Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him [Jesus] into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word (Luke 10:38,39).

When Jesus stopped by Mary and Martha’s house, Martha was overly concerned with cooking and making the house just right for Him. Mary was more interested in what Jesus had to say. She longed to be close to Him and feel His Spirit, His power and His presence. She was so taken up with Him that she forgot about helping Martha; so Martha complained to Jesus saying, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful (Luke 10:40-42). And that one thing brings about all the other things you need.

Jesus wants to be first in your life, but is He? You may think you are putting Him first many times when really you are not. You do things you want to do and then convince yourself that in some indirect way they are for the Lord when that is not the case. You get so carried away with the daily cares of life that you forget to make Jesus a part of your everyday life.

Jesus said, Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33). You can’t be so concerned about the things of this life that you put God aside. You can’t seek the material things of this life and expect spiritual things to be added.

Never Neglect the Lord

Martha intended to take time with Jesus after she had finished the things she thought she had to do first, and many people are just like her. But when they finish one job, there is another and another. Soon, the day is over, and God has been left out.

I’m sure Martha loved Jesus, but she didn’t love Him enough to leave her chores and spend time with Him. You have to spend a lot of time with the Lord if you really want to know Him and live in His presence, and there are times when you may have to leave a lot of other things undone. If you don’t get the floor swept or the dishes cleaned, those things will still be there when you get back to them; so don’t worry about them.

Sometimes, you just have to drop everything you’re doing and take time to pray. You can’t wait until every bed is made and all the floors are swept and cleaned to spend time with the Lord. When the Lord is drawing you, that is the time to get away with Him.

Martha had probably worked poor Mary to death before Jesus had arrived; but when Mary saw Jesus, she stopped whatever she was doing to talk to Him. She was anxious to hear about all He had been doing.

What do you do when the Lord comes to your house? If you’re a child of God, you may say, “He stays at my house all the time.” That’s true, but are you conscious of Him being there all the time? There are times when the Lord makes His presence more known to His children than He does at other times, and those are the times when you must shut down everything to be with Him. If you don’t do that, you will miss many blessings and things He wants you to know.

Put Everything on the Altar

You have to let God get the best out of your life, and you will have to be willing to forsake many things to be used by the Lord. The Early Church disciples left so much behind to follow Jesus, including their families and dear loved ones. They put everything and everyone on the altar. Jesus said, He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me (Matthew 10:37,38).

You can put some people on the altar of God, and it doesn’t seem to do them any good; but if you will just leave them there in the hands of God, they at least won’t be able to hinder you. You unload them and then reach out for God’s best.

Jesus said, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life (Mark 10:29,30). Don’t let anyone or anything hinder you. Put it all on the altar for Jesus and spend time with Him.

Don’t Seek Material Wealth

If you want God to bless you physically and financially, you will have to put Him first spiritually; but so many Christians today reverse that and still expect God to move for them. They seek the material things of this life first, and that is dangerous because when they come to the end of life’s journey, they will not reap the benefits of Heaven. Jesus said, For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul (Mark 8:36,37)?

Jesus told of a certain rich man who was running out of room to store all of his goods. Then the man decided, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry (Luke 12:18,19).

Jesus said to the man, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God (Luke 12:20,21). Is any person or thing worth your soul? The answer is no. Only when you put God first will you receive His best for your life. And you can’t put Him first for just a few weeks or a few months. You must do it year after year.

Only God can make a life worthwhile, and only He knows what it will take for you to live your life for Him. All people have different personalities, and what makes one person happy will not make another happy. Only God knows the things you really need and what path to lead you on that will make you the happiest. He is your heavenly Father, and all you have to do is serve Him in spirit and in truth.

Follow Jesus

Jesus said to the disciples, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him (Mark 1:17,18). The disciples had to lose sight of everything in order to follow Jesus. When they did, they saw many wonderful miracles and wonders; yet many would not even bother to go and see Jesus let alone follow Him.

Do you believe anybody lost out by taking time to go see Jesus perform those wonderful miracles? No. The only losers were those who put themselves first. Whenever you take time for God, you will always be a winner. You have to die to yourself and to your ambitions in life and say, “Lord, make me what you want me to be, and lead me on the path you want me to walk.”

Before I was saved, I had all of my paths planned and not one of them led to preaching. But when I gave my heart to Jesus, I gave it all. I became a new person. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (II Corinthians 5:17). I thought differently, acted differently and talked differently. I sat at the feet of Jesus every time I had the chance just like Mary did. I wanted to know everything about Jesus I possibly could. As I read my Bible, I found it was a deep, deep well filled with refreshing water.

God Will Supply

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). You have to put Jesus first to be able to look unto Him like that. Then you reach out for Him and all His benefits, and Jesus brought so many of them for us. There is no need for anyone to go lacking in physical or spiritual blessings.

So many preachers have wrongly taught that the poorer you are the more humble you are, but that isn’t what the Bible teaches. God said, I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing (Genesis 12:2). The Bible also says, But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). But you have to reach out to the Lord and put Him first in your life to be able to claim those promises.

When God made man and placed him on Earth, He didn’t give him a great financial burden; so why do you think you have to carry a huge, financial burden today? When God placed man in the Garden of Eden, He gave him everything he needed spiritually, physically and financially. If it was going to take a great financial load to keep man humble, God would have given him one in the Garden of Eden; but He didn’t do that.

God gave Adam and Eve everything they needed, and He will do the same for you when you trust Him; but so many people will not do that. They depend only on themselves and are always wanting to show others what they have acquired and what they have done. But who made them in the first place, and who gave them the strength to work for those things? Who gives them air to breathe every day? God does. The closer you get to Him, the more you will begin to realize that in a greater and greater way.

Healing Is God’s Will

Salvation brings a spirit of humility from the Lord; and if you use it, you’ll be fine. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time (I Peter 5:6). If you don’t use that humility, then the Lord will allow the devil to bring something across your path that will help humble you.

Some people believe that sickness makes you humble, but being sick can actually make you grouchy. When you’re in pain, things get on your nerves that normally wouldn’t bother you; and sometimes, the pain is so awful that it’s hard to face life. Then the devil comes to tell you that if God really loved you, you wouldn’t be afflicted.

If God had intended for sickness to bring humility to mankind, Adam and Eve would have been sick in the Garden of Eden; but that was not God’s plan. He intended for men and women to be happy and healthy; so if you want the Lord to give you a healthy body, you first have to decide what you want it for. If you are going to use your good health to work for the Lord and put Him first, then God will certainly make you whole.

It is God’s will for His children to be strong and healthy. God said, I am the Lord that healeth thee (Exodus 15:26). The Bible also says, Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth (III John 1:2).

When Jesus was on Earth, He was always healing someone or on His way to heal someone. His ministry was a healing ministry. Jesus said, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). You can’t have that abundant life unless you are pleasing God and putting Him first, and you can’t do either of those things until you have Jesus in your heart.

Repent of all sin and wrongdoing and begin a new life in the Lord today. Say the sinner’s prayer found on page 6 of this magazine. Then go on to receive prayer for your healing and be made whole. God bless you today. He loves you, and you are special to Him. The God of miracles lives.