Seek First His Kingdom

You look secure and successful, but the half has not been told, right? Part of you is insecure and fearful. Underneath, you're pretty weak. You appear to be happy, easy-going, and fulfilled: but the half has not been told, has it? You wonder about where all this is leading you. Your restless drive for more and your desire for calm, peaceful contentment seem poles apart. . . because they are poles apart. Deep down, nothing within you smiles.

The truth is you are empty on the inside and you're faking it on the outside. Not one thing you own in all your "kingdom" has brought you the happiness you long for. So you're thinking, "Maybe if I could land that better job," or "get into that bigger house," or. . . or. . . 

But don't allow the smoke screen of more money to blind your eyes to the truth. There's a lot more to being rich than making more money. Seneca, the Roman, was right, "Money has never yet made anyone rich." Do you want riches? Then listen to Jesus: But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

For the real riches, try switching kingdoms.

-From Living on the Ragged Edge by Charles Swindoll; part of The Inspirational Study Bible: New Century Version by Max Lucado

Is wealth your aim? Put that dream aside and give priority to God. Do something today to curb the appetite for money, and be content with what you have.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 Benefits of Being a Child of God

Image
In her book "Breaking Free", Beth Moore writes about five benefits God intends "to be the daily experience of every child of God." (p. 23) The first benefit is to know God and believe Him . Beth Moore writes that "one of your chief purposes on this planet is to know God intimately and with reverent familiarity. That intimate relationship begins, but was never intended to end, with what we call the 'salvation experience.' So the first question to ask yourself is, Have you received Christ as your personal Savior?" "One of the most beautiful elements of salvation is its simplicity. Christ has already done all the work on the cross. Your response includes four elements: 1) Acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you cannot save yourself. 2) Acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and only He can save you. 3) Believe that His Crucifixion was for your personal sins and that His death was on your behalf. 4) Give Him your life and
Read more

Fuel Up with the Holy Spirit

Image
 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” John 14:26 Once we decide to get on the road with Jesus, we discover that the Bible is like a road map for our journey; helping us to live in a way that pleases God. If we spend time in the Word everyday, we will grow to be more like Jesus. A car needs gasoline in order to work. In order for you to keep going, you have to fill the tank up. Well, just like our physical bodies need food for energy, and cars need gasoline in order to go, our spiritual bodies need a kind of fuel too. This "fuel" is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom and energy for life. We know that God created us. We know that Jesus saved us. But you might wonder who the Holy Spirit is. In John 14:16-17 we see that before Jesus was going to die on the cross, He told the disciples that God would send another Helper to help them. This w
Read more

The First Four Commandments

Image
The first four commandments tell us how we are to conduct ourselves before God. We can fulfill these first four commands by praying about our needs, thanking and praising God, using God’s name respectfully and taking time to rest and meditate on God’s Word.  –Exodus 20:1-8 The basic code in Israel’s divine law is found in Exodus 20:2-17; elsewhere it is called the Ten Commandments. The Hebrew words for Ten Commandments literally mean “Ten Words”. (Study note for Exodus 20:1) The Ten Commandments begin with the statement “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Exodus 20:1) Warren Wiersbe points out that the phrase “I am the Lord your God” is used five times in this section (vv. 3, 5, 7, 10, 12) to show that God is the authority behind these commands and they weren’t just Moses’ opinions. The study note for Exodus 20:2 tells us that the Ten Commandments reflect the structure of the treaties of the time period. First there was a preamb
Read more