Matthew 6:33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
Greetings and salutations this Saturday morning my blessed friends, believers in Christ Jesus. As the apostle Peter so wisely said in his greeting long ago to the believers spread all over the known world: ‘Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through (in) the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord. According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to (by) glory and virtue.’ (2 Pet. 1:2-3)
Yes friends, this morning I sincerely desire that we be all filed with the grace and peace of Christ Jesus, who has called us to believe in Him and to do His holy bidding. There’s nothing better we can have in these troubled times than the peace, LOVE and grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! And having acknowledged that, let’s turn to the quotes that our friend Anselm sent us this past week, as he aspires to inspire us to a better tomorrow.
And the first quote says: ‘Regardless of how anyone else feels about me, I am going to choose to LOVE myself today.’ And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, for as we all know, we can’t LOVE anyone else until we first LOVE ourselves. Jesus tells us to LOVE our neighbour as ourselves, (Matt. 22:39) but how can we share something that we don’t have for ourselves eh? That’s impossible. So one of the many things we need to do each and every day, is to make sure that we have enough LOVE and compassion for and towards ourselves, so that if and when the situation arises, we can have some to give away.
Remember LOVE is the number ONE attribute of our great and wonderful God, so if we want to walk in step with Him, we too have to have that most worthy and precious attribute flowing through our bodies and souls. That brings us to this next quote: ‘You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your LOVE and affection.’ Now, from the that way that reads, it seems to be talking about deserving LOVE and affection from yourself. And that’s quite true! We all need to heap LOVE and affection on ourselves, just like we do on others. We’re no different from anyone else in that respect. LOVE and affection is a worldwide need and a must for all God’s creation!
However, I believe the following quote takes the whole thing a bit too far. ‘Put yourself at the top of your to-do list every single day and the rest will fall into place.’ Oh, you must take a serious interest in yourself every day, but making it the number one requirement on your to do list is going over the top, especially if you are a believer in Christ Jesus. For what did Jesus say? ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.’ (Matt. 6:33)
Yes friends, when we first seek God and His righteousness every day, then, and only then will everything else fall into place, not putting ourselves at the top of the heap. That’s not the way that Jesus does it in His kingdom. According to Him, the first shall be last and the last first, those who work for Him must consider servanthood a noble calling, like He did when He came to the earth the first time. But unfortunately, self-LOVE, and its associates – celebrity status, self-aggrandizement, lust for power and big egos are causing untold problems in our current society, for everybody wants to be number one, to be the served and not the servant, because that’s what our world glorifies!
But friends, God’s kingdom works on the opposite principles. The Good Book puts it thus: ‘Likewise ye younger, subject yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.’ (1 Pet. 5:5-6) I couldn’t put it any better my people. And if we want to be sincere and successful believers in Christ, that’s just what we need to do.
That brings us to the last quote. ‘You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously.’ And that’s the gospel truth! We are ALL masterpieces, as well as works in progress. And if you don’t believe me, then listen to the scriptures which prove it. Bruh David first tell us in Psalm 139 about out miraculous and marvellous genesis in our mother’s womb. ‘For thou hast possessed my reins (formed my inward parts): thou hast covered (weaved) me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right (very) well.’ (Ps. 139:13-14)
Oh my brethren, just sit and consider for a moment the awesome process by which we are conceived in our mother’s womb nuh! Our physical creation is indeed a masterpiece! However, once we are born, the rigours of sin and temptation set in, and we are unfortunately led down that wide and attractive, but oh so destructive path that leads to Hades. And that’s when Jesus steps in with His renewing presence and puts us on the straight and narrow path that leads to salvation and eternal life! Glory be mih bredrin! As Bruh Paul says: we are new creations! ‘Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new.’ (2 Cor. 5:17)
Yeh mih people! Thanks be to God for the heartwarming presence of Christ and His saving grace! However, we do not change from one thing to the other all in one fell swoop. It’s a gradual process, it takes time. As we saw yesterday when Bruh Paul told us that we were being led from ‘glory to glory,’ (2 Cor. 3:18) being daily transformed into the image of Christ, as the Father had long ago decided for us to eventually become.
So you can see that though our physical creation is worthy of masterpiece status, our spiritual self is a work in progress that will continue until necessary, as Bruh Paul informed the church at Philippi. ‘Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform (complete) it until the day of Jesus Christ.’ (Phil. 1:6)
Wow friends! What eternal security we Christians have! For God will continue to move us from glory to glory until the Second Coming of Jesus, when His work will then be completed. God has a purpose for doing the saving work in believers, and nothing will stop Him from completing it. Let’s remember that and consequently give our all to that awesome programme. It’s not rocket science, just basic common sense! Much LOVE!
…we are born a masterpiece…and will die in glory…what more can we ask…
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