Seek First The Kingdom of God no. 46

“So don’t be anxious, asking, ‘What will we eat?,’ ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘How will we be clothed?’ For it is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Don’t worry about tomorrow — tomorrow will worry about itself! Today has enough tsuris already” (Mattityahu (Mat) 6:31-34)! If there is one thing we don’t do enough as followers of Jesus is trust in Him. Sure, folks believe in Him as an idea and He has a lot of good things to say BUT to really trust Him is something totally different. Trust is the reason behind folks arguing about grace and works and faith. Trusting means we are not afraid, as the prophet Isaiah sang, “See! God is my salvation./I am confident and unafraid;/ for Yah Adonai is my strength and my song,/and he has become my salvation” (Yesha 'yahu (Isa) 12:2)! I want all of us to be confident and unafraid.

My decision to start on this journey came out of fear. I did not want to be afraid anymore. In March 2020, there was a lot of fear. There is always a lot of fear getting thrown around and used to motivation. Fear is a motivating force for a lot of systems, even some religions use fear to motivate people. I was tired of the fear game. And my journey through philosophy led to changing my life mentally and physically. My search for freedom led me to The Bible and then to Jesus. Again. And when I first came back to the Way of the Lord, I was afraid of making mistakes and messing things up. I was afraid I wasn’t going to do things right again this time. I was afraid that others were going to put their fears into me again. And I guarded against that. And I still have some of those walls built up today that God and I are working to bring down.

But fear is no way to live your life. It is so much easier to be free. And the only way to be free is through Jesus. Jesus lived a free life that is an example of how we all can live free. He didn’t walk around scaring people or condemning people, Jesus simply lives out the Truth. And that is what I need to do as well. Walk in the Truth without fear.

Too often young Christians are afraid of the new situation. Even old Christians like myself walk into situations that are scary for us because Jesus leads us there. I was scared to attend a prayer group. I was scared to attend church. I was scared to join Christian groups. I was scared to wear signs of my Christianity. And gradually that fear subsides through the Spirit indwelling within us. God takes away fear and gives us the strength to confront fear. God doesn’t create fear. He gets us through fear because fear is natural and healthy to survival. Fear keeps us from doing dangerous things. BUT fear is not a way to live every day and a lot of folks want to make you afraid. BUT God doesn’t. He loves you too much to be out to frighten you. So, I pray that you find the peace and love of Jesus that takes away all fear. “God is my salvation./I am confident and unafraid;/ for Yah Adonai is my strength and my song,/and he has become my salvation.”

Seek first His Kingdom which rests on the foundation of love.

Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #NotMyWayYHWH

Seek First The Kingdom of God no. 45

“Yeshua came and talked with them. He said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make people from all nations into talmidim , immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son and the Ruach HaKodesh , and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember! I will be with you always, yes, even until the end of the age’” (Mattityahu (Mat) 28:18-20). Talmidim or disciple is not someone that believes something. A disciple is someone that knows the teaching so well that they go out and teach the teaching as well. The disciple goes out and becomes so much like the teacher that the rabbi and talmid do exactly the same things. The disciple and the teacher live out the examples of the same teaching.

Jesus is not only with us as the Spirit indwelling within us, Jesus is also with us as the example we live. I would be a horrible teacher if I did not live out the importance of what I teach. I take seriously the job of reading and understanding. Even before I was walking as a Christian well, I took the time to study and research and read and learn. Now that I am a Christian, I use those skills, those gifts for the glory of His Kingdom. What I learn, I go out and share with the world, Christian and nonChristian.

Living an example of Jesus is not something that should be a secret. Jesus calls us in the Sermon on the Mount to be, “. . . light for the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Likewise, when people light a lamp, they don’t cover it with a bowl but put it on a lampstand, so that it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they may see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven” (Mattityahu (Mat) 5:14-16). Like the popular children’s church song reminds us, “Hide it under a bushel - NO!/I'm gonna let it shine” (This Little Light of Mine).

So, I am going to do my best to be an Ambassador of His Kingdom to a world that needs more of Him. The world needs more love, more grace, more mercy, more Jesus. And it is not going to learn about Him if I don’t live that out for others. To make disciples, I have to be a disciple. To be a disciple is to internalize all the teachings of Jesus and live those out every day as Him. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminds us the importance of a solid foundation in His teaching, “So, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on bedrock. The rain fell, the rivers flooded, the winds blew and beat against that house, but it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the rivers flooded, the wind blew and beat against that house, and it collapsed — and its collapse was horrendous” (Mattityahu (Mat) 7:24-27)! So let’s use that foundation as His disciples, His ambassadors, His brothers and sisters. And let us be the light to the world. Stop living in fear and live boldly for Him.

Seek first His Kingdom which rests on the foundation of love.

Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #NotMyWayYHWH