Seek First The Kingdom of God

^{In the Bible in Matthew 6 vs 34 Jesus enjoins us not to worry about what we shall eat, drink or wear because only those who do not know God do that.}

^{Matt 6:31–33} “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (NKJV)

^{God First}

^{What I find fascinating is that this concept is applied in so many areas of our lives and in the Word of God. When more than anything else you put the work of God first – then all else follows naturally.}

^{The Ten Commandments}

^{Regarding the Ten Commandments – all the commandments pivot on one main thing. LOVE! This however is not the be all and end all of being righteous.  We are not righteous because we keep the law – we are made righteous by what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.}

^{Rom 13:8-10 “}Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,”“You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely,“You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilment of the law. (NKJV)

^{As the Bible says in Romans 8:10-13 – that all commandments are summed up in one single command – to LOVE your neighbour as you love yourself. You see, when you uphold this one command, the rest are taken care of because no one who loves others would commit murder and adultery, steal or have evil desires.}

^{Growing Spiritually}

^{This concept also goes for making a conscious decision to grow spiritually. When you do this and take the first step towards this, e.g. spending time praying and reading the Word of God – watch all else fall into place. Consciously and unconsciously.}

^{Here’s a thought. When you decide to begin to look after yourself physically – a lot of good habits which are in line with the Word of God will follow like magnets to steel. Let’s say at the beginning of the year – as you do – you have a list of things that you want to rid your life of and those that you want to do more of. Things like to lose weight, keep fit, eat healthily, pray more, read the Bible more, spend quality time with your family, start that hobby, less waste of time etc.}

^{In this case we will start with a jog or a brisk walk in the morning – say 30 minutes. (Yes you can make the time, say, wake up 45 minutes earlier.) Besides it doesn’t have to be in the morning but morning is best. During this walk you could use this time to pray as well as listen to the Word on-the-go on your walkman, iPod or CD player.}

^{A few things are covered already – you’re already getting into the habit of losing weight, keeping fit, praying and hearing/reading the Word. You will find that your choices of the food that you eat changes and you’re drinking a lot more water too – good news for your body. No one wants to lose weight on one hand and take it away with the other hand by eating unhealthily.}

^{Because of the jog in the morning – you’re more energetic, you get more done during the day. You’re spending fewer hours in front of the TV watching stuff that you could do without. Basically – your mindset changes.}

^{Romans 12:2”}And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”.

^{Now you’re reading and hearing the Word of God more, you’re praying more – you’re getting to have a great relationship with God – you’re maturing as a Christian, getting off baby milk – the list of possibilities is endless. Take care of the pennies and the pounds take care of themselves – the same concept applies.}

^Habits

^{Do an activity over a long period of time and it soon becomes so much a part of you that you come to a point where you don’t even have to think about it. Only that you want to do it and it’s just a part of your life. Just like you take a bath before you go out daily, like you brush your teeth, like you have your breakfast, like to switch off he lights when you’re ready for bed.}

^{Like-for-like activities follow each other. When you pick up a good habit you are then motivated to do others that will be good. Like magic some may say – not magic – it is a spiritual law just like gravity is a law of physics.}

^{The Will}

^{When you know the will of God for your life – the Word of God – you know that which belongs to you and how to get hold of it. The Word becomes flesh to you when you give and apply yourself to the Word of God.}

^{Romans 12vs 1 “}I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (NKJV)

^{Present your bodies as a living sacrifice. This is taking you to a place of death to self. It’s sad that a lot of us go through life not knowing not only what belongs to us but what we are capable of as sons and daughters of God.}

^{Healing belongs to me according to Isaiah 53:5 “… He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our inequities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed.”}

^{Salvation belongs to me according to Romans 10:9 – 10 “}That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.^“

^{This is spiritual legal tender – a spiritually legal document. Use it to its fullness.}

^{Get me right – this is not about losing weight or about getting rid of some habits; it’s about taking care of that part of your life which is important – that is seeking God and His kingdom – and the rest will be taken care of.}

^{Matthew 6:33“}But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.^{” (NKJV)}

faithinpractice

by faith morsi