HIS WILL MINISTRY
PASTORS INSIGHTS: a journal of the pastor's studies
HOW TO LIVE AS A KINGS KID IN THE DEVILS PLAYGROUND
The Holy Bible, King James Version
Ezekiel 3:17-21 (KJV) 17Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 21Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
Ezekiel 3:17-21 (KJV) 17Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 21Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
This is a "BLOG' of the pastor's studies in the WORD OF GOD and what the LORD reveals.
There are many days during my intimate times with the Lord that He will open the scriptures to my heart. Many of these insights are in my journals but never are in the radio programs or sermons. He has lead me to share them here as a permanent record for all that wish to read and gain a deeper understanding into the Word of God.
May the Lord touch you as He has me. Pastor A. J.
May the Lord touch you as He has me. Pastor A. J.
PAST
THOUGHTS
THOUGHTS
PAST
THOUGHTS
THOUGHTS
Basics 101 Part 1
WHAT WE NEED MOST!
PREAMBLE
WHAT WE NEED MOST!
PREAMBLE
For some time I have felt, for lack of a better word, a drifting off center of many of our partners. It seems that with the flowery teachings I hear from many of you, but with the harsh teachings the airwaves grow very silent. To be honest I check all the e-mail addresses on our inner circle of pastors list regularly and they are good but I only hear from a few. You may not realize it but you are each important to myself and this ministry and are all in my daily prayers and thoughts.
I just think it is time for all of us, this includes myself to re-exam our basic beliefs. We are not here to help orphans, we are not here to build churches, we are not here to start Bible schools, we are not here to have pastors conferences, we are not here to continually feed the same church group each Sunday morning. Though each of these has their merits and are good we are here for one thing and one thing only. We are to Mark 16:15-17 (KJV) 15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
So why do I bring this up? A little over a month ago Mary and I were rear ended in our vehicle. I took Mary to the emergency room to have her neck checked out. While there we met a very nice young woman, who was finishing up her Physician Assistant schooling like our daughter and was working in Pinedale on her final rotations. Well because of the common ground both Mary and I struck up a conversation and got to know her as we told her of our daughter's progress. Yet, during that time, whether because of worry for Mary, whether because of being distracted by the events of the day, this old pastor failed to talk to this nice young lady about Jesus. On January 27, she was killed in an avalanche in Jackson Wyoming. You see my friends I may have been the last Christian to have a chance to tell her of Jesus and I failed. Sadly, I know the excuses will be worthless on judgment day, if I missed that last chance to give her Jesus. Why, I did not give her Jesus, I cannot say, But, I only hope and pray it will never happen again.
It seems we are so wrapped up in our little lives, spending so much time on feeding, educating, coddling and working with "Christian's", we forget our call and that with every individual we meet we may be the last witness of Jesus before they are called. I keep the newspaper article of her death in my prayer journal to remind me I may be the last witness.
Psalm 19:7-10 (KJV) The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.I just think it is time for all of us, this includes myself to re-exam our basic beliefs. We are not here to help orphans, we are not here to build churches, we are not here to start Bible schools, we are not here to have pastors conferences, we are not here to continually feed the same church group each Sunday morning. Though each of these has their merits and are good we are here for one thing and one thing only. We are to Mark 16:15-17 (KJV) 15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
So why do I bring this up? A little over a month ago Mary and I were rear ended in our vehicle. I took Mary to the emergency room to have her neck checked out. While there we met a very nice young woman, who was finishing up her Physician Assistant schooling like our daughter and was working in Pinedale on her final rotations. Well because of the common ground both Mary and I struck up a conversation and got to know her as we told her of our daughter's progress. Yet, during that time, whether because of worry for Mary, whether because of being distracted by the events of the day, this old pastor failed to talk to this nice young lady about Jesus. On January 27, she was killed in an avalanche in Jackson Wyoming. You see my friends I may have been the last Christian to have a chance to tell her of Jesus and I failed. Sadly, I know the excuses will be worthless on judgment day, if I missed that last chance to give her Jesus. Why, I did not give her Jesus, I cannot say, But, I only hope and pray it will never happen again.
