Resurrection Mornings {looking for Jesus}

There are so many precious passages in the New Testament which tell us the events that surround the death and resurrection of our Saviour.  Many precious truths are contained in these passages, and it thrills my heart that you can read them time and time again and EVERY time you will be blessed.  How can God's children NOT be blessed thinking upon such things?

Robert was preaching from one such passage on the Lord's Day evening.  I literally felt like I was hearing words for the first time, yet I know I have read them and heard them many times before.

There are often many ways to look upon a passage - you can be rebuked and blessed at the same time.

The passage was found in Luke 24 - the account of those who came to the tomb on the third day, and what happened afterwards.

The first thing that spoke to my heart related to the time of day.

"very early in the morning"

These women sacrificed sleep, and rose VERY early, to go and find the Saviour, intending upon embalming his body with ointments and spices.   He was dead, and yet they still cared for the Saviour. They were willing to sacrifice, humanly speaking, to be there.

AS a daughter of the King, am I willing to put my earthly desires and wishes to one side, in order to put the Saviour first?  I know that not everyone can actually rise VERY early, in order to have their quiet time, but I still maintain, if it is at all possible, that having such a communion with the Lord, is worth the sacrifice of sleep.  You can, of course, go to bed sooner, and that helps! The principle is this - no matter the time of day - we need to prioritise our time, and consider time spent with the Lord as an important and vital use of our time.

The next thing that spoke to my heart, and which Robert referred to, was this - the angels rebuked the women who came.

I had never thought of it as a rebuke, and yet it was.

"Why seek ye the living among the dead? 
 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 
Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."
Luke 24:5-7


They were basically saying

"what are you doing looking for the Lord HERE? He TOLD you He would rise again.  So, why are you looking for a dead body?"


Ouch.

When we come looking to commune with the Lord, whatever time of day it might be, you may find it's a rebuke you get, when reading His Word.

So, what of these women? What is their error that needs rebuking?

We read of it happening over and over again in the scriptures - people seem to so easily forget what God has told them.  Their memories seem so short.  They get  caught up in the emotion of a situation and forget God's words. Whether it's a time of fear, of conflict, of trial, of challenge, they seem to forget so quickly.

We'd never do such a thing, especially as emotional women.  Right?...

Sadly, I see myself in that scenario.  God makes promises, and He keeps them.  Yet, I doubt, and I forget so easily. My mind and my focus moves away from the Lord, and onto myself and my situation.

I hit hard times, and I forget His promises.

What the chapter says next, is what *I* need to do.

"And they remembered his words"

They remembered what the Lord had told them, for themselves.

You see, God's Word is dependable.  If He says it, it's true.  If He says He will do something, He will do it.  If He says He will give something, He will give it.  If He says He will strengthen, He will strengthen.  If He says He will give rest, HE will give rest.

Think of the promise you need, and remember His Words. Whatever sorrow, trial, struggle or challenge you are facing, God has a promise, and He keeps His Word.

He's dependable.

He is true.

He is faithful.

I am so thankful for my risen Saviour, and that I can trust Him to keep His Word, just as He did centuries ago, when He rose triumphant over death and hell, to claim the victory over sin, for ME!

Hallelujah! What a Saviour!

Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Saviour!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Saviour!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Saviour!

Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in Heav’n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Saviour!

When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Saviour!

"blessed...with all spiritual blessings"

I want to invite you on a journey with me.  In order to invite you, I need to first take you on a journey back in time.  We don't have to travel very far.  Well, actually, after a bit of thought (whilst tidying up the kitchen....), I need to take you back a bit further than I initially thought.

Autumn 2009.  I was in the early stages of my pregnancy with Elijah. Easily fatigued, and hormones high.  Being a home-school Mum was wearing me out.  I realised I needed to take a different approach, namely changing the curricula we used.  I don't want to get into the "ins and outs" or the "whys and wherefores" in this post.  Suffice to say, that the Lord very clearly led us into a new direction.  We began in the January of 2010.

