This Before That (Part 7) | Pastor Mark Boer

let's get into the word if uh you've been with us over the last uh several weeks uh you know we've been teaching a series called uh this before that amen have you figured out any thises or that'ss yeah because this is about the divine order in other words in God and in the kingdom of God there is a sequence that must be acknowledged and followed getting our lives out of sequence completely interrupts the process and really the provision of God the sequence doing it right ensures God's blessing and provision in our lives so I want

to make sure that I not only you know do God in my life or have his activities uh in my life but I do them in the order in which he prescribed doing that ensures me that I'll get what he said I would get yeah cuz how many know we don't have a we don't have a problem with the Lord are you really going to do your part if I do my part no now he will do what he said period okay but if he assigned conditions to his activity then I must follow those sometimes

he'll say You Must Believe X to get this like believe you receive well I now have to do that right and in this regard he said the the the the Divine sequence or order of things is a kingdom his kingdom first and his right righteousness okay well we'll look again Matthew 6:33 our text for the series Jesus said but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you so the shall be added comes after the seek first the kingdom right now the kingdom of God and his

righteousness could be stated in different ways we could say God's rule or God's Reign we could also say then his righteousness is his ways so his reign in our lives and his ways that's what I seek that's what I pursue if I'll do that first I'm guaranteed of God's provision being you know uh continually added to my life now one of the things I noted last week was was that we cannot confidently know that we are putting the Lord first in our lives if we don't know what matters to him I could in the I

could you know with a a nice God label say Kingdom first but if I don't know what matters to him what's important what's weighty to the Lord I could think I'm doing it but be getting it wrong and so there has to be a little deeper look than just to say I'm a I'm a Christian or I believe in God and he's important to me no what does what's important to him oh well I don't know uh that I'm happy or or we can't be guessing about that we have to know what he States is

valuable then we set our heart on that and say Lord I'm doing this I'm going after this because you say it's important amen this is For Your Glory now if you um if you know him at all uh you probably have figured this one out that with God uh how how we treat people is important that if I if I have a big disconnect and I say I love the Lord but I just don't like his people uh then yeah that's not really going to work if I say I love God and I love to

worship God but I don't get along with people or don't value them or anything like that then I don't really love the Lord like I think I do because I'm taking what he says is very important Jesus Christ came to seek and save the Lost Jesus died for the sins of the world so that's obviously priority but if that's not priority with me then he's not priority with me God is not even if I say he is uh a pastor I used to work for pastor Lynn Shaw and Twin Falls he used to frequently say

uh it's better to be Godly than to be right think about that I think that c captures the heart of God because we often will value we'll put truth up real high as long as I'm right no no no truth is is important but how I treat people is all is is Superior in other words if you're wrong about something and I'm right and in my you know convincing or correcting your wrongness I treat you with disregard or dishonorably disrespectfully I've mixed up the Divi the divine order it would be better right for me to

treat people with love and respect God would be honored in that praise the Lord you got real quiet on me in this there's an old uh uh quote I'm not quite sure seems to be uh disagreement as to the origin but the quote is a good one it goes like this this is for Christians this is for believers the quote goes like this uh in Essentials unity in non-essentials Liberty and in all things charity have you heard that now think about it in Essentials is there anything that we don't bend on yeah yeah if you're

a Believer there's some certain things you're not going to back down on for anything because it's essential it's required beliefs some of this is who God is and Jesus the Savior and his Plan of Salvation all that I'm not never bending on that so we unify on that I can unify with uh any church in the valley over over those Essentials right but in non-essentials that's things we sometimes see differently there's parts of the Bible where not all Christians interpret it the same way so but they're non-essential issues so if they're not in that essential

category I can say yeah you're free to believe that I'm free to believe that and I can still like you amen I can still get along with you I don't you're not my enemy we're there's there's freedom in th in those areas uh but the last one again in all things no matter what we're talking about essential and non-essential charity is what love Yeah King James Bible translates the word Love Is Charity in all things we're going to love each other see this captures the heart of God this is value this is a value system

