Category: Putting God First

Bible Verse of The Day – 10-4-17

Ecclesiastes 1:14 (NKJV) 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind. 

Life can seem as though it has no meaning sometimes. We can go from day to day, wondering why we’re here, why we’re alive, and whether our life has any real value. 

Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. He was also the richest man who ever lived. He had everything that any man (or woman) would ever want or need. 

And yet, after living and experiencing all that he walked through, he concluded that life is only vanity and grasping for the wind. 

We might look at Solomon’s life and wonder why he would say that. After all, he had everything. He had wealth, wisdom, pleasures and so much more. Why, after being blessed so abundantly, would he write such things? 

The answer is simple. He saw the frivolity in those things. He saw how people spent their lives chasing after wealth, pleasure and other tangible things. And he understood that those things are worth nothing when compared to living a life that pleases God. 

Solomon had more wives and concubines that possibly any other man that lived. He didn’t lack attention or physical pleasure. 

He had more wealth than any other man has ever been able to accumulate. He never lacked any kind of possessions. 

And he had a kingdom of people at his service. He was well taken care of. 

So, there is a valuable lesson for all of us in his words. 

If someone who had as much as Solomon did would speak such words about life being vanity and grasping for the wind, while being so abundantly blessed with worldly materials and comforts, it would benefit each and every one of us to pay close attention and make sure that our time and efforts are put into pursuing God, and not the things of this world. 

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

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie 

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

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-14-17

Matthew 7:7 (NKJV) 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Jesus told us that if we ask, we will receive. This is a truth to live by. God is a good Father who gives us what we need in our lives here on earth.

Many times, we hear this quoted by people claiming that we can and should use this principle to gain abundant amounts of material wealth and prosperity.

That is not the truth. That is a perversion of scripture that has taken a simple verse and twisted it to promote a dangerous doctrine. And people with itching ears have flocked to it, with their hopes and hearts set on getting rich. God is treated as a magic piggy bank that can be shaken and manipulated until money falls out.

Based on that teaching, wealth comes first. And, sadly, God is placed somewhere below first place. He is a means to an end. A Genie in a lamp, to be rubbed and used to fulfill wishes on demand.

But God always needs to come first. Our number 1 priority should be to grow closer to Him and please Him. God has told us that if we do that, He will honor our commitment and bless us. But the blessings should never be the motivating factor.

Clearly, God has no problem with us becoming wealthy. But becoming wealthy requires hard work, dedication and perseverance, not just speaking it into existence or hoping that God will drop it out of the sky because we ask Him over and over again.

So, let us give to God. Let us give with a pure heart and no motives. And when we’re in need, we can ask of Him without shame and with expectancy that He will give to us also.

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

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

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

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 3-29-17

Mark 12:30 (NLT) 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’

There are lots of things we can love.

Our spouse, fiance, career, children, church, ministry, etc. And all of these are good things that we should love.

But sometimes our love for something can become a weakness if we don’t keep our priorities straight.

Sometimes we can love things that aren’t so good. Maybe things like alcohol, lust, drugs, anger, etc. And loving these kinds of things can destroy us, physically, emotionally and spiritually if we don’t see them for what they are and eliminate them.

Anything that we love, if it comes before our love for God, can rise up and hurt us at some point in our lives.

Yes, even our love for our spouse, our children, our work or our “ministry” can hurt us.

If we love alcohol, it can and will destroy us. If we love lust, it can and will destroy us. If we love any kind of sin, it will ultimately rise up and destroy us if we don’t surrender it to God and let Him deliver us from it.

But even our love for our spouse or our children can damage us badly, or even destroy us, if we don’t put it in its proper place in our lives.

We always need to love God first. He needs to take precedence over absolutely everything else in our lives. He needs to come first. Everything and everybody else needs to come after God.

When we put anything else before God, we are always setting ourselves up to be hurt or to fail. Because when something is higher on our list of priorities than God is, that thing will ultimately hurt us in one way or another.

It is so very important that we keep our priorities in order and keep God where He belongs, at the top of that list!

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!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 3-15-17

John 6:26-27 (NKJV) 26 Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

Many people pursued Jesus when He was here on earth because they knew He would give them something. In these verses, He had given them food to eat. Others pursued Him because they had seen Him perform signs and wonders.

