“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Matthew 6:25.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
People are worrying about so many things, even among believers, in fact, one of the primary preoccupations of most people’s thought life and conversation is worry. And yet that is something I have commanded you not to do.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7.
All worry stems from and is based on fear, fear of a dreaded or painful outcome. It can have to do with your future, your past, or your present condition. But I did not give you a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind.
Fear shows that you have no faith in a good outcome which tells Me that you have no trust in My power, care, provision, protection, and love. To put it precisely, you do not believe My Word and My magnificent Covenant promises to you who believe in My Son as your Lord and Savior. You are still living under the jurisdiction of the devil though you have pledged allegiance to My Kingdom. This ought not to be.
If you constantly worry you are serving the devil and not Me. You believe more in his power than Mine. You meditate more on his words than Mine. And that is the truth, no matter how you excuse your worry before Me.
Adam had dominion of the earth and walked in the Blessing. He had no fear of Me or anything else. But the moment he rejected My Word and submitted to the devil’s word, that is, once he was born again from below by the perishable seed of a lie, fear entered him. He hid from Me, his source of all good and blessing, in fear of punishment. I had never punished him but he knew the sentence was death for what he had one. So he feared two things, one of the past, that is, being found out for his sin, and the other for the future, that is, death.
Though he had experienced My provision, goodness, mercy, and love since his creation, he did not trust in it to continue. He had no faith in My love for him and no love for Me because perfect love casts out all fear. His attitude towards Me was very much like that of the Israelites I redeemed out of the slavery of Egypt.
In the United States of America on your paper currency, such as the dollar bill and on up to the largest amounts, on the back side it states, “IN GOD WE TRUST,” showing that it is not in the money you put your trust but in My provision that enabled you to prosper. For it is I who give you the power to gain wealth and I who make the provision available that gives you all that you need for life and godliness with an abundance for every good work. However, unbelievers are fighting to take that reference to Me off, which signifies who their god is. But My sun shines on the good and the evil, and My rain and provision are for both as well. But there is a huge difference in your eternity.
But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Deuteronomy 8:18.
I am love. But what you must understand, which many people don’t, love is not unjust. Today people are saying I am love so I approve evil deeds such as abortion and other immoral and perverted activity. You do not understand that true love does not countenance evil or things that destroy. In the Bible, I tell you that there are things I hate that are an abomination to Me. Among these are divorce, lying, false witness, and spreading strife among brothers.
Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. For I hate divorce (sending away),” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with violence,” says the LORD of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.” You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?” Malachi 2:15-17.
Evil is never good in My sight. Why do you think Jesus had to die such a terrible death if I countenance evil because I am love? My love for you as well as My justice in Jesus. He paid the just judgment with His eternal life in the flesh and took the just sentence for sin upon Himself so that you can live forever free of condemnation, but that is how just I am and how serious sin is.
There are six things which the LORD hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers. Proverbs 6:16-19.
There is no peace under a leader who says he is love and yet allows every evil work or whim to go uncurtailed or punished. True love permits no evil. You want a leader who is just but filled with lovingkindness. And that is who I AM. Moses saw My works of justice and My merciful love. He understood My ways and he sang of Me:
“For I proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God! The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He.” Deuteronomy 32:3-4.
And David had seen My justice and My merciful love as well, and he sang,
“As for God, His way is perfect; the Word of the LORD is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God, the God who girds me with strength and made my way perfect? Psalm 18:30-32.
The word translated “perfect” is from the Hebrew word, “tamim (תָּמִים),” which means complete, whole, perfect, blameless, without blemish. It is what I required the lamb of sacrifice for the Passover and the other sacrificial offerings for sin to be as well. I am that and I make you that as well in your perfect Lamb of sacrifice, Jesus, the substance of the shadow that covered sins on credit until He came and paid once for all. I have made Jesus available to all people to receive Him and have no more condemnation upon them. I am just, justice and judgment are the foundations of My throne, but I allow repentance and I give you a new and living way by which you can return where I make you blameless and holy in My sight as if sin had never been.
What does this mean to you about the Kingdom? You can rest in Me and be secure knowing that I will always do what is just and right in all matters of time and eternity. Vengeance is Mine against those who destroy others and do wickedness and perversion, but redemption is also Mine for those who repent and return to receive Jesus.