It seems we are so wrapped up in our little lives, spending so much time on feeding, educating, coddling and working with "Christian's", we forget our call and that with every individual we meet we may be the last witness of Jesus before they are called. I keep the newspaper article of her death in my prayer journal to remind me I may be the last witness.
I am going to do a series of teachings on getting back to the basics. Today's is about whether or not we really can believe God's word. As for me and my household we believe it 100%. If we silly Christians would just absorb God's holy and pure word instead of some "great" man of God's ideas or even worse the worlds ideas of what God is saying we would be so much better off. The first verse of today's teaching speaks of how the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul. The Hebrew word for converting is eL shub shoob. This word means to turn back, or more correctly return to the beginning. So what David is saying is that the purpose of the Law of God is to help us return to the beginning. What beginning? To a time of purity and holiness, to a time of being clean before the Lord. Interesting, God did not institute the Law to make us feel guilty, to burden us with ordinances we could never do, but to show us the error of our ways. You want a great way to witness to a sinner? Just use the 10 commandments. Think about it, it is easy. Let's start on common ground. With the sixth commandment you can ask someone if they have ever killed someone. Of course they will answer NO! but the Bible tells us that if we have ever hated someone in our hearts we have committed murder in our hearts. Bingo! You just showed the sinner in God's eyes he is a murderer. Let's go on, the seventh commandment says you shall not commit adultery. So again you ask the sinner ( especially a man) if he has ever been an adulterer? Again your answer will most likely be a resounding NO! But you gently remind him Jesus said that any man who lusts after a woman in his mind has committed adultery with her. If you're a man witnessing and you are truthful you know that at some point in your life you looked at a woman with more than pure intentions. So, now we have convinced the sinner in God's eyes he is an adulterer. Now we go on to the eighth commandment you shall not steal. Everyone has stolen something. Whether it is an idea, or whether the store gave you a few bits of extra change back and you did not stop them. Whether it was a as a kid on a dare or some friends item you just had to have. No matter how large or small if we are totally honest we all have stolen something. So now God's law has brought this sinner back to the beginning. They now realize that they are lying, thieving, adulterers at heart and have only gone through three commandments. Now they can be brought back to the point that God wants and back to that beginning which is that saving grace of Jesus.
"The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple" The testimony or witness of the Lord will make wise the simple. To put it in the simple Hebrew terms this says that the witness of the Lord is faithful to teach wisdom to the silly or foolish. If we take the Lord at His word and we study the word of God in the Spirit and truth it will give us all the wisdom we will ever need for our lives. The other day I was reading a worldly teaching on investing. The author quoted Solomon and called him the wisest man to ever live. This author used Solomon as an example of how to invest your money. He was not speaking of how to give to God but how a worldly person should save for the future. Interesting Huh? I have been in the ministry for almost 30 years and 99% of the wisdom I have came from the Word of God, the 1% I call me! It did not come from the 22 years of schooling man put me through but the pure and simple word of God.
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart. The Hebrew for statutes means a precept. If you look up precept it is defined as a doctrine that is taught or a rule of personal conduct. So, the doctrine or the life rules we Christians live by bring rejoicing to the heart. But, did you notice the word right? The statutes of the LORD are "right"! This is a very interesting Hebrew word here. At first glance we only get that it means straight. We must remember though that the Hebrew language had many different meanings and variations that are hard to put into one English word. If we look deeper at the root it means to be straight or even and to make prosperous. Do you get it? The doctrines of the Lord make us straight, even and prosperous in the heart. Now, let's look at the Hebrew for rejoicing. It means to make bright or brighten up. So this short verse is telling us that the "Doctrines we believe and live by are going to keep us on the straight and even course and make our heart brighten up and be prosperous." Wow! See what a little study can show you?
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. This again says that the precepts or our beliefs are beloved and clarify. It tells us that they make our eyes luminous. I cannot speak for you, but I honestly cannot count how many times I will be reading the scriptures and I will come across one I have highlighted in the past. However, it will be like I have never seen it before. My eyes will be luminous toward that scripture and its meaning will become clear as the noon day sun on a clear summer day. That scripture will go straight to my heart and many times will provide insight and comfort for a certain situation I am going through. It is as if God has reached out and said to me personally here is what you need to know.
