“Seek First the Kingdom of God”

33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.  — Matt. 6:33 NLT

Matt. 6:25 -33 NLT
God gave us time in 24 hour blocks so that our finite minds could comprehend it. He isn’t bound by those restraints. It is always the PRESENT (NOW) to Him. He sees time as an eternity having no beginning and no end. He has forgotten all about your PAST sins (they are cast as far away as the East is from the West) and only He knows whether we have an earthly tomorrow (FUTURE) or not. God comes to us right where we are right now. So, wherever you are and whatever situation you have found yourself in, just look up and you will see the hand of Jesus reaching down to pull you up out of the pit and set your feet on the Solid Rock. Trust Jesus to be your Savior, your Provider, and your Fortress.  God is our Jehovah-Jireh, our Provider. He is absolutely all we need.

19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. — Phil. 4:19 NLT

Post 05-15-2019

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Give Generously and Joyfully

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10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.  — 2 Cor. 9:1​0, 11 N​IV
 
When it comes to giving and receiving, God turns our worldly mathematics upside down. Worldly increase comes when we add or multiply. But God gives us increase when we subtract by giving and by dividing when we share with others. He is our source and our supplier.  We need to empty out our storehouses so He can refill them with fresh seed and food. As Jesus told the rich young ruler when the young man asked Jesus; “what do I still lack?”
 

20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. — Matt. 19:20-22 NIV ​ 

God’s supply never runs out. He allows us to be stewards over a portion of His riches fully expecting us to use those for His glory. As we learn to be good stewards over a little, He will give us increase so that our generosity will result in others giving thanks to God.

 

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 06-18-2018

We Get to Give

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19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

— Philippians 4:19 NLT
 
 

This  is one of those verses that just about everyone knows even if they have very limited familiarity with the Bible.  We need to ask ourselves if we truly believe this verse. How many of us have ever really experienced an unfulfilled need in our lives?  If we don’t count the days that we fast or the times we missed a meal because we chose to, have we ever had a day when we didn’t have three meals or at least have the opportunity to have three meals?  Most of us could probably go ten days or more without wearing any of our clothes twice.  If we are honest, the large majority of those reading this have never experienced a true “need” in our lives.  The truth is that we in the United States could probably clothe most  of the needy in our land by giving away the clothes we don’t need or wear.  We could feed families on the food we throw away.  When we pray that God will feed the hungry and clothe the needy, do we ever consider that He might be saying to us, “I have but you haven’t passed it on to them yet”?  Maybe God has chosen not to give us any more until we use what we have got for His honor and glory by helping others.

Post 08-08-2016

 

Blessing and Being Blessed

even-smaller-bug-light110 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generouson every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.  — 2 Cor. 9:10-13 NIV

Starting today, we need to prove to God that we are truly thankful for all the blessings He pours into our lives.​  We can do that by sharing those blessings, whether they be talent or time, words or worth, things or thoughts.

Someone you see today and every day needs a kind word,  Take a second to smile and greet them. Someone you see today and every day needs someone to just listen to their story.  Stop and listen, really listen. Someone you see today will be hungry and/or homeless. Feed them, naturally and spiritually. Someone you see today is feeling worthless and unloved, take the time to assure them of their worth and value in God’s scheme of things. If we make it a habit to do these kinds of things daily, we will not only be proving to God that we are truly thankful, but the world will know that we have been with Jesus.  When we share our blessings, at the end of the day, each of us will find that we are the one who was truly blessed and received the greatest blessing.
 

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ — Matt. 25:40 NIV

Post 11-27-2015

Continue to Show Love and Kindness

God is waiting to show you the way.

God is waiting to show you the way.

1 Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! 3 Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies. 4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.
5 Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,
​ ​“I will never fail you.
​ ​ I will never abandon you.”–Hebrews 13:1-5 (NLT)

​Jesus said​ that the two greatest commandments were
37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[e] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.​–Matt 22:37,38 (NLT)​
We must keep on showing our love for Jesus by loving others. We must be kind to others with charitable acts even when we think we can’t afford it. We must pray daily for Christians that are being persecuted around the world. It appears that it won’t be long until we will need those prayers for ourselves. Don’t love money or believe that it will sustain you. We should depend on God for all of our needs, God said “I will never fail you, I will never abandon you”. We should live our lives as if we really believed that. This is what the Lord requires of us:
8 No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.– ​Micah 6:8 (NLT)​

Post 08-08-14