Upon starting out in pastures new, I discovered a whole realm of home-schooling communities online, with tremendous resources.  One such was Heart of the Matter.  It's a lovely source of encouragement for home-schooling parents.  They do a couple of different online conferences a year, and I signed up to attend the one last summer.  It was GREAT! I was so blessed and encouraged by the speakers and hostesses - particularly Sally Clarkson, and Courtney Joseph.  Through their roles in that conference, I started to really grow and learn in my role as wife and mother, and especially in home-schooling.

Through Courtney's ministry, I found out about Good Morning Girls.  It's an online accountability system, for having your quiet time.  My quiet times had really not been consistent, and as you would expect, my spiritual strength was lacking.  I tried to drum up some interest amongst friends, to join the Autumn '10 group.  I started out, but if floundered and fizzled out. Then, they announced that they would start the next one in January, studying through the book of James, using the SOAP method, that I shared about here.  I went on the forum on their website, hoping to find some others that I could join with, who also wanted to follow the study.  On the forum, there was a Scottish lady, asking about forming a group!  A SCOTTISH lady, no less.  Anyone that doesn't know a Scot, will not know the affinity shared with their fellow nationals, whether you know them or not.  (Meet a total stranger, who's a Scot?...then you WILL get chatting! lol)  Her name was Kirsteen.  (well, IS Kirsteen, I should say!)  She had another friend, Jennifer, who was going to be in the group, too.  Through one thing and another, several other ladies joined.  Heather, Ingrid and Kimberly, from the "other side of the pond", and Tanya and Grainne (sisters), from the other side of the much smaller pond (the Irish Sea!).  The latter 2 lovely ladies, live VERY near to my 2 brothers in Northern Ireland.  Their parents come from places I am very familiar with.  It was really one of these amazing moments, where a real connection is felt.  Then, we all shared pictures of each other.   Hmmmmm.  Kirsteen looked familiar, but I couldn't place how.  I mean, Scotland isn't exactly TINY - we very likely had never even met before.  Then, she emailed me asking "was your Dad a Pastor in Scotland?".  Erm, yes! Why?  "because I think i met you when I was 14, at your youth group!".  Indeed, we did!  Her Dad was Pastor of a different denomination, but they visited our youth group a couple of times.  I THOUGHT I recognised her face!  (It really hasn't changed much....I was just relieved that it wasn't that I looked like my Dad, as being the reason for her making the connection...it's happened before....*sigh*).  Isn't that amazing!  God really does some amazing things!

Well, the group got on like the proverbial house on fire.  We shared our discoveries and thoughts as we studied through the Epistle.  It was was so challenging.  God really spoke to me about many things.  I started getting up earlier, to do my devotions.  I started reading God's Word more.  I changed the way I behaved and dealt with my family.  (That's a work in progress, I hasten to add....but improvement, certainly!)  I was challenged about memorising scripture, and have now nearly finished learning the first chapter of Philippians.   We all grew, and became firmer friends, despite never being able to meet together in person.  The Lord most certainly brought us together to encourage each other "as iron sharpeneth iron".

We started the summer session, with the addition of a new members - Anne, Dawn and Rachel.  Anne and Dawn were asking to join a group, via the GMG forum.  I saw them, and realised that, yup, you guessed it, I KNEW Anne!  We met MANY moons ago, (nearly 20 years, so she must have been about 9.....*whistles and winks*), when I was only a teen, and she was about to become a mother for the first time!

ALL these friendships, developing through our GMG group and via Facebook contact, have been SUCH a blessing to me.  Finally, I get around to the title of this post.  Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3, tells us


"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:"

I am blessing God.  I am blessing him for the spiritual blessing that I have in my "Good Morning" Girls.   They have have challenged me, encouraged me, prayed for me, laughed with me, empathised with me.  They have blessed me abundantly, and continue to do so, as we enter a new study together.  I am so thankful for the different blessings that each one brings to me, with their own unique God-given gifts and personality's.

The Good Morning Girls fall session will begin in September.  However, for one reason and another, we are not waiting for that to begin.  We are going to study through the Epistle to the Ephesians, which will bring us to the end of the year.  God brought us together as a group of ladies, but we now feel able to study something that fits our group, which is a blessing of it's own! That we are able to share how we feel, without judgement or condemnation.  For that I give thanks.

