Setting Our Priorities

“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God” (Matt. 6:33)

Dear friends, greetings! It has been awhile since I have written a full article in our magazine and for that I do apologize for the reason was strictly selfish. For several months both my wife and our Editor tried to persuade me to go back to writing, but to no avail. I simply would not budge and comply with their wishes and I refused to consider the fact that somewhere out there in reader land, maybe someone who in the past had benefitted from some of the things that I wrote about was not actually missing my essays. So, I hereby confess my sin of laxness and selfishness to both my Lord and our readers! Well, enough said about me, so let’s go on to bigger and better things.

In 2Timothy we read the words of the Apostle Paul in his charge and encouragement to Timothy, where Paul says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound mind.” (2Tim. 1:7). If we look at the world that we live in today, where for the past sixteen months or so we have been under restrictions by our governments and health authorities, whose mandates and information has not only confused and irritated a large percentage of the population, but when we look at the people around us and analyze their behaviour and actions, we cannot help but realize that fear is a very prevalent factor. Yes! Fear is a real factor in the lives of many, if not most people, caused by all the information and or hype regarding the Corona Virus, simply because among the general population there is no reliance and trust in the Sovereignty of God! As in the verse quoted earlier from 2Tim. 1:7 we did not receive a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, a power that is contained in the being of our Lord Jesus and in His blood, and a spirit of sound mind, meaning we have received a brain with which we should be able to discern information from misinformation and black from white.

I just recently read an article in the Stone Kingdom Ministries newsletter in which Dr. James Bruggeman quoted an article printed in the Asheville Tribune, which in turn quoted an article published by the John Hopkins newsletter which stated that by studying data from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention over the two years prior to Covid 19, the average yearly death toll from diseases such as heart disease, respiratory disease, influenza and pneumonia had dramatically decreased in 2020 in direct proportion to the death of the Corona Virus, thus the 200,000 Corona Virus deaths as of the writing of the John Hopkins newsletter did not increase the annual death rate of all deaths by disease in any age group. This John Hopkins newsletter has since been eliminated and buried due to pressure by the C.D.C., since it collided with the C.D.C. narratives. I, for one, have read similar articles stating and stressing the same facts. For most of you having internet access, I recommend you turn on your search engine and look for all the info that is available for those willing to look. As it says in the verse quoted from 2Tim. 1:7, we have been given a sound mind, use it! Discernment is a God given power to find the truth.

“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvellous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth real well.” (Psa. 139:14). You know, David was not the only one that could utter these words, for we all who are of the stock of Adam, through Seth and Shem to Abraham and ultimately to Jacob-Israel, are made in the image and likeness of God. With this thought in mind, we must therefore carefully consider how we, as remnant believers, treat that body that is so fearfully and wondrously made. From the beginning of time our forebears were fully aware of the difference between clean and unclean and therefore made every effort not to pollute their bodies with the unclean meats, for instance, which would have been an affront to their and our God. And that brings us to a situation that each and everyone is faced with today. It does not matter where we are located geographically, but under the Covid 19 strain all of us are, not only urged, but forced into taking an anti-virus vaccine, a vaccine that was developed in record breaking time and has not been fully tested for future harm and/or repercussions. It will therefore take a tremendous amount of thought and prayer on our part before we would even consider taking that step. It is my opinion that unless there are extenuating circumstances all of us should stay away from that vaccine. My opinion is not based on “scientific facts” but on common sense and Bible guidance. In the Epistle to the Corinthians Paul writes, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” (1Cor. 3:16-17) Paul reiterates the same message in chapter 6 where he states, “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1Cor. 6:19-20) So, dear friends, consider closely the path that you are willing to tread, you either follow the mandates of your government officials, who in their reasoning have no place or time for a Sovereign God, or your heart and spirit in your decisions in the matter.

This brings us now the caption verse of this article, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God”. When we read the part of the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matt. 6:25-33,34 we come to realize that Jesus is addressing the multitude regarding concerns pertaining to everyday life. In fact, the Lord is saying to the crowd, and also to us in this present day, not to be anxious or worry about the mundane things in our daily lives. In verse 32, the Lord said, “For after all these things the gentiles seek, [gentiles here meaning unbelievers] for your Father in Heaven knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” It is at this point that Jesus admonishes us to first seek the Kingdom of God, in other words, look for bigger and better things that only a closer relationship with God can offer. He finishes this chapter by telling us not to worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself and nothing you or I can do will change that fact.

Now when we seek the Kingdom of God, it does not mean that when we find it we will be able to enter said Kingdom on our own volition, but our spirit will be transposed to a higher awareness and assurance of a realm far above our existence on this here planet. We will be able to communicate with our Lord and Heavenly Father far above anything that we have imagined or experienced. When we achieve that plateau there will be no more fear, only gladness and hope in the certainty of His promise, and the awareness that our bodies are a God created machine that is more complex and fine-tuned than anything man can come up with in their wildest dreams. Each day when we rise at dawn, we will be able to say, when we look out of our windows, be it rain or sunshine, “This is the day that the Lord has made, I will be glad and rejoice in it”, and we will also be able to say with Paul, “For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.”

May the Lord keep and bless all of you during these trying times!