“Seek ye first the kingdom of God”- Part II
Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
This morning I would like to do part II of the message that I spoke last week entitled “Seek ye first the kingdom of God.”
In case you were not here last week I will give a brief recap of what was discussed.
I touched on 3 things that you and I should have as a priority in our life as a Christian.
Notice I didn’t say as a leader or as a pastor, but I said as a Christian.
Here are the 3 things that I covered last week that you and I should have as a priority in our life as a Christian.
Number 1 – We should have the desire to know God as a priority in our life.
As a Christian, you and I should have a desire to know God. We should have a desire to know who God is and to know God’s ways.
You may ask, how do I get to know God?
You and I get to know God the same way that we get to know a friend, a family member or a loved.
We get to know them by spending time with them and having a conversation with them.
Well, it is the same with God. You and I can get to know God more by spending time with Him and by having a conversation with Him.
We can spend time with God in prayer.
We can spend time with God is His Word.
- When we spend time in the word of God, we are getting to know God is.
- When we spend time in prayer, we are getting to know who God is.
As a Christian we should desire to spend time with God in prayer and His Word. This helps us to get to know God and allows God to speak to us.
[Dan 11:32 KJV]
32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do [exploits].
As a Christian our top priority should be to get to know God.
Number 2 – We should have the desire to be more like Christ as a priority in our life. Afterall the word Christian does mean to be Christ like.
Did you know that the word Christian means to be Christlike?
So, when you and I tell someone that we are a born-again Christian, what we are saying is that we want to be more like Christ.
That is why it is important for you and I to get to know God first, then we can become more like Him.
How many know it is hard to be more like someone if you don’t know how they are?
As we find out more about who God is and His Characteristics, we should have a desire to be more like Him.
Let’s look at a few areas that you and I can be more like Christ.
- Character
They say character is who you and I are when no one is looking.
We should be people of integrity.
We should be a people of honesty.
We should be people of Godly character.
- Conversation
Colossians 4:6 NIV
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
We should be a people that shows we are Christian in our conversations.
Maybe before we become a Christian our conversation wasn’t very Christlike.
Maybe before Christ our conversations were full of lies.
Maybe before Christ our conversations were full of gossip.
Maybe before Christ our conversations where full of cussing.
But now we are aiming to be more like Christ in our conversations and things have changed.
The bible says let your conversation be seasoned with salt and full of grace.
I heard someone say that your conversation should be seasoned with salt just in case you need to eat your own words.
Example: Have you ever said something about someone and then come to find out it wasn’t true, or have you said something about someone in judgement and then you end up doing the same thing?
Ouch.
- Commitment
We should be people who want to be more like Christ in our commitments.
Jesus didn’t go halfway to the cross. He went all the way. He was committed.
If we give our word to do something, then you and I should try our best to follow through.
Why because we want to be more like Christ.
How many know God is a God of His Word?
You and I should desire to be more like Christ in our commitments.
If we give someone our word, we should do our best to follow through.
Why? Because we want to be more like Christ.
I know we like to grow in our talents, skills, and gifts, but we should also we willing to grow in character, commitment and conversation.
Let’s go to the third and final area that should be a priority in our life as a Christian.
Number 3 – We should have a desire to do what God has called us to do as a priority in our life as a Christian.
I think these priorities that I am sharing should be in the order that I am sharing them in.
- We should have a desire to know God.
- We should have a desire to be more like Christ.
- We should have a desire to do what God has called us to do.
Once we know God and become more like Christ, then we can do what God has called us to do the way God would have us to do it.
If we get it mixed up or out of order, we can want to do what God has called us to do, but lack Godly character and not even know the God we are doing it for.
That is when we can run into challenges.
Such as feeling used and unappreciated.
The challenge for you and I is to know the God we are serving and to become more like Him as we do what He has created us to do.
Jesus said in John 6:38 KJV
[Jhn 6:38 NIV] 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
Paul said in Acts 20:24 KJV
[Act 20:24 NIV] 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace.
It is great to come to church, but we should also have a desire to do what God has called and created us for.
Tell the person next to you “You have a calling”
Now I know when we hear calling, most of us think of being a preacher or a missionary but calling goes beyond preaching.
Some of us are called to be specialists in a certain area, such as media, law, graphics, sound, music, hospitality, event coordination, administration, and the list can go on.
What has God created you for?
What has God called you to do?
_____
This morning I would like to continue where I left off last week.
