Seek First His Kingdom

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  (Matthew 6:33)

When I seek first His kingdom I end up longing to see His face.  When I long to see His face, I end up passionately loving the needy and poor.  When I end up loving them, I get a taste of His kingdom.  When I get a taste of His kingdom, I recognize it as the prized treasure it actually is with eternal value, and every part of my being clings to it.   

Seeking His kingdom first has positioned me among the poor and somehow it’s made me rich.  I start to take Jesus seriously when He says things like, “The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news!”  “Come follow me.”  What I once could not see, I now see.  The realness of His kingdom makes me want to trade in all of my possessions just to hold onto the treasure of even the smallest piece of His kingdom...it's totally worth it.   

Today, I have an even deeper craving in my soul to literally see Jesus face to face…to hear His voice…to be in His arms…to have Him wipe away my tears…to be forever in the presence of His glorious splendor. 


But I have to wait...the Day is not here yet.

For now, I'm filled with His Spirit and I hear Him say to me, "this world is going to get much worse...there will be an increase in wickedness and the love of most will grow cold.  Watch out that no one deceives you.  Stand firm to the end and you will be saved.  This gospel of the kingdom I have revealed to you will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.  But, keep watch because you don't' know when I will return.  I will not leave you as orphans.  I will come for you.  While you wait for me, I have a purpose for you...I am sending you out.  I want you to go and love.  As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.'   Obey Me and follow My example.  If you do this I will make Myself known to you here on earth.  You will see My face when you look into the faces of the unlovely and least of these.  If you want deep intimate fellowship with me right now, love the orphan, widow, weak, and desperate.  Whatever you do for one of the least of these you do for me."  

So maybe people think I have a wild obsession with Haiti, but that is not the case.  I do in fact admit I have a wild obsession…it’s an intense, passionate, wild obsession for my Jesus. 

He's given me a piece of His kingdom in Haiti and I refuse to sell it for the pleasures of this world.  

Look hard...look past the physical and praise God that this is His very design to physically protect Pastor Nahum's orphans from the storms and rainy seasons.  There is nothing fancy about it, it's smaller than we wanted it to be, and it's not quite finished. But, we say our God is faithful and we love His ways!!  I'm going back in July and it makes me giddy to imagine the spirit of joy that will fall on me when I see the faces of these children.  I will not even know what to do with the excitement I will have when I see these orphans I love so very much no longer sleeping in tents!  I'm certain I'll cry lots of happy tears.  Maybe I'll climb in their beds with them inside their new home and just sing praises to Jesus.  I'm nearly crying now just thinking of it.  Seek first His kingdom...and all of these things will be given to you as well.  Sweet Jesus, thank you!!