amen that we're going to love people we're going to treat them right and the Heart of God is Is This Love Is Paramount and sometimes I wonder what we're going to think or what people who are already in heaven think about some of the petty issues we allowed to dominate us while we were here we fussed we fought we made a big deal over things that from Heaven's vantage point we might think that was so unimportant that was so small picture and not big picture and I want to Endeavor to have that perspective while I'm

here and now especially if I'm going to break a relationship over something that in the in eternity I'm going to roll my eyes at myself think really you lost that friend over that really you hurt that person really you made that person feel that way because of that ah now thank God we'll have forgiveness and acceptance and everything else but I I need to Value God's ways I treat people as as he does you know a while back quite a few years ago there was a popular um phrase the letters w w j d right

people would wear it on their bracelets and things and uh that St that stands for what would Jesus do think that's a good question still I think that is that's a good guide for how how should I deal with this person how should I deal with this situation now sometimes there is disagreement as to what Jesus would do so uh one thing that'll help us in that regard is another one it's called wdj D what did Jesus do yeah because I don't have to be confused about what Jesus would do if I know what he

done did already do right and I've got Matthew Mark Luke and John standing on the four corners of the intersection giving me their perspective on Jesus and his life and his conversations his actions and they wrote These down so I can see what Jesus did yeah for example I can see how he treated the woman who was caught in adultery right and he said let he who he who is without sin Let Him cast the first stone he said to the woman neither do I condemn you go and sin no more I can see how

we dealt with people who failed people who who were in sin and he didn't do it with condemnation but gave him a hand up and instruction and how to live from there right so I want to I know that's what Jesus did do that's what he Jesus does do that's what I should do that honors God this is a part of seeking the kingdom first I can see what Jesus did with sick people right I see that he never not one single time turned them away and declined their healing not once not even once therefore

I'm going to say what would Jesus do well what did Jesus do yeah and and so I'm going to act in the same manner someone says I'm sick good you can be healed today yeah amen what that's a Jesus answer right yeah so I'm going to look at God's value system what he says is important I'm going to find out what he says is and then you know duplicate that even in the New Testament uh Paul wrote to the Galatians in chapter 6 and verse one and he said if anyone is overtaken in a fault

and or a trespass he said you who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness considering s lest you also be tempted so what are we supposed to do with people who are overtaken in a trespass in other words fall into sin what are we supposed to do with them well depends on what you are if you're spiritual if you're fleshy you're going to attack them kick them out you're going to say you failed I have nothing to do with you and talk about it but if you're spiritual what do you do

you restore so this captures the heart of God someone Falls my goal is not to expose my goal is to restore not to ruin the rest of their life because they failed but to help Salvage and redeem the rest of their life because of the Lord's shed blood amen amen so this is you can do this with so many scriptures and you say I want to seek the Lord first these are the Lord's ways and if you find something that gives us instruction or gives you his heart then uh seeking the Lord first then goes

beyond I go to church go goes beyond I believe in God I have faith in Jesus are seeking the Lord first then says this is God's value system these are his ways I'm going to implement them in how I do my life yeah that is synonymous then or tantamount to Kingdom first righte his righteousness first praise the Lord everybody having fun so far yes sir okay now uh what we can do sometimes is is be too generic even with the language of you know Kingdom first uh we can be too generic and if we're super

generic we sometimes don't uh realize the uh the Practical uh Pathway to follow in various areas of our lives and so what I want to do with the rest of our time here this morning is is to look at a handful of areas of our lives and say how do I see SE his Reign and his ways in this area how do I do it in this area because if this doesn't translate into practical yes how do I know if I'm doing it other I might just live with a theory that he's first instead of

an action and we're doers of the word not hearers only right okay so let me get let me uh grab a handful of areas and see how far we can go with this uh the first one is this it's prayer so here's what I want us to do ask ask the question how do I put his Reign and his ways in my prayer life okay if you if you were in Matthew chapter 6 with me you go back just a few verses and and and and look at this with me CH uh chapter 6 verse