You can trust in My goodness, My power, My justice, and My clarity. And when you understand the serious nature of sin and the devastation it works, you will understand My hand of justice and why Jesus had to suffer what He did to free you from sin before Me. But in Jesus you also see true love beyond all love, beyond description, beyond all limits—a love worked out for you in perfect justice. But it is a gift you must receive through repentance and thankfulness in order to have it as your own. To be restored you must return.
“You keep in perfect peace (shalom, shalom) those who have their mind stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for in God the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.” Isaiah 26:3-4.
And now you are ready to hear what Jesus told the crowd on the mountainside that day, which you identify as the Sermon on the Mount, about the security you have with Me in the Kingdom even now. I see to all your needs according to My riches in glory in Christ Jesus for in Him I have given you the Kingdom.
I want you to read the whole conversation and then I will give you some pointers on how to seek the Kingdom first. Notice especially that there is so much emphasis in this conversation with the crowd about not worrying. And you will notice also that worry makes you question what you have or will have and speaks about itself all the time rather than getting your eyes off yourself onto Me.
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:25-34.
Jesus shows you that the answer that shuts down a worried mind is getting your mind off yourself and your need by seeking first My Kingdom and My righteousness and receiving everything you need for life and godliness from Me by faith. It is all there for you, you just have to connect and receive by faith. Worry cannot receive, it must chase after things on its own. It will not let you rest.
So how do you seek the Kingdom first? Simple answer is less preoccupation with yourself alone and get you attention over on Me. And to put attention on Me, you have to put it on My Word. And that is the way I instructed Joshua to go in and conquer the Promised Land.
Let Me give you revelation, direction and guidance in this area. First if you are seeking the Kingdom first, it would line up with the parable of the talents where a King entrusted Kingdom business to his servants and found certain ones to be good and faithful servants. To be a good and faithful servant you must act like one.
Let Me explain. A servant does what his master tells him to do and does not worry about the cost. He assumes the master will supply what is needed and he is correct. A master only expects his servant to quickly and diligently carry out his orders but the master supplies the rest. And the servant knows that the master’s interests and orders come first before his interests. And it is the same with a child, which you are if you are in Christ Jesus—the child knows that the parent will supply and does not worry about the cost of things needed but just follows direction knowing the parent loves him or her and will supply.
So when I say to seek My Kingdom first, I mean for you to obey My Words and My assignment for your life as your priority. When you are about what I tell you to do just do it and keep glorifying Me. Know that I supply what is needed when you are carrying out My Will for your life. Like the master with the servant. Like the father with his child. My Son glorified Me by doing the work I gave Him to do. He never detoured from that.
So, here is some direction that you can follow:
- Spend more time meditating on and speaking My Word, My promises, My counsels, than you do thinking about and talking about your needs, your desires, your challenges, and your feelings.
I told this to Joshua many years ago. Joshua 1:7-8. You also find My counsel on this matter in Psalm 1 and many other places in the Bible (Deuteronomy 6 and Deuteronomy 11; Ephesians 5, and all through Proverbs). My servant Paul understood this well. Read his letters. His letters are not about him and what he is doing except when it glorifies Me. You really know very little about his life from his letters. You find it written in the Book of Acts. You should let another praise you and not your own lips. I will see to the glory of My servants. Do not worry about making your own glory. My Son saw only to My Glory and I in turn glorified Him.
And look at the way Mary spoke to Elizabeth. “My soul magnifies the LORD.” She did not talk about the condition of her health and her pregnancy or what the angel told her. She did not talk about her long, hard trip to arrive at Elizabeth’s house. She did not talk about how she would tell people about the pregnancy or her worry about being thought impure. She did not conjecture about how Joseph would respond to the news of her pregnancy. And I took care of telling him.
Look at Jacob’s son, Joseph, his brothers sold him into slavery and then his master’s wife falsely accused him and he ended up in jail. When asked why he was in prison, he said nothing about his brothers or Potipher’s wife, no long story about his trials, fears, and emotional upheaval, instead he merely said he had been forcibly taken from his country and was unjustly in jail. And that was it.
Are you beginning to understand? Most fall short in this area.
Start talking like Paul, Mary and Joseph. Do not make a big deal about yourself and your trials. Make a big deal out of My Plans and My dreams. Exalt Me. Glorify My Name.
Remember Paul said that whether it was him in the limelight preaching the Gospel or someone else it made no difference to him so long as the Gospel was being preached. So whether he was behind the scenes or in the forefront all he was seeking was My glory and My purposes.
