Tag: What the Bible says about putting God first in everything

Bible Verse of The Day – 10-13-21

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

Most times, we hear this verse quoted regarding receiving some kind of financial or material blessings from God. It’s kind of become the norm to hear this verse and expect that kind of message to follow.

But this verse is much more far-reaching than that.

The principles behind this verse apply to every aspect of our lives.

You see, seeking God and His righteousness goes far beyond whatever material blessings we might (or might not) receive in return.

Every aspect of our lives is impacted by the strength of our relationship with our Creator and Father, through the Son.

Our attitude is affected. The joy in our life is affected. Our willingness to obey God’s leading is affected. The way we interact with others is affected. And our willingness to give to others is affected.

This list could be quite lengthy, but this should be sufficient to make the point we want to make.

So, in light of that, what “things” are added to our lives when we seek the kingdom of God first?

Peace that surpasses all understanding.

Joy that is beyond what words can express.

Stability that cannot be found in the things of the world.

Strength that can help us slay giants.

Faith that can move mountains.

Knowledge and understanding beyond our intellectual understanding.

Wisdom that confounds even the most learned scholars.

Humility.

And most of all, eternal life with the Father, through Christ.

So, before we do anything else, let’s be sure to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

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 – 7-27-21

Psalm 33:12 (NKJV) 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

How do we, as a nation, make God our Lord?

We stand together on His word and His truths on a large scale. We depend on Him and His guidance to run our nation. We keep out perversion, lust, and corruption.

Lies and deceit are not welcome. Power and greed cannot be allowed in a nation whose God is the Lord. We stand up to what is wrong and we say, “No!”

On an individual scale, we obey Him in our own personal walk. We are His people, His chosen people as we live, breathe and walk with Him. Our relationship should be alive in Him and we should walk in integrity with the help of the Holy Spirit, trying to do better each day.

There are so many people that are deceived when it comes to discerning right and wrong. It’s truly sad.

I was talking to a woman one day about different topics that God speaks very clearly about in His word. She had no idea that God was so clear on these subjects.

But what baffled me was her strong stance on what she already believed. And her mind was so set that it overruled the truth of God’s word.

We don’t need to be ignorant on any subject pertaining to any type of sin.

He has clear-cut answers on anything we may be wondering about or not sure about.

If we need knowledge or wisdom, we get it from the word of God. We need to search it out.

Hosea 4:6 (NKJV) 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

It saddens me to think how far off we are today.

He says in this scripture, “My people are destroyed”.

How can this be?

Because we His people like to pick and choose what is comfortable, what is easy and what works best for the lifestyle that we choose to live out.

It’s truly sad. Some will die in their sin because of their lack of knowledge, or simply because they choose to believe the lies instead of embracing truth.

There is a fix for it all; get knowledge and understanding on how to get Him back on a personal and or national level!

He needs to be Lord over all our affairs, and blessed we shall be together!

Proverbs 4:5 (NKJV) 5 Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

Amen.

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 – 5-24-21

2 Chronicles 31:20 (NKJV) 20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God.

He did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God.

Hezekiah understood what it took to serve God in a way that would please Him.

He gave it 100%, and he did everything to the very best of his ability as a man.

This doesn’t mean that he always got it right. He surely made mistakes from time to time.

But the fact that He did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God says a lot.

How would our lives be if we did the same?

What if we endeavored in our hearts to do the same as Hezekiah? How different would our own lives be? That’s a really good question!’

You see, we don’t have to have a degree in theology. We don’t have to have memorized hundreds of Bible verses. We don’t have to have a certain position or title within a church or religious organization.

We just have to have a heart that desires to serve God, wants to please Him and is willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish that.

This is the foundation of a walk with God that changes our lives, and the lives of those we come into contact with.

As Hezekiah did, let’s do what is good and right and true before the Lord our God.

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 – 3-30-21

1 Kings 3:3 (NKJV) 3 And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.

We need to beware of the “excepts” in our own lives.

We may love the Lord and keep a lot of His commandments, but when there is an, except this or except that, we need to pay attention and deal with it immediately. We need to get to the root of it.

We need to work extra hard to keep those “excepts” out of our walk. Because it’s those very things that have a grip on us and many times keeps distance between us and God.

In Solomon’s day these ”high places” or elevated hilltops were off limits to God’s people. The pagans believed the closer they were to heaven, the greater the chance their prayer and sacrifices would reach their gods.

We need to remember Who our God is, and that we can reach Him at any time and from anywhere.

If we are in the valley or on the mountain, if we are in a hard place or in a happy place, our God will hear our cry and the praises from our lips.

