\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<section>When we look at these words of Jesus, we immediately find them to be the most revolutionary that human ears have ever heard. \u201c. . . seek <em>first<\/em> the kingdom of God . . . .\u201d Even the most spiritually-minded of us argue the exact opposite, saying, \u201cBut I <em>must<\/em> live; I <em>must<\/em> make a certain amount of money; I <em>must<\/em> be clothed; I <em>must<\/em> be fed.\u201d The great concern of our lives is not the kingdom of God but how we are going to take care of ourselves to live. Jesus reversed the order by telling us to get the right relationship with God first, maintaining it as the primary concern of our lives, and never to place our concern on taking care of the other things of life.<\/section>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>\u201c. . . <em>do not worry about your life<\/em>. . .\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Matthew+6:25\">Matthew 6:25<\/a>). Our Lord pointed out that from His standpoint it is absolutely unreasonable for us to be anxious, worrying about how we will live. Jesus did not say that the person who takes no thought for anything in his life is blessed\u2014 no, that person is a fool. But Jesus <em>did<\/em> teach that His disciple must make his relationship with God the dominating focus of his life, and to be cautiously carefree about everything else in comparison to that. In essence, Jesus was saying, \u201cDon\u2019t make food and drink the controlling factor of your life, but be focused absolutely on God.\u201d Some people are careless about what they eat and drink, and they suffer for it; they are careless about what they wear, having no business looking the way they do; they are careless with their earthly matters, and God holds them responsible. Jesus is saying that the greatest concern of life is to place our relationship with God first, and everything else second.<\/p>\n<p>It is one of the most difficult, yet critical, disciplines of the Christian life to allow the Holy Spirit to bring us into absolute harmony with the teaching of Jesus in these verses.<\/p>\n<p>________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>May 21, 2012<\/p>\n<p>Journal Entry for Today-JDV<\/p>\n<p>Lord, this lesson is a difficult one to internalize. Our senses cry out for us to be concerned about pain, hunger and uncertainty. \u00a0Our \u201ccommon sense\u201d tells us to be concerned about what we shall eat and how we shall live and be clothed. And most of us spent the first 16-20 years of our lives being trained to take care of ourselves, to earn a living and to be independent of others. But You teach us to be concerned only for our relationship; our connection. I love the message, but Lord I\u00a0really need your help in learning how to live this promise.<\/p>\n<p><em>And God says\u2026\u201dAll my promises are empty if you cannot live them out in your daily life. \u00a0If you truly want to learn to live them out; and if you ask me for My help with this learning, you will find yourself in circumstances where there is nothing else to do but trust in Me. You will\u00a0 find\u00a0yourself in situations where you are no longer \u201cin control\u201d or \u201cin charge\u201d of your life circumstances\u2026.you must look to Me for \u00a0to meet all your needs, and not for just a short period\u2026until you are \u201cout of the woods\u201d, away from those trying circumstances. This is not an occasional learning opportunity, it is a lifestyle, a daily way of living; trusting Me to meet all your needs.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you \u2014Matthew 6:33 When we look at these words of Jesus, we immediately find them to be the most revolutionary that human ears have ever heard. \u201c. . . seek first the kingdom of God . . . 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