Preston šŸ Vander Ven

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Is your Life a Blur?

Is your Life a Blur?

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"When Life is a Blur, Adjust your Focus" - unknown

Have you ever had the distinct feeling that when your older, and looking back on your life, it will be one huge blur. Thereā€™s a lot that gets neglected: exercise, dishes, laundry, maybe your outside garden.Ā We try to prioritize the important but non-urgent things over the unimportant but urgent things.

I recently wrote about Important and Urgent in my buzzĀ https://www.bebee.com/producer/@preston-vander-ven/urgent-or-importantĀ Ā But now, I want you to understand that for you to go from Blurred Vision to Clear Focus, there is only one Way.Ā 33ā€³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.ā€ ā€“ Matthew 6:33

ā€œWhat does it mean to seek first the kingdom of God?ā€

Jesus said to seek first the kingdom of God in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:33). The verseā€™s meaning is as direct as it sounds. We are to seek the things of God as a priority over the things of the world. Primarily, it means we are to seek the salvation that is inherent in the kingdom of God because it is of greater value than all the worldā€™s riches.

Does this mean that we should neglect the reasonable and daily duties that help sustain our lives? Certainly not. But for the Christian, there should be a difference in attitude toward them. If we are taking care of Godā€™s business as a priorityā€”seeking His salvation, living in obedience to Him, and sharing the good news of the kingdom with othersā€”then He will take care of our business as He promisedā€”and if thatā€™s the arrangement, where is worrying? But how do we know if weā€™re truly seeking Godā€™s kingdom first? There are questions we can ask ourselves. ā€œWhere do I primarily spend my energies? Is all my time and money spent on goods and activities that will certainly perish, or in the services of Godā€”the results of which live on for eternity?ā€

Believers who have learned to truly put God first may then rest in this holy dynamic: ā€œā€¦and all these things will be given to you as well.ā€ God has promised to provide for His own, supplying every need (Philippians 4:19), but His idea of what we need is often different from ours, and His timing will only occasionally meet our expectations.

For example, we may see our need as riches or advancement, but perhaps God knows that what truly we need is a time of poverty, loss or solitude. When this happens, we are in good company. God loved both Job and Elijah, but He allowed Satan to absolutely pound Job (all under His watchful eye), and He let that evil woman, Jezebel, break the spirit of His own prophet Elijah (Job 1ā€“2; 1 Kings 18ā€“19). In both cases, God followed these trials with restoration and sustenance. These ā€œnegativeā€ aspects of the kingdom run counter to a heresy which is gaining ground around the world, the so-called ā€œprosperityā€ gospel. A growing number of false teachers are gathering followers under the message ā€œGod wants you to be rich!ā€ But that philosophy is not the counsel of the Bibleā€”and it is certainly not the counsel of Matthew 6:33, which is not a formula for gaining wealth. It is a description of how God works. Jesus taught that our focus should be away from this worldā€”its status and its lying allurementsā€”and placed upon the things of Godā€™s kingdom.

My daily mission is to Share the Truth of Christ with the world, yet I still have my own Dreams and goals that the Lord wants me to achieve. When I put clarity in my mind of who God is and he is the Great ā€œI AMā€, then I know I can do anything.Ā This is because ā€œ13I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.ā€ ā€“ Philippians 4:13Ā 


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