Seek ye first

Praise the Lord, He is risen, He is risen indeed.  In case you are one of the only 73 that has looked at this blog and read past blogs and today you don't see them, it's because I sent them to draft.  Why?  Well, my first intentions with this blog was to teach others how to be a witness for Christ.  To provide tools that will help all of us to fulfill the commission to go into all the world and preach the Gospel.  My only problem when I try to do things for Christ, is ME.  So looking back on those last blogs, I felt like I was writing about the Gospel according to Bill, instead of really providing tools that will enable us to go out.
I think that one of the best or maybe the best tool is found in the Bible in Matthew 6:33,  But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.

I read once where studies have shown that the first fifteen minutes after you wake up and the last fifteen minutes before you fall asleep is when your brain is the most receptive to retaining whatever you think about.  I'm not a psychology kind of guy but I do believe that we couldn't have the study of psychology if God hadn't have created a brain.  Isn't it interesting that the world tells us about a scientific fact concerning our brains and God tells us to seek His Kingdom first?  I personally don't think its an uncanny coincidence.

So after reading that brain news from world science, and seeing Matthew 6:33 from the mouth of God,
I looked at it as proving scripture and started trying to use it to my spiritual advantage.  The first thing I did was quit getting up in the morning and turning on the world news, which I did every morning and thought I enjoyed doing for years.  I started training myself to immediately praise God that He gave me another day of life.  Then out to my easy chair in the living room and instead of turning on the TV, I grab my Bible and try to put God's word into my brain for the first fifteen minutes of my new day I,ve been blessed to get to live.  It's kind of like saying, " Hey Dad, what do you say we get together in the morning and spend some time together".  One of the neat things is, that first fifteen minutes, usually never ends in fifteen minutes.  After reading I pray.

My son and I with a sister in Christ at the Huntington Beach Pier

What is interesting is sometimes I don't think that I am getting as much out of this first fifteen minutes or that my day doesn't really seem to be that much more positive.  But when I miss a day of putting God first, I realize how much of a difference it does make in my whole day.  I want to add too that this isn't the only way to feed your mind first with the Kingdom of God.  Some mornings you could turn on the TV to a Christian station or a gospel Dvd and watch a good sermon, then read and pray.   Or put a Gospel music station or CD on and listen to the words and let God speak to you through music.
The point here isn't to get into a religious rut, but to put God first in your day and open the door for God to speak to you and fulfill the verse listed above.  This can put your mind in a place where you are more apt to think of something Godly to say to someone if they strike up a conversation that isn't Godly.  You could be planting seeds or watering or maybe you might find yourself right in the middle of a harvest.

Next time I will talk about the last fifteen minutes of the day.  Pray for laborers and keep the faith.

Brother Bill
Please feel free to go to  my blog  www.yosemiteriverrat.blogspot.com and take a moment to see the new video by Livingwaters.    www.evolutionvsgod.com