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever. I love this, it is so true. The fear or reverence of the Lord is clean. The Hebrew here for clean is pure in the moral sense or if we go to the root is uncontaminated. Do you get the idea in the first part of the verse? You cannot revere the Lord from a contaminated or evil point of view. When you truly fear or revere the Lord it is from a real uncontaminated realization of who God is in the grand scheme of things. You cannot truly revere or fear the Lord for selfish reasons. You can only truly revere the Lord when you come to the pure, uncontaminated realization of who God is and what you are! The great thing is that it says "enduring for ever". Think about it, if you do not endure for ever how will your reverence of the Lord? Again a promise. If we fear and revere the Lord as we should, it and we will endure for ever. This is a very important point. So let's look at a few other scriptures. Proverbs 14:27 (NLT) 27Fear of the LORD is a life-giving fountain; it offers escape from the snares of death. So here the wisest man to ever lives tells us that the fear of the Lord provides two more benefits. First it is a "life-giving" fountain. The Hebrew here means just that! If you Fear the Lord first and foremost you will have a strong healthy life. But the second is even more important. When you look to the Hebrew root for the authors meaning Solomon is telling his reader that the fear of the Lord will keep you out of Hell! Yep! That is what it says! Let's go on Proverbs 19:23 (NLT) 23Fear of the LORD gives life, security, and protection from harm. Ok, We have already got the life part. So look at this one SECURITY! The Hebrew here is telling us we will be set, placed, permanently satisfied or full. Secondly it tells us we will not see or be visited by evil or bad both physically and Spiritually. WOW! What a promise in one little verse! Can you truly realize what the whole Word of God contains? What's next? You ask. Let's see Proverbs 22:4 (NLT) 4True humility and fear of the LORD lead to riches, honor, and long life. We have covered life so lets look at the next. "Lead to Riches" The Hebrew here can be interpreted to mean nothing but wealth or to become rich. Now God's idea of rich and ours is mostly likely different. But, I will tell you the truth, Mary and I have had our financial ups and downs. Yet, we have never gone without. Yes, I mean without anything. We are rich my many standards around the world. We are not rich by the standards of America. But, in our years working for the Lord and fearing only Him we have never gone without a roof over our heads, a vehicle to drive, food in our bellies, clothes on our backs or work to do for the Lord. The final thing in this promise is honor. This means honor from both man and God. One man who used to serve on the Board of His Will Ministry once got mad at me for "sowing descent in the church!" We were talking on how we need to be followers of Jesus first and not followers of religions. He was a member of a local church and followed every word of doctrine they preached. I think he would have jumped off a cliff if they told him to. To my point, two days after resigning from the board because I was a sower of descent in the body of Christ he sent Mary and I a card saying what great people of God we were and how we loved the Lord and only wanted to serve Jesus. You see, if you fear the Lord God almighty first and foremost man will honor you whether or not they want to.
The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. This one is simple and you can either accept it or not. David is telling us that all the judgments, verdicts, sentences, justice, and punishments of the Lord are true, or trustworthy and righteous or right and fair, altogether or totally. David is saying whether we like it or not all the judgments of God are totally deserved and just. As a Christian you either believe this or not. It really does not matter if you understand WHY? God does not have to explain Himself to you or I. Our Lord is the creator of the Universe and whether I understand all He does is not important. What is important is that I follow His word to the death. Are you willing to believe and follow the Word of God until you breathe your last breath? The tide of evil is covering this world more and more and there is only one thing we can be sure of and trust. That is our Lord and Savior and His Father in heaven. Proverbs 30:5-6 (NLT) 5Every word of God proves true. He defends all who come to him for protection. 6Do not add to his words, or he may rebuke you, and you will be found a liar. Do you get it every, every, every word! Hebrews 4:12 (NASB) 12For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Don't play the word game and only believe part of God's word for you will find yourself on the loosing side.
