How many days do you come home from work and relax from your day through putting on your favorite music, watching your favorite TV shows, movies or sports, surfing the web on a computer, playing some games on your video game console, or taking your time using your phone to text, use social media apps or play games? Does what I describe here speak to you at all? How about this? Is at least one or two of the things I mentioned above a part of your normal routine every day? If so, then there is a big problem in your life and it is idolatry. What? You may ask. Yes, anything that is coming between you and God is an idol, my friends. Instead of coming home and studying the Bible, praying, watching good Christian Ministry videos, listening to Christian Music, attending a Bible study, going to a small church group, serving in the church, or evangelizing on the streets, our hearts are elsewhere. Where that time and thing we served is an idol. No wonder why willful sin and addiction is in people’s lives. Because God’s Words are not in their hearts, their path is not straight but wide to destruction. Even secret sins start creeping into a person’s life that is not seeking God’s hand first, like pornography. Did you not know that Jesus said, 1“seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) If so, then you’d be thinking twice before doing your own thing.
So my question for you all is, do you even want to be saved? If so, then you should know what to do with your life? For you can either continue doing your own thing each day or start doing God’s will. Nothing will ever change until you pour out your heart to God in prayer and ask for forgiveness. Then, can He start doing a work in your life, of which you cannot. Only the Lord God Almighty has the power to break every chain of darkness in your life. Only He can take you by the hand and start leading you in His glorious light. And best of all, only God can breathe inside of you the Holy Spirit, which is newness of life. This is when your choices will be much different than before. No longer will you desire to be fulfilled with the things of this world, but of God alone. That is why your choice of TV, music, games you play, apps you use, and sites you visit will be entirely different when the Lord is living inside you. Then, will you want to do more for others, like church service, attend Bible studies or small groups, and be a witness for Christ on the streets. God’s Word will also start coming to life, as you begin to read the Bible daily. So come to the Lord and be saved. Then, will your life be changed forever and finally be in line with God’s will. Truly, your greatest joy in this life is not in the things of this world, but in God and His love. Start seeking His kingdom first and you will experience this joy and happiness.
Let us pray:
Oh Lord, I pray that our desires will be in line with Your own. Help our minds be focused on what comes from above, and not what the world offers. Only You can help us find the way to eternal life and happiness in this life. Otherwise, there are only man-made replacements that always bring sin and much guilt, which brings us sadness and grief. Surely, Lord, there is nothing that lasts in this life apart from Your love. I’ve tried all the many things the world says is good, but never found joy that lasts in those things. Sure, there was joy in the moment, but always shame in the end. Even my treasures were never good enough and I always needed something newer and better that could replace those things. What a mistake I made by following my own heart and not giving into Your will. To think of all the money wasted in those things brings tears to my eyes. I missed out on many blessings than and I am so sorry. Thank for you leading me now, that I might experience what blessings really are in life. You have my heart, God, and all I want to do is honor You and show Your love to everyone. Truly, it is my greatest desire to have You in my life. So continue to breathe upon me the Holy Spirit, that I might know the way. I don’t want anything to come between us. Thank You, Lord, for delivering me from all the bondage in my life. Only You could remove the idols that were before me and lead me to You. I trust in You, Lord. Doing Your will brings me the greatest joy of all. I love You more than anything else. Amen.
Let us read the Bible:
Note: Any Numbered References, found above, are listed below.
1Matthew 6 (KJV)
1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
