Coffee with Jesus, Seek Him First

Transcript

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Good morning and welcome to our care let's pray ministries. I'm so grateful that you all are here this morning with me. I pray that God woke you up with a smile on your face and joy in your heart this morning. I pray that God gives you traveling grace, and I pray that God showers down his love upon you ten times full today. Amen. I want you to know whether you are holding your first cup of coffee or watching the sun come up or getting ready for work or simply taking a quiet moment before the business of your life begins. Thank you for tuning in. And I pray that God comes in at this very moment and bless us all with a word today. And I pray that He brings peace throughout this podcast episode today, amen. Because you know our title was called Coffee with Jesus, seeking Him First, Amen. I want us to imagine we're just simply sitting around the kitchen table together. We ain't not rushing, we're not going to pressure anything, just two old friends just talking about Jesus and allowing his word to settle deep within our hearts, amen. Matthew 6 and 33 states, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and all his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Amen. Glory be to God. I love this verse because Jesus didn't say seek me when everything else is finished. He didn't say seek me when everything is going good. He didn't say seek me if you have extra time. He said seek first. The word first challenges me every time I read it. If I'm going to be honest this morning, there are mornings when the first thing I reach for is my phone. Sometimes my first thoughts are about my work schedule, my responsibilities, the problems waiting on me when I get out the bed and my feet hit the floor. And before I know it, my mind is racing. I'm down that rabbit hole, and I haven't even invited God into my day. And I know that I might not be the only one out there who hasn't had those days. And I want you to know life has a way of demanding our attention before we've even taken our first sip of coffee. But Jesus gently reminds us this morning that order matters. When we seek Him first, everything else begins to fall into its proper place. Amen. Notice something else about this verse. Jesus doesn't tell us to seek blessings first. He doesn't tell us to seek success first. He doesn't even tell us to seek answers first. He said, seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Why is that? I'm glad you asked. Because when we find him, we discover that he is everything we've been searching for. And I know this time I've been spending with God these past several, several weeks. I'm telling you, I have felt God in an impactful way. I've seen God in an impactful way. I have understood the assignment. Amen. I went into, like I said, spending time with Him of I'm seeking your face. I want to learn more about you. I want to get closer to you. I don't want to just say I'm a Christian and I'm where I'm at, right? I want to truly grow in his grace and his mercy and his favor. I truly want to hold his hand and know I'm walking with him daily. Amen. So it has consumed me, right? So this is what God's presence does. His presence changes us. This is why he says, seek his kingdom first. We spend so much energy asking God to change our circumstances that we forget he's inviting us into his presence first. And when we change, when he changes, when his presence changes us, we begin to see our circumstances totally different. I'm gonna think about Mary and Martha for a moment in Luke chapter 10. When Jesus came in, Martha was busy. She was serving, she was working, she was distracted by everything that needed to get done. And you know, meanwhile, Mary, good old Mary over there, simply sat at Jesus' feet. Martha wasn't doing anything bad, don't get me wrong. She was doing good things, but she had allowed the good things to become more important than being with Jesus. How often do we do that? We fill our calendars, we meet deadlines, we take care of everyone else, but our own soul quietly whispers, I miss him. I miss my quiet time with God. Come back to reality. This world ain't going nowhere. Come spend time with me. Friend, family, everyone who's listening. God isn't asking for perfection. He's inviting you into a deeper relationship with Him. Imagine your closest friend calling you every morning just to spend a few minutes with you talking about, have a good day. Let me know what you want me to pray for you about. Let's just have a five-minute quick call just to make sure that we're on the same page today of getting through with God's grace and mercy and knowing that I love you and you love me and God cares the most about the both of us, right? Eventually, when you have those kind of conversations, they become the best part of your day, right? Because you start looking for that phone call. You start anticipating that phone call of who she's about to call in five minutes. Oh, my dog's gonna call in about five minutes. You get excited. And that's the same thing God desires from us, right? He wants that first phone call in the morning. He won't be the first fruit, the first phone call, the first prayer in the morning. He wants the first conversation in the morning. That's what God desires. Not an obligation, not performance, not just a relationship. Seeking his face isn't about checking a devotional box. It's about knowing his heart. Sometimes seeking him looks like reading a chapter of scripture. Sometimes it looks like sitting quietly when you're