Give God the first word in every decision.

4. Give God the first portion of your income.

5. Give God the first place in your heart.

6. Give God’s Church the priority in your schedule.

7. Give God’s Son your first love.

“In everything you do, put God first, and

he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.”

Proverbs 3:6 (TLB)

There is no better way to start the day than with God:

There is something special about the morning:

Psalm 5:3

“O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.”

Psalm 59:16

“But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.”

Psalm 88:13

“But I, O LORD, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.”

Psalm 143:8

“Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”

We all have morning patterns:

- wake up, get up, make your bed, make coffee, get something to eat.

- watch the news, check Facebook,

- sounds about right?

- but what about God?

I’ll admit my morning routine:

- isn’t what it should be, but

- I’m improving,

I am committed to:

- seeking God in the morning

- reading scripture, praying, reading a devotion

- FIRST THING.

My routine is evolving:

- right now I read some from the Bible

- I have a prayer book I use.

- I listen to “Our daily bread” on my phone

- Sometimes I do journalling…working on it

It doesn’t take long:

- but God is blessing it

- As I draw nearer to God

- He is in fact drawing nearer to me…

Like everyone here, I am a work in progress.

Ask yourself…

Where does God fit into MY day?

- what time of day or night

- does God regularly get your full attention