Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind. (Matthew 22:37)
Whenever we hear the word “righteous” this generally means to be in right standing with God. In order to be in right standing with anyone that you are in relationship with, you must have an idea of what that person wants or what they like. Once you know them, if that relationship is valuable to you, then you will be prepared to do things that you know they like because you value them or, better, because you love them. The level at which you value any relationship, is the level to which you are prepared to go in order to order to ensure that that relationship is preserved. Just as it is with our natural relationships, so is it with our relationship with God.
As your Sovereign Ruler and Creator, God wants to be first in your life. He does not want to be an after-thought or second to anything or anyone. No, He wants to be first; the One that you turn to first for every situation in your life, in so doing, this shows God that He is your greatest priority; that you truly trust Him, need Him and are relying on Him to help you navigate every area of your life.
God wants us to be in a relationship with Him where we understand that He is our God and there is no-one else in our lives that we place before Him. In Genesis 17:7, it is recorded that God established an everlasting covenant with Abraham, that God would be his God and that he and his generation to come would serve only Him.
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee [Abraham] and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
Whenever we put anything before God, whether it is a relationship, our jobs, our desire for material gain, our time spent on the phone or social media; that thing becomes our “god” and is erected as an idol in our lives.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God,
(Exodus 20:3 – 5a)
From the very beginning of time, God wanted a covenant relationship of love and blessing towards His people; where He is first. He wanted a people who were dedicated, committed and loyal to Him. Throughout the centuries, however, only a few have come to understand the magnitude of such an honor where the Sovereign Ruler of the entire universe; the God who created the heavens and the starts; the God who created the birds of the air and the fish of the seas; the who Created every living thing, including you and me; the God who is Alpha and Omega; the beginning and the end…of all things…wants to be in a relationship with you.
In Isaiah 1:18, it is this God who says, “Come, let’s reason together…”, The Psalmist David, at some point gets the revelation that we are truly not worthy of this God. In Psalm 8, he laments, “…what is man that Thou art mindful of him; the son of man that Thou visits him…”
Wow!! The God of the entire universe wants to visit us; He wants an everlasting relationship….with us! He is concerned about everything that concerns us. He knows everything about us and regardless of what state we are in, be we saint or sinner, God loves us just as we are and desires an intimate love covenant relationship with us. In order to cultivate this type of relationship with this Holy God, we must come to Him upon the altars of prayer. Spending time in prayer, reading His Word, praising and worshipping Him all help to create an atmosphere that attracts the presence of God to your life.
In the midst of everything that is happening in the world, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 Virus, the Spirit of God is seeking to draw you closer into His presence.
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence
is fulness of joy; at thy right hand
there are pleasures for evermore.
(Psalm 16:11)
When spending time with God becomes a priority in your life, you will begin to develop a fragrance of His presence. That fragrance will follow you everywhere you go and you will begin to attract the divine favor of God to your life. Once you truly get a revelation as to who God is and that He is of paramount importance in your life, you will begin to understand that the value of your relationship with Him far surpasses anything else in this world and you will begin to go after Him…more than you go after anything else in this world.
PRAYER: Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray that this powerful message of love will draw every reader closer to you. Dear reader, I pray that you would turn from unnecessary distractions and the overwhelming cares of this life and begin to turn your whole heart and mind towards God and the things of God and allow Him to show you the true “path of life.”
PROPHETIC DECLARATION: I decree and declare that you will have the courage and strength to turn away from everything that distracts you from pursuing the presence of God and that you will begin to seek after Him with your whole heart, mind, body and soul, in Jesus Name!
SCRIPTURES:
Jeremiah 29:13
1 Chronicles 16:11
Psalm 37:4
Isaiah 55:6
