Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God Part 3

Praise the Lord and welcome to the God of Wonders Radio Program.  Join us now for Part 3 in the message entitled, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.” Please stay tuned as we discover from Pastor Kiruba Stephen, how to make God the Priority in our lives. 

Because she had her priorities right, her value was high.  She didn’t not say, “Okay I don’t want to make this room; this is work for me; I have to spend on this to make the table and to put the candlestick – whatever - everything cost something!” So, she didn’t think about that.  Her priority was, “Not me - I want to make the man of God comfortable, that is, I want to honor the Lord.” So when she did that, what the Lord did was, God took notice and God works through people - in one way.  And what the Lord did, He actually put that in his heart to find out what this woman needs.  And this woman didn’t have a child, but she didn’t want to say because she didn’t have any hope.  So, Elisha called his servant because he spoke to this lady and didn’t get any answer.

She is saying, “I’m full, I’m fine, don’t bother, I’m happy as long as you are blessed.”  That’s what she is saying.  But,  because the Lord put that in Elisha’s heart, God wanted to bless this woman.  Because Elisha cannot do anything apart from the Lord and God put that in Elisha’s heart to find out what she needs.  His servant is saying that, “Master, she doesn’t have a child, there is no child, she is childless.”  And God is meeting her most important need - physical need, emotional need over there.  We know how many times that people who don’t have children - they cry - they say “Lord, I don’t have a child!” and they feel lonely.  Over here, we clearly read that her husband was old, that means she was old too.  All her hopes were gone, so when Elisha said that God is going to give you a child, she is saying, “Don’t lie to me, I’ll be broken!”

She is already broken, so she is saying “I don’t want to be broken any more, I would rather live with this than for me to think that I am going to have a child and not have a child.”  For that kind of a person what the Lord did, she didn’t go looking after, “Okay I’m going to give this to the man of God, so I’ll get a child.”  No. That was not her motive, her motive was to honor the Lord, she put God first.  She put God above her need and what God did in turn was, He met her need and her need was not an ordinary need.  It is not something that could have been done by any human being.  God did that.

So when we see, just like we saw with the five loaves and two fish, the miracle that cannot be humanly done, Jesus does when we seek His kingdom first.  And He gives us to the full, to overflow. So, same thing with her. You cannot compare her bed, the candlestick, and the preparation of the room, with the child that she got from the Lord.  So whatever we do for the Lord, God gives us back hundredfold.  When we put the Lord first, seek Him and His kingdom first, the time that we give to the Lord in our personal prayer, the time that we give to the Lord in fasting, the time that we give to the Lord in seeking the Lord, in giving, the time that we give to the Lord in serving God’s Kingdom, God’s people, anything that we do for the Lord will never come back to us the same way.  We will never get rewarded even equally. It will always outweigh, it will always outweigh, that’s how God does because God is no debtor to anybody.

So, it’s a witness in our lives, I am sure, even Bro. Stanley and his dad, because he is in the full time ministry, he has given his life to the Lord to serve Him and he can share lots of testimony, lots and lots of testimonies to the faithfulness of God that whatever he has given up he cannot compare that with what God has blessed and we cannot - we cannot outgive God.  So, when we see this and just compare - can you compare God giving a child to a childless woman at that age when she gave something to the Lord, when she sought Him first, put Him above everything? We cannot compare that.  God gives much more! Yes, according to His riches, where we cannot.  That’s where He comes and He compensates.  God multiplies, and you have twelve baskets left. When God gives, He gives where you cannot produce a child.  God gives that. 

Third thing that we are going to see is going to be the last thing that we will see about what the Lord did. This is one thing - very beautiful - and it is from Mark Chapter 15 Verse 33 through 47

33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
35 And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.
36 And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down.
37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
40 There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;
41 (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.
42 And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,
43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.
45 And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
46 And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.
47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.

