Tag: Bible verses about putting God first

Bible Verse of The Day – 11-23-20

2 Chronicles 15:8 (NKJV) 8 And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the Lord that was before the vestibule of the Lord.

I am not what I would consider to be prophetic. At least not on a regular basis.

Today, however, I want to speak in a prophetic sense.

Over my many years of reading, studying and digesting the word of God, I have seen a lot that has given me insights and understanding regarding to the things we see happening around us in the natural.

The Holy Spirit has taught me how to watch, and to discern events and to recognize or perceive what’s going on beyond what we see with our natural eyes. I’m not special. He will do this for anyone willing to spend the time walking closely with Him.

The scripture above deals with something prophetic beyond the nation of Judah. The words spoken by Azariah, the son of Oded, caused Asa to get serious and make major changes in that nation.

2 Chronicles 15:1-2 (NKJV) 1 Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. 2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

The words tore at the heart of Asa to the point where he was severely convicted and he made immediate changes to correct what was wrong.

Asa recognized that Judah had forsaken God. They had pushed Him aside in favor of whatever pleased them, including worshiping false gods and idols.

So, Asa led the nation in repenting and setting things right before God, putting Him back in His rightful place in their nation and in their lives.

2 Chronicles 15:12 (NKJV) 12 Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it’s time for us to do the same. It’s time to tear down the idols; to remove them from our lives and from our nation.

Pastor Ellie and I live in the USA. But this can easily apply to any nation.

Here in the USA we are currently in a situation that is threatening our very republic. But there is upheaval around the globe as I am writing this, as evil forces work to push a global agenda that not only frowns on our faith, but will actively work to remove our rights to live out our faith.

Yes, we are approaching end times. We are seeing it play out before our very eyes.

But we should never, ever lay down and let the enemy trample over us.

Just as Israel did so many times in the Old Testament, we all need to remove the idols from our lives and repent before Him, seeking His counsel and His forgiveness.

We need to put Him first again, where He rightfully belongs.

The time is now.

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 – 10-6-20

Proverbs 23:26 (NKJV) 26 My son, give me your heart, And let your eyes observe my ways.

Giving God our all will cause doors to open for us and allow us to see things and hear things we would never imagine in our lifetime.

God does not show us His plan in advance in order to get us to follow Him. He just finds a willing, disciplined person that will say “yes” to whatever He is asking.

Years ago, as I was driving down the road in my car, I felt the presence of the Lord in the vehicle with me. He began to talk to me.

This happened at a time in my life when I had to make a big decision and I was not confident in myself for what I felt the Lord was asking me to do. I was very insecure. The Lord spoke to me and said, “You didn’t choose this, but I chose you for it. If I choose you for it, then I know better than you as to whether you are right for it or not. I will be with you, and through me you will be able to do what I have asked of you”.

I had no words to say. I felt that His words said it all and I just needed to open up and let my heart and my mind rest in His judgement and in His plan.

Here I am today many, years later, still at it and going stronger than ever before. Praise be to God. I give Him all the glory!

Open up, my friends. He knows better than we do. If we doubt what He asks of us, let Him reassure us that He does not leave us alone to handle what He asks us to do. But He equips us and leads us. He prompts and gives strength where it is needed. He looks beyond our natural ability and gives us supernatural power to do what He is asking us to do.

Don’t be surprised if He asks you at times to do something you feel you’re not capable of doing, because most of us feel this way. Just trust Him to give you what you need.

God bless you. We are looking forward to hearing about how God uses you at times in ways you would never imagine.

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 – 9-16-20

Matthew 13:7 (NKJV) 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.

As I was working in my yard this morning, I was pulling up weeds. It was primarily crabgrass that had sprung up here and there.

While I was down on the ground pulling up these patches of crabgrass, I began to make some observations, and the Holy Spirit began to speak to me.

First, I noticed that the crabgrass, although spread out, didn’t have a very large root system. The roots were deep and stubborn, but not very wide.

Second, under the canopy of this invasive grass, many other things were hiding, such as various bugs and unwanted creatures, like grubs.

And as the crabgrass spread outward, it killed everything else around it because it choked it all out by either growing right over the top of it, and starving it of sunlight, or by strangling it with its many “arms” and “tentacles”.

It was while I was making these observations that the Holy Spirit began to speak and teach me a few things.

It reminded me of the parable that Jesus had shared, about the sower and the seeds.

Matthew 13:22 (NKJV) 22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

He showed me how that crabgrass was like the cares of the world. He also showed me that it went beyond that.

The cares of the world are dangerous for believers. They try to slowly overtake us, robbing us of our time and stealing our joy. They pull us away from God if we let them. They can choke our relationship with Him until it starves and dies a slow, painful death.