9 this is one one of the accounts where Jesus taught his disciples how to pray and what we call the Lord's Prayer and he said in verse 9 in this manner therefore pray Our Father in heaven Hallowed Be Your Name Your Kingdom Come your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven okay now stop there for a moment in fact that's all we're going to read of that for now okay did you notice that beginning this this prayer or this manner of prayer as he said not just something we're not supposed to just

repeat this prayer as a as a ritual okay we but it's a principled prayer in this manner did you notice that the word your y r right your was used three times three times so just the very beginning of this model this manner of praying Jesus said focus on what the father wants not on what you want we might think well as long as I pray if I am a prayer then that is the same as putting God first in my life possibly not you might frequently pray and put yourself first in your life in

other words if my prayers all begin with me my need what I want then I might have reversed the divine order even in doing something spiritual and godly Prayer by itself yes it's a wonderful thing but how should I pray and here's the heart behind this if the Lord's business is first I'm going to start off with what he wants not with what I want my my first words are your kingdom your will right and what's the other your your name your kingdom your will these are the first things Jesus mentioned when he taught them

how to pray think we ought to follow that pattern okay but how many times do we not how many times we I'm praying so I'm jumping into me me me I need money I need comfort I need friends I need help I need I I I I now there's nothing wrong with those requests just get them in the right order and this is Godly this is his sequence that we begin with God's plan in mind and not our own Hallelujah one thing I like to do many times and I think this is follows this pattern

you can see it within the language of Hallowed be your name is that we start our approach to the father is always started with worship so say I I want to spend some time in prayer and I've got some things I want to pray about there's fine there's nothing wrong with that as far as your needs go slow down brother uh start off and just say father something something like this holy is your name You Are Holy you are hallowed I worship you use the language of you are great you are awesome you are faithful

you are true everything you know to about him that's good and Worship the Lord Jesus said in John 4 the father seeks those who would worship Him in spirit and Truth grab some truths about the father and say you are you are this to me you are wonderful and spend them you know don't just do it as a as a a you know a box to check okay let me do that quick worship worship worship worship okay now let's get down to business right no actually if you if you got caught up in a spirit

of worship come on come on I don't think long term you're going to be lacking anything that's right that's right right cuz that's Godly that's right and he's going to add all things to you that's right but it's just that's part it's real it's genuine it's sincere I worship you I want your kingdom your ways your righteousness I'm seeking what you want to do and he may say I'd like you to pray about this person or pray for your church or pray for this country or pray for he may want stir you up to pray

about something that he wants to do now how many know this as a side note in the kingdom of God There are rules that govern what God does in the earth his will is not automatically done and one of the things that is necessary are people who have a body and feed on the ground to actually ask him to do things he is actually Limited in what he can do in the Earth by the absence of his people praying for the scripture says the heavens are the Lord but the Earth's the Earth he has given

to the The Children of Men In other words we're here he's given us authority responsibility and if we don't ask he doesn't move right so that's why when I say seek Him First we're saying Lord what do you want to do what's on your heart what's your plans what what needs to be prayed what do I need to ask but that mentality sets us up then God's stuff is taken care of and now the Lord is saying and and what do you want and what do you need can I do something for you you come

on hallelujah praise the Lord the psalmist said come into His presence with Thanksgiving in your heart and into his courts with praise not come into His presence with I need I want Lord do this for me no him first glorify him okay here's another area all right so that's prayer I'm thinking how do I put God first in my prayer life how do I put him first in my finances how do I put God first in my finances say well that's not an area I really wanted to go into uh actually you have to anything

that's important to you has to intersect with this principle otherwise it will be your tripping uh block your stumbling Stone in this life I can't have parts of my life that I say Lord don't go in that room yeah I don't look in my trunk don't look in the back no no the Lord has to have access to all parts of our life okay when it comes to finances this principle will work here as well now in uh in the Kings 1 Kings 17 uh 8-6 we won't read all of it but uh part of

