It says seek His righteousness, so let me just give a definition of righteousness. Righteousness is having a right standing or positioning with God, a right standing or positioning with God. In other words righteousness is knowing where you stand with God and being in good relationship and fellowship with Him. See everything is about positioning. The reason God wants me to seek this positioning and right relationship with Him is because He wants to pour blessings into my life. If I want the benefits of His kingdom I've got to place it first and position myself so I can receive. Now in Uganda last year we had to put a hold on some of the giving; it's not we didn't have the money, couldn't give it. It's just we had to put a hold on it because they did not position themselves to be able to receive what we wanted to give them, and so we wouldn't give it to them because I didn't want it wasted.
If you do the right things and position yourself and then funds and money will start to come to you. It's the same for you; you want God to bless you, you have to position yourself for that blessing to be there. If you want God to bless your relationship, well conduct your relationship and position yourself with God so it can be blessed. Just because you pray God bless it doesn't mean to say that'll happen. The Bible says seek first to discover God's ways, values, protocols, His principles for succeeding in life, and apply them to your life; two, seek to maintain being positioned intimately with Him so He can bless you. This is not so hard. I'll share a bit more about that tonight perhaps. Seek first the kingdom of God - now here's the promise: and all the things that everyone else worries about will just be added to you, just be added to you. They'll just fall on a plate to you. They'll just literally fall on a plate to you, and I just can't get over - we look over the years and how we've - because I've made that a principle to put this first in my life.
Put God's interests first, and no matter what happens believe He will add to me. So when God adds to you you don't have to work like everyone else does. Do you know what people say? Oh you're lucky. Yeah, yeah, yeah - so much luck! All this time lucky. No, it's not luck. It's actually positioning yourself so God can bless you, and it comes about because of a lifestyle of right priorities. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things that everyone else is running after, you'll have what you need. He said your Father already knows. You know a lot of the time I don't even talk to God about - you know how I prayed about this cruise thing? I just thought one day I wouldn't mind doing a cruise up the Greek Isles. That's all I did, I thought it. I just thought it. I said to Joy it'd be nice if we did that one day wouldn't it? Costs a bit of money though, we'll just leave it be for the moment. That's all, thought it and then a guy walks up and says we'd like to give you a cruise up the Greek Isles.
I remembered I'd thought that and you know I thought all the other times I'd prayed so hard, and this one was just a little thought prayer; it'd be nice Lord. [I've actually got 00.44.57] a whole lot of other examples, little nice things like that - and some of the best blessings I've had I just thought it, that might be nice Lord, and it happened. Dear God, out of all the other times you've prayed so hard and not much happened, then just these odd little things you just throw it out to God, He just delights to add it to you. So anyway, positioning yourself first.
Father, we just thank You right now that You're teaching us, instructing us to seek first Your kingdom, to make it our number one priority, that of all things we will pursue knowing You, knowing Your principles, Your ways, Your protocols, Your ways of running life, and to position ourselves continually so we can be blessed and receive them. Father, I just pray that in these coming weeks the church will continue to grow in positioning itself for blessing after blessing after blessing. I pray for marriages to become blessed. I pray for families to become blessed. I pray for businesses to become blessed. I pray for young people to become blessed. I pray Your blessing on every area of Bay City. Father, I ask that You would help us open our eyes to understand this. It's not hard Lord is it? We ask You to open our eyes and understand it; we'd see it everywhere we look in the Bible and Lord, we begin to position ourselves for this growth. You say amen to that.
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