So, the journey I asked you to share?  It's a journey through Ephesians. Do you study God's Word, in detail and methodically.  If you don't, using the SOAP method is great.  If you want to follow alongside us, in Ephesians, then you will find the reading plan (that you can print out) here.  I will be regularly sharing about what God is teaching me, as we study through this wonderful Epistle.  Please share your thoughts with us, if you follow along.  Your heart will be blessed by studying God's Word like this.  All you need is a notebook to jot down your thoughts, if you use the SOAP method.  If you don't want to study alongside us, but would rather be blessed by following along with the official GMG (who are going to study through I John), then either gather together a group of lady's who want to join you, or find a group on their Message Board.  Your heart will  be blessed, I am sure!

So, please join us on our journey, as we find God's truths and blessing, in Ephesians!

Raising a godly generation - part 2

This time I continue with some more practical considerations that are important in training up our children for the Lord.  There is still at least one more (probably more!) post to come, with further suggestions.

4.  HAVE FAMILY WORSHIP/DEVOTIONS

The Bible teaches us, in Deuteronomy 6:6-7



"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

I recently read a blog post, where somebody took time to say that family devotions are not in the Bible, and you shouldn't feel you HAVE to have them.

True, we do not find any explicit details or instructions to sit down together as a family, to read the scriptures, sing, pray and discuss the Word of God.  However, in the above verses we find command to diligently teach our children God's ways.  As I have already mentioned, children do learn by our example, but that is not the same as TEACHING.  Teaching implies formality and time taken to convey vital information from one party to another.  Having family devotions is a perfect time to do this.  It's a time to learn together, with the father as the head of the home, teaching God's truths to his children.  Praising God together in song.  Thinking about the truths that have been taught, and applying them to the life of the family.

Currently, we are going through the book of Proverbs.  The children are loving how Robert is trying to give them object lessons to remember the truths.  Things that they will remember, and by God's grace, apply to their own lives.  In the evenings, we always sing and pray together, and Robert usually brings some truth to round off the day.  It's a more informal time, and we LOVE singing God's praises together!

If you don't already have a time in the day when you have family worship, then I would recommend that you do.  Speak to your husband about it.  Prayerfully consider what format you want to use, to fit your own family, but ultimately not forgetting that the key point of it is to teach God's Word to your children.

We are planning on using a new book soon - Clay Clarkson's "Our 24 Family Ways".

Read about it here.  He explains the reason why he produced the book, and about what it contains   

It looks really lovely - you can see sample pages here.  They now have the added bonus of colouring pages, that you can photocopy for your own family's use, that tie in with the 24 ways.

There are many resources you could use for a family devotion time.  We have, in the past, used the lovely book by Mariann Schoolland, "Leading Little Ones to God".

 It's a lovely book, going through major points of doctrine, in a way that is easy to understand for children.  You can see inside it, and view the contents here. For each part that it teaches, it has a a scripture portion, a memory verse, a song and then the teaching.  Lots of excellent content.  We will probably keep coming around to using it in a cycle, as it's nice to have some variety, but we want the younger ones to learn the doctrine, too!  I must confess, I bought mine before I even got married, or had children!  We had used it growing up, and knew I wanted to use it when I had children of my own! So, I was very forward thinking, and bought it when it was on sale!

You could also use a good daily devotional, such as the Spurgeon's "Morning and Evenings", which would lead to some excellent discussion.

If you want to use scripture as the backbone, but want thematic study, then the Daily Light is great.  It is simply a collection of texts, around a theme, for morning and evening use.

Make the time enjoyable - you want them to see that you have a love for God's Word, and that it is something precious and valuable in your life. Be enthusiastic as you sing praise to God.  Help them to understand what they are singing - there is no point singing empty words.

We sing a selection of choruses and hymns, that are favourites of the family.  We know a small selection of Psalm portions, but that is something I would like to work on a bit, too.

5. MEMORISE SCRIPTURE

Children have a brain like a sponge.  They have an enviable ability to memorise things, which an adult would sincerely wish that they were still able to so readily achieve!   Grab that opportunity while you can!  get them memorising scripture.  For little ones, choose short, key parts of verses.