"The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple" The testimony or witness of the Lord will make wise the simple. To put it in the simple Hebrew terms this says that the witness of the Lord is faithful to teach wisdom to the silly or foolish. If we take the Lord at His word and we study the word of God in the Spirit and truth it will give us all the wisdom we will ever need for our lives. The other day I was reading a worldly teaching on investing. The author quoted Solomon and called him the wisest man to ever live. This author used Solomon as an example of how to invest your money. He was not speaking of how to give to God but how a worldly person should save for the future. Interesting Huh? I have been in the ministry for almost 30 years and 99% of the wisdom I have came from the Word of God, the 1% I call me! It did not come from the 22 years of schooling man put me through but the pure and simple word of God.
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart. The Hebrew for statutes means a precept. If you look up precept it is defined as a doctrine that is taught or a rule of personal conduct. So, the doctrine or the life rules we Christians live by bring rejoicing to the heart. But, did you notice the word right? The statutes of the LORD are "right"! This is a very interesting Hebrew word here. At first glance we only get that it means straight. We must remember though that the Hebrew language had many different meanings and variations that are hard to put into one English word. If we look deeper at the root it means to be straight or even and to make prosperous. Do you get it? The doctrines of the Lord make us straight, even and prosperous in the heart. Now, let's look at the Hebrew for rejoicing. It means to make bright or brighten up. So this short verse is telling us that the "Doctrines we believe and live by are going to keep us on the straight and even course and make our heart brighten up and be prosperous." Wow! See what a little study can show you?
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. This again says that the precepts or our beliefs are beloved and clarify. It tells us that they make our eyes luminous. I cannot speak for you, but I honestly cannot count how many times I will be reading the scriptures and I will come across one I have highlighted in the past. However, it will be like I have never seen it before. My eyes will be luminous toward that scripture and its meaning will become clear as the noon day sun on a clear summer day. That scripture will go straight to my heart and many times will provide insight and comfort for a certain situation I am going through. It is as if God has reached out and said to me personally here is what you need to know.
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever. I love this, it is so true. The fear or reverence of the Lord is clean. The Hebrew here for clean is pure in the moral sense or if we go to the root is uncontaminated. Do you get the idea in the first part of the verse? You cannot revere the Lord from a contaminated or evil point of view. When you truly fear or revere the Lord it is from a real uncontaminated realization of who God is in the grand scheme of things. You cannot truly revere or fear the Lord for selfish reasons. You can only truly revere the Lord when you come to the pure, uncontaminated realization of who God is and what you are! The great thing is that it says "enduring for ever". Think about it, if you do not endure for ever how will your reverence of the Lord? Again a promise. If we fear and revere the Lord as we should, it and we will endure for ever. This is a very important point. So let's look at a few other scriptures. Proverbs 14:27 (NLT) 27Fear of the LORD is a life-giving fountain; it offers escape from the snares of death. So here the wisest man to ever lives tells us that the fear of the Lord provides two more benefits. First it is a "life-giving" fountain. The Hebrew here means just that! If you Fear the Lord first and foremost you will have a strong healthy life. But the second is even more important. When you look to the Hebrew root for the authors meaning Solomon is telling his reader that the fear of the Lord will keep you out of Hell! Yep! That is what it says! Let's go on Proverbs 19:23 (NLT) 23Fear of the LORD gives life, security, and protection from harm. Ok, We have already got the life part. So look at this one SECURITY! The Hebrew here is telling us we will be set, placed, permanently satisfied or full. Secondly it tells us we will not see or be visited by evil or bad both physically and Spiritually. WOW! What a promise in one little verse! Can you truly realize what the whole Word of God contains? What's next? You ask. Let's see Proverbs 22:4 (NLT) 4True humility and fear of the LORD lead to riches, honor, and long life. We have covered life so lets look at the next. "Lead to Riches" The Hebrew here can be interpreted to mean nothing but wealth or to become rich. Now God's idea of rich and ours is mostly likely different. But, I will tell you the truth, Mary and I have had our financial ups and downs. Yet, we have never gone without. Yes, I mean without anything. We are rich my many standards around the world. We are not rich by the standards of America. But, in our years working for the Lord and fearing only Him we have never gone without a roof over our heads, a vehicle to drive, food in our bellies, clothes on our backs or work to do for the Lord. The final thing in this promise is honor. This means honor from both man and God. One man who used to serve on the Board of His Will Ministry once got mad at me for "sowing descent in the church!" We were talking on how we need to be followers of Jesus first and not followers of religions. He was a member of a local church and followed every word of doctrine they preached. I think he would have jumped off a cliff if they told him to. To my point, two days after resigning from the board because I was a sower of descent in the body of Christ he sent Mary and I a card saying what great people of God we were and how we loved the Lord and only wanted to serve Jesus. You see, if you fear the Lord God almighty first and foremost man will honor you whether or not they want to.