it the Lord was providing for his prophet in various ways he'd say go here go here go here go here and the Lord would provide for him there in one of the those instances uh he led him to a place called uh zerth and uh there there was a woman there a widow woman so she's uh single and she has a small child and she's dirt poor of course there's a drought in the land and and so lots of people are struggling but uh the the Lord sends his man there he said go there she'll

take care of you and and so he shows up and says uh give me something to drink oh and get me some bread too and then she starts answering saying yeah I don't really have that in fact let's read in verse 12 so she said as the Lord your God Lives I do not have bread only a handful of flour in a bin a little oil in a jar and see I am Gathering a couple sticks that I I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son that we may eat it and

die so last supper kind of thing here we're going to eat and die and what does the man of God say I'm hungry all right in verse 11 Elijah said to Hero not fear go and do as you have said but but make me a small cake from it what is this first mean anything in our whole discussion here okay that's why I'm in this chapter he said get me some first now some might be offended at that right away here comes a preacher strolling through town and here he goes me first give me an

offering give me an offer and he goes to the poorest lady in town she's about to die and and give me an offering give feed me first yeah we'll get to you but me first and she said I only have enough for us and he said me first well what would you do with that I mean how would you respond to that would be like who are you who do you think you are man of God how about God provide for you and not recognize that this was the work of God and and he said

he went on to say and bring it to me and afterward make for some for yourself and your son how many are thinking right now wait a minute there is no afterward if I give it to you we don't have any but he said afterward so he knows he's in faith here okay in verse 14 for thus says the Lord God of Israel the bin of flow shall not be used up nor shall the jar of oil run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth so she went away and did according

to the word of Elijah and she and he and her household ate for many days the bin of flow was not used up nor did the door nor did the jar of oil run dry according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by Elijah now now watch how many understand it takes Faith to put God first it has it takes Faith to give first all this we're talking about will require us to take a step of Faith because we may think if I do that first I will be neglected I will do without

I will suffer harm and it takes Faith to obey God and say no your business and if we don't get to my business that's okay but I believe if I put your business first then mine will be taken care of amen and so she had to take this step of faith and the result was God multiplied her bread her flour and and her oil but uh if you ever wonder why didn't the Lord just send his guy to a wealthy person wouldn't that been easier there were wealthy people there always are why didn't he send

them there someone who had way too much had an abundance had excess why don't he send them there and say thus says the Lord feed me give me food I think a lot of us would think that way I have need go to someone who has an abundance why do you think he didn't do that I believe it was because he wanted to help this woman that's right why send your man to that lady because she's going to die if I don't why send your your your profit to a woman who doesn't have anything because

she doesn't have anything and God wants to bless her well why doesn't he just bless her because he needs her faith amen and her faith says I'm going to take my last meal and give it to this guy yes and the Lord says yeah and the oil won't dry up and the flower won't dry up and did you notice yeah I'm going to read into this a little bit but stay with me and see if you agree okay uh she didn't all of a sudden get a big barrel full of oil a big barrel full

of flour and she could make cakes and all kinds of stuff from then on out no it looks like it kind of stayed at a small level and every day for because they ate for many days I don't know how many many is but it's not a few for many days I think this is where I say I'm reading between the lines she probably made Elisha a cake first every day every day she had okay here we go we got enough for the two of us to eat and die but he said make one for

me first every day a step of Faith every day and it never ran out and it kept filling back up kept the Lord multiplied her Act of Faith every single day to me that sounds a whole lot like a tithe that a whole lot like a not just an act but a manner of living where I'm going to put the Lord first and I'm going to trust him every single day praise the Lord now practically speaking again in your own life what does it look like you sure you we could talk about the tithe but

uh something that we have done in our in our family in our home and and I've even in a few years ago we really took a step up because the Lord dealt with me to do more is we take money and we put it into a bank account of our personal money we put it into a bank account and that money that's called our giving account it's even labeled that in our app giving and we regularly put money in there I'm not we don't I mean our tithe immediately goes to the church just like you

do that's H but we give the Lord dealt with me to give much more than a tithe I think he does that with all belever as they grow and as their faith increases they don't start they don't stop with a tithe they start with a tithe okay but you walk that out with the Lord for your own life but he was dealing with us that way to give more and to dramatically increase it on a on a percentage basis so say what do we do with all the money and so we put it in our

