Initially, ‘Glasses of Grace’ started because my niece, Grace, had to get glasses for reading. Since grace is such a spiritual topic and the fact that my niece is such a doll, I started thinking about the ways God shows us His grace on a daily basis. From His servings, His 'glasses of grace' to us - to seeing the world through the eyes of grace (or Grace, since she had new glasses and better sight), it made sense in more ways than one, so a title was born. Blessings and all, this is my life…

Sunday, October 05, 2008

The 1st Commandment:

Following are the notes from this morning's sermon regarding the first commandment, from the sermon series, "Living Life to the Power of Ten."

#1 - First Place
Exodus 20:3; Matthew 22:37-38

Exodus 20:3 - "You shall have no other gods before me."

Matthew 22:37-38 -"Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment."

***God loves you and is inviting you into a personal relationship that lasts for all eternity.

***God is not looking for first place in your heart -- He wants your whole heart.

***If you don't understand the first commandment to love Him (He's desiring to be YOUR god), all the others turn into a bunch of rules.

***God is not interested in you being happy; He is interested in you being holy.

***He will allow things into your life to shape and mold you into the person He has called you to be.

***To obey this commandment means you will live with confident expectation that God is in control.

***Worry is the warning light that tells us we don't understand the first commandment.

***He is telling us, "I want to be something you cannot find in any other relationship -- I want to be GOD." (the God who cares for your life)

***What we don't turn over to him takes control and eats away at our life.

***When you try and take control of what rightfully belongs to God, you also take all the responsibility for its outcome.

***The best thing for your life is to surrender it to Him.

***Does God have your whole heart?

***Is He the 1st person you turn to?

We are very blessed to have a pastor who makes us think like this and keeps us mindful of these things with such thought provoking points. Isn't it amazing how so many of these are things that we know, but don't always stop to think about or do on a daily basis?

2 comments:

Jean said...

I like what someone said - "When you can't understand His ways, trust His heart." That's what we're trying to do right now.

Justabeachkat said...

Hi Dianne

Remember me? Life has been sooooo C-R-A-Z-Y lately...but a good kind of crazy, so I can't complain even though it has kept me from visiting. But...I'm home now...for a week or so anyway. Even though I'm sick with a cold AND a stomach virus (yuk), it's so good to be home.

I've had fun this afternoon reading all your posts I've missed. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw on Bloglines that you had posted 10 times while I was away! You go girl!

Hugs!
Kat