The Priority of God
Now God established His priority at the beginning of creation and made it clear by His own declaration to mankind:
Constitutional Scripture: Matthew 6:25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?"
Focus: The word worry means to consume in thought, to establish as our first interest, mental preoccupation, priority, concern, fretting, fear of the unknown and to rehearse the future over which we have no control.
Keep in mind, that our self-worth is more important than our basic needs and should never be sacrificed for the sake of those needs. Read what Jesus stated:
Constitutional Scripture: Matthew 6:31-32 Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32) For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
Focus: The word Gentiles here implies that religion should not be motivated by the base drives of human needs for food, water, clothing, shelter and the like.
Focus Point: God's number one priority for mankind is that we discover, understand and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Questions:
A) How much do you worry about your basic life issues? To check this, look at any area where someone else would consider your actions more extreme than the average person's. How can you submit your area of worry to the Lord?
B) How does worry establish itself in your life? Does it come suddenly or grow step by step? What can you do to prevent worry from coming into your mind and heart?
C) Describe your self-worth. Have you ever sacrificed your self-worth for your basic needs? Why should this ever happen?
D) Why are Gentiles (NIV states "pagans") associated with the worry over basic needs? What statement do we make as Citizens and why do we worry the same as the Gentiles/ pagans? How should Kingdom Citizens differ from pagans in this as a testimony to the Kingdom of God?
E) Describe the process of discovery, understanding and entering the Kingdom of Heaven through your own experience. How do we continue this experience forward in our lives?
Meditation: Jesus suggests that there must be something about the Kingdom that all of mankind has missed and misunderstood. If everything that we pursue and strive for to live and survive are found in the Kingdom, then we have been misguided and perhaps have imposed on ourselves unnecessary hardship, stress and frustration.
Constitutional Scripture: Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Focus: Take the time to consider what you have missed or misunderstood about the Kingdom. Ask the Lord to reveal anything that He needs you to see to understand how His Kingdom works. Ask Him to give you the eyes to see that His Kingdom can provide what you need.
Constitutional Scripture: Matthew 6:25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?"
Focus: The word worry means to consume in thought, to establish as our first interest, mental preoccupation, priority, concern, fretting, fear of the unknown and to rehearse the future over which we have no control.
Keep in mind, that our self-worth is more important than our basic needs and should never be sacrificed for the sake of those needs. Read what Jesus stated:
Constitutional Scripture: Matthew 6:31-32 Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32) For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
Focus: The word Gentiles here implies that religion should not be motivated by the base drives of human needs for food, water, clothing, shelter and the like.
Focus Point: God's number one priority for mankind is that we discover, understand and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Questions:
A) How much do you worry about your basic life issues? To check this, look at any area where someone else would consider your actions more extreme than the average person's. How can you submit your area of worry to the Lord?
B) How does worry establish itself in your life? Does it come suddenly or grow step by step? What can you do to prevent worry from coming into your mind and heart?
C) Describe your self-worth. Have you ever sacrificed your self-worth for your basic needs? Why should this ever happen?
D) Why are Gentiles (NIV states "pagans") associated with the worry over basic needs? What statement do we make as Citizens and why do we worry the same as the Gentiles/ pagans? How should Kingdom Citizens differ from pagans in this as a testimony to the Kingdom of God?
E) Describe the process of discovery, understanding and entering the Kingdom of Heaven through your own experience. How do we continue this experience forward in our lives?
Meditation: Jesus suggests that there must be something about the Kingdom that all of mankind has missed and misunderstood. If everything that we pursue and strive for to live and survive are found in the Kingdom, then we have been misguided and perhaps have imposed on ourselves unnecessary hardship, stress and frustration.
Constitutional Scripture: Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Focus: Take the time to consider what you have missed or misunderstood about the Kingdom. Ask the Lord to reveal anything that He needs you to see to understand how His Kingdom works. Ask Him to give you the eyes to see that His Kingdom can provide what you need.