Matthew 6:33\u00a0<\/b>–\u00a0<\/i>But seek first his kingdom\u00a0and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Matthew 6:21<\/b>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0For where your treasure is, there you heart will be also.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
My Dad detested stingy.\u00a0\u00a0He spoke of being generous and knowing what was most important.\u00a0\u00a0To him what was most important was family and friends (before he came to the Lord, then it was the Lord, family and friends.)\u00a0\u00a0Certainly there were material things that he enjoyed beyond the essentials of a roof over the head, clothes to wear, food to eat and water to drink.\u00a0\u00a0For many years he had a hobby of collecting coins.\u00a0\u00a0He researched coins and enjoyed the finding of them.\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes he would go to the coin shop to buy a good investment, but most often he just kept his eyes open and examined coins as he came upon them, hoping to find the treasure that many did not know was a treasure.\u00a0\u00a0He did this for years.\u00a0\u00a0I enjoyed watching him read up on the coins, and seeing him happily place a coin in one of his many coin books.\u00a0\u00a0Then there came a day, when the family finances were lacking.\u00a0\u00a0Money needed to be had for us get by.\u00a0\u00a0I remember seeing my going through his coin books to determine what would be of greatest value to sell.\u00a0\u00a0I think I cried that my Dad had to depart with what had brought him so much joy to collect.\u00a0\u00a0I asked him not to sell his coins.\u00a0\u00a0Maybe there was another way?\u00a0\u00a0He tenderly explained to me how he had greatly enjoyed collecting the coins, but now something more important needed to be taken care of, his family.\u00a0\u00a0He once again stressed that material things were not the most important things of life, and certainly not more important than his family, than all of us.\u00a0\u00a0So he sold the coins that he had been collecting for so many years.\u00a0\u00a0I thought that afterward he would begin to rebuild his collection but he did not.\u00a0\u00a0He never collected coins again, but he continued to sacrifice for his family.\u00a0\u00a0He continued to prefer that his family was provided for, even more than that he was provided for.<\/p>\n
When a young man I dreamt of being very successful and owning and living on a large ranch, with a wife and kids.\u00a0\u00a0I wanted to hire family and friends to work on the ranch and build them all a house that they could live in as long as they worked with me.\u00a0\u00a0As I was blessed I wanted to bless. I thought this was my future.\u00a0\u00a0I would be blessed by God and then I would bless others.\u00a0\u00a0I truly thought that was my lot.\u00a0\u00a0I have come to know the meaning of\u00a0Proverbs 19:21<\/b>\u00a0\u201cMany are the plans in a person\u2019s heart, but it is the Lord\u2019s purpose that prevails<\/i>.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0I thought I would accomplish my goas through being a writer.\u00a0\u00a0Slowly, perhaps a lot longer than it should have taken, I came to be aware that although I had some talent as a writer, perhaps it was not enough to accomplish my goals.\u00a0\u00a0Obviously any ability as a writer that I have has not been enough.\u00a0\u00a0So my lofty dreams have not come to fruition.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I am not going to be the great benefactor that I had envisioned.<\/p>\n
Matthew 6:33\u00a0<\/b>–\u00a0<\/i>But seek first his kingdom\u00a0and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well<\/i>.\u00a0\u00a0After coming to knowledge of Jesus as my Savior and Lord, I held onto the ranch dream for a long time.\u00a0\u00a0It seemed like a great goal.\u00a0\u00a0I had many other dreams, many other goals that have not materialized.\u00a0\u00a0I would not be the benefactor I had hoped to be.\u00a0\u00a0But my goals have greatly changed.\u00a0\u00a0What I most valued has changed.\u00a0\u00a0I no longer most greatly value my past dreams, but I most value what the will of God is for my life.\u00a0\u00a0Now my most valued endeavor is to please God.\u00a0\u00a0I do my best and I know that pleases God.\u00a0\u00a0So my dreams changed.\u00a0\u00a0I never realized the past dreams, but pleasing God is something I can live out today.\u00a0\u00a0Praise God for that!\u00a0\u00a0I never got all that I formerly wanted, but I do have all I now want.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m good with that.\u00a0\u00a0Very good with that!\u00a0\u00a0Yes, I now have all the treasure that I most desire and have seen\u00a0Matthew 16:33<\/b>\u00a0come true.\u00a0\u00a0Praise God!\u00a0\u00a0He always has a better plan!\u00a0\u00a0Praise God!<\/p>\n
Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i><\/p>\n
Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Matthew 6:33\u00a0–\u00a0But seek first his kingdom\u00a0and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:21\u00a0\u2013\u00a0For where your treasure is, there you heart will be also.\u00a0 My Dad detested stingy.\u00a0\u00a0He spoke of being generous and knowing what was most important.\u00a0\u00a0To him what was most important was family and friends (before…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[101,94,1874,17],"class_list":["post-1958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-matthew","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-psalm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1958"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1959,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958\/revisions\/1959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}