“Then they said to him, ‘What must we do, to be doing the works of God?’ 29 Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’” John 6:28-29
“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33
When we approach our Heavenly Father in prayer, do we only come asking for our problems to be resolved? Or do we come seeking Him, His face, to know Him better, to be in relationship with the Great I Am?
When we can shift our focus for even a little bit of time, off our problems and onto who Father is and how much He loves us, onto the covenant relationship that Jesus redeemed for us and, onto what Holy Spirit is teaching us in these tough moments, we are raised up. We are for those moments seated in the heavenly place with our Triune God, giving Him praise and glory along with the heavenly chorus, awed by His magnificence, admiring Him for His grace, loving Him for His love of us. And we are refreshed in the offering.
If we can direct our hearts and our focus on Him first, remembering that every good and perfect gift flows from the Father of lights. If we can remember that as we seek first the Kingdom of righteousness, that Father takes care of our earthly needs. If we can remember that there is no job, no relationship, no house, no car, no clothes, no earthly thing that can make us feel more adequate, more secure, more loved, more acceptable, or more valuable than our Father does; These earthly things are like perishable foods; they cannot fulfill us. These are creations made by the Creator. But the food that we receive from Jesus is the food that never perishes. It is the food that strengthens us, encourages us, builds us up, allows us to have peace in the midst of the storm, to have persistence in the midst of defeat, and hope that believes beyond what we see and experience.
Father, I love you. Help me to shift my focus to you, to give you praise and glory for the reason that you are my God, my heavenly Father, my Creator. Please grow me in the truth that you are all I need; you take care of everything as I seek your face. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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