{"id":4170,"date":"2015-01-31T13:51:40","date_gmt":"2015-01-31T13:51:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=4170"},"modified":"2015-01-31T13:51:40","modified_gmt":"2015-01-31T13:51:40","slug":"first-things-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=4170","title":{"rendered":"First Things First"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The sun is about to come up. It\u2019s a new day. What happened yesterday is the past. Today I have new and fresh opportunities. Today looks pretty promising. So what shall I do with today?<\/p>\n

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\"DSC_0493\"<\/a>Elizabeth George says this, \u201cWith the gift of a whole, entire, precious, and priceless day before you, ask: \u2018Lord how do You<\/em> want me to live this day? What is it that You<\/em> want me to do with this one day that You have given me? What is the work You<\/em> want me to accomplish today?\u2019\u201d[i]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t you want to know what could happen if you gave your day to God in this way? Wouldn\u2019t it be remarkable to see what He will bring into your life? Wouldn\u2019t it cool to look at your accomplished work at the end of the day and say, \u201cWay to go God!\u201d? I think so.<\/p>\n

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However, I know that I don\u2019t always give my days to Jesus. I know that I sometimes tend to focus on what I need to focus on instead of allowing God to lead me on the path. I know I fail at this.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But the good news is that I have a brand new day every 24 hours. I can be more intentional about giving God my day tomorrow if I mess it up today. I can put tomorrow behind and look toward the bright outlook of today. And that\u2019s what I intend to do.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

C. S. Lewis once wrote, “Put first things first and we get second things thrown in: Put second things first and we lose both first and second things.” Isn’t that the truth?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jesus had this to say about our day. \u201cBut seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.\u201d <\/em>(Matthew 6:33 \u2013 NIV)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So today, I intend to seek God\u2019s kingdom first. That will be the first thing. Then the second things (those things spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 6:25-32) will come.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Just because I work at a church, I am the assistant to the lead pastor of that church, and I am a leader of two women\u2019s Bible studies doesn\u2019t mean that I am focused on God\u2019s kingdom first and foremost every day. The evil one tries hard to body slam me off that path. But it doesn\u2019t mean that I have to give up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So today, I will keep my eyes on the goal (Philippians 3:13-14). I will cling to the One who is able to keep me from falling (Psalm 63:8 and Jude 1:24-25). And I will seek God with all my heart (Jeremiah 29:12-13).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What are your plans for the day?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Donna<\/p>\n

[i]<\/a> God\u2019s Wisdom for a Woman\u2019s Life<\/em>, Elizabeth George, Harvest House Publishers, 2003, page 30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  The sun is about to come up. It\u2019s a new day. What happened yesterday is the past. Today I have new and fresh opportunities. Today looks pretty promising. So what shall I do with today?   Elizabeth George says this, \u201cWith the gift of a whole, entire, precious, and priceless day before you, ask: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14,21],"tags":[3819,1857,1856,3818,1860,1859,1858,1053,562,1689],"class_list":["post-4170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asking-god","category-seeking-god","category-trusting-god","tag-gods-wisdom-for-a-womans-life","tag-c-s-lewis","tag-elizabeth-george","tag-first-things-first","tag-jeremiah-2912-13","tag-jude-124-25","tag-matthew-625-33","tag-matthew-633","tag-philippians-313-14","tag-psalm-638"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4170"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4171,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4170\/revisions\/4171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}