We are to seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and then, all that we have need of, will be furnished or supplied unto us. For our heavenly Father knows that which we have need of before we ask of Him. However, for this to happen, as well as operate within our life, one needs to be confident of this relationship with Him. They need to trust Him, as well as His Word.

 Often, as one reads the accounts that are given within the Bible, of those that lived by faith in God and His Word, one can imagine themselves as doing something great for God. The reason that the people listed within the Bible were able to accomplish that which they did, was that they had established a personal, intimate and working relationship with God. They not only read God’s Word (when available, for before Moses time, there was only that that was passed on) but they trusted in it, as well as lived it. They entrusted their very lives to the truthfulness of His Word. (Rom 3:3-4).

 For us that are living in these New Testament times, there are some requirements that must be met, in order for one to establish and maintain a personal and intimate relationship with God. First off, one must recognize as well as acknowledge that He is God. Then, one must acknowledge and accept the sacrifice that His Son Jesus Christ of Nazareth made in and on your behalf. The fact that He was born of a virgin, lived a life without sin, that He gave His life at the cross and the grave to redeem any who would believe, from the curse of the Law, and took upon Himself all of the physical and spiritual judgments  that were against us, and then rose victorious with the keys of hell and death, thus making it possible for anyone that will believe, to again be able to fellowship with Father through him. This He all did, so that whosoever would believe in Him and the work that He did, would not perish, but by the new birth, and thus becoming a partaker of His divine nature, and hold fast the profession of faith without wavering until the end, would inherit eternal life with Father and Son.

 Once one is born again (born anew) (Rom 8:9, 2Cor 5:16-17, John 3:3-8) now one has to train or teach one self on how to maintain this spiritual health (3John 1:2), in order to maintain this personal and intimate relationship with Father. We receive the measure of faith, and then one must develop, maintain, as well as stabilize this gift they have received, by hearing God’s Word, and then applying it (His Word) to their life; allowing His Word to become an actual way of life and living. (Being a doer of the Word, and not a forgetful hearer).

 In this present world, in today’s age and times, most people are used to getting the things that they want, when they want them. Even if one is not able to afford it, they can use their credit cards or loans to obtain those things which they desire. Instant fleshly gratification! Or, as we talked about in last weeks newsletter, pride gets in the way, as one seeks their comfort and security here, on earthly delights.

 We are supposed to seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness Christ (2Cor 5:21, 1Cor 1:30). Yet, with the many voices that are in this world, proclaiming messages that they say are from God, people are not only told what to focus in and on, but to desire these earthly delights. (Doctrines such as name it and claim it. Or, those who gauge their spirituality by how much money they have, or the things they have acquired). However, if one will read the Bibles attentively, they will see that the physical blessings (that which they have need of), the signs and wonders, follow God’s Word. They come upon you, they overtake you, as one presses on towards the mark of the prize. So think about this, if one is focusing in and on the physical things, that is chasing the blessings, which direction would one be heading in? where should one’s focus be?

John 6:26-27, Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. (KJV)
 
(from Adam Clarke Commentary) Though the miracle of the loaves was one of the most astonishing that ever was performed upon earth; and though this people had, by the testimony of all their senses, the most convincing proof of its reality; yet we find many of them paid little attention to it, and regarded the omnipotent hand of God in it no further than it went to satisfy the demands of their appetite! Most men are willing to receive temporal good from the hands of God; but there are few, very few, who are willing to receive spiritual blessings.
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
 [Labour not for the meat.] That is, for that only, but also for the bread, etc. Our Lord wills every man to be active and diligent in that employment in which providence has placed him; but it is his will also that that employment, and all the concerns of life, should be subservient to the interest of his soul.
 [But for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.] He who labours not, in the work of his salvation, is never likely to enter into the kingdom of God. Though our labour cannot purchase it, either in whole or in part, yet it is the way in which God chooses to give salvation; and he that will have heaven must strive for it. Everything that can be possessed, except the salvation of God, is a perishing thing: this is its essential character: it can last to us no longer than the body lasts. But, when the earth and its produce are burnt up, this bread of Christ, his grace and salvation, will be found remaining unto eternal life. This is the portion after which an immortal spirit should seek.
 [Him hath God the Father sealed.] By this expression, our Lord points out the commission which, as the Messiah, he received from the Father, to be prophet and priest to an ignorant, sinful world. As a person who wishes to communicate his mind to another who is at a distance writes a letter, seals it with his own seal, and sends it directed to the person for whom it was written, so Christ, who lay in the bosom of the Father, came to interpret the divine will to man, bearing the image, superscription, and seal of God, in the immaculate holiness of his nature, unsullied truth of his doctrine, and in the astonishing evidence of his miracles. But he came also as a priest, to make an atonement for sin; and the bread which nourishes unto eternal life, he tells us, <John 6:51>, is his body, which he gives for the life of the world; and to this sacrifice of himself, the words, him hath God the Father sealed, seem especially to relate. It certainly was a custom, among nations contiguous to Judea, to set a seal upon the victim which was deemed proper for sacrifice.-- The following account of the method of providing white bulls among the Egyptians, for sacrifices to their god Apis, taken from HERODOTUS, Euterpe, or b. 2 p. 117, casts much light upon this place. "They sacrifice white bulls to Apis; and for that reason make the following trial. If they find one black hair upon him, they consider him as unclean: that they may know this with certainty, the priest appointed for this purpose views every part of the animal, both standing and lying on the ground. After this, he draws out his tongue, to see if he be clean by certain signs: in the last place, he looks upon the hairs of his tail, that he may be sure they are as by nature they should be.-- If, after this search, the bull is found unblemished, he signifies it by tying a label to his horns; then, having applied wax, he seals it with his ring, and they lead him away: for it is death to sacrifice one of these animals, unless he have been marked with such a seal.
 The Jews could not be unacquainted with the rites and ceremonies of the Egyptian worship; and it is possible that such precautions as these were in use among themselves, especially as they were so strictly enjoined to have their sacrifices without SPOT, and without blemish. Infinite justice found Jesus Christ to be without spot or blemish, and therefore sealed, pointed out and accepted him, as a proper sacrifice and atonement for the sin of the whole world. Collate with this passage, <Heb. 7:26-28; Eph. 5:27; 2 Pet. 3:14>; and especially <Heb. 9:13-14>: For if the blood of BULLS and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth-- how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself WITHOUT SPOT to God, purge your consciences from dead works! The rabbis talk much of the seal of God, which they suppose to be 'emet  (heb 571), or truth; and that this is a representation of the unoriginated and endless perfections of God. This doctrine is just; but their method of proving it is not so satisfactory. 'Aleph (') say they, is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; mem (m) the middle Hebrew letter; and tau (t) the last Hebrew letter of the alphabet: these three letters make 'emet  (heb 571), TRUTH, because God is the first-- there was none before him; he is the middle-- none mingles with him; and he is the last-- there can be none after him. Hieros. Sanhed. fol. 18. See also <1 Pet. 1:18-19> (from Adam Clarke Commentary)

 What are your motives or reasons for seeking a relationship with God? What is it that motivates you?

 Learning to be content with that which we have. (Phil 4:11-2) Knowing that we have been blessed with ALL spiritual blessings in the heavenly in Christ Jesus. One must stay risen with Christ, walking in and maintaining this victory. (Eph 1:3, Col 3:1-2).

 Today, will you delight yourself in His Word?
 
That you may know Him,
In the service of Jesus Christ.
 
Larry Gazelka
 
www.builtanewministries.org

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