After many songs were sung and remarks made at Whitney Houston’s Home-going Service, Pastor Marvin Winans took his text from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:25: “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on.  Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?”

Using the b portion of that scripture, Pastor Winans used as a subject: “Prioritize”. Pastor Winans began by saying, “Somebody lied on Jesus, but I want to set the record straight. That somehow living for the Lord is boring, unproductive,unfruitful, etc. Nothing could be further from the truth.  According to John 10:10, Jesus said, ‘I am come that they might have life and have it abundantly.'”

To prioritize simply means to arrange in order of importance. It means setting up your life on things that really matter.

Pastor Winans continues by saying, “It amazes me how the believer is ambiguous about God. The only way to know God is to have him included not excluded in your life.”

“Take no thought” – Don’t get nervous about life because the life, the breath is more important than what you eat; it is more important than what you put on; it cannot equate to life itself. Jesus is not saying let life happen; He is saying the opposite. Our salvation was not given to Christ. He had to buy it.

Salvation is free; but it is not cheap. We should have expectations. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. If you find someone without expectations then you  are not going any place.

The devil wants to use your circumstances against you when you don’t get things on your own timetable. Jesus is saying I don’t want you to be anxious about life. According to Ephesians 1, God works all things after the counsel of His will. Your existence on earth is significant. You are not a mistake. You are not a mishap. He created you with a purpose before He created you as a person.

When you buy a car, you are given an owner’s manual. We don’t go through the owner’s manual because we figure we know how to operate the car. The owner’s manual tells us how to get the best performance; however it doesn’t tell you where to drive the car or who you can put in your car.  What God has put in the Bible, His owner’s manual, is for you to get the best performance out of your life.

Prioritize! God doesn’t want anyone to be broke. Understand that the Bible gives us testimonies of how to live. To believe that God wants us to be broke says that God is not sufficient enough to supply our needs. What God desires for everyone is that everyone be healthy and prosperous. We don’t have to worry about it because God says, “I got ya.” If I am not going to worry about what’s going to become of me, then I have to rely on God’s “I got ya.”

Jesus said I am going to give you the order of how it should go. Seek ye first the kingdom. The first thing that comes to our mind should be consistent with kingdom living. Don’t put the cart before the horse. We want to seek things before we seek the kingdom. With everything I do I want to remain in right standing with God. I want my life to please Him. The gifts we have, God gave them to us. The life we live is our gift to God. Seek first the kingdom of God then.all these things shall be added unto you.

I want us to recognize that our faith in God must not be something we attach to the end of our lives but something we must prioritize. Walk according to what you believe; that you can never put God first and God forget and leave you.

Pastor Winans prayed for us to prioritize and put God first. Then he said:
“Let us be impacted by Whitney’s life. Let us make God first.”
He ended the service by leading the church in singing, “Let the church say ‘Amen.'”

Culled from TheExaminer.com

Watch a clip of the eulogy here: