Seek first God's Kingdom--Answered Prayer 14/05/13

Tuesday, May 14th

Good morning Michael,

Here's Today's Devotional from The Vine...

God Will Provide

But seek first God's Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. - Matthew 6:33

We are to take no thought for our own life, for food or raiment; because that is God's part, not ours. There is one thing, however, for which we are to take thought, not anxious but very earnest thought. We are to take thought about our duty, about doing God's will and filling our place in God's world.

We ought to get this very clearly in our mind. Too many people worry far more about their food and raiment, least they shall be left to want, than they do about doing well their whole duty, That is, they are more anxious about God's part in their lives than they are about their own . They fear God may not take care of them, but they do not have any fear that they may fail in fidelity to Him. We ought to learn well that providing for our wants is God's business, not ours. We have nothing at all to do with it. But we have everything to do with our own duty, our allotted work, the doing of God's will. God will never do these things for us. If we do not do them, they must remain undone; if we do them with fidelity, God will care for us.

The noblest life possible in this world is simple consecration to Christ and to duty, with no anxiety about anything else. We may not always be fed luxuriously, nor be clothed in scarlet and fine linen; yet food convenient for us will always be provided, and raiment sufficient to keep us warm. But suppose we are near starving! Well, we must just go on doing our part and not worrying; in due time, somehow, God will provide. Here we have our Lord's own promise of this. The truth is, too many of us take a great deal more thought about our support than about our duty. Then of course we forfeit the promise and may suffer. How much better the other way - ours the doing, God's the providing.

靈命日糧：鬱金香

12 May 2013

你想，野地裏的百合花……然而我告訴你們：就是所羅門極榮華的時候，他所穿戴的還不如這花一朵呢！-馬太福音6章28-29節

讀經：馬太福音6章25-34節

有好些國家會慶祝鬱金香節，以迎接春天的來臨。通常提到鬱金香，我常會聯想到荷蘭，但事實上，鬱金香的商業化種植始於中東。如今這些五彩繽紛的花兒開遍了全球。鬱金香目前估計有109個品種，為世界各地的公園、大道、庭院增色不少。

去年秋天，我種了一些鬱金香球莖。數個月後，鬱金香絢麗多彩地綻放，宣告春天來臨。它們提醒我，夏天就要到了，且隨之而來的是更多賞心悅目的花朵。

花朵使我想起生命中上帝所賜的恩典。我們的主用野地的百合花來提醒我 們天父的供應。在登山寶訓中，耶穌說：「你想，野地裏的百合花……然而我告訴你們：就是所羅門極榮華的時候，他所穿戴的還不如這花一朵呢！……你們這小信 的人哪！……上帝還給它這樣的妝飾，何況你們呢！」（馬太福音6章28-30節）

鬱金香使我們察覺冬天的尾聲和春天的開端，它們就像野地的百合花，提醒我們可以仰賴那一位供應飲食、衣裳、庇護的上帝。HDF

野地樹木草上花，
無論高大或嬌小；
嗬護之跡可尋見，
萬物皆由上帝造。King

若耶穌看顧花和鳥，祂必定關心你和我。

  全年讀經:
全年讀經:列王紀下17-18章; 約翰福音3章19-36節

Hope in the Lord

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“So Moses told the people of Israel what the LORD had said, but they refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery.”

(Exodus 6:9, NLT)

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

When you hear that “God wants to bring you out better,” does something come alive in your spirit? Something that says, “Yes, this is for me. I have not seen my best days. God has greater things in my future”? Maybe you want to believe, but like the Israelites, you’ve been burdened down by adversity, trials and cares of this life. Maybe your mind has tried to talk you out of it saying, “This is not for you. You never get any good breaks. You’ll never be healthy. You’ll never be successful.” No, do yourself a favor. At least temporarily, turn your mind off and receive what God is saying. You may have gone through a loss, but God is going to bring you out better — promoted, increased, healthier, stronger and wiser. Scripture tells us to cast our cares on the Lord because He cares for us. He doesn’t want us to carry a heavy load, discouraged and overwhelmed by things He already has the answer to. Don’t look at your circumstances; look to Jesus. Put your hope in Him. He is the author and finisher of your faith, and He will bring you out better and stronger than ever before!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father, today I cast my cares on You. I put my faith and hope in You. I believe that You are working behind the scenes on my behalf, and I give You all the praise and thanks as I wait with expectancy for Your goodness in Jesus’ name. Amen.

— Joel & Victoria Osteen

Consider The Lilies Of The Field Matthew 6:28–29 28So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. You may think that you must work very hard to provide for yourself and get ahead in life. But God wants you to consider the lilies of the field—they do nothing. They toil not, spin not and struggle not. Yet, they grow and are clothed by God while simply resting and basking in the sunshine of God’s love! And when God clothes them, they look even more glorious than King Solomon, the richest king who ever lived.   Like the lilies of the field, God wants you to let Him take care of providing for your material needs, instead of you striving to do it yourself. When you let go and let Him, you will see Him bless you supernaturally, abundantly and generously!   This is what happened to one of our church members who had been looking for a job. Initially, he received only two calls for interviews after sending out 12 résumés. Refusing to be discouraged, he believed that God wanted to bless him not just with a job, but with a position of influence too.   God was faithful. This church member soon became the business manager of an engineering company even though he had no engineering background. He was offered a very attractive remuneration package and within his first week on the job, was asked to quote on two projects. He knew that this was God’s doing because it was difficult enough just to secure an appointment with contract managers to discuss projects, let alone be asked to quote on not one but two projects. Before long, he was offered the position to run the entire Singapore subsidiary with only one other business development manager. He was then only 25 years old!   My friend, God can do for you what He did for this person. Just believe that if God clothes the lilies and grass of the field, which are here today and gone tomorrow, how much more will He clothe you, His eternal and precious child, with beauty and favor! All He asks is that you cease from your striving, allow Him to take over and just flow with Him!     Read The Good News Today?     Matthew 6:33 33… seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. God doesn’t want you grabbing the newspaper first thing in the morning and reading all the bad news in the world. He knows that if you do that, your heart will be full of cares, anxieties and even fears. This happened to a mother who read in the newspaper that children from China studying in our local schools were becoming top students. She wrote to the press, voicing her concerns about the stiff competition her child would face from these students, even for the top jobs in Singapore in the future. When you are reading the newspapers, magazines, medical journals, economic reports, watching movies or surfing the Internet all the time, then you are getting your “nourishment” from these sources instead of God’s Word. Now, I am not against these things. But if you constantly feed only on earthly things which cannot satisfy, you will fill your heart and mind with cares and worries. Jesus doesn’t want you to end up worrying about your life — what you will eat, drink or wear — as these are the things that the Gentiles (people of the world) seek. He says that your heavenly Father knows very well that you need these things. (Matthew 6:31–32) That is why He promises you that if you would seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, all these things that the world seeks after will be added to you. It will not just be given but added, which means greater in quantity and quality! If you are faced with lack, don’t pursue material goods. Pursue God your provider. If you are sick, don’t pursue the “cure”. Pursue God your healer. My friend, don’t grab the newspaper or call your friend first thing in the morning to talk about the latest bad news. Instead, grab your Bible and read all the good news God has for you for the day. And as you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all the things that the world is running after will be added to you!