Get rid of the “except” part of our walk, those things that bring distance between us and God, and move forward with Him in a more powerful, tight-knit, and fulfilling relationship than ever before. Amen.

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 – 3-29-21

Matthew 22:36-38 (NKJV) 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 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.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment.

God’s word is alive. We’ve talked about that many times in the past.

On that note, this scripture above is one that I’ve read many, many times. Yet, in the fact that God’s word is very much alive, despite me reading it many times before, this time it spoke to me very loudly about something that I hadn’t really paid much attention to in the past.

And it was this; the great (greatest) commandment.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.

This, in essence, is the foundation of our entire walk with God.

If we can get this right, everything else about our relationship with the Creator will be in proper order, and it will help that relationship to grow and flourish.

So, it’s important that we keep our priorities right in our walk with Him, being sure to always put Him first in everything we do, no matter how big or how small it may seem to us.

This is something that has had a huge impact on our own lives over the years, as God has taught us this most basic, but often-overlooked, principal and truth.

As we have learned it and put it into practice in a sincere, genuine, wholehearted way, He has shown Himself to us in ways that we could never have imagined.

And He will do the very same for you, too, as you walk this truth out in your own lives.

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

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 – 1-1-21

2 Timothy 2:4 (NKJV) 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

I may have mentioned in the past that I am a passionate person. When I do something, I give it 100%. I go full-bore, full steam ahead! It’s all or nothing.

That’s just how God wired me. It’s part of who He made me to be.

So, I have had to lean on God heavily during these last few months and let Him lead me when it comes to how to spend my time and where to put my efforts.

Let me explain.

I am, first and foremost, a man of God, a teacher of the Word of Truth. I love who God has made me and what He has done in the lives of Pastor Ellie and I.

I also love my country. I love the freedom that we have as a nation. And I love the fact that our nation was founded on Biblical principles and Biblical truths.

So, when I see our country going through the trials and tribulations that we have faced recently, I tend to speak out very passionately about what I see.

Because of my technological background, I have a God-given talent for being able to research and dig up relevant information about these types of events, helping to find truth in the midst of the turmoil.

And that tech background, combined with the drive in me to pursue truth and justice, and make it known to others, makes it very easy for me to create ways to share and spread that info via platforms already available and also by platforms that I could easily create myself.

But I recently had to make a choice as to where I would put my efforts and spend my time.

My all or nothing personality needed to choose between my passion for God and my passion for my nation. Because of this, God told me to be careful that my passion for Him always remains at the forefront of who I am.

Since we are engaged in Kingdom warfare, I consciously choose each and every day to dedicate myself to the endeavors that God has placed before me, as a soldier in His army.

I choose to be His warrior. I choose every day to fight in His army, for His kingdom.

Yes, I am still passionate about my nation that I love so dearly. And, yes, I still take some time and energy to fight for that kingdom too. But only on a very small scale compared to the eternal Kingdom that we are all a part of.

We are engaged in warfare. Let’s be careful not to entangle ourselves in affairs that are not beneficial to those battles and to the kingdom of God.

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 – 12-2-20

2 Chronicles 31:20-21 (NKJV) 20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. 21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered.

I have recently been reading and studying about king Hezekiah, whom I referenced in another devotional a couple days ago.

King Hezekiah was an incredible king and leader. He put God first in everything and he led Judah to do the same.

He did many things during his reign that caused me to believe that he was one of the better kings during those days.

He took care of the people of Judah in many ways. And He also walked uprightly before God.

To paraphrase, the scripture above says that in every work he did for God and in seeking his God, he did it with all his heart.

And those verses ended with this declaration: So he prospered.

King Hezekiah didn’t necessarily set out to prosper. He set out to serve and seek God with all his heart. Prospering came to him as a result (an effect) of His steadfastness in him seeking God.

He put God first. He sincerely desired to learn of Him and please Him. And because he did this, God blessed him with prosperity.

The thing to focus on here isn’t the prosperity, though. Even though prosperity is desired by many (most) people, we need to be careful not to lose sight of the reality of what we’re seeing here; he pursued God relentlessly, with all his heart.

And God blessed (rewarded) him.

The strength of our walk with God comes down to our heart, our motives.

If we seek prosperity, we may find it, but at what cost?

If we seek God, though, and disregard the rewards or the blessings, we will find Him. That in itself is reward enough.

We just might, if our heart is right, and God sees fit, find blessings and rewards. But we should never, ever seek them as part of our walk with Him.

Seek Him with all your heart. You will find Him.

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

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 – 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

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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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