Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God

Hello, my dear and faithful followers!
These past couple of months
 I have been taking some time to sit at the feet of Jesus,
where I have found rest in His loving arms,
and I must confess that during my time away I MISSED YOU!! 
I was able to go south for some sunshine 
and these photo's were taken of the beautiful cactus's
in the area where I was staying.

God is true to His Word, in that when we seek Him
we are sure to find Him.
My spirit, my soul and my body
longed for some quiet and alone time with my Savior.
As a follower of Jesus Christ, my desire is to be a 
sweet fragrance for my Lord, and I longed to enter into a 
more personal and intimate relationship
with the One who brings us blessing, rest and joy.

I challenged myself daily to spend more time in the Word
seeking out the riches of God's promises
so as to memorize and apply them to my life,
Philippians 4:8 was one of the verses I meditated on
prayed over and set my mind on so as to live in God's ways.
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report; 
if there be any virtue and if there be any praise,
think on these things."
It all begins in our minds and we are to think about what is good and right.
During my quiet time with the Lord,
I was allowing His Spirit to fill my heart with all that
is good, pleasing and honorable in His Kingdom. 
What is true is found in God, in Christ, in the Holy Spirit
and in God's Word.
Honorable, the Greek term means "worthy of respect."
Believers are to meditate on whatever is worthy of awe and adoration. 

During this time I happened upon "The Daniel Fast"
believing it was of no mistake.
About one month into my quiet time alone with the Lord,
it would seem as though God was leading me to finish off this restful time alone with Him
through the benefits of fasting, and not just with my diet, but spiritually as well.
The power of fasting doesn't necessarily make sense to the natural mind.
But spiritual fasting requires spiritual sense-a spiritual
outlook and trust in the Lord and His ways.
I believed by doing the Daniel Fast that it was the first step toward 
the experience I was longing for that would bring me closer
to the Father who desires a deep , abiding relationship 
with each of His children.
Though I began my time of rest with meditation and prayer
I knew that every part of me needed something more.
I was longing for my Soul (my emotions, intellect, and feelings)
to benefit from the spiritual discipline of fasting.
I knew my soul needed to be fed.
I knew that my Spirit needed and would grow in strength 
and in the knowledge of Christ and His ways.
Then there was my Body...in many areas I wanted to renew my body and
benefit from a healthy lifestyle.
God continues to be faithful with 
where I have placed myself in His loving care.

Through the Daniel Fast I appreciated
 learning of Daniel's love for his God.
Daniel purposed in his heart to follow the ways of God.
"But, Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself."
(Daniel 1:8a)
Daniel believed in his God.
That's the kind of faith we can all have.
Are we willing to love God with our whole hearts?
Are we willing to make God number one in our lives?
God is more than willing to do His part
when we are willing to do ours. 
Daniel devoted himself to God, he set his heart 
on the ways of the Lord and refused to be defiled by
the customs and practices of the Babylonians. 
Daniel's faith serves as a worthy example for us to follow. 

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, 
and all these things shall be added unto you." 
(Matthew 6:33)
Jesus teaches us to "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,"
or His right way of doing things.
We should aim to do everything with God and in His ways.
When we immerse ourselves in the Scriptures 
and learn what the Lord has to say about who we are
and how we should care for our bodies,
there should be only one love-loaded
response to our Lord: "Yes Sir."
He is our number one reason for making changes
to be better aligned with what He wants for us.
Our Precious Heavenly Father, desires for us to be
healthy, to take good care of our bodies in whole,
so that we may be a shining example of His family.

"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left; remove thy foot from evil."
(Proverbs 4:23-27)

*******

Our Precious Heavenly Father,
These verses are such a powerful visual image
 that we must take and apply to our lives.
Help us to use our lips for Your glory,
to keep our eyes focused on Your kingdom,
and cause us to ponder the paths of our feet,
so that our ways will be established in You, and for Your glory.
Amen.

Be Blessed!
~ Debbie ~

Please join me as I party with Stephanie over at
Roses of Inspiration