Category: Putting God First

1 Corinthians 6:20 (NKJV) 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

The phrase, “you were bought at a price” has always intrigued me.

What it infers is so bluntly true, but so easily missed if we’re not careful. In a nutshell, it says that if we have been born again, if we are true followers of Christ, we do not belong to ourselves. We belong to God.

And then what does it say?

It says, “therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s”.

This drives home the fact that we are not our own. And in doing so, it also states very plainly that we are to glorify God in our bodies, which belong to Him.

Let’s think about that for a minute so we can take in and try to grasp the magnitude of what it’s saying; our body and our spirit should be used to glorify God.

This is huge. It’s something that we need to get into our spirit, so we begin living it out in our bodies.

And look at the next time this phrase is used.

1 Corinthians 7:23 (NKJV) 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.

Notice how that verse ends?

Do not become slaves of men! This further emphasizes the fact that our bodies should be used to glorify God.

If we became slaves of men, and the ways of man, we would be bound (literally in bondage) to worldly human practices, which glorify the enemy of our souls.

But once we understand that we are not our own, we will be more likely to run from earthly, human ways, and more apt to run toward God and His ways, separating ourselves from the ways of the world.

Let’s remind ourselves, every minute of every day, that we are not our own. We were bought at a price.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

Luke 12:34 (NKJV) 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Keeping our heart focused on the right things, heading in the right direction, will help us to have good treasure.

We want our treasure to be in God, through God and for God!

Don’t let the world take our focus. Don’t let it desensitize us to its conditions. And don’t let it tell us what we should have and not have.

Matthew 6:33 NKJV) 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

God is the One who knows what we need, when we need it and how to get it.

So, our focus and our hearts must long to seek after Him, and nothing and no one else.

There are a few things that would like to steal our good treasure; lust, greed, and power. These are the 3 big ones to watch out for.

Don’t let them win. Fight to keep our treasures in Him, for Him and through Him. And our hearts will remain with Him.

Amen.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

www.MyBibleVerseOfTheDay.org

James 4:6 (NKJV) 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

So often in Christianity we spend a lot of time asking for what we want God to do for us.

Over time this can become a habit, where we end up spending more time asking God what He can do for us than what we can do for Him.

Don’t take this wrong. God does want to do things for us. But when we get lopsided in our asking, then we know we’re getting off track in our walk with Him, and it has become more about us than about Him.

You see, sometimes we just need to be satisfied with knowing that He’s there. We need to rest in the fact that He’s faithful in everything, even during those times when we might feel like we’re hearing nothing from Him.

We need to be secure in knowing that He loves us, even if we don’t deserve that love.

All of these things should be enough.

This is where humility comes in.

When we grow in maturity as a believer, we will begin thinking less of ourselves and more of God and others.

This will greatly change the way we think. And that change in our thinking will change what we ask for and the way we ask, because we will be more humble and less apt to put ourselves first in everything.

Let’s learn to be satisfied and content, putting God first in everything that we do, including our asking.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Matthew 26:7-8 (NKJV) 7 a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. 8 But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste?

Money cannot buy an act of devotion for a loved one when we do something out of the ordinary and our hearts are in it all the way.

In other words, we are not doing it begrudgingly or feeling pressured into it. But willingly, without complaining or feeling frustrated.

When we are truly sowing a seed into the lives of others, it will be noticed, especially by the one we are doing it for and by God Himself.

This is the life of a believer, waiting for an opportunity to do the unordinary for someone that God puts in our path.

This place in which we live is to share God with all those around us. Some will receive, some will not. Some may even think it is wasteful. But don’t let it stop us.

This woman anointed Jesus with her own very costly fragrant oil.

The disciples were thinking, “what is she doing?”. They could have sold it and given the money to the poor.

Now, you would think that they had a legitimate concern; a leg to stand on.

But, in this particular case, they were off in their thinking. They were wrong. They were looking at it with their minds and not their hearts.

Jesus told the disciples that the woman was doing the right thing; leave her alone.

Matthew 26:10 (NKJV) 10 But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me.

The cost of this perfume was not the issue here. It was the act of devotion and love that needed to be shown.

When we love someone so much that the cost or sacrifice of it doesn’t matter to us, our relationship with God is heading in the right direction. And nothing will stop us from taking steps of obedience.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Jeremiah 29:13 (NKJV) 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

God is always there, waiting on us to seek Him.

Sometimes the busyness of our lives can keep us from taking the time to seek Him in the way we need to.

So, it’s important that when those busy seasons arrive, we recognize them and then do whatever is necessary to counteract the busyness, allowing us to stay close to Him in spite of the hustle and bustle.

On a personal level, we have been going through an intense season of change that has kept us extremely busy the last few weeks. We will share more about this with everyone soon.

Suffice it to say that we have both felt the pinch, so to speak. And we recognized the pull of this flurry of activity on our time, since there are only so many hours in a day.

But we have made deliberate efforts to set aside time to spend with God, making sure we stay tight with Him through it all.

We encourage you to do the same. Defend your walk with God and the time that it requires (and deserves) to keep it strong.

And when that busy season comes to a close, you’ll be able to look back and see how the efforts you made kept you on the right track.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!