seek, aim at and strive after

Matthew 6:33
"But seek, aim at and strive after first of all His kingdon and His righteousness, and then all these things taken together will be given you besides."

What are you spending your time pursuing? You probably have alot of different things that you have your sights set on, probably have many things on your list of priorities. The world tells us that it is a good thing to have your priorities laid out, that it is good to have goals and certain "things" that you have your sights set on. While all of that is not necessarily bad, there is a part of that system of living that is in total opposition to the system of living for God. God has never desired for us to pursue things. It is not His intent, nor does He think it is a good idea to be giving all that you have in a pursuit of material things. He doesn't think it is healthy to pursue emotional enjoyment on your own terms. It is God's desire that your number one pursuit, the thing that you are going after full throttle, is Him. Take time out from your schedule, from your activities, and have some quite time just pursuing God. It isn't some mean trick that God is trying to pull, trying to keep you from recieving "things" or from getting any emotional enjoyment out of life, it is God's way to truly recieve those things. Through a connection with God, all these "things" will be taken together and given to you as well. He's not trying to leave you hanging, He just wants to be your number one so He can take care of the rest. Seek Him.

new hairdo!

So, let me have it.

In honor of our Academy Awards Night, I donned a new hairdo. Personally, I think it might be a keeper. And you think......

(if you think no one else is sportin' this do, check out the lead singer in the band "the Fray")

what about you?

"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ." Mark 8:29

Peter had an answer to who he thought Jesus was. Peter, after being filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts Chapter two, gives a very powerful confession on who he believes Jesus to be. The question is, who do you think Jesus is? What does Jesus mean to you? Give me a list of ten words as to what Jesus means to you if you would like. If not, at least spend some quiet time meditating on your own confession about who Jesus is. What does He mean to you?

Believe it or not this is not just some cute exercise that I'm trying to get you to do. This is, and will the very foundation of your faith. If your confession about Christ is unclear, your walk with God will be unclear. If it is a weak confession, your foundation will be weak. In order to build on a foundation, it needs to be solid, sturdy, and sure. Peter spoke of his own very solid foundation,
but what about you?

Bible study comments

"Come follow Me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

Jesus called a variety of different people, but they all had the same challenges in front of them. All of them had to leave behind their own plan and their own idea of the future to follow someone else's. I'm sure that you all have your own plan, and have a certain way that you would like for your future to go, but what if God asked you to let your life go in a different direction than the one that you have in mind? Would you be willing to bend to the plan that He has laid out for you? To what extent would you be willing to change your life? The disciples had to make total changes, leaving everything they knew to follow God. Would you be able to do the same?

Most people would not be able to answer yes to this question, and really, who can blame them. There are very few models of people doing this in America today. Everywhere you look are people doing things "their way", and according to the expectation of this generation, lots of people are enjoying great success living their lives according to their plan. What would have happened if we would have been there to give counsel to the disciples when Jesus called them? If we would have brought this line of reasoning to them, what would have happened if they would have listened and decided not to follow God, but to follow their own desire? I think that it is easy to see that the disciples lives would have been considerably less successful if they had chosen to not follow God. I don't believe that we will get to the other side someday and hear all the regrets that the disciples have for following Jesus. And you know what? I don't think that anyone else, from the beginning of time till the end, will regret following God either. Were the disciples lives wasted because of their choice to follow Jesus? Of course not. Their choice to follow Jesus was really just the beginning of their lives.

I believe that it will be the same with any follower of Jesus. You can go with the plan that you have drawn up, and maybe even complete many of your plans, but the most important thing in life is not completing your own plan, but to complete the plan that God has for you.

Psalm 127:1
"Unless the Lord builds the house, the work of the builders is wasted."

the hunger for importance

Doesn't everyone want to matter to someone? Doesn't everyone want to be important to some cause or to some person or to something? I think that deep down, even though some may not want to admit it, there is a huge place that wants to be important. There is a deep, incessant, unforgiving hunger to matter. To a degree, it's healthy to want to matter. I would label someone as crazy if they absolutely had no desire to be something. The problem raises its head when that "want to" matter becomes a "need to" matter. People make huge life altering choices based solely on a false notion of being important. Thinking that maybe if I'll do this, then I'll matter to someone. Why? Why do so many people hunger for so much attention? The reasons are probably countless, but I believe the remedy is one thing. To need from anything here on the earth is a very scetchy situation. There is practically nothing here that is always the same. Everything is constantly changing. Relationships, bank accounts, governments, climate, property, worldviews, there isn't anything that's a sure bet every time. But I believe that the story is different with God.
You can look at the stories of those who've lived for Him throughout history, you'll find that God has always been a God who makes good on His promises. There is only one safe place to need from, that's God. Take a hard look at what it is you need so bad, and get with God about it. Let Him know that you want Him to be the only thing that you need. Believe that needing Him is okay, and that needing Him will not result in dissappointment, but that God will satisfy the hunger that burns inside you.

Honestly, my goal was not to preach here, but sometimes it seems overwhelming, the need to be important that is. Sometimes it feels as though if I don't matter somewhere here on earth, then I obviously don't matter anywhere. And even though I don't believe that, and believe strongly in storing up treasure in heaven, there is still very much a part of me that is connected to this life and it's ways, and needs to matter here. I know that I need to live my life in a way that matters to God, even if at times it may seem as though what I am doing matters no where here on earth. There will always, I hope, be a part of me that is reaching out for completion, for healing, for wholeness, I just pray that God gives me the strength and the wisdom to insure that my reach is not to the things of this world, but to Him.
Later

Can you tell what I'm thinking here?

I'm thinking, what in the world is good to eat at a place called the Horny Toad? I'm not making that up, we ate there when we went to the Lake of the Ozarks last fall.

The answer is that there is alot of good things to eat. But stay away from the toad.

lame? you ask
yes. I answer

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Later