More than that, as we become absorbed in the cares of the world, and our spirit starts to succumb to them, those cares become like the crabgrass.

They begin to act like a cover, concealing things in us that are unwanted and dangerous, like the pests hidden beneath the crabgrass, doing damage behind the scenes, eating away at whatever is good, until our walk with God dies a slow death due to starvation.

It’s important that we safeguard our spirit from this, being careful to keep the cares of the world in check, being sure not to let them overtake us and kill us spiritually.

So, be careful. Be discerning, using caution and the wisdom of God’s word in the choices and decisions we make each and every day.

And, most importantly, if we recognize that we may have begun to fall prey to the cares of the world, we can’t be ashamed to admit it.

It’s our honesty with God and with our self that will help us overcome these kinds of obstacles and keep our walk with God growing and flourishing, as we repent for the mistakes we’ve made and set things right in our hearts.

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 – 8-24-20

Deuteronomy 6:5 (NKJV) 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

I’m a passionate person. Whatever I do, I do it with everything in me. It’s all or nothing.

Because of that, I have to be careful not to get involved in too many different things. Doing so would not only take up every waking hour of every day, but it would cause me to become less than my very best at all that I do.

So, God has taught me to limit what I choose to do.

Most of all, though, He has taught me to make sure that I always, always, always keep Him at the top of all that I do.

With all that is currently going on in the world, I have had to tread very carefully when it comes to what I spend my time on.

There is so much that I would like to do when it comes to researching information and making sure I have a good grasp of what we are seeing happening on a global level, etc.

But God has shown me that this is not where He wants me to spend much of my time.

Yes, I need to understand what I am seeing on a global level. But more than that, I need to stay close to Him and continue to grow my understanding of Him, His ways, and what He is doing in the earth.

I am thankful that He keeps me in line and chastens me when I need it. It’s what a good Father does.

Hebrews 12:6 (NKJV) 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”

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 – 8-9-20 – The Desires of Your Heart

Please click to watch the video now.Greetings in the name of Jesus! 

Did you know that God’s word tells us that He will give us the desires of our heart? 

That’s the topic of today’s video, The Desires of Your Heart, which we just recorded and uploaded. 

In this video we discuss and teach on the importance of this Biblical principle, sharing how we bring this to pass in our lives, based on God’s word. 

We hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch it. 

Please click here to watch the video now. 

We love you all and want God’s very best for you! 

Sincerely, 

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 – 8-5-20

Philippians 3:14 (NKJV) 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Life can be odd at times.

Sometimes we have goals and desires that we work to attain. We want to advance in our careers or on our jobs.

Or maybe we want to learn a new skill.

Maybe we want a relationship with someone so we can get married and raise a family.

All of these are good. They all have merit. And God will often bless us by allowing them to happen in our lives.

We often receive emails and prayer requests from people who are looking for direction, or are hoping for some kind of support in their quest to reach a goal.

We reply to them all, and very often with the same kind of message or answer. So, we thought we would share that in a devotional, to help give some direction to everyone who reads our emails and social media posts.

As we mentioned above, working toward goals can be very good. We should all have some direction in our lives. Without goals and direction, we will wander aimlessly.

In the midst of this, however, we need to stay focused on the One who matters most. He is our ultimate goal and the prize that we seek.

If we get caught up in the things of this world, our walk with Him will suffer and become weaker than it should be.

That’s the last thing we want happening.

So, be sure to keep Him at the forefront of all we do and all we endeavor to do.

When our heart is aligned with His, He will give us what we desire.

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

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 – 8-2-20 – Eye On The Prize

Please click to watch the vdieo now.Greetings! 

We all have goals in life; things we want to achieve or accomplish. 

As we work toward those goals, it’s important to pay attention to how they impact our walk with God. 

In today’s video, Eye on The Prize, we discuss this and teach on what God’s word tells us when it comes to this part of our lives. 

We hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch it. 

Please click here to watch the video now. 

Enjoy the rest of your day. 

Sincerely, 

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 – 4-20-20

John 12:42-43 (NKJV) 42 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

As the time drew near for Jesus to be crucified, many people confessed their faith in Him.

Even some of the Jewish religious leaders believed. Sadly, though, they were intimidated by the Pharisees, and they chose to keep their faith to themselves, for fear of being kicked out of the synagogue and being ridiculed or punished.

The desire for the praise of men can be very powerful in the lives of some. We all wrestle with this to some degree at some point in our lives.

For some of us it can be a huge obstacle to growing our relationship with God. This is especially true when it comes to being outspoken about our faith.

Let’s face it. It’s easy to quietly have faith in God. It’s yet another thing for us to be outward about our faith.

