Yes, we must always place our Lord Jesus Christ first within our life. Sometimes, people place money first before the Lord. It is called “Mammon.” The word mam’-mon is a Greek form of the Aramaic word for “money,” “riches,” “property,” “worldly goods,” or “profit.” In (NLT) Matthew 6: 24, No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
In (NLT) Matthew 6:19-20 tells us, don’t store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. If you place the value of money first and put God second, chances are you will lose your fortune. When a person places money first and places God second, usually some of these factors will be involved, such as greediness, cheating, stealing and even killing. Some parents or grandparents acquire wealth such as money and lands then plan on giving it to their children or grandchildren. There is nothing wrong with that, if that is the blessing from God. It would be awesome! If that is not from God’s blessing then you may lose it or your children or grandchildren may lose it all at the end. Are you with me so far?
When we take our last breath on this planet and take our first breath up in heaven, can we take our fortunes up in heaven? No! We cannot. Remember we all came from heaven with nothing and must return to heaven with nothing, except our faith with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s say your faith wasn’t quite right with the Lord Jesus and let’s say you will be judged at that time. If you read in Revelation 20 verses 12-15, it explains about the books being opened, including the Book of Life and at that time, if our name is not listed in the Book of Life, we will be cast into the lake of fire. I am positively sure; none of us would want to be in that situation. Am I right or wrong? Every morning, I read my newspaper and look in the obituaries to see who had passed away, this morning there were five people; I pray that they will be in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
Going to a good Christian church is very good; there is nothing wrong with that. While you are attending the church have a good relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and the Power of the Holy Spirit and ask the Holy Spirit to baptize you in spirit. Many times, the warmth of the Holy Spirit may come upon you and the joy of the Lord will be with you. At that time, the Holy Spirit may give you a gift of praying in tongues, once you have received the gift, don’t stop it or deny it. You could control it by praying in a low voice or silently. In other words, it is between you and the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Not with anyone else. Don’t be afraid; let it flow in and out of your heart and mouth.
Okay, let’s get back to money or possessions that you acquire on this planet, sure while we are living here we need money to survive. But we must earn our living in an “Honest way,” not by being crooked or cheating people. When a person cheats or does something unethical that person will know deep down in his or her heart and mind that he or she has done what is not right. Now when God looks into a person’s heart, He can see very clearly and it would be very difficult to hide or to explain it to God. Are you with me so far?
Remember our true God’s temple is within our heart. If that is true, then we must keep our heart clean as much as possible. Don’t you agree with me? Sometimes, I see Christian people who believe in Jesus Christ very much and they attend church every Sunday and yet during the day, they do unethical or dishonest things during the working hours. I pray God will forgive them. To be very frank, I feel very uncomfortable and feel very sorry for that person. Sometimes, this is one of the gifts God has given to me where I can see through the person’s heart. For me, I leave it in the hands of God. Many times, I will not say anything to the person, because I will not judge that person at all, but I will let God judge the person. Why? God is the judge and jury.
We must place God first everyday. For example: a husband should place God first rather than his wife. The wife should place God first rather than her husband. Parents should place God first rather than their children or grandchildren. Children should place God first and honor their parents. In other words, always place God first in your life. Once you do that, then God will bless and protect you everyday. Does it make sense so far? If it does, “Praise the Lord!” Amen!
The moral of this message is always placing God first within your life.
Aloha to all of you!
From Pastor Jimmy Nishimoto and Chris Eliason
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