 "The wages of sin is death",


 "God is love",


 "I am the way the truth and the life",  


"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth".

They could also combine it with learning their alphabet, and learn a verse for each letter of the alphabet!  Older children could learn whole passages - such as Psalm 23, or the 10 commandments.  Key verses about doctrine are also good to have memorised.  You could have a reward scheme, where they could perhaps have a Bible given to them upon completion, or some other suitable reward.

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. "

Psalm 119:11  

6. LISTEN TO GOOD MUSIC

Now, I know this is quite a subjective area.  I personally don't listen to Christian music that is too contemporary.  I feel that it is so close to the world's style of music, that it just doesn't sit well with me.

However, I have a couple of recommendations, for children, that I think would please most!

Firstly, there is a set of Albums called "Bible Songs for Kids".  You will find them at Bible Truth Music, and what's great is that they are downloadable!  So, no shipping costs involved!  They are a large selection (6 albums, so far) of KJV scripture in song.  Straight up and down Bible verses - no paraphrasing, or put into a meter, just songs composed to fit with the words.  They are really great, and it is also a super way of getting them to learn the Bible verses! The children pick them up very quickly.

Another one I got more recently, is "Hide em in your heart".  This is also scripture in song, but I think it is NKJV?  I haven't actually worked it out, but I base this on the fact that some of them are the same as KJV, and some are just a little different.  These are a little more"upbeat" in style, but not "rock" style by ANY means! You can download it on itunes, and also listen to samples there, to give you an idea of what it is like.   The other element of these that I like, is that they start with the recording artist (Steve Green), explaining a bit about the verse, and what children need to learn from it, before a child quotes the reference, and it is then sung.  My children certainly love it, as a lot of it is very fun!  It covers such verses as Psalm 34:13 (about lying), Romans 12:21 (overcome evil with good), Philippians 4:13 (do all things without arguing and complaining) - so lots of very appropriate teaching!


Please share your experiences and suggestions in these areas, as there are so many resources available out there, that it's a blessing to share them with others when YOU find them!

Link up below!

How can we raise a godly generation? - Part 1

I mentioned in this post, about the warning we read of in Judges, about a generation who fell away from following after the Lord.

So, how can we raise a godly generation, you ask?  What should we be doing to lead them away from following after the world, and all it's allurements, and to follow after God instead?  I should also point out here, that we CANNOT save our children.  We can only guide them and train them in the ways of the Lord.

Also, before I begin,  I KNOW my children are still relatively young, so this is very much written from the "going through" point of view, not the "finished the journey" perspective!  I am just trying to live out a life that will raise my children to follow God's ways, and not man's ways.

I am going to cover this in a few posts, as I realised quickly that there was a lot to share about!

So, here are the first areas which I believe are important in raising a godly generation.

1.MAKE SURE YOU ARE OBEYING GOD FIRST

We cannot possibly teach our children how to walk in the right ways, if we are not doing so first.

Are we reading God's Word....seeking how to follow Him daily, and honour Him in our lives? - do you have a daily quiet time - immersing yourself in scripture - in learning how we are to live our life in a way that is pleasing to Him?  Are we following God's ways in our life? - are we living in obedience, or do we just have an empty profession?   Do we seek continually to make sure that our lives are being lived in accordance to God's Word?   - do we seek to weed out the sin in our life, and daily come in repentance for our failings before God?  Do we know about God - who He is - what He expects of us - what He does for us?  Do we know what the scriptures teach us about how to do be the wives and mothers that we should be? - do we seek to put it into practice?   If we don't do all of these things, then we simply can NOT teach them to our children!

There are many ways to study the scriptures.  As I mentioned here, I am methodically reading through the Bible in a year.  It's amazing how many truths you see afresh, as you read through lesser read parts of the Bible.

Do make sure you note down thoughts on the way through.  I currently have a page in my Prayer Journal titled "God....." and then I take a note of things I learn about who He is, and what He does for me.  There are many things you could pick out - promises, rebukes, prayers, instructions.  Don't overwhelm yourself with too many at once.  Keep your thoughts focussed, and you will remember them better.

