{"id":21422,"date":"2017-06-20T00:10:30","date_gmt":"2017-06-20T07:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lccredding.com\/lcc\/?p=11026"},"modified":"2017-06-20T00:10:30","modified_gmt":"2017-06-20T07:10:30","slug":"june-20-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2017\/06\/20\/june-20-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"June 20, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u201c\u2026you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My Name. But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Revelation 2:3b-4 (BSB)<\/span><\/p>\n

Priorities<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Recently, my husband found an old video. It was just a silly video that he had made of the two of us having lunch in a restaurant a few weeks before we got married. We were so silly, so happy, so free. He showed it to me and said, \u201cRemember this? Remember how happy we were?\u201d It was a very sober moment for him. He started to talk about the things that have happened over the years that he had allowed to weigh him down. He said, \u201cI used to be funny. Remember? And then I got angry at everyone else.\u201d He said, \u201cI have not loved you like I should.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I just listened and quietly prayed.<\/span><\/p>\n

For my part, I have not always prioritized my husband. I have let other ministries get in the way of my first ministry. \u201cIf I speak in the tongues of men and angels but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging symbol\u201d<\/em> (1 Corinthians 13:1).<\/span><\/p>\n

We know that Jesus is our true first love. But on earth, there is no higher human relationship than the marriage relationship. Your spouse is your first earthly love, your number one ministry. Any other ministry you are involved in stems directly from your ministry to your husband. Loving your spouse well is a direct reflection of your relationship with Jesus. We live His example. \u201c\u2026 the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve\u201d<\/em> (Mark 10:45). When that balance gets knocked out of order, then our lives will be off center as well. \u201cHe is before all things, and in Him all things hold together\u201d<\/em> (Colossians 1:17).<\/span><\/p>\n

I have always tried to guard this calling; I have always tried to protect my family life and not let outside responsibilities get in when they would downgrade my time with my family. But when my husband is caught up in the cares of this world, and therefore not able to focus on me, I look elsewhere for significance, too. If I am not careful, I will say \u201cyes\u201d to every request to help in every ministry, instead of stepping back and seeking God\u2019s advice. And when I don\u2019t seek His advice, through prayer and His Word, I am more likely to make the wrong choice. And then I find myself suddenly overwhelmed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Is your life in its proper balance? Have you forgotten your first love? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDear Lord, may the words of David in Psalm 131 be our prayer this day: \u2018My heart is not proud LORD, my eyes are not haughty. I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful to me. But I have calmed and quieted myself like a weaned child with its mother. Like a weaned child I am content.\u2019 In Jesus\u2019 mighty Name, Amen.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201c\u2026you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My Name. But I have this against you: You […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-women"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p92wjD-5zw","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21422\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}