Mark Chapter 16 Verses 1 through 13

Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.
2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
3 And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?”
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large.
5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.
6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.
7 But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”
8 So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
9 Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.
10 She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.
11 And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

What’s happening is the death of Jesus, where Jesus is going through tremendous pain and He is crucified! And what’s happening is, most of His disciples were not there, they all fled. If you look at the people, the women in particular who followed Him, it says in Chapter 15, Verse 40 and 41, that Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and we have many other  women  who followed Him before.  These women - they followed Him before Jesus was crucified. They were following Him during His ministry years and now they didn’t stop. We see a lot of people followed Him, but they didn’t follow Him to the cross.  These women they followed Him to the cross.  It was not an easy thing, it was a very painful thing to watch the Lord Jesus - let alone anybody.  It’s a very painful thing for anybody to watch somebody being crucified. But, somebody who they followed, they served, they ministered to, and they loved - they are watching.  So if we see that, they actually followed Him. 

These women were the ones who followed Him.  So even during the life of Jesus, even before He got crucified - they followed Him.  They put the Lord first.  These were the ones who sought the Lord and His kingdom first.  They left everything and they followed Him and what happens is, they are now here in front of the cross, standing there, even watching that. And then after that, they are still following. They are following Him to see where they are going to put His body.  So, we see Joseph getting Jesus’ body and He is putting it in the sepulchre, does his duty, and he’s gone.  These women they didn’t go back after the crucifixion.  They followed, they wanted to see where they laid Jesus. That’s how much they were devoted to the Lord.  They sought the Lord first.  They put Jesus first.  They didn’t sleep.  They didn’t feel tired saying, “Okay we are here, standing for a long time, looking at the crucifixion, we’re emotionally drained, physically drained, mentally drained, our heart is pierced!” But they didn’t stop. They continued.  They went to see where His body was laid.  After that, we’ll see how much more they sought the Lord.  They are going early in the morning, they’re getting up, getting all the spices, they want to go see the Lord.  Can you see, they went very early in the morning? Verse two 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. You know what they did, they are standing there thinking, “Who is going to roll the stone for me?” Now, that’s their worry. They came. They want to see the Lord, they want to do these things. Who’s going to roll the stone for me?  If we are in a situation like that, saying, “Lord I’m following You, Lord I’m putting You first, but I have this big stone in my life not moving at all.  I’m not able to see it move and this stone - seems like nobody can move it!  Lord, I don’t have the strength to move it!”

We can go through a circumstance where we are just up against a tombstone, where the stone cannot be moved.  What the Lord is speaking to each one of us right now is: whatever stone we have in front of us, if we seek Him and His kingdom first, God will send His angel to move the stone away! Rolling of the stone is His job. It’s not our job.  Our job is to put Him and His kingdom first.  We go and stand in front of the tomb and He rolls the stone away. He has everything done, He sends His angels to move the stone away that which we cannot do, like we saw with the Shunammite woman. Nobody can give her a son.  God did that.  Nobody can bring food in the desert. God did that.  And nobody can roll the stone away, for these women by themselves, but it was already rolled for them.  When we are following the Lord, when we come against that huge stone, saying that, “I’m not able to move it, no matter what I’m trying, I’m not able to move it.”  The Lord says, “You seek Me and the Kingdom first. Your stone will be rolled away by Me.” Our focus has to be, “Lord Jesus, my focus is You. Your kingdom and Your righteousness, first!” Everything else, the Lord will do it. 

In addition to that, look what the Lord did was, He met their need.  They wanted to see the dead Jesus, to put perfume, spices, and all these things.  But God was risen, and Jesus, He showed himself alive to Mary Magdalene.  Look at the blessing. These women were the first evangelists.  Women were the first evangelists that the Lord used! Because, they followed Him; because they sought Him and His kingdom first.  They went through the cross, they went through the tomb, seeking Him.  They crossed all barriers. The people would have said like we saw about David the other week: “You can’t go, you can’t go and stand against Goliath, who do you think you are?”  He put God and His kingdom first, and the Lord, He gave Him everything.  So, the same way over here, these women they put the Lord and His kingdom first.  Their love for Jesus - that really made them overcome everything.

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Holy and Awesome God, we thank you for the Holy Spirit taking the Word to the listeners.  Lord, enable them to live a victorious life in seeking You first. In Jesus precious name we thank you Lord, Amen.

Please do join us next time for Part 4 and the conclusion of, Seek God’s Kingdom First.

May God richly bless you and strengthen you throughout this whole week as you read His Holy Word and pray to Him knowing, that God will surely reward those who diligently seek Him.