You can also do a more detailed study, only studying a couple of verses each day. In our Good Morning Girls group, we studied the book of James like this, earlier this year.  We used the SOAP method, which I had never before heard of!

S - Write out the scripture for that day
O - take a note of a couple of observations you make from the verses
A - how does this apply to your life?
P - pray, and ask the Lord to plant these observations and applications in your life, and cause them to take root and grow.

We are thinking of studying through the book of Ephesians until the end of the year, using this method.  We were so blessed and challenged by the truths that we learnt, through studying God's Word this way.

There are also many Bible Study books, that study through a theme, or character in the Bible.  Elizabeth George has many good studies like that.

You could also use a programme such as e-sword, which is a free, downloadable Bible Study software, to search for instances of certain words or themes in the Bible, and just study through them one by one, to gain a better understanding on a topic.

Whatever you do, DO study God's Word.  Your heart will be blessed, and your life drawn into sweeter communion with the Lord.

"That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;"

Colossians 1:10  

2. DON'T BE A HYPOCRITE!

I know this is something that I need to work on more, and is VERY important.  You can NOT start telling your children about the way they should live, and not apply it to your own life.  Children can spot a hypocrite a mile off, and they will not respect your instruction if they can see your are not living it first.  I knew of someone who always said "Do as I say, not as I do".  I don't like that much. Yes, children need to obey us, but if our own actions do not match up with our instruction, that is a terrible example to our children.

"don't read your book until you have tidied you room, Johnny"
(whilst Mum sits with her book, dishes stacked up in the kitchen, not cleaned.....)

"don't get so angry with your brothers and sisters, Jane"
(spoken by the mother who just lost the rag with her children 10 minutes before)

"think before you speak"
(says the Mum, who just spoke to Dad in a less-than-patient tone)

"don't leave that job unfinished"
(with Mum's unfinished projects in the corner)

There are many more examples I could give, but better that you think of ones that apply to your own heart and life!  And, trust me, this is an area that I need to put a lot of work into...


 "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy."

James 3:17 

3. THE POWER OF A GOOD EXAMPLE
As a flip side to not being a hypocrite, we NEED to be a GOOD example.  You want your children to learn Bible verses? - YOU learn Bible verses.  You want your children to read their Bible? - YOU read your Bible.  You want your children to be generous? - YOU be generous.  You want your children to be kind?  - YOU be kind.  You get the idea.....


"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

 Matthew 5:16

Please, PLEASE share about your experiences in these areas!  Some small thing that you do, or an experience you can share about, may be an unimaginable blessing and encouragement to someone else! 

Link up below, or share in the comments section below.   

(If you have trouble with the comments log-in, just sign in as anonymous, and then put your name at the end.  Signing up with google is fairly quick, though!)

Daily Bible reading

When I was deciding how to restructure my quiet times, I decided that it would be profitable to have a sytematic plan for my Bible readings.  I had previously used a One Year Bible, like this.

The principle of it is good.  It is laid out so that you have a portion from the Old testament, New Testament, Psalms and a few verses from Proverbs, for each day.  So, you systematically read through the Bible.  However, it is set specifically to dates - so, it starts with Genesis 1 on January the 1st, and so forth.  I found that if I missed a day, it could be hard to catch up.  I also found it hard going going through some books of the Bible.  As much as there was always some New Testament to read as well, you could spend quite a long time in one book (think Chronicles here!...)  Also, if you start using it, say, in July, you don't start at the beginning, in Genesis.


My copy of it was also quite a large and bulky paperback.  It wasn't the most practical thing to use.  You can, however, now get a compact hard-back copy, which is much better.


My other frustration was, if I read something and wanted to cross-reference with another scripture, it's NOT easy to find it in there! Simply because everything is all jumbled up, and books spread out through it.  I found myself having to get another Bible out to find what I wanted, or else I would spend ages looking for things.  When time is already precious in the mornings, before the children waken, speed is of the essence!


I'm sure it works for many people (I KNOW it does!), but i was looking for something different.


