Our number one concern in life should be the kingdom of Heaven. After all the bible says seek ye first… (Matthew 6:33)
God’s original plan was to inhabit the earth with his children and impact the world through us so that the earth becomes just like Heaven. (Please see the Lord’s Prayer for proof of this)
So God created all of us with a purpose, a work, a gift that we are supposed to serve the earth with. After all He creates everything with a purpose. However a lot of the time we get sidetracked with the cares of this world instead of the purpose of God. We get caught up in its affairs and lose vision of the original intent. When we do this we end up putting more faith in the normal outcomes of this world than the results the kingdom culture promises. We wind up putting more faith in things sustaining us than God. Take a look at what God showed me the other day- this blew me away when I read it.
John 12
3) Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
4) Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him,
5) Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
6) This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
I have read through these verses so many times but never looked at this verse this way and will never see it the same again. Jesus and His disciples knew that Judas was a thief. They knew he stole, they knew he was dishonest, and Jesus knew because of Judas’s heart that he would betray Him… yet Jesus allowed him to stay. Not only that but they allowed Judas to ‘keep the bag’. He kept the bag with the money box, and their belongings! Judas… the thief… held the money!
You never see a dispute in the bible between Judas and Jesus over missing money or belongings. You never see Jesus distraught because Jesus and the other disciples couldn’t eat or provide themselves with provisions because of missing valuables. The stuff in the bag did not sustain them, nor does the lack of stuff in the bag hinder His purpose. And there is our problem.
We get so involved with the work of getting the resources to carry out purpose that we never get to purpose. We’re hindered by the contents of the bag, or lack there of, that we never start the work. Our priorities are out of order. Remember “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these other things I will add unto you.” What a promise! But we fail to grasp the understanding.
Jesus asked the disciples a question one time “Why do you worry what you will eat or what you will wear?- the Father knows you have need of these things.” Quit worrying about where the resources are going to come from and be focused on the purpose. God will provide the resources for His will EVERYTIME! David said ‘I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor His seed begging bread.” He is a faithful God who provides for His people and is committed to seeing His will carried out in the earth. But when we seek the other things first… we are out of order and God can’t bless disorder. He created this law and wants us to line up with it so we can see the kingdom manifest in our lives. We are confused sometimes by God and His ways. We act like God is surprised or caught off guard by what’s in the bag. (Wallet, Bank Account, Net Worth, Current Resources, Current Position, Current Status) God says “You are about to get promoted” and you were just fired- “I am giving you a helpmate in life”- and you just separated from your girlfriend or boyfriend. God says “It’s time to start a business”- and you’re broke. God sees which kingdom we trust in more- the kingdom of God or the kingdom of man.
This is so important for everyone to hear- please read this next part carefully. Your purpose is not tied to things. Your purpose is not tied to resources. Your lack of abilities and skills has nothing to do with your purpose- it can’t keep you from your purpose. The enemy gets us so involved with what’s in the bag that we look to the bag as a sign of who we are in life. We look to the bag wanting God to fill the bag instead of looking to God. The bag has limits, the bag has a maximum capacity- the bag cannot hold what you need to carry out God’s purpose so quit looking in the bag for a sign of God’s will. Seek the kingdom first and the rest will be added. Get to work on the purpose and the provisions will be provided. God is not concerned with where you were or what you have. Moses was a prince in Egypt, but after fleeing from Egypt He become a keeper of his father in laws herd’s. You never hear Moses saying “What? But I was a prince in Egypt.” God was taking him through a process to train him- by leading the herd’s he was preparing him to lead the children of Israel. Moses did not lose his purpose when he become an employee of his father in law- it was just a part of the plan. Oh how many times we wind up getting stuck in a phase of God’s plan thinking it’s the end of it. It’s just a phase, a season.
Jesus was never worried that Judas would steal something that would keep Him from His purpose. He was never worried that because of Judas’s character that they would be without. Jesus never looked to the bag as the source. The contents of the bag did not sustain them, the Father in Heaven did. IN FACT the very one the enemy would use to hinder Jesus would be a tool to elevate Him and actually be a tool in fulfilling His purpose.
I prophecy to you that the very people that the enemy would use for destruction God will use to bring out His purpose in you. The very ones who try to hold you down will be the ones God uses to push you higher. They will not realize that they are pushing you to the next level but remember it’s not about them but about God’s purpose. God will exalt you, not by going around the storm, but by going through it. The storm, the enemy, is the door to God’s purpose. Remember God has allowed this to come against you and so it has been ordained to lift you higher. Praise God! David could testify of this- that sheppard’s cannot become king’s without their Goliath’s.
Just remember it’s not about the resources in the bag, but about your source in Heaven. The Father will provide and sustain His people. He will add unto those who seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Amen!
