Happy New Year guys!!! We finally
made it into 2019!! My goodness I cannot begin to tell you how excited I’m to
have crossed over and be in 2019. And as I was pondering on 2019 the title of this blog kept pressing on my heart. Which is "Put God First This Year"!!
I don’t know about you but for me 2017 and
2018 have been good but yet quite difficult and challenging years! The end of
2016 was a horrible time for my family and I. lost my big brother in September
2016 and lost my uncle in December 2016 and both death were sudden. Not really
the way I thought that year would end. I was in full blown depression and going
through very challenging times in other areas of my life! And these really made
me numb to the pain I was feeling. The more time went by the more challenges
would come up and I just thought you know what God!!! Let’s end it here because
it’s too much! I don’t think my heart can take it! But in it all God was there
holding me up even when I thought I was falling his loving hand was right
there to hold me and I must say like Marvin Sapp’s song says “ Never would’ve made…. Never could’ve made it
without you…. I’m stronger, I’m wiser, I’m better, much better…..” That
really became my story and I really got to truly understand the meaning of this
song because of what I faced and went through! Fast-forward here we are in
2019!!! And although the past couple of
years have been tough I really believe that these years and whatever we’ve gone
through in the previous years were to prepare and build us up for this year!
Now you’re over the turkey and the
overload of food you’ve allowed yourself to eat over the Christmas period! Now
we are in the New Year you are looking at the pounds you’ve put on and
determined that this month would be your detox month. This month will be the
month where you are cutting down on sweets, chocolates and other types of food
that are seen to be high in calories! Anyone in this mindset?? To be honest it
would apply more to women than men but all the same! Everyone comes into a New
Year with what they so call “New Year’s resolution” where we vow to ourselves
that we will do better. We will eat healthier, we will work out more, we will
spend more time with our family and friends, and we will pray more! We will
read our bibles more and the list goes on!
We tell ourselves that where we
went wrong last year will be made right this year! We are focused and ready to
tackle this New Year with our new resolutions, fresh zeal and fresh drive! We
tell ourselves to keep thinking positive and have a positive attitude and
everything will work out according to the state of our mind! Now all these
things are not wrong at all! In fact it is very good to start the year like
this with the right attitude and the right mindset however I want to turn your
attention to the following scripture that has been and continues to be such a
blessing to me and every time I read it; it opens my eye and increases my
understanding of that scripture even more. It’s a familiair picture that it
used a lot and it is found in Matthew 6:33 (KJV) “But seek ye first the kingdom of God; and his
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you”. Very
powerful scripture! Now the NLT version puts it even better it says “Seek the kingdom of
God ABOVE ALL ELSE, and live righteously, and he will give you EVERYTHING you
NEED”. The NIV version is also another good one!! I’m bombarding you
with different versions but they all give a different angle to the revelation
of this scripture, the NIV says “BUT seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all
these things will be given to you AS WELL”. When a sentence starts
with a BUT it introduces a statement that adds
something to a previous statement and usually contrasts with it in some ways .
The word BUT is also used to connect two statements or phrases when the second
one adds something different or seems surprising after the first one (I LIKE
THAT ONE!).
In this case in Matthew 6:1-32 it
deals with the outward and inward expressions of piety , referring to giving,
fasting and prayer (Matthew 6:1-18). Matthew 6:19-34 now deals with possessions
and the issues of what to prioritise and where to put our trust. However
Matthew 6:19-34 can be split in 2 parts; Matthew 2:19-24 that talks about where
our treasures should be and the fact that we should not serve two masters but
only serve one as by doing so we will by default hate one and love the other.
We then get to the latter part of this chapter Matthew 6:25-33. In this part
Jesus starts by saying to us do not take any thoughts for your life, what you
will eat or drink or wear. And He turns our attention to the fowls or the air
the fact that they neither sow nor reap but still God our father feeds them so
how much more us his children?? The ones that were made in his own image after
his own likeness. The ones in whom He breathed of himself into. God’s
representatives on this earth?? How much more us??? Jesus adds that if he can
clothe the grass of the field how much more??(Matt 6:25-32). This really hit me
because it makes me think of all the times we forget this fact and worry about
things in our lives. Whether it be our bills, our job, how are we going to make
it to our next pay check but Jesus challenges us to put our trust in Him. And
here Jesus is reassuring us that if he can watch over the fowls of the air and
clothe the grass of the field He is more than able to watch over us and clothe
us.
Now remember the definition of the word BUT a
few paragraphs earlier?? Well that’s where it comes in. All this things mentioned
are good and its ok to think on these things BUT SEEK YE FIRST! Which means
shift your attention, your focus on God and all these things will be given to
you as you seek GOD FIRST. Have you ever noticed that if you need a
breakthrough from God you are ready to fast for 21 days even go on a dry fast
for God to move mountains but yet when it comes to seeking Him we just spend our
5 mins in the morning reading the word of the day; say a quick prayer and call
it a day? Don’t worry I’ve been there! And this really grieves the heart of God
as we seek for the blessings instead of the Blesser! Not realising that as we seek the Blesser the
blessings will be added! So let’s do things differently this year! And let’s
seek GOD! Let’s be in a place where we yearn to know him. Where we have an
unlimited appetite for his word and spending time with him. Where we seek to
grow in the things of God and you will see that what you desire will be granted
to you effortlessly! As I write this I’m being brought back to the story of
Solomon ( 1 King 3) where God
asked him what is that you want? And instead of being desire-centred he was
literally kingdom-centred and asked God for the wisdom he needed to be able to
rule God’s people and kingdom and that touched the heart of God so much that
riches were granted to him. Solomon did not work for wealth , he attracted
wealth by the wisdom God gave him and on top of that wisdom God added wealth
and up to date Solomon remains one of the if not the riches and wisest king
that ever walked this earth.
So let’s make it our main
resolution this year! To seek Gods
kingdom and to put God first and I can guarantee you, you will never be
disappointed! God will blow your mind so much so that you will even wonder what
was that I was worried about? And new facets, aspects and revelations of God
and His Kindgom you will experience and see will take you to a higher dimension
and cause you to fall in love with God more, walk in his will and have you
worry free!
My prayer for you is that as you
put God first He will reveal himself to you like never before and cause you to
experience him and have a deeper understanding of who he is and get closer to
Him. And as you do that may everything you have prayed for according to His
will be made manifest in your life! You are blessed and walking in favour! And
I pray that this blog was a blessing to you!
Read, Like, love and share but
above all be blessed!