Why do we pursue Jesus?

Is it because we want a miracle? Is it because we want material things? Is it because we want blessings of some kind?

Or do we pursue Him because we want to know Him, and build a lifelong, lasting relationship with Him that changes who we are and why we live?

Now, let’s not get confused and think that it’s wrong to want to see miracles. Let’s not think that it’s wrong to ask things of God. He wants us to ask.

Matthew 7:7 (NKJV) 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

But when the asking becomes our primary or our only focus, then we need to make some adjustments.

We need to put the relationship first, and the requests second. And when we get that right, then many other things in our lives will come into order.

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!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 2-16-17

Matthew 6:21 (NKJV) 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Where our treasure is, there our heart will also be.

This was such a short, simple statement made by Jesus. But it sums up our entire walk with God perfectly.

Whatever our heart is focused on is what we will spend time on. Our “treasure” will occupy our time, our thoughts and our attention.

When we open our mouth to speak, what’s in our heart will come out. If our treasure is money, we will talk of financial matters. If our treasure is our hobby, we will spend as much time as possible thinking and talking about it, as well as participating in it.

If our treasure is our spouse, we will spend all of our time and effort trying to please them. Sometimes we might even put our spouse before God.

If we want to please God and build a strong relationship with Him, we need to be sure we are putting Him first in everything. He needs to come before our money, our hobbies, our careers and, yes, even before our spouse.

And if we love God and put Him first, our priorities will fall into order and the love that we show our spouse won’t be forced or artificial. It will be like God’s love is pouring directly from Him to our spouse, with us acting as the funnel that it flows through.

And so it will be with everything else. Once we let God set our priorities in order, He will oversee our career, our family, our finances and everything else that’s important in our lives.

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!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 1-17-17

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

Keeping our eyes on God, instead of on His blessings, will give us a blessed life!

Are we waiting on certain types of blessings and totally missing out on God Himself loving on us? Maybe we’re missing out on the fact that He wants to care for us. Or the fact that His compassion for us is so deep and strong that He waits for us to talk to Him.

Focusing too much on certain types of blessings can ruin our walk and relationship with the One who gives us those blessings. Those very blessings can come between us and God.

Be careful and be alert to remain close to God even in the harvest season. Don’t let the harvest become a distraction. Remain disciplined, by continuing to do what we did when there were no signs of blessings.

Stay steadfast in God’s word. Stand strong and stay focused on Him, not on His blessings.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

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

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 10-22-16

Psalm 37:4 (NKJV) 4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

The desires of your heart.

How many times do we hear people talk about God giving us the desires of our heart? It’s safe to say that we hear it a lot! After all, who doesn’t want this? If we’re honest, we will all admit that we want God to give us the desires of our heart.

And God has told us that He will do this. So why does it seem that sometimes we get them and sometimes we don’t? And why do some people seem to have it happen more often than others?

The key to unlock that “secret” is in the first part of the verse shown above; “Delight yourself also in the Lord”.

You see, if we are delighting ourselves in Him, then the desires of our hearts will slowly change and shift. And what we desire will no longer be based solely on our wants. But, instead, we will now have more godly desires, revolving around His will and not ours.

This doesn’t mean that we will never get something that we want. It just means that many of the things that we want will no longer be the same as they once were.

Delight yourself in the Lord!

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!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 9-26-16

1 John 2:1 (NKJV) 2 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Each day that we get up, we make decisions. We make choices. We say things. We think things. We do things. And with God’s word in us, it helps us to stay on the right track and do those things that are right. When we do what is right, we know it because it just feels right!

Have we ever felt terrible for doing something right? Did we think, “Oh man, I just did the right thing and boy I feel awful inside”? Not usually. When we do things right, we know it! We need to always keep doing what is right.

It’s the same when we do things wrong. We will know it. We will feel it. It’s then that we have to ask for forgiveness and for God’s help to try to fix it.

Doing things wrong happens to each one of us at one time or another. It’s part of being human.

I remember going to church as a child. To me, my Pastor seemed like the perfect man. I was young and didn’t know any better.

