SETTING PRIORITIES

 PRIORITIZE, ORGANIZE, DISCIPLINE

Matthew 6:33, “But seek [aim at and strive after] first of all His Kingdom and His righteousness {His way of doing and being right], and then all these things taken together will be given you besides”.

     What comes first in your life? In the story of Luke 9:57-60, Jesus knew that the man was looking for something, a truly charismatic-bless-me-club-member, “And it occurred that as they were going along the road, a man said to Him, Lord, I will follow You wherever You go. "And Jesus told him, Foxes have lurking holes and the birds of the air have roosts and nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head”. The man was looking for a house, a car, food and clothing…verse 57, ‘I will follow You wherever You go’. In the next verse, Jesus tells him, ‘Let me make it clear, I have nothing to give because I have nothing, I have nowhere to sleep…do you still want to follow me’? My emphasis. In doing this, Jesus was destroying this guys desire for things. He was destroying his and our prayer list. We do not follow Jesus for things. Jesus destroyed religion that is motivated by things.

     What motivates you to keep reading my blog or even listening to your preacher? May be you are looking for ways to make money or may be your rent is behind or your bills are piling. Whatever it is, your motivation is wrong. Dont seek after God to improve your life. Follow Him to help you remain in the right positioning, “Seek the Kingdom FIRST and His righteousness”. Then, it got worse. Another man came. This one must have been a Kenyan. No, he must have been a Nairobian and he told the Lord, “First”! Oh oh, What? I thought the only ‘first’ should be “Seek the Kingdom first”! This other man had his priorities wrong too, verse 59, “… permit me first to go and bury (await the death of) my father” – Luke 9:60, “But Jesus said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and publish abroad throughout all regions the kingdom of God".

     I had a firsthand experience with this verse… my youngest brother passed on in May 2019 and actually, the Lord quoted this very verse to me when I sort permission to bury him. I didn’t dare to go for his burial, but when I went for his funeral arrangement meeting and Mass before the burial, my legs swelled and I almost lost them. The third guy who was truly African had also things he had to do first… verses 61, 62. Being a citizen in the Kingdom of God requires a firm decision. Anyone or thing you put before the Kingdom of God is an idol. Yes, you heard me right!

Test of Priorities [Luke 18:28-30]

     Peter told the Lord, ‘I gave up all to follow you Jesus’… verse 28! And the Lord told him that he will receive twice of everthing he left in this world for the Kingdom of God…v.30. If you left parents for the sake of the Kingdom, a citizen of the Kingdom will never be an orphan. You will have so many people serving and providing for you in this world.

     Some parents were bringing their children to Jesus, but the religious disciples thought that their Master should have been preaching and not to entertain kids. But Jesus had an answer them… v15, 16. The first thing to teach your children is about the Kingdom of God… Luke 18: 15-17, because the Kingdom of God belongs to them…verse 15. The Kingdom is for those who are not religious yet. Children believe everything you tell them because they do not have to unlearn anything. Everytime I see my spirit, it is always this 6-year old girl. I have seen the 6-year old spirit of this endtime Church that has received this message of the Kingdom.

     In vision, I went to meet the Lord at His Throne only to find another girl my age sitting on my seat next to the Lord. I was not amused… and I headed right to Jesus’ laps. I could not even look at her. I was halfway between sobs with my lips pulled down. At this time, I didn’t even bother to say hallo to her or even ask the Lord her name. This happened twice and the 3rd time after she had left, I asked Jesus who she was. The Lord told me that it was His Bride and I was shocked and sorry that I had acted out foolishly. As Jesus’ Wife, I appreciate His Bride. After all, she is the reason I was called. To the Lord, His Bride has already inherited the Kingdom of God. The message of the Kingdom is received by those who are like small children. It is very difficult to teach aldults because they ask and doubt everything.

     You dont enter the Kingdom of God because you have been in Church a long time. Entering the Kingdom has to do with attitude not longevity… Jesus said, “… verse 17, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not accept and receive and welcome the kingdom of God like a little child [does] shall not in any way enter it [at all]”. ENTERING the Kingdom has got something to do with experience… you are entering an experience. This is why many are in the Church but depressed. You can go to a pool and not swim. If you do not receive the message of the Kingdom like a child, it is like going to the pool and not get wet. Children are Kingdom thinkers.

     I had a chance of travelling in a cruise ship. Once you pay for the ticket and enter the ship, every experience within it is paid for: the dinner, breakfirst, lodging, etertainment etc. A story is told of a couple who won a ticket in such a cruise ship. On the day before they travelled, they spent the day shopping for food and anything they would need. When they entered the ship the following day, they went to their room, locked the door and were very excited. They spent the whole week in their room eating their goodies and never left the room. They never went to join the others for meals or even entertainment. Infact, one of the hostesses went looking for them thinking that there was a problem but when she asked them, they said they were happy that they were in this trip and that they were having fun all by themself. 

     Towards the end of the week, the ship was returning to their country and drawing close to the dock. Then one of the captains decided to go check on them. As usual, they were very thankful to the captain. When he inquired why they did not come for even their meals, they said that they had bought enough snacks to last them a week and they were okay. So the captain said, “So, you did not know…”. They asked, “Know what”? Then the captain told them, “the ticket you won was all paid for. The meals, the lodging, the entertainment etc. All that was required of you was to experience the fully paid trip”. And the ship hit the dock. It was all over and the couple had entered the ship but missed the experience. 

     This is the way it is in the Kingdom of God, “enter the Kingdom [seek first the Kingdom and its righteousness] and everything else will be added unto you”. You are in the ship [you are born again] but never enter its benefits. He who gave us Christ Jesus, how would He also with Him not give us all thing?... Romans 8:32, “He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things”?

     Maranatha!