Seek Ye First

Speaker: Archbishop Loren Thomas Hines

June 20, 2022

in Spritual Growth

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June 19, 2022
1st Sunday of Ordinary Time

Readings: Zechariah 12:8-10, 13:1
Galatians 3:23-29
Luke 9:18-24

God has blessed us beyond measure. We have not realized the intensity of His love because we have been affected by the things happening in society today. He sent His own Son to redeem us by giving up His life for us. He did all this because of His love. He even sent the Holy Spirit to guide us. He paid the penalty of our sin so that we could have this new life.

In the Old Testament, the children of Israel were living in prosperity in Egypt during the time of Joseph. They had to leave Israel because there was a famine. In Egypt, they gained all the favors, ate the best, were given lands because of Joseph. But after his death, when another Pharaoh took over, he was intimidated by the Jews’ presence. He put them into slavery and subjected them to hardship. So God sent Moses to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt. Moses was not liked by many and was persecuted. But he held firm because he knew what he was there for. He had a task he had to do for God. However, when the children of Israel were delivered out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses and led into the wilderness to stay, they were not thankful. They were missing the nice food in Egypt. The garlic and the leeks. God provided manna for them to eat but they still complained. They had to be tested before going into the promised land.

Today, we think the world system is better than God’s ways. We have the same mentality as the children of Israel. We enjoy the garlic, and the leeks. We enjoy the blessings. Even churches who teach the prosperity gospel are drawing people’s attention to the blessings and not to Christ. God desires that we are to be like Jesus, possessing His character and attitude. We are to put on the garment of righteousness. “If you want to save your life, you must lose it.” We are seeking for many things on earth. We want the achievements, the bank accounts, the blessings, the provisions but do we seek God first? We are to put Him first, and He will give us the blessings and provisions. He said He would bring us to the promised land of milk and honey. But we’ve got to be committed to His ways.

As we begin Ordinary Time, we are challenged to be God’s best. There may be times that we are being misused and abused, and we need to hold on to what God has promised us. We have been born again to a living hope. We lack in no good thing. Galatians 3:27 “for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Romans 13:14 “Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” Ephesians 4:24 “and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” 1 John 4:17 “By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is, so also are we in this world.” Going back to the Lord’s prayer, “Thy will will done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

God is waiting for us to believe that His will should be done here on earth as it is done in heaven. He has plans for us that are way beyond our own comprehension. What God has prepared for us is awesome. He is our strength, our all in all. God desires a relationship with us. We must accept this. And we can have that relationship with Him if we listen to Him.