How to Seek God’s Kingdom First

And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her—Lk. 10:42

Are you ready for letter 4 and 5 of F-E-L-L-O-W-S-H-I-P?

In previous Spiritual Fuel editions we covered the first 3 of the 10 letter acronym: F (Fear of the Lord), E (Endurance) and L (Love).

Now, let’s continue with the fourth letter…

L: Light of Glory

Suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me . . . And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus. (Acts 22:6,11) And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” (Ex. 33:18) You shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending. (Jn. 1:51) “I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man… The mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings. 6:17) Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. (Ps. 4:6) His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. (Rev. 1:16) Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me . . . bring me to Your holy hill. (Ps. 43:3) (Also see: Ex. 33–34; Isa. 6; Ezek. 1; Acts 2; Rev. 1: 13)

Our Father is a “Father of Glory” (Eph. 1:17) and we need the light of His glory shining over us.

When Paul got converted, he saw Jesus in a great light from heaven (Acts 22:6–11). Moses also prayed to see God’s glory (Ex. 33:18), and his face shone with the splendor of God.

Like Moses, you can also ask to encounter the realm of God’s glory… Jesus said that His disciples would see an open heaven in which they would see the angels ascending and descending (Jn. 1:51).

“Glory encounters” include seeing angels and experience the glory of God’s presence in dynamic ways.

Ask Him right now, to shine the light of His face on your soul.

Here’s a sample prayer:

“Father, let me see the light of Your glory. Give me Holy Spirit encounters—dreams, visions, angelic visitations, manifestations of Your light, fire, and wind—as You gave to Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and John and the disciples on the day of Pentecost, In Jesus name I ask. Amen”

Ready for the fifth letter of the acronym?

O: One Thing

One thing I have desired . . . that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to be-hold the beauty of the Lord. (Ps. 27:4) But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part. (Lk. 10:42) One thing I do . . . reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 3:13–14) I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. (Ps. 16:8)

The “one thing” concept is SO foreign to our busy lives…

The same technology that has enhanced “communications” have added a thousand new distractions… so, instead of ONE THING, we tend to be a people of “ONE HUNDRED things and counting”…

Between social media, SMS texts, phone calls, mobile notifications and all kinds of “new apps” that do this and that… we are constantly interrupted… constantly distracted…

In a way… we suffer self-induced ADD (attention deficit disorder).

Do you know what is the current attention span of our AG (after Google) times?

For adults it used to be 45 minutes (some decades ago), now, the normal attention span is… 90 SECONDS!

You read that right… no one would dare to admit it, but leaders in the advertising and direct response industry know this well.

So… how can you live a ONE THING lifestyle in today’s world?

You could become a monk and join a monastery, or a nun and join a convent… great for you if you can do that, but for 95% of the body of Christ that is not possible…

The concept of “living in the wilderness” is very noble and in some cases Biblical, but if you do that… who’s going to pay your bills and feed your family?

So, a better question (for most of us) is…

How can I be a ONE THING person in a very busy world? How can I do this living in the market place? While attending all the other things I need to take care of…

That my friend, will require unrelenting focus, constant commitment and military (plus) discipline…

But we don’t have the time here to develop a comprehensive how to… that’s why I created online monthly trainings, like Knowing Christ University, to help you learn the spiritual “how tos,” step by step.

But you can start by doing this…

Determine to be CONSISTENT in spending time before the Lord and His Word, as the first thing you do every single day. You can make that happen. Don’t have the time? (make the time, wake up earlier).

No excuses (:

In closing, to be a man or woman of “one thing” like David (Ps. 27:4), or like Mary of Bethany (who sat at Jesus’ feet – Lk. 10:42), You MUST ask the Holy Spirit to help you…

He will give you a strategy and show you HOW you (in your specific life situation) can be a person of ONE THING.

Then, ask the Lord to intervene and call your attention, when you start to drift away from Him…

And one more thing, be extremely gracious and forgiving with yourself when you fail… pick yourself up, return to the Lord and try again.

Here’s a sample prayer:

Father, I commit to live as a person of one thing. Help me to regularly sit at Your feet as Mary of Bethany did. Strengthen me to desire and maintain a lifestyle that has regular times before You in Your Word. When I lose this focus, send Your Word to deliver me, as You did for the early church (Rev. 2:4–5, 3:1–3, 3:15–20).

What is your opinion about this?

Post your thoughts below, I know you have some (: