Today's Devotions

Showcase: Assorted Treats

  • New Year's Resolution and Jonathan Edwards by Christina Fox +

    You know it's a new year when every commercial on TV is an ad for either gym memberships or diet Read More
  • Forgiving Yourself by Sylvia Gunter +

    You've blown it. You have really messed up this time. You have agreed with God that what you did was Read More
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

200px OswaldChambersDIVINE REASONINGS OF FAITH

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

Immediately we look at these words of Jesus, we find them the most revolutionary statement human ears ever listened to. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." We argue in exactly the opposite way, even the most spiritually-minded of us - "But I must live; I must make so much money; I must be clothed; I must be fed." The great concern of our lives is not the kingdom of God, but how we are to fit ourselves to live. Jesus reverses the order: Get rightly related to God first, maintain that as the great care of your life, and never put the concern of your care on the other things. "Take no thought for your life. . . ."

Our Lord points out the utter unreasonableness from His standpoint of being so anxious over the means of living. Jesus is not saying that the man who takes thought for nothing is blessed - that man is a fool. Jesus taught that a disciple has to make his relationship to God the dominating concentration of his life, and to be carefully careless about every thing else in comparison to that. Jesus is saying - "Don't make the ruling factor of your life what you shall eat and what you shall drink, but be concentrated absolutely on God."

 

Some people are careless over what they eat and drink, and they suffer for it; they are careless about what they wear, and they look as they have no business to look; they are careless about their earthly affairs, and God holds them responsible. Jesus is saying that the great care of the life is to put the relationship to God first, and everything else second. It is one of the severest disciplines of the Christian life to allow the Holy Spirit to bring us into harmony with the teaching of Jesus in these verses.

Reflections to Consider

  • Warfare Spirituality

    The Trinity function as farmers of our souls, actively caring for God’s creation: an ongoing, radical reclamation of His creation. Read More
  • You are free

    The Jesus who calmed a sea of deadly, stormy waves, whose arrival sent thousands of demons cringing and cowering to Read More
  • 1

Publications

  • 1

Music

  • 1

Audio & Video

  • 1

Favorites

  • Best of EM Bounds on Prayer +

    This is a compilation of some of the writings by E.M. Bounds. I've read a fair amount of books on Read More
  • Prayer - Does it Make Any Difference, Philip Yancey +

    Contemporary classic that probes the meaning of prayer for 21st century believers, and provides extended, personal anecdotes from a wide Read More
  • Prayer, Ole Hallesby and Clarence J. Carlsen +

    This is a little known work which has a significant impact on those who read it. Read More
  • From Unceasing Thinking to Unceasing Prayer +

    Our minds are always active. We analyze, reflect, daydream, or dream. There is not a moment during the day or Read More
  • 1

Hidden Blessings

  • Introduction to The Death of Death..by JI Packer +

    INTRODUCTORY ESSAY ___ to John Owen's The Death Of Death in the Death of Christ ___ By J.I. Packer _________ Read More
  • An Interview with Os Guiness on the 25th Anniversary of Francis Schaeffer's Death-Justin Taylor, 2009 +

    Next week (May 15) will be the 25th anniversary of the death of Francis Schaeffer, who died in his home Read More
  • Fate Worse than Death? Julie Moore +

    Jephthah's unfortunatedaughterMy journey through the Bible, which, I'll admit, sometimes feels like a slog, uncovers some pretty crazy things. Read More
  • DEATH HAS BEEN SWALLOWED UP BY DEATH by Gavin Ortlund +

    Editors' note: This series explores key doctrines of the Christian faith and their practical ramifications for everyday life. Earlier in Read More
  • 1