I would like to talk about doing what God has called us to do as a priority in our lives.
[2Co 5:15-19 NIV]
15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
You and I have been given the message of reconciliation.
God wants to use our lives to reconcile the world to Himself.
That message is not only given to the preacher, but it is given to the church.
You and I should have a desire to see the world reconciled to Christ.
You and I should have a desire to do the part that God has given us to reconcile the world to Christ.
Did you know God has saved you and I for a purpose?
It is not only the preacher’s job to be used to reconcile people to God.
Each and everyone of us has a part to do in reconciling the world back to God.
Whether it be:
- Teaching
- A Coach.
- A University Student.
- A Lawyer.
- A Athlete.
- A Businessman.
- A Cashier at a department store.
- A Janitor.
- A security guard.
- A Graphic Designer.
- A Content Writer.
- A Video editor.
- A Web designer.
What ever gift or talent that God has given us we should want to use it to further the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What are some practical ways that you and I can do what God has called us to do and use our gifts and reconcile the world back to God.
Teacher–Maybe you have students in your class that come from tough homes, and you can minister to these children.
You can encourage them and help them reach their potential
When they grow up and get saved because of the impact you had on their lives.
You can be the teacher in their testimony.
I remember my 5th grade teacher who would pray for me and help me through tough times.
well and give your customers to notch service they can’t help but to ask, “How did you get so good?”
You reply with Well let me tell you. If it wasn’t for God, I wouldn’t even have a business.
Coach – You are working with kids that come from different households and they have different needs. When they come to your practice or join your team, you let them know they can be anything they want if they put God first.
Content Writer–Maybe you write content for online businesses. When someone wants to hire you, they go through your website that has your testimony on it.
They read your testimony and start asking you questions about God.
Cashier at the department store – You always come to work smiling. You have joy when going through things at work. When the crew is going out on Friday night, you are talking about the Third Wave Service.
You may not know, but the one who seems like they don’t want God is watching you and ends up asking you if they could talk to you. They ask you to pray for them because they feel empty and need God.
These are just simple practical ways that you and I can be used of God to reconcile people back to God.
A security guard – I heard a story one time of an individual who went to a church looking for a pastor.
The church was closed but the security guard was on duty.
The person knocked on the church door saying I want to speak to the pastor. The security guard said you don’t need a pastor you need God. Laid hands on that individual and God touched them in a powerful way.
What is it that God has called you to do?
We should want to use that gift and talent to make an impact and to reconcile the world to God.
Paul said in II Corinthians 5:20 – We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
What is an ambassador?
I got this from the David Guzik commentary on the book of II Corinthians. He says:
There is so much to the idea of being Ambassadors. An ambassador does not speak to please his audience, but the King who sent him.
An ambassador does not speak on his own authority; his own opinions or his own demands mean little. He simply says what he has been commissioned to say.
Paul sees it like he is serving in a foreign land as the representative of a King. The King has a message, and Paul is delivering that message as though God were pleading through us.
As we know God and become more like Christ, we should have a desire to do what God has called us to do.
God saved us for a purpose, and we have a calling on our lives.
We are living life with a purpose that is bigger than ourselves.
We should live a purpose driven life.
As we use or gifts and talents and do what God has called us to do, we should want to see people reconciled back to God.
Here is a saying from the book – “The Mission of Gods People” by Christopher J.H. Wright –
“God has a church for His mission in the world. Mission is not made for the church, but the church was made for the mission.”
What is it that God has called you to do?
It is 2023. It is time to go for it.
Whatever God has gifted and called you to do, let’s go for it in 2023.
Not only that, let’s get better at it, so we can make a bigger impact.
What are practical steps that we can take to pursue and get better at what God has called us to do?
- Is it reading that book?
- Is it Enrolling in that class?
- Is it Starting that business?
- Is it going to V.E.T.I.
- Is it getting under someone who could teach you to go to another level?
- Is it going to the U.T.C.?
- Is it making that CV?
- Is it Applying for that job?
- Is it getting involved in ministry?
As dit nie nou is nie? Wanneer?
I don’t know what stopped us in 2015.
I don’t know what discouraged us in 2019.
I don’t know what got us off track in 2022, but it is 2023 and it is time for a comeback.
Our priorities as a Christian should be:
Let’s know God.
Be more like Christ
And Let’s Do what God has called us to do.
As we grow in getting to know God and grow in becoming more like Christ, we also want to grow in doing what God has called us to do.