Seek First The Kingdom of God no. 24

“‘Don’t let yourselves be disturbed. Trust in God and trust in me. In my Father’s house are many places to live. If there weren’t, I would have told you; because I am going there to prepare a place for you. Since I am going and preparing a place for you, I will return to take you with me; so that where I am, you may be also. Furthermore, you know where I’m going; and you know the way there.’ T’oma said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you’re going; so how can we know the way?’ Yeshua said, ‘I AM the Way — and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me. Because you have known me, you will also know my Father; from now on, you do know him — in fact, you have seen him'”(Yochanan (Jhn) 14:1-7). As some of you may know, my mom is approaching her final days in this life. Rather than that be a time of sadness and overwhelming dread, I have trust in the resurrection and the life in the world to come. And I think a lot of folks would be worried about themselves or others as their life now ends, however, there is an assurance by Jesus of a world to come and a resurrection and restoration. And a lot of that comes from being unsure of the way.

Jesus says He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You can’t know the Father without knowing Him. And a lot of folks have made that into saying a little prayer and thinking they are all good. BUT mentally acknowledging Jesus isn’t the same as knowing Him. Knowing someone is understanding them. Knowing someone takes an investment of time and resources to listen and learn. Knowing someone takes a commitment. My father knows my mother. Her children, including me, know who my mother is. We didn’t gain this knowledge from a minute, a day, or a week. We gained this knowledge over a lifetime of living and loving her. And I think that is what Jesus is impressing on His disciples.

These dudes spent years following Him around and were clueless on so many things until after He was gone. They really didn’t know Him all that well when He spoke those words to them. BUT they knew enough to know who God was because they had spent years following and listening and learning. I don’t know exactly who my mother is BUT I do know enough to understand what kind of person she is. And I think that is an important aspect of following Him that we simply want to compartmentalize and not allow to permeate our life. That knowing God is not a prayer or a Sunday service or a routine. Knowing God takes an investment of ourselves, just as knowing anyone is an investment of ourselves.

So I pray that you really know Him. And that is going to take diverting your energy and time and resources away from something else and putting those into knowing 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

Seek First The Kingdom of God no. 23

“God’s power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, through our knowing the One who called us to his own glory and goodness. By these he has given us valuable and superlatively great promises, so that through them you might come to share in God’s nature and escape the corruption which evil desires have brought into the world” (2 Kefa (2 Pe) 1:3-4). My life has changed so much since the plague. It was a blessing to my life although it didn’t seem like that at first. When the plague hit and the lockdowns happened, I was afraid. And the plague and lockdowns made me take some personal inventory. And there were decisions I needed to make. So, I started making changes. Now, not for one second do I think any of that was accidental. I was on a road to self destruction and sadness. There was no hope for me. And then there was hope.

God has given me everything I need for life and godliness. It was all there for the taking. I just needed to embrace the gifts He had given and use them for His intended purpose. And here I am years later still writing about the journey when I wake in the morning. Here I am working through His calling for my life. And it can get really weird following God. And you don’t get much choice in how things go when you listen to Him. The path gets paved for you to lead in places that make you uncomfortable. I am so often led into uncomfortable places in my journey because without being uncomfortable, I am not going to grow and change and gain. I need to move out of the comfortable to share God’s nature and escape evil.

One of those areas for growth has been this verse from Paul’s letter to the Romans, “Therefore, let’s stop passing judgment on each other! Instead, make this one judgment — not to put a stumbling block or a snare in a brother’s way” (Romans (Rom) 14:13). I used to be a stumbling block and a snare. I was out to prove how much smarter and better I was than anyone else. And that is the way of the Goyim, looking for mastery and division. Among us, let it not be so. So, I have taken up the uncomfortable position of pointing out stumbling blocks and snares and praying for the best. I don’t need to be right anymore. I don’t need to be smarter anymore. I just need to use the gifts He has given to be the best version of me in His Kingdom. And I pray that pointing out the traps while not condemning folks for not seeing the traps helps me become a better Christian. I fall for the traps and snares just as easily as anyone else. I was afraid when the plague hit despite everything I knew because fear was acceptable. But now fear is not an option. I am content that no matter the seemingly insurmountable danger that abounds in this world, I am content that no matter the scariness of personal tragedy, I am content that no matter the evil that lies in the heart of folks, that God has a plan and He makes the Way.

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