The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. This one is simple and you can either accept it or not. David is telling us that all the judgments, verdicts, sentences, justice, and punishments of the Lord are true, or trustworthy and righteous or right and fair, altogether or totally. David is saying whether we like it or not all the judgments of God are totally deserved and just. As a Christian you either believe this or not. It really does not matter if you understand WHY? God does not have to explain Himself to you or I. Our Lord is the creator of the Universe and whether I understand all He does is not important. What is important is that I follow His word to the death. Are you willing to believe and follow the Word of God until you breathe your last breath? The tide of evil is covering this world more and more and there is only one thing we can be sure of and trust. That is our Lord and Savior and His Father in heaven. Proverbs 30:5-6 (NLT) 5Every word of God proves true. He defends all who come to him for protection. 6Do not add to his words, or he may rebuke you, and you will be found a liar. Do you get it every, every, every word! Hebrews 4:12 (NASB) 12For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Don't play the word game and only believe part of God's word for you will find yourself on the loosing side.
Finally I will leave you with these words of God! The finally part of today's verse. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. All of man's greatest wants and desires, riches (gold) and sweets (honey) and they are not to be desired over the pure and holy word of God. Spend sometime there this week and I am sure you will be blessed more than any riches or filling of your stomach.
God Bless and have a great week.
God Bless and have a great week.
KINGDOM KEYS:
What are your Priorities for God!
Matthew 6:33 (NASB) 33"But seek first His kingdom and His
righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
What are your Priorities for God!
Matthew 6:33 (NASB) 33"But seek first His kingdom and His
righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
The end days are here, how long is left for the world only our Father in heaven knows that answer. I see it getting darker and darker and this darkness affecting our team of workers. So, I want to start a new series of teachings called kingdom keys. As a worker for Christ I have been studying the Word of God for longer than I can remember. Years ago the Lord led me to start keeping my pastors journals. During that time He has revealed many of what I call "Kingdom Keys" and I of course have recorded them in my journals. I believe as a Shepherd it is time to start sharing these simple but deep teachings the Lord has shared with me. Now the key so to speak to Kingdom Keys is that ability to have 100% faith in the word of God. For these to have meaning in your life you must trust in the Lord! Period! Psalm 56:11 (NLT) 11I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?
Some are very simple keys to our lives in Christ. Others are very deep and must be studied to fully understand what great truths they hold. Either way all kingdom keys are important and part of our walk, joy, success and progress with the Lord. I am not a mind reader, so I can only seek answers in prayer and fasting of the Lord. But, I see many of our group having problems, whether health, money, ministry, family there seems to be an underlying current of worries and strife building. Matthew 6:25 (KJV) 25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought ( Greek root for thought is "distracted") for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? So we can re-write this to be Therefore I say unto you, Do not be distracted by the worries of life, food, drink, your health, your clothes! Is not life more than meat and clothes? Do we get what Jesus is saying here. Back to our verse Matthew 6:33 (NASB) 33"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Now, take time and digest all of Matthew chapter 6 verses 25 to 34. Twice verses 25 and 34 Jesus tells us not to be distracted by our needs or what tomorrow holds. Matthew 6:34 (KJV) 34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. It is very interesting, how here the Greek for thought is a different word. Here the word to means to be anxious about but again the root is to be distracted by. So in verse 25 Jesus says do not worry or be distracted about, and then in verse 34 finalizes by again saying do not be anxious or distracted by. Can we get the point?