But here’s the thing that we often overlook. Demonstrating our faith outwardly is about more than just our words. It is also about our actions.

Not everyone is created to be an evangelist or a public speaker. But each and every one of us can walk out our faith in the things we do each and every day!

And, as Jesus said, if our faith is genuine, we should not be afraid of what people think of us.

Matthew 10:32-33 (NKJV) 32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

Remember, it’s not just about what we say, but about what we do also. And the desire for people’s praise should never outweigh the desire for God’s commendation.

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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Bible Verse of The Day – 4-17-20

Revelation 3:16 (NKJV) 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

Over the years, as I have read from Genesis through Revelation, I have noticed two very prominent themes that God consistently shows us.

The most obvious is His love for humanity. The fact that He loves us despite our flaws and shortcomings is amazing beyond words.

The other is that He desires us to love Him back, more than anything else in life. He wants us to put Him first, above everything. And that’s what we will talk about today.

Way back when Moses spent time on the mountain with God, and he came down with the Ten Commandments in his hands, we were told that we should put nothing before Him.

Exodus 20:3 (NKJV) 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.

Later, in Deuteronomy chapter 6, we are told that we are to love God with everything in us.

Deuteronomy 6:5 (NKJV) 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Later, when confronted by the Pharisees, who asked Him what the greatest commandment was, Jesus reiterated the fact that we should love God with everything in us.

Matthew 22:37 (NKJV) 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

Jesus also told us that we should seek the kingdom of God first, before anything else.

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

Later, in the book of Romans, we are told that we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice, again reinforcing the fact that God wants us to put Him first in everything.

Romans 12:1 (NKJV) 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

So, just a gentle reminder today that if we are not putting God first, above everything and everyone else, this would be a good time to adjust our priorities to make sure we’re doing what we need to do to accomplish that.

After all, consider what our lives might be like if we were without Him.

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 – 2-26-20

Jonah 3:2 (NKJV) 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.”

Jonah was a frail, fickle human being, just like many of us.

What do we mean by that? Let’s take a look.

God had previously told Jonah to go to Nineveh and cry out against the wickedness of the people.

Jonah 1:1-2 (NKJV) 1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”

But Jonah fled to another city, went aboard a ship and headed out to sea.

And to make a long story short, he ended up getting tossed overboard, swallowed by a large fish, and then getting vomited up onto dry land after spending 3 days in the belly of the fish and crying out to God in repentance.

Then God spoke again to Jonah, instructing him to go to Nineveh and warn the people.

This time, Jonah obeyed! He traveled to Nineveh and warned the city of the impending doom, just 40 days ahead.

Nineveh heeded Jonah’s warning and repented. And God spared them!

This was awesome news. Or was it?

Jonah was so upset with God for sparing them that he told God to take his life from him.

Jonah 4:3 (NKJV) 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”

You see, Jonah was more worried about his reputation than he was about a city of 120,000 people being allowed to live because they had repented.

Even though God had spared Jonah from his own disobedient choices, he wished to watch the destruction of the great city of Nineveh, simply so he would look good.

Do we ever do this? Do we ever prefer ourselves over others when we see that God, in His mercy, has spared them from the consequences of their choices?

This can be a hard lesson for some of us. It can be hard to understand God’s mercy when we see it applied to others whom we were sure would be destroyed by the choices they had made and the things they had done.

But if God’s mercy is good enough for us, then it is good enough for others, too.

Let’s ask God to show us where we might be guilty of the same sin as Jonah; the sin of pride. Let us learn to recognize that God is not partial, and that He gives His mercy to anyone willing to cry out to Him.

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 – 1-29-20

Luke 9:23 (NKJV) 23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Take a good look at that verse.

Now, after doing that, consider how much it says about life revolving around us. Not much, right?

In fact, the only thing it says about us is that we should deny ourselves. How does that stack up against so much of what we hear being taught today, even in churches?

It’s not pretty, is it? In fact, it’s very sad.

You see, God is not a mean God. He is not a killjoy, looking to rob us of enjoyment.

But He does want us to serve Him with our whole heart, not just a little piece of it. This means setting ourselves aside sometimes, even when it might not be convenient.

This means making sacrifices at times that might be costly in terms of pushing “self” aside and putting God first.

How does that compare to what we hear being taught today? There’s a pretty stark contrast, isn’t there?

This is why it’s important that we know God’s word and that we be careful to listen for His spirit. He is faithful to show us what’s right and what’s wrong regarding doctrines and similar things, especially when they are being promoted by Christians and churches.

Be careful. Not everything that has a Christian label attached is true to God’s word.

We live in a world that is being overrun with wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Matthew 7:15 (NKJV) 15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

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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