- Be thankful
Do not just think about what you need all the time. Instead be thankful for what you have. Be thankful for the people around you and what they do for you. Do not judge so harshly. Rather than being negative about your life be positive. If you are thankful you will never go wrong.
- Rejoice
Do not let your heart be troubled or afraid. Have faith in Me and My Son Jesus. For example, instead of thinking on how much you need healing and are not seeing it, rejoice that you have a Healer, for I am the LORD your healer, and that Jesus already obtained healing for you and by His stripes you were healed, you just have to receive it. You can rely on healing all the time because I have already provided it for you, you just have to take it with confidence at My throne of grace, and joyfully give thanks to Me for your healing.
And instead of frantically trying to figure out what to do about your needs, rejoice that you have and all powerful Provider and Shepherd who not only will meet your needs but already has all the provision there ready for you, prepared in advance. I am the LORD that looks ahead and provides.
- Pray
I mean really pray. Do not just spend your time with Me thinking about your problems and how you cannot see the solutions. Concentrate on Me and My Words—My plans for you. Seek My dreams, My visions, and My Will for your life. Seek the solutions I have for your problems with confidence.
This is what Jesus meant when He told you not to babble on and on about what you need in your prayers. I know already what you need, so do not waste your whole time with Me babbling about, complaining about, and concentrating on your needs and your condition. Ask Me with specificity for what you need and want and trust Me to provide it. Concentrate on fellowshipping with Me and glorifying Me as your healer, provider, and loving Father who cares for you and thus authorize Me to be all those to you.
Get out of yourself more and look at Me in thankful praise as you offer Me My Son as your perfect lamb of atonement.
Pick a couple of passages of Scripture that speak to your need and concentrate on those. Think on them and do not dwell on your problem. Say them and ask for revelation on them. Write something about My Words to you.
And when you are with Me in prayer, sing a song or two to Me. Songs of praise, worship and strength. Something like Psalm 100 or Psalm 23. And dance around your room.
Thank me in your prayer time. Be specific and general. It helps you to enter into My presence.
Stop wandering thoughts. You can.
Pray for others, for those in the government, for the lost, for My interests, for Israel, for the nations, for your nation, for salvation for all people, and to be a laborer in My vineyard. Take care of Kingdom business before your own. Look at the “Our Father.” First comes praying for My Kingdom to come and My Will to be done and then comes asking for your needs for your daily bread. See to My interests and I will see to yours.
Be My chauffeur and microphone. The chauffer does not worry about where to go or if he will have money for gas. The microphone does not speak on its own but only magnifies what is said into it.
Jesus never did any work that I had not shown Him and never spoke any word that was not My Word. And you are to do the work He did and greater. In order to do the works He did, you must do what He did to get the results He got.
So when you meet someone you know what is the first thing they hear from you? Is it how you feel, what pains you have, how tired you are, how bad business is, and your financial worries, or do you talk like Mary greeted Elizabeth? Excited about the great things I am doing for you and on the earth.
During the day are your thoughts primarily on your emotions, feelings in your body, and what people are saying to or about you? Or are they on My Words and trying to discern what I am communicating to you? Or have you blocked Me out?
Are you grateful or resentful? Are you rejoicing or depressed?
Check these out and if you are not where you should be, repent and change. Renew your mind with My Word and watch your life transform from glory to glory. For faith comes by hearing and hearing and hearing My Word until My Word speaks to you.
If you want to live the glorious existence you have to think BIG and trust BIG. Keep your mind on the things above where Jesus is seated at My right Hand interceding for you and not on those below. And you are seated there.
Think on whatever is lovely, excellent, pure, and worthy of praise. Think on these things.
Look to how you can serve Me each day and let Me take care of what is needed to complete My Work.
Address one another in psalms, hymns, and inspired songs. Your conversation should be in Heaven. Speak more about who I am and about My plans than about yourself.
Are you seeking My Kingdom first or are you seeking yourself first? Examine yourself and see.
John the Baptist gave you a good rule of thumb for your conversations and thoughts: “He (the Lord Jesus) must increase and I must decrease.” Follow that and I can exalt and promote you in ways you never thought possible and you will never go wrong.
I love you. Seek My Kingdom and My righteousness (which is yours as a gift in Jesus) first and then I can supply all your needs as I have promised.