But, that is not the life we are to live. We worry, plead, beg for what we need from the Lord! We worry and are distracted by life instead of simply listening to the words of Jesus and letting Him provide. Jesus said it best! John 10:10-11 (KJV) 10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 11I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Do we take the Lord at His word or do we let life take us from His Word? David was a "man after God's own heart, what did he say? Psalm 23:4 (KJV) 4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
I leave you with Jesus' words Matthew 5:6 (KJV) 6Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. In the Greek the word "filled" means to gorge, to supply in abundance. Ask yourself, "is my life abundantly filled?" If not then ask yourself "WHY?" Could it be you are not seeking the kingdom of God first, but seeking your needs first? My friends the time has come for us to believe the Word of God 100%, no doubt, no failure, no going back, but forward each day with the same faith Enoch had when he walked with God and was no more! My friends "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness" and let Jesus handle the rest as he promised.
BELOW IS FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS: Some are very simple keys to our lives in Christ. Others are very deep and must be studied to fully understand what great truths they hold. Either way all kingdom keys are important and part of our walk, joy, success and progress with the Lord. I am not a mind reader, so I can only seek answers in prayer and fasting of the Lord. But, I see many of our group having problems, whether health, money, ministry, family there seems to be an underlying current of worries and strife building. Matthew 6:25 (KJV) 25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought ( Greek root for thought is "distracted") for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? So we can re-write this to be Therefore I say unto you, Do not be distracted by the worries of life, food, drink, your health, your clothes! Is not life more than meat and clothes? Do we get what Jesus is saying here. Back to our verse Matthew 6:33 (NASB) 33"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Now, take time and digest all of Matthew chapter 6 verses 25 to 34. Twice verses 25 and 34 Jesus tells us not to be distracted by our needs or what tomorrow holds. Matthew 6:34 (KJV) 34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. It is very interesting, how here the Greek for thought is a different word. Here the word to means to be anxious about but again the root is to be distracted by. So in verse 25 Jesus says do not worry or be distracted about, and then in verse 34 finalizes by again saying do not be anxious or distracted by. Can we get the point?
But, that is not the life we are to live. We worry, plead, beg for what we need from the Lord! We worry and are distracted by life instead of simply listening to the words of Jesus and letting Him provide. Jesus said it best! John 10:10-11 (KJV) 10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 11I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Do we take the Lord at His word or do we let life take us from His Word? David was a "man after God's own heart, what did he say? Psalm 23:4 (KJV) 4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
I leave you with Jesus' words Matthew 5:6 (KJV) 6Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. In the Greek the word "filled" means to gorge, to supply in abundance. Ask yourself, "is my life abundantly filled?" If not then ask yourself "WHY?" Could it be you are not seeking the kingdom of God first, but seeking your needs first? My friends the time has come for us to believe the Word of God 100%, no doubt, no failure, no going back, but forward each day with the same faith Enoch had when he walked with God and was no more! My friends "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness" and let Jesus handle the rest as he promised.
Put God First
"Jesus did not commit Himself to them … for He knew what was in man" (John 2:2425).
Put Trust in God First. Our Lord never put His trust in any person. Yet He was never suspicious, never bitter, and never lost hope for anyone, because He put His trust in God first. He trusted absolutely in what God's grace could do for others. If I put my trust in human beings first, the end result will be my despair and hopelessness toward everyone. I will become bitter because I have insisted that people be what no person can ever be—absolutely perfect and right. Never trust anything in yourself or in anyone else, except the grace of God.
Put God's Will First. "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God" (Hebrews 10:9).
A person's obedience is to what he sees to be a need—our Lord's obedience was to the will of His Father. The rallying cry today is, "We must get to work! The heathen are dying without God. We must go and tell them about Him." But we must first make sure that God's "needs" and His will in us personally are being met. Jesus said, "… tarry … until you are endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). The purpose of our Christian training is to get us into the right relationship to the "needs" of God and His will. Once God's "needs" in us have been met, He will open the way for us to accomplish His will, meeting His "needs" elsewhere.
Put God's Son First. "Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me" (Matthew 18:5).
God came as a baby, giving and entrusting Himself to me. He expects my personal life to be a "Bethlehem." Am I allowing my natural life to be slowly transformed by the indwelling life of the Son of God? God's ultimate purpose is that His Son might be exhibited in me.
