Tag: What the Bible says about putting God first

James 4:8 (NKJV) 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

As we ended yesterday’s devotional, we were discussing the interpretation of a dream that a reader had shared with us.

To recap quickly, the interpretation of his dream indicated that he wanted to draw close to God, but his fixation on the evil that he is seeing happen in the world was creating a divide between him and God.

Let’s talk about that a bit.

What he is experiencing is an easy problem for any of us to fall into, especially if we are acutely aware of all that is happening and we have a strong desire to see justice.

This can also happen if we immerse ourselves in these types of events, spending a lot of our time watching and reading about it. Social media can be a huge culprit for this.

But we need to turn our eyes toward God and focus on Him, and let go of the things of this world (the weeds that the reader was clinging to in his dream).

We need to trust God enough to put Him first and loosen our grip on the things of the natural world that we wrestle with; those things that will put space between us and Him.

This is not always easy. Sometimes, for some, it can be downright difficult.

But this is why it’s so critically important to diligently seek God daily, praying and spending time in His word. This is where we will find answers, and where we will build our faith and trust in Him.

And it’s where we will see our fears laid to rest as that faith grows.

Consider Joseph; beaten up by his brothers and then sold into slavery. On top of all that, he was ultimately put in prison for crimes he did not commit.

But he stayed faithful to God, using the talents that God had given him to run Potiphar’s household faithfully.

Even in prison, he was exemplary in his behavior, leading to him being placed in charge over all the prisoners.

And God ultimately rewarded him for it.

Also consider Daniel, who was exiled to a foreign land and forced to work for a king in that land.

Daniel submitted to God and served that king well. Again, God rewarded him for it.

Let us seek God diligently and let the Holy Spirit lead our actions, that we may also honor God in them.

We encourage everyone to press into God like you’ve never done before. The times in which we are living demand it.

We love you all.

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!

Psalm 73:28 (NKJV) 28 But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, That I may declare all Your works.

When we left off yesterday, we were discussing the current state of the world and how the things we’re seeing can impact us.

We recently had a reader write to us to share his heart and tell us how he has been struggling with what he’s seeing unfold. He also wanted to ask a question or two.

He has also written to us in the past, expressing his sadness and frustration with what we are witnessing; the rise and the expansion of evil.

Like many of us, he has grown increasingly disheartened with it all.

In his heart, he wants to see something done to correct it.

He can’t fathom that evil at these levels has gone unchecked and unpunished by each nation’s justice systems. This is natural. None of us likes to see evil thrive.

In a recent email to us, he shared a little piece of a dream that he’d had.

He didn’t ask us for an interpretation. He didn’t really even ask if we had any feedback for him about the dream. He just told us about it as part of the email that he had sent.

After reading it, it stayed in the back of my mind. And one day not too long ago, God showed me what it meant.

First, here is the part of the dream that he shared; “I have had a dream in which I just want to hold onto the gate or the weeds outside of heaven”.

Now, here is what God showed me that it meant.

Him holding onto the gate, or the weeds outside of the gates of heaven, shows that he wants to trust God and enter in to His presence. This is indicated in the fact that he is immediately outside of heaven. He is at the “entrance”.

He’s close to where God is, but hesitant to let go of the weeds and enter in.

His heart’s desire is to be close to God, hence being right outside of the gates.

But he has a strong desire to see justice in the natural world. This is represented by him holding onto the weeds.

God is beckoning him to come in, but he struggles with letting go of the natural and entering in to God’s presence.

That strong desire to see justice has trapped him and created a divide between him and God.

So, ultimately, he will need to choose which he will cling to; the weeds (the natural world) or God.

Please join us tomorrow as we wrap this up.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

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.

This devotional will be broken up into three parts for the sake of keeping its length reasonable. We hope what we share speaks to you.

As we have discussed many times over the last couple of years, the times in which we live are like nothing any of us have ever seen before.

What we’re seeing is not restricted to any one nation or a single geographical area. Evil is running rampant and on the rise across the entirety of the globe.

Some of the things that are happening might vary from one geographical area to another, but the underlying theme is consistent; one of pure evil intent.

Their end goal is one world government, one world currency system, one world health system and one world religion (not Christianity).

Governments and non-government entities around the world are cooperating with each other in ways and on levels that has not happened at any time in the past. Again, it is something none of us has seen or experienced in our lifetimes.

This is much like what we see in Genesis chapter 11, where the various peoples of that time had united and began building a large tower (Genesis 11:4); the tower of Babel.

If you read the account of it, which we strongly encourage you to do, you will see that God wasn’t pleased with this. And He took extraordinary measures to stop them.

Why? Because in their pride they had turned against God and, in reality, they endeavored to become like gods.

Today, because of the enormity of what we’re witnessing, it can be very easy to become fixated on it and spend a lot of our time trying to make sense of the current events and the state of the world, instead of focusing on our walk with God and what He wants for us.

This can create a divide between us and God if we’re not careful.

Now that we’ve built a foundation to work from, let’s talk more tomorrow.

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!