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