Thursday, May 16, 2013

Seek First


In the middle of chaos, in the depths of heartbreak, and in the darkness of anxiety, we find an anchor in the Word of God. When I focus on His Word, His promises, His reality vs. my earthly circumstances, my heart beats in unison with His plan for me (and His plans for me are good, to give me a future and a hope Jer. 29:11). He promises that when we seek Him we shall surely find Him (Luke 11:10, Jer. 29:13). And when we find Him we find peace, joy, grace, mercy, kindness, goodness, and much more. 

As I studied Matthew 6:33 this week as part of our Online Bible Study, God continued to remind me that everything I need is found in Him.


"But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." KJV

"But seek for (aim at and strive after) first of all His Kingdom, and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right], and then all these things taken together will be given you besides." AMP

"Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions...." The Message

"Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what He requires of you, and He will provide you with all the other things." GNB

We are commanded to let go of worldly cares and receive His divine care and provision. And to do this, we are told to seek Him first.

Let's get a deeper understanding of these two words by looking at some synonyms.

SEEK - try to find, search for, track down, dig for, probe for, investigate, explore, examine, inspect

When we consider these similar words we find that seeking involves more than just a few minutes of our time. In order to have a thorough investigation or examination we must invest one of our most precious commodities.

Seeking demands time spent.

And when we spend time with Jesus, we begin to know Him.

Seeking produces intimacy.

An intimate knowing. A discovering. A deeply personal union.

Not only are we to seek Him, but we are to seek Him first.

FIRST - foremost, leading, principal, main, prime, head, highest; basic fundamental, primary, beginning, starting point

God has to be our starting point.

When He becomes our beginning, our primary focus, the starting point of anything that we do or ask or seek, a shift occurs.

Seeking causes a shift:

  • from carnal to spiritual
  • from natural to supernatural
  • from earthly to heavenly
  • from temporal to eternal
When we seek first Him, His Kingdom, His righteousness...everything we have need of is counted as ours.


Maybe life has overwhelmed you this week or even this day. I, too, found myself overwhelmed and anxious over some things the last couple of days. But when I began seeking Him and bathing my mind, my heart, and my spirit in His Word, a shift occurred. Although my circumstances remained the same, my thoughts changed and I found peace and grace in the middle of my messy places. 

You can find it to.

Seek.

First.

There is nothing like His presence.  Make the choice to spend some moments alone with Him now. Your Father is waiting.

(Synonyms taken from Roget's Thesaurus 3rd Edition 1998)

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Joining with Melissa Taylor and a community of women as we seek God and His Word together in our current Online Bible Study: Stressed-Less Living by Tracie Miles. Click here to read more blogs in our blog hop.

20 friends had this to say:

Unknown said...

Love this Shelly! This was one of the very first Scriptures I memorized. I love how you have unpacked it here. It truly is an investment for us, though that sounds a bit crass...to spend that time with our Creator. The more we do, the more natural it becomes and before we know it we are also seeking Him first!

Blessings on your day!

Tammy said...

Beautiful insight! I enjoyed the word studies...thank you!

Shelly said...

Thank you, Trudy and Tammy! Blessings to you today! :)

starla said...

yes letting Him be what we seek, giving Him the first place is all we need for the rest to unfold plenty!

Shelly said...

Amen, Starla! Blessings, sweet friend! xoxo

Joy Moments said...

Shelly love your breakdown of our verse this week. Always beautiful! So glad we are studying the Word together. Hugs! Debbie Williams

Melissa Taylor said...

"But when I began seeking Him and bathing my mind, my heart, and my spirit in His Word, a shift occurred. Although my circumstances remained the same, my thoughts changed and I found peace and grace in the middle of my messy places. "

This really spoke to me Shelly. A shift and transformation occur when we claim God's Word over our lives.

I loved this! You are a gifted teacher and communicator~thanks for sharing on the blog hop!

Shelly said...

Debbie...Thank you! I am thankful to be sharing this journey with you! Hugs back to you, sister! :)

Shelly said...

Melissa, What a gift your words are this morning! Thank you so much for your encouragement. I love what God is doing in OBS and am honored and thankful to be able to play a part in reaching others for His Kingdom.

Donna said...

First, I want to say how beautiful your layout is for this blog! Great design!

And wonderful insight, thank you for sharing, you have made God's word clear and I know many will be blessed by these words today!

Shelly said...

Donna, Thank you for your kind words and for taking a moment to leave your own words here. :) Blessings! ~Shelly

Sue Molitor said...

LOVE this Shelly!! So great! I love your blog! Love, Sue (OBS Leader)

Shelly said...

Thank you, Sue! :)

Unknown said...

Excellent study! Seeking requires a shift in perspective. I love that. so true!

Shelly said...

Thank you, Danielle! Yes, our perspective is so important!

Anonymous said...

We live in an age of intense anxiety. Much of what goes on at the national level filters down to us individuals. Then, we have the anxiety-laden events we all feel on the individual level - bills, deadlines, worrying about the kids, etc. - and anxiety levels go off the charts. Your article is a good corrective to some of the anxiety plaguing us today. Good post!

Sarah said...

Seek Him First. Thanks. Reminder Received.

It's a delight to meet you today. I hope you don't mind if I splash around a bit to get to know you. This looks like a refreshing place to dip into some serious goodness.

Splashin'
Sarah
www.justsarahdawn.blogspot.com

Shelly said...

Thank you, Warren and Sarah. Your words bless me!

Shelly said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amy said...

Enjoyed reading this very much :)
I focused on the second part also "his righteousness" .. Because it seemed to be equally first :)