Two most important life issues

According to the Bible there are two issues that are the most important things in all of life.
One is the salvation of the human soul and the other is the glory of the name of God.

So, how do you save the soul so that it is not destroyed and how to you glorify the name of God so that He is not belittled?  I love John Piper from Desiring God ministries.  He has a powerful message on this topic and much of what I have learned comes from his messages.

1 Peter 2; 11-12  Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.  Keep your behavior excellent amongst the gentiles so that in the thing in which they slander you as evil doers they may on account of your good deeds- as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Those two verses are powerful- abstain from fleshly lusts- the lusts are waging war against your soul.  If you have ever tried to break a sinful habit or addiction you would know that it was like a war!  There are anti-soul forces at work here!  But the passage goes on to say that our victory- our excellent behavior brings God glory.

Jesus said - what would it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?  Yet. in our current culture these issues are seldom spoken about in any form.  The world teaches us how to battle wrinkles in our skin and stains in our clothing,  We know how to fight cholesterol and weeds, ants and roaches, dandelions and all sorts of health issues but to the world -our souls are non-issues.
We are passionately committed to the inconsequential.

Consider God

As I reflect on the chaos of people's lives one thought repeats itself in my mind.  People are not intentionally mindful of God.  They may say that they believe that He exists but they don't consider Him in their daily walk.  Even many active, church going Christians do not take God into account when planning significant life events.
In Matthew chapter 22 in the Bible it says we are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength.  That's the first and the greatest command that God has given to us.  If we are to honor that instruction we should be mindful of His presence every day of our lives, not just for an hour or two on Sunday.

Hebrews 4:13 says..."all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account".
I really do think we will all stand naked and empty handed before the throne of God and give an account for our lives.  In Matt 7:21-23 Jesus says that not everyone who calls Him Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. Some will say "we served in the church! we did this and that!" but He will say "I never knew you".  Those will be terrifying words.  To avoid them we must intentionally consider God and talk to Him regularly.

God can read our minds- every thought but we honor Him when we intentionally pray directly to Him.  Also, I think a good practice for any believer would be regular self-examination.  If we were working in Ebola infested areas we would regularly check for symptoms.  The same is true for sin- it is deadly and toxic to the soul, we should examine ourselves and confess any known sin to God.  It gives us a clean conscience which leads to peace of mind.  I know many believers who brush off that thought.  "Oh, all is forgiven!" they say somewhat flippantly.  I think regular self-examination and humble confession reminds us of our weaknesses and the need for God to strengthen us.

Many years ago I started praying in a pattern.  I created an acronym C-L-A-P.
Confess- I start out my time by coming clean- admitting known wrong and asking for forgiveness.
Listen- I quiet my mouth and allow God to speak- or to bring thoughts to my mind.
Ask- I pray for unsaved loved ones, friends with health issues.  I ask for the things I desire.
Praise- I end my prayer time with grateful praise and thanks.

My prayer is that you will consider God.

You don't have because you don't ask God

There's so much trouble and pain in the world.  So much chaos, disease, wars, suffering, drought, wildfires, volcanoes, floods and on and on.  The news is sobering and I am sure it causes anxiety in some people. Still, amidst all of the horrors that surround us I wonder how many people lift their faces to God above and ask Him to intervene?  My guess is that few people do.  Many people look to government to fix their problems.
If you think about drought for example, government can truly do little to relieve the problem.  Man can figure out ways to move water from one location to another but they cannot create more water.  Yet God is there- looking down- in hope that the drought would cause us to turn our faces to the ONLY true source and humbly ask Him to provide...but we stubbornly refuse.

Do we honestly think that WE are in control of life?  We can't even make our own hearts beat.  We are utterly dependent on the Creator and Sustainer of our existence and our lives could be so much more secure if we would only ask Him to help us.  He would not withhold good.

There is immense peace from knowing confidently that even though the storm rages all around us, our feet are firmly planted on a large, solid Rock.  Let the storm rage...my God is Sovereign over all.