over pouring a cup of coffee and thanking him for another day. Sometimes it looks like worshiping him while you're driving to work. And sometimes it's just a simple whisper, Lord, I'm here. Speak to me today, for your servant is listening. God honored hearts that seek him. Jeremiah 29 and 13 states, you will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all of your heart, amen. He didn't say half your heart. He didn't say your leftovers. He said, Seek me with your whole heart. And I want to encourage you today that maybe you don't have it all together right now, and maybe you're getting your life together. Maybe you are trying to stabilize your life. You can give God more time. I understand that. Being there, done that. Trust me, I know. I got some testimonies I can share with y'all. Trust me. But I want you to know don't worry about reading 10 chapters a day in the Bible. Don't pressure yourself to pray for an hour if that's not where you are right now. Just take a moment and start off with five minutes a day. Open up your Bible and just read a passage, anything that hits your heart. And it could be one simple scripture of the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. It could be, yea, though I walk through the valley of shadow of death, I fear no evil. It could be, cast your cares on me. It could be, the Lord is my bridge over troubled water. There's so many small scriptures you can read to encourage yourself. So I'm gonna tell you today, be still. Be still before the Lord and seek his kingdom, seek his face, and all things will fall into place. So when you seek him in the morning, your day will be aligned. I know how my day is when I rush through it and I haven't invited God in. I know how my day is. When I invite him in the first thing in the morning, and my day runs a little bit smoother because he's with me, he's giving me patience, he's giving me peace, he's giving me a spirit of endurance, he's giving me a spirit to speak the right things and push away from my computer when I'm in an email for 15 minutes to announce one. So I'm saying, God said, be still. Sometimes we spend so much time talking to God that we never pause long enough to hear from God. And this morning, I also want to remind you that seeking God isn't something we do only when life falls apart. It's something we do because he deserves first place every single day. And I thank you, Lord, for giving us this day. When things are going well, seek him. When you're hurting, seek him. When you're confused and troubled, seek him. When you're celebrating, when you're happy, when you're filled with love, when you feel like, oh my God, there's so much favor around me, seek him because he never changes, my brothers and my sisters. And he's something beautiful. God is so beautiful. Oh my God, the love of God is so beautiful. The more time you spend with Jesus, the more you will begin to sound like him, love like him, forgive like him, and trust him like him, right? People may not always remember your words, but they remember the peace you carried, the kindness that you showed, the hope you refuse to let go of. Those things are born in the presence of God, amen. And before we finish today, I want to leave you with a simple reflection. Ask yourself, what has been first in my life lately? Is it worry? Is it my work? Is it social media fear? Or is it Jesus? This isn't about guilt. It's about invitation. Every new morning is another opportunity to put him back where he belongs, and that is at the center of our hearts. Amen. Let us go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank you for this new day and for the gift of your presence. Forgive us for the times we've allowed the distractions of life to take first place in our hearts. Heavenly Father, today we choose to seek you first. Help us to love what you love. Help us to follow you. Help us to ask you to help us to follow you, Henry Father. Teach us to trust you more deeply. Quiet the noise around us, O God, so we can hear your voice so clearly. Strengthen the weary, comfort the hurting, give hope to those who feel discouraged. May everything we do today reflect your goodness and your mercy, your favor and your grace. Helen Father, help us to remember that your presence is more valuable than anything this world can offer. Thank you for always being there for us. Thank you for always being there waiting with open arms. Whenever we come to you, you are right there. And God, we love you for that. You are always there, right there by our side. I don't care what we're going through, good days, bad days, you right there with open arms. And God, we say hallelujah. Thank you for that. Thank you, oh God. Thank you, oh God. And we love you, oh God, for being our Father, our faithful Father. It's in your darling Santa Christ's name. We pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. God is so good. And I thank you all for spending this time with me these few moments today, because God is good. And if this devotional encourages your heart today, I pray you will carry Matthew 6 and 33 with you throughout your whole day. Before you make the next decision, before you answer that next email, before you let worthy take over, pause. And remember, seek Him first. Everything begins there. Until next time, keep seeking His face, keep trusting His promises, and remember you are never walking alone because God loves you and so do I. Be blessed, praise the Lord, and know that trouble don't last always. Until next time, smile and rejoice and know that you are blessed. This is our Current Let's Pray Ministries.