Not First…Only!

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Christianity, Contentment, Empowerment, grace, healing, Jesus, Joy, maturity, prosperity, Truth

When we as people hear the word first, it denotes order, priority, some form of list. We see first as there is something that comes second. Most of us, when we read Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:33, it says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you”, we take that as an order of way to prioritize our lives.Therefore, what we do is our quiet time first, pay our tithe first, give God our first, whatever. Then once we have done what we were supposed to do first, we do whatever we want, second, third, and so on. While I was fasting and praying with a group of people last week, the Lord began to speak to me that first does not denote there is a second, first actually means only. To God, when He says, seek first, He means seek only. We are called to seek only the kingdom of God and His righteousness, not first, but rather only. As I began to meditate on this idea of only, rather than first, it made me realize how many idols we have in our lives and we do not even realize it.

If we pursue anything in addition to the Father, it is an idol. An idol is anything we look to, we pursue in order to meet a need we have. Look at Matthew 6 again, it says in verse 1, “Take care not to do your good deeds publically or before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward  with and from your Father Who is in heaven”. The good deeds Matthew is referring to are noted in the following verses, he says, when you give, when you pray and when you fast, do it in secret, why, because you need affirmation and if you seek approval or affirmation from men, it is an idol and the Lord does not compete with idols, so you lose your reward. 

In the former age of Christendom seeking God first was acceptable, it was expected, but we have crossed over into the kingdom of God age, and in this new normal we have entered, we are to seek the kingdom of God only. That is why the call to secret is so critical, because our affirmation needs to come from the Lord only. If others affirm us, it is appreciated, but it is not needed. This is powerful, because if you need the affirmation of man for what you do, you will eventually do what man expects in order to get their affirmation, instead of what God wants and then man becomes an idol.  

Seeking the kingdom of God only, means the only one in front of us is the Father and everything else is behind us. It can be likened to driving a car, if you spend your whole drive looking over your shoulder behind you, you are going to crash, but if you are facing forward, looking forward and your focus is forward, then if you glance in the rear view mirror now and then you can see what is following you, but you are not focused on what is behind you. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first (ONLY), the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things (your needs) will be given to you.” Your needs are behind you, when you are seeking the kingdom of God only, they are not in front of you as something you pursue. When we seek only the Father, everything we need, want, desire, dream about will pursue us, as we pursue the Father.

To seek God only takes a lot of trust, you have to put all your attention on Him only. No pursuing your career, a spouse, a promotion, prosperity, nothing. Everything must be literally behind your back and the only thing in front of your eyes is the Father. Most people cannot do this, many will not agree with this, some will not have the courage to try it. But to those who have ears to hear, the Lord promises you, if you pursue Him only, obey His voice always, your reward will blow your mind. Because when our worth is found in the love of God, when our fear is swallowed up in the presence of God’s perfect love, when our trust is in the heart of God, we will find the rewards of God taking us over. The Father is looking for those who only want Him, not in words, but in hearts desire, because then whether we are in a job or without a job, whether we are married or not, our needs our met in God alone.

I close with the words of the Apostle Paul, “I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want. I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me!” (Philippians4:12-13)

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Knot in Wood

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Christianity, Exposing, faith, Knots, maturity, Religion, Trials, Trust

 It has been a while since I was consistently writing my blog posts and the reason for that is due to a  job situation that was draining, I did not have the energy to communicate what God has been showing me. However, I have been convicted by the truth that when we withhold revelation God gives us, it keeps people enslaved and what we sow we will reap. So, I am going to freely share what the Lord shares with me, hoping it will liberate you as it has been and continues to liberate me. So, I am back and will not retreat again. Thanks for your understanding, I have missed you all so much and am ready to run and keep on running.

This morning, while I was doing my prayer time on the back patio, the Lord began to highlight for me a knot that was loose in the fence connected to my house. I went over, took the knot out and began to look at it, the Lord said, look up what a knot is. So, that is what I did and this is what I learned, thanks to Wikipedia.com.

Knot in wood is a particular type of imperfection that affects the technical properties of the wood, usually for the worst. The knot appears as a rough circular solid, that is usually darker than the rest of the wood. The grain of the wood all flows in one direction, but the grain flows around the knot, because the direction of the knots grain is 90 degrees different from the grain of the rest of the wood. A knot is a base of a side branch or a dormant bud, which is a flower that did not bloom. Dead branches produce knots which are not intimately attached to the tree. Knots affect cracking and warping in the material and are the cause for defects which weaken lumber and lower its value for structural purposes. The weakening is much more serious when forces produce tension or pressure, however, knots which appear near the end of the beam do not weaken it and a forest grown tree does not produce knots.

As I was reading about knots in wood, my spirit was jumping around with understanding, revelation and conviction. Knots in wood are like character flaws in our life. They weaken us, others have to flow around us, because we are out of sync with others. And when trials come into our lives, we can’t handle the pressure and we weaken the whole team, all because we were unwilling to deal with the knots in our own lives. As we listen to the news, read the paper, open our email, scan the internet, we realize this is a season of revealing the knots in peoples lives, publically. Presidents, politicians, pastors, leaders, are all being exposed for their knots that have been left undealt with. As I listen to various prophetic voices, they are saying that God is removing all idols from our lives, He is exposing the dark places in our lives, He is purifying His church and His people. Then just this morning Prophetess Brenda Todd said, whatever corrupt practices financially you are doing, whatever immoral behavior you are engaged in, stop it, stop it now! She was adamant, that we need to deal with the knots in our lives.

One thing the Lord has been revealing to me is that He is working on the infrastructure of people’s lives, churches, nations, etc. If the infrastructure is not sound, knot free, it will not be able to handle the pressure of prosperity, promotion, persecution, the presence of God. If God poured out everything He is promising to us, and we have knots in our lives, the pressure will reveal those knots and people will have to flow around us, but we will weaken the whole. I know some people polish knots and say they add character to the design, but God says, I want to remove the knots from your lives. When I removed the knot from the wood in our fence, it left a whole, as I looked at it, I realized if there is a whole in our lives, we are always looking for a way to fill it as fast as possible so no one can see our hole, but the Lord said, He will fill the whole with new wood, where the knot was removed. When God fills our holes, we are stronger than ever before.

There are two major moves coming on the earth, one is a move of God like we have never experienced before, it is going to be worldwide and the harvest is going to be enormous. So, God is building infrastructure in those who will carry His glory to the nations. In addition there is another move coming as well and it is an increase of wickedness. The enemy is going to launch an assault that is unprecedented in history, it is going to bring persecution like we have not seen before. Now with that said, both are going to come with pressure, glory is heavy (you know the song the weight of your glory fall on us, glory is a weighty thing); and wickedness is heavy as well. So, our infrastructure must be strong as individuals, companies, churches, families, communities, nations. The removal and exposure of knots is for the strengthening of our infrastructure, not for shaming us before others. I want to close with the following verse, I hope with this post as your context, this verse sheds some new light.

James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”