Then, when I was older, one day my Pastor said something to me that hurt me really badly. It cut me deep.

I struggled with this because I didn’t understand how he could do that. He was supposed to be perfect, right?

God knew my heart and thoughts. He brought correction and comfort to me. He spoke healing words to my broken heart.

He said, “man is man. Man will disappoint you at times. Man will hurt you at times. Man is not perfect and he/she will make mistakes. But I am here. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Don’t put your trust in man, but in Me”.

You see I was looking at my Pastor the wrong way. I thought he could never do anything wrong.

Listen. We all mess up at times, no matter who we are. That goes for all of us. We should be ever so grateful that when we do, there is forgiveness for us.

There is healing, there is deliverance, and there is life through the precious name of Jesus Christ. He is an advocate for all who put their trust in Him!

Man is man, but God is GOD. Hold on to Him tightly. Amen.

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!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-25-16

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

There are many things that vie for our time and attention.

As a follower of Christ, our walk with God should always come first. Everything we do should revolve around our relationship with God. The choices we make, the things we do, the things we spend our time on and the thoughts we think should all have God right smack in the center of them.

God should be the center of each and every life decision we make. But sometimes we can get a bit off kilter. If we’re not careful, we can get busy with too many things and before we know it, we’ve pushed God aside in favor of other things.

This doesn’t usually happen intentionally. It just sort of creeps up on us.

Where our priorities are at will dictate how our life goes. When God is first in our life, everything else about our life will be in its proper place. We will have peace and joy, no matter what we face.

This doesn’t mean that we will live a perfect life, free of problems and trials. It means that as we face those things that come against us, we will have His peace to walk us through them.

And it means that our relationship with Him will stay strong, giving us a firm foundation to build our life on.

And, as part of that strong walk with God, our mind will be filled with thoughts that are edifying and pleasing to Him.

Philippians 4:8 (NKJV) 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

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!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-18-16

Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

“God, please break me.”

How many times have we prayed that seemingly simple prayer or something like it? We know we need to change. We want to change. We want to break free of the sin or the complacency in our lives. So we tell God to do it for us. But it doesn’t happen.

Let’s talk about why it doesn’t happen.

God is not a puppeteer. We have no strings attached to us that allow Him to control or manipulate us. And He will never force us to do something.

Therefore, He will never break us or force us to stop sinning or doing those things that we know aren’t pleasing to Him. It’s up to us. Yes, that sounds a bit strange, but it really is up to us.

God hates sin and complacency. But He loves us. So, because He loves us, and He wants our affection for Him to be genuine, He allows us to choose the path for our lives.

We can choose to follow Him or reject Him. We can choose to get free from sin or stay entangled in it. We can choose to walk closely with Him or have a “casual”, weak relationship with Him and walk with Him at a distance.

It’s all up to us. We choose. So if it’s up to us, how can we make change happen in our lives if we seem and feel so powerless?

Through Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Through Christ, we can do all things. We can overcome sin in our lives. We can defeat complacency in our lives. We can make choices and decisions that bring about change in our lives, not on our own strength, but through the strength of Christ in us!

So when temptation comes our way, either to sin or to remain complacent in our walk with God, we need to take the initiative to do the thing that pleases God. Once we make the first move, God will meet us where we’re at and help us follow through.

And he will give us whatever we need to bring about the change in our lives that we are in need of.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV) 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

This doesn’t mean it will always come easy. It may not. But as we make more right choices, and we press in to God and build our relationship with Him, it will get easier over time.

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!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-4-16

Matthew 6:19-21 (NKJV) 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

We’re born. We live. We die.

Our lives are brief compared to eternity. So what do we do with our lives while we’re here on earth?

Modern culture tells us that we should work hard to climb the ladder of success. You know, own a home, drive a nice car and work a great job.

“Make a lot of money”, says the world. “The more money you make, the happier you will be”.

But what did Jesus say? “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth“.

That sounds quite the opposite of what most of us are taught!

No, it’s not wrong to be successful. No, it’s not wrong to have nice things.

But where is our heart? Are we spending more time and effort chasing after these things than we are chasing after God?

Something for us to think about.

Ecclesiastes 1:14 (NKJV) 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

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!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.

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