WISH

What we wish for, says a lot about who we are. In the book of First Kings, God appears to Solomon in a dream and asks him what he wishes God to give him.

Then Solomon said, “You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. ⁷“Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. ⁸“Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. ⁹“So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” 1 Kings 3:6 - 9 (NASB)

In essence, help me to do your will. Is that what you would have wished for? Or, would you have said, “I need this…, I need that….”?

Let’s say you were a guitar player for a church. You could pray, “God don’t let anybody take my job.” On the other hand, you could pray, “God help me to be the best guitar player I can be so that everything I play causes people to see and understand you.” Which prayer do you think would most please God?

It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. ¹¹God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, ¹²behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. ¹³“I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. ¹⁴“If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days.” 1 Kings 3:10 - 14 (NASB)

The principle: Please God first and He’ll bless your socks off!

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

ENCOURAGEMENT

Every once in awhile things seem like they couldn’t get worse:

• The dogs knocked over the trash and spread it throughout the house.
• The delivery man left your package next to the pond and the wind blew it into the water.
• Your emergency brake failed, the car came out of gear and rolled backwards down a hill where it promptly found a telephone pole to knock down that had a transformer on it and…

You get the picture.

While these may seem like exaggerations, the idea is that something or someone comes into your life now and then that causes you to be discouraged. When that time comes, and it will, think about Paul’s words to the church at Thessalonica:

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. ¹⁷Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸So encourage each other with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 - 18 (NLT)

If that doesn’t cause you to get a little happy nothing will! Jesus Christ coming for me…wow!!! What an awesome day that will be.

In addition to that personal attention we get to be with Him forever. The One for whom and through whom all things were created. The One who gave His life for us at Calvary….

Look up…it won’t be long now

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

HEAD

Somebody has to be in charge! Too many cooks spoil the soup, or whatever the saying is! Everybody wants to be in charge, but nobody wants to take responsibility.

God designed the church, the body of Christ, to have Jesus as its head. Jesus Christ is the boss, the head honcho, the top banana. He has the first and final word as to what we are to be and do.

Speaking of this, Paul said in Colossians 1:18 (NASB)

He (Jesus) is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

The body of Christ is made up of all believers and all are important to the body.

But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, ²⁵so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 1 Corinthians 12:24b-25

Each member of the body of Christ has a different function.

²⁰But now there are many members, but one body. ²¹And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 1 Corinthians 12:20 - 21 (NASB)

Neither can the foot say to the eye, “let me show you how to see” or the hand to the nose “pick that up for me.” God put every part of the body in place with a specific gift to function for the glory of Christ, not for self.

Notice at the end of 1 Corinthians 12:25 it says have the same “care for one another.” He does not admonish us to care for self, but for each other. For this same reason, Paul ends the chapter with “and I show you a still more excellent way.” He was referring to agape love as he explains in chapter 13 where one of the descriptive phrases says love “does not seek its own (vs. 5).”

Let all be done for the glory of Jesus Christ, everything we do and everything we say, for He alone is the Head of the Church. Jesus alone is our Savior and Lord.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

TRANSFERRED

When you work for a big company, there is often a chance that you will be transferred to one of their other locations. It’s usually a compliment, because they need your skills at the other facility.

There is a transfer that occurs just because we are loved!

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13 - 14 (NASB)

There is another meaning for the word transfer. The online dictionary, Wiktionary, says it is also “a design conveyed by contact from one surface to another.”

I was in the office supply section of a store the other day and a package labeled “T-Shirt Transfers” caught my attention. I bought it, took it home, printed a design onto the special paper, placed it on a new t-shirt and applied heat with an iron. The result was that the design was transferred onto the t-shirt.

When God transfers us into His kingdom, He also transfers His image onto and into us through His Holy Spirit. Wow, that’s way better than a t-shirt! Thank you, Lord.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

AMBIGUITY

Do you remember getting in trouble as a kid and not really knowing why? Sometimes the lines between right and wrong were ambiguous, a little blurry or maybe Mom and Dad just hadn’t quite gotten to that specific subject or behavior yet.

We can’t say the same about our heavenly Father. He has outlined those behaviors, which are wrong. Just look at this passage in Galatians 5:19 - 21 (NASB)

¹⁹Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are:

immorality,

impurity,

sensuality,

²⁰idolatry,

sorcery,

enmities,

strife,

jealousy,

outbursts of anger,

disputes,

dissensions,

factions,

²¹envying,

drunkenness,

carousing,

and things like these,

of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Now if there is a particular word you’re struggling with, just look it up in the dictionary. It probably means what you thought!

Now, because He is God and loves us so much, He also tells us the kind of behaviors and attitudes that will occur when we allow our lives to be controlled by the Holy Spirit…

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is

love,

joy,

peace,

patience,

kindness,

goodness,

faithfulness,

²³gentleness,

self-control;

against such things there is no law.

²⁴Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Galatians 5:22 - 24 (NASB)

I don’t think anyone will have to look up any of those words. The basic principle: less of me and more of You, Jesus.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD