Psalm 27:4 - The one thing I ask of the Lord - the thing I seek most - is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord's perfections and meditating in His temple.
I came across this passage in a devotional I read recently. In the devotional, the writer talked about David's desire to have a single focus on the Lord and being in His presence. It made me think a bit (which is always a good thing when studying God's Word). That's really all we need.
Jesus talked about having this single focus in His Sermon on the Mount. He said, "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need" (Matthew 6:33). Often times, when I or someone I know is having issues with anxiety creeping in, I will share this passage with them. It always helps me to remember that no matter what I am dealing with or going through, as long as my focus remains on God, everything else will be ok.
Things may not always go the way I, or any of us, plan them to, but that's ok because God has much better thoughts and plans than us (Isaiah 55:8). He will never let us down, and He will always love us. But we have to do our part if we want Him to bless us.
How do we do our part? It all starts with obedience. It's one thing to pray and ask God for guidance and direction. But we have to follow that guidance and direction when He leads us. If we pray for it, and then say, "Well that doesn't make sense to me so I can't do it," or, "That doesn't work for me right now," then what was the point of praying? To get God to agree with what we already had in mind? He doesn't work that way.
One thing I have really been trying to work on these last few months, has been my obedience. I have always been one of those that has a tendency to ask God for something, with the intention of obeying if He tells me what I want to hear. I have to regularly remind myself that it doesn't work that way. God didn't send Jesus to the cross and say, "If they love me, I will sacrifice You." He sacrificed Him in the hopes that we would love Him, but with no guarantee. He sacrificed because He loved us (John 3:16).
We should be willing to be obedient because we love Him, and want to please Him. Showing God our love for Him through obedience to Him and loving others as He loves us, is our way of showing that we love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Having that single focus on seeking His will and being obedient to Him is really all we need to get started and to know that we are on the right path.
Dear Abba Father, thank You for loving me. Thank You for reminding me to stay focused on You and Your love above all else. I trust that everything will fall into place the way You want it to, and the way it needs to be, when I focus on seeking You and Your righteousness every day. I pray for those that aren't seeking You and Your will above all else. My prayer is that they will be reminded that it all starts with Your righteousness, and that is where their focus should always be. I pray that they will start fresh today seeking You and will begin their journey of a new life with You at the center of it. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen!
God Bless!!!
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