Seek First....

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" Matthew 6:33
(**This post was actually written yesterday, August 21, 2017. I just didn't get to post it here until now!**)
 
       This morning, I had some alone time with God and I wanted to share with you what I learned. I was reading in Matthew the sermon that Jesus gave on the mount. More specifically, I was reading the part where Jesus is telling the poeple to stop worrying about what they will eat or drink or even wear. I've heard this passage preached and read it in devotionals more times than I can remember and the message is always the same: God doesn't want you to worry, He will take care of it. While I believe that is true, I think there is something missing.
 
       Jesus said, "You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and money" God said in Isaiah that HE is the Lord and He will NOT give His glory to another. God is God. He is the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the Creator of ALL creation, the executor of judgment and the giver of grace. His glory and power and might and wisdom and all that He is is so much so that He doesn't even need meaningless words to describe Him. He tells Moses in Exodus, "Tell them I AM has sent you." He is.
 
       So when we worry and fret about having "enough" (I believe) we are essentially robbing God of the glory and honor and praise that rightly belongs to Him. When we worry or become anxious about something we essentially make that thing our master over God. 2 Peter 2:19 says by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.

(Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about life's surprises that come along once in awhile and knock your feet out from under you and leave you on your knees crying out to Jesus for help. Sometimes we all go through things that divert our attention to the circumstance over the One in control of the circumstance. But I am talking about a life and a heart that is characterized by worry and stress and a constant state of striving.)
 
        When we worry and stress, we are not just robbing ourselves of peace, we are robbing our God of His rightful praise and honor. We are robbing Him of His rightful place in our lives. Hebrews 13:5 says to be content with what we have. Why? Not because God is greedy. Not because He doesn't have enough to give. But it is because Jesus Himself said "I will never leave you or forsake you." Jesus Christ who is God and who is with God said He will NEVER LEAVE US! And He, who is worthy of all praise, who's name is above every single name there is or ever will be, who actually has every right that we think we should have ourselves, has said He will be to us everything we could ever need. When we worry about sufficiency, we not only are saying we don't trust Him to give us what we need but, more importantly, we are denying His ALL-sufficiency for us.
 
        Jesus asked the people, "How many of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" The answer is none. Because worrying accomplishes nothing except taking our focus off Jesus and His sufficiency for us. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. What are you seeking today? I confess that I have been guilty of seeking "enough". Even "more than enough". But Jesus promised if we seek Him first, He will take care of all our needs (Matthew 6:33, Phillipians 4:19). Let's give our glory and honor and praise back to the One it rightfully belongs to and give our allegience back to the rightful master, Jesus Christ our LORD and Savior.

Ask, Seek, and Knock

"Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you" Matthew 7:7

       During my quiet time with God this morning, I got to finish reading the sermon that Jesus gave on the mount. You know it’s amazing how easy it for us to take a piece of scripture out of the bible and make it stand on its own. I can't tell you how many times I've done this. But when we do this, we are not getting the whole story. We do not have all the facts. It is similar to taking a piece out of the puzzle and trying to make it become a picture on its own. 

       I can't tell you how many times I've heard, read, and even sung the verse above. And the message I've always gotten from it was that if I am really persistent in my prayers God will give me whatever I want. This morning I realized the error in my thinking. I don't believe that's what Jesus was saying at all. I believe what He was saying was so much deeper and more beautiful than that!

       A wise person once showed me in other areas of scripture how God will often use progression words to make a point. Psalms 1 is a great example. The psalmist talks first of walking, then standing, then sitting with people who have no interest in Godly things. First you are walking, then you get comfortable so you stop and hang around for a while (standing), then you get really comfortable and take a load off (sitting). Now, you are one of them. The point, I believe, the psalmist was trying to make was that turning your back on God doesn't happen all at once. It's a slow and sneaky process which is why we need to be careful!

        When Jesus said to the people to ask, seek and knock, I believe He was using progression words to make a point. First, you ask Jesus into your heart. Then, you seek His kingdom and His righteousness. Last, you go right up to the door of heaven itself and knock because you know, being an adopted child of God, you belong there!

The most beautiful thing to me is the response of the Son of God to these instructions....
      
       Ask, He said, and it WILL be given you. He's saying, "If you ask Me to come into your heart, I will!" In Revelation He says, "I stand at the door and knock. If anyone lets Me in I will come and make my home in him." And remember, it is impossible for God to lie. So if He says His answer will be yes when you ask Him in, then you can rest assure His answer will be YES!

        Seek, He says, and you will find. He's saying, "If you seek Me with all your heart, you will find Me!" Seeking requires movement, action. When you are hunting, you cannot find game unless you go out and seek it. The deer or rabbit or whatever it is you are hungry for is not going to come right up to you and say "Here I am. Go ahead and shoot!" You must go out and seek it. So it is with the kingdom of heaven. If you stay in the same place spiritually you will never find it. (I am not saying at all here that you must work to obtain your salvation. Salvation cannot be possessed by anything we could ever do or say. That is why, I believe, Jesus says to ask first. You cannot even begin seeking unless you first have the Spirit of God in you to motivate and empower you!)

        Knock, He says, and the door will be opened to you. He's saying "I have adopted you into my family. Come right up to the door and knock because you are welcome here!" I love this because Jesus said in John 10:7 that He, Himself, is the door for the sheep. If we ask Jesus into our hearts, we are essentially inviting the very Doorway to Heaven into our hearts. And He says, "Yes! I will open the door for you!"

        I really wanted to share this with you this morning because for a long time I thought this verse (along with others like it) meant whatever whim or desire I had on earth could be granted if I can just be persistent enough. The problem with this thinking is that it not only lowers Jesus Christ from the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-sufficient God that He is down to more of a genie in a bottle, but when the Lord sees fit to leave your prayers unanswered, what then? There begins to grow a disconnect in your heart and you begin to doubt His love for you.

        No, our God is much more loving and wise and powerful than to just give us everything we want whenever we desire. (Parents, do you give your children everything they want? I certainly hope not!) Jesus is promising something much deeper and more beautiful and eternal here than answers to earthly prayers. Colossians 3:2 tells us to set our minds on heavenly things and not on earthly things. 1 Corinthians 2:9 talks about the wonderful things that nobody has seen or heard that God has prepared for those who love Him.

       Don't get me wrong, our earthly prayers are important and even commanded by the Lord. But I believe when Jesus is saying ask, seek, and knock, He is talking about Himself and the kingdom of heaven. It is not that we should not pray for our own lives and the lives of those around us, but I think the important thing is to have eternity in mind when we are praying.