Then I found it!


Again, it's a "read-the-Bible-in-a-year" format.  However, I work with a printed guide for a start. Then, you can use whichever Bible you have on hand.   I have it in my Prayer Journal, although I plan to put another copy in my small Bible that goes everywhere with me.  It was put together by someone who had struggled to complete other Annual Bible reading plans.  Each day of the week, you read between one to six chapters out of a different part of the Bible. Each week I cover one or more chapters out of each major area of the Bible - Epistles, The Law, History, Psalms, Poetry, Prophecy and Gospels.  It provides some variety by changing the area you read from every day.  There is an element of consistency insofar as you still read through each book systematically, albeit on a weekly basis, rather than a daily basis. I am certainly enjoying it, and enjoy the variety.  


You can find it here.



On that page you can also find a PDF version which you can print off.  Alternatively, the passage to be read each day can also be emailed to you!


Here's my printed version, in my Journal.

  I think that it is important to have the Bible as the backbone to our Quiet Time each day.  Devotional books are great as an extra, but I don't think they should be a substitute for getting into God's Word.


I think that any other studies should be in ADDITION to the reading of God's Word.


Some other day I will share HOW I study through - what I try and draw our from my readings, to apply to my life.


So, how do YOU study through the scriptures?  I would love to hear!


Link up, if you have a Blog, and comment below, if you haven't!


  

what an inheritance!

Do you ever think about your inheritance? Do you ever wonder about what the future holds for you, and what you may have left to you in the future? Will I have enough money to live? Will I have a home, an income, provision of things that you need?

I am sure we all think about it. We may see people who are left a large inheritance. Who maybe have wealthy family or are an only child who will inherit everything. We may see injustices where some family members get a lot and others nothing at all. Or, we may just leave it in the hands of the Lord, and not give it much thought!

However, in my daily readings today, I came across a verse that really puts things into perspective. It's found in Joshua 13:33

"But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not any inheritance: the LORD God of Israel was their inheritance, as he said unto them."

All of the children of Israel had conquered the land of Canaan, after many battles, with the Lord giving them the victory. The land was being divided between all of the tribes, all of them being given their allotted portion of inheritance. However, the Levites were those chosen to be the priests - those in the Lord's service. They were not given any land - no inheritance for them. No place to inhabit and occupy as "Levitical" land. nothing to pass down through the generations, family to family.

However, look at what THEIR portion was! The other tribes got allotted portions all over the country. Who wants large portions of land? Who wants productive soil, where crops can be grown and money made? Who wants a house by the seaside, where trading can be done? Who wants any of these things, when the Lord God of Israel is your inheritance?!

How that puts things into perspective for me! I have the Lord as my inheritance. I have a Heavenly Father who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He clothes the lillies and feeds the sparrows. How much more will He care for ME?

"Therefore I say unto you, 

Take no thought for your life, 

what ye shall eat, 

or what ye shall drink;

 nor yet for your body, 

what ye shall put on. 

Is not the life more than meat, 

and the body than raiment? 

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns;......

 yet....

your heavenly Father feedeth them.     Are ye not much better than they?

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

And why take ye thought for raiment?

Consider the lilies of the field,   

how they grow; 

they toil not, neither do they spin:

And yet I say unto you, 

That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, 

which to day is,

 and to morrow is cast into the oven, 

shall he not much more clothe you, 

O ye of little faith?

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? "  Matthew 5:25-31

The Levites were given a place of service.  That was their priority.  Not working the land - not building up money or status.  Simply serving.  What a privilege!

And the verse that follows on from that portion in Matthew sums it up, I think.

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 

We are to simply serve.

Seeking the things of God.

 Not the best paid  job.
  

Not the biggest house.  

Not the nicest clothes.  

Not the best pension package.  

Simply, the kingdom of God.

God's righteousness.

Things spiritual.

Not temporal.....

and then what?  What about all my temporal needs...surely they are of SOME importance?

"....and ALL these things SHALL be added unto you...."

If we seek His kingdom first.

The Lord...our inheritance....and WHAT an inheritance.

Praise God!