{"id":3581,"date":"2014-09-15T00:00:12","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T04:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=3581"},"modified":"2015-07-03T16:46:20","modified_gmt":"2015-07-03T20:46:20","slug":"is-god-your-first-priority-or-your-last-resort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=3581","title":{"rendered":"Is God Your First Priority? Or, is God Your Last Resort?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Jesus and the Disciples were on a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.\u00a0 As happens frequently in that area, a strong storm suddenly arose and began to knock the small fishing boat around like a twig in the rapids of the Colorado River.\u00a0 The waves splashed over the sides of the boat and the disciples were sure that they were goners.<\/p>\n<p>But Jesus was asleep.<\/p>\n<p>As a last minute resort, when all other hope had faded, they cried out to Jesus.\u00a0 Jesus calmed the waters and the disciples probably wondered why they didn&#8217;t turn to Jesus in the first place (and that&#8217;s what Jesus seemed to think too).<\/p>\n<p>The story is told in Luke 8:22-25.\u00a0 Click the following button to read this passage&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class='et-learn-more clearfix'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class='heading-more'>Luke 8<span class='et_learnmore_arrow'><span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class='learn-more-content'>Luke 8:22-25<\/p>\n<p>22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, &#8220;Let&#8217;s go over to the other side of the lake.&#8221; So they got into a boat and set out.<\/p>\n<p>23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.<\/p>\n<p>24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, &#8220;Master, Master, we&#8217;re going to drown!&#8221; He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 &#8220;Where is your faith?&#8221; he asked his disciples. NIV<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A similar description of God is given in the hymn, Eternal Father Strong to Save.\u00a0 Check out the following video&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Eternal Father, Strong To Save - Navy Hymn - US Naval Academy Chapel\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hUtHK0WD4IM?start=145&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #800000;\">First Priority<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>And yet, Jesus is always in the &#8220;boat&#8221; with us; we can&#8217;t get away from Him (check out Pastor Jim&#8217;s 9\/7\/14 sermon, &#8220;<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a title=\"E.T. Meets Michelangelo (9\/7\/14)\" href=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=3552\" target=\"_blank\">ET Meets Michelangelo<\/a><\/span>&#8220;).<\/p>\n<p>If He never leaves us, why do we leave Him?\u00a0 Why is it that we don&#8217;t think of God until we&#8217;re really in trouble?\u00a0 God is asking us to think of Him always; not only when&#8217; we&#8217;re in trouble.\u00a0 God should be our first priority; not our last resort.\u00a0 Take a look at the following verses:<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<div class='et-tabs-container et_sliderfx_fade et_sliderauto_false et_sliderauto_speed_5000 et_slidertype_top_tabs'>\n\t\t\t\t<ul class='et-tabs-control'>\n\t\t\t<li><a href='#'>\n\t\t\tLove Him\n\t\t<\/a><\/li> \n\t\t<li><a href='#'>\n\t\t\tSeek Him\n\t\t<\/a><\/li> \n\t\t<li><a href='#'>\n\t\t\tAbove All\n\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t<li><a href='#'>\n\t\t\tRun to\u00a0 Him\n\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul> <!-- .et-tabs-control -->\n\n\t\t<div class='et-tabs-content'>\n\t\t\t<div class='et-tabs-content-main-wrap'>\n\t\t\t\t<div class='et-tabs-content-wrapper'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tDeut 6:5-9\nLove the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.\u00a0 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.\u00a0 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.\u00a0 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.\u00a0 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.\nNIV\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tMatt 6:31-34\nSo do not worry, saying, &#8216;What shall we eat?&#8217; or &#8216;What shall we drink?&#8217; or &#8216;What shall we wear?&#8217;\u00a0 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. \u00a0 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.\nNIV\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tEx 20:23\n23 Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.\nNIV\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tHeb 12:1-3\nTherefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.\u00a0 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.\nNIV\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> <!-- .et-tabs-container -->\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #800000;\">First Priority or Last Resort?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>If God is your First Priority instead of simply being your Last Resort, your eyes should be fixed on Jesus.\u00a0 You can do this by studying the Bible.\u00a0 Carve out some time; read it every day.\u00a0 If you&#8217;re going to &#8220;throw off everything that hinders,&#8221; surround yourself with other Christians who can hold you accountable and help you get rid of your &#8220;idols&#8221; and things that you value more than God.\u00a0 If you&#8217;re going to &#8220;seek the Kingdom,&#8221; you&#8217;ll give of your own time and resources to serve others.\u00a0 Pray.\u00a0 Look for ways that you can make a difference in the lives of the needy.<\/p>\n<p>But if you only think of God on a few Sunday mornings, is He really your First Priority?\u00a0 If you only pray when the waves roll into your &#8220;boat,&#8221; you&#8217;re limiting God as your last Resort.\u00a0 True and lasting joy and peace come when we seek the Kingdom of God and make God our First Priority.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jesus and the Disciples were on a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.\u00a0 As happens frequently in that area, a strong storm suddenly arose and began to knock the small fishing boat around like a twig in the rapids of the Colorado River.\u00a0 The waves splashed over the sides of the boat [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[136],"class_list":["post-3581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-signboard","tag-priority"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3581"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3589,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3581\/revisions\/3589"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}