giving account so in our mind our heart it's already given the Lord was honored we did what he directed us to do we honored him and then we have this account and out of that we can give we give to people we give here we give to the building project we give to uh other Ministries we give wherever the Lord leads us whatever seems good but every time God deals with us to give something we don't have to go oh do we have it do we have enough now we we're still limited I understand that

we don't have a gazillion dollars in there otherwise the project would be paid for it's still Limited what we can do but still out of that he can deal with me to give to you if he does now don't you deal with me I'm not going to deal with you to give to me you don't deal with me to give to you right but I'm I'm I'm I'm a vessel he's his kingdom is first what matters people matter to him and if he wants to point to me someone out to me and say give give

them some cash give this person some I'm ready now there's times when it gets used up but then we replenish it you understand and and that's one way we keep the Lord first in our finances not just by saying it yeah the Lord has access to All Of Me all that I have is his oh yeah whatever does he really I mean because that's got to be there's got to be a practical outworking of that it's got to show up on the calculator at some point amen so so that's that's God first in our in

our finances how about our schedule how do I put God first in my schedule in other words this this has to do with I think making time to pray making time to serve making time to attend church these things become priority and I make sure they are in there not squeeze them in if I've got availability in other words I see some of this as like like prayer I don't have enough time to not pray there's not enough hours in the day for me to not pray there'd have days would have to be longer you

understand I seek Him First in my schedule by saying you you've got time you've got uh access to me I'm going to do your business as a part of my life every day hallelujah how many understand this that God will bless your time just like he will bless your money and if we are running out or we're running ragged or we can't do all that we need to do uh well that would be a good question is he got priority in that area of my life is he Kingdom am my kingdom firstmed in that area

how many know when we do this we actually have more time he'll bless your efficiency your fruitfulness your Effectiveness you'll be better on the job better at home better with how you manage things things and ultimately you know what you'll have you'll have time to play and time to recreate and you'll have time for family you'll have time and the church and the kingdom and prayer and all that stuff none of that'll be neglected y cuz you put it first it's in there and then the blessing of God goes on the rest of it it's

just a better way to live not just again not just like financially but in these other areas okay how about your calling or your assignment or I'm really talking about anything that you are convinced have conviction in your life that God wants you you to do something it's not necessarily for everybody but he has a gift in your life you recognize I have a gift of God or I have an assignment he has this task he has this this this thing this Vision he put in my heart see how do I seek God first in

regards to that and I can tell you this I believe that I make it Priority Amen in other words I never treat it as optional if I really believe it's God if I really believe he's he wants me to do it I can't make it optional I can't think of it as uh insignificant but no this is a big deal this is a God thing in my life therefore I'm G to make sure I I I I get her done amen right I'm I'm GNA make sure this this happens and I'm going to honor God

by being satisfied in it too not always looking at someone else thinking I wish I could do what they did or I wish I had that place or I wish I had that calling I wish those gifts were in me no that dishonors the Lord's Choice come on if I'm constantly dissatisfied because I'm comparing myself to someone else I dishonor the Lord and by the way if you if if you you think I don't have much well you're not you're not you know obligated to do much then I mean you're not held accountable for doing

something with a gift you don't have right so in the long term in heaven you'll be happy because we're only held accountable for what we're called to do but anything I know is of God that becomes Paramount I'm going to make sure and do that fulfill that I'm going to use my gifts for for his glory his calling his assignment for me is Big second Peter 1:0 reads therefore Brethren be even more diligent to make your call and election sure that's that foundation for for if you do these things you will never stumble all right

here's another category trying to go fast for time sake how about family how do I put God first his kingdom and his Reign and his ways in my family and and if you're single you're your family okay but family H how do I in my home how do I have a God kingdom first uh concept and practice in my home remember what Joshua said you might remember at least the last part of this verse Joshua 24:15 and if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve

whether the gods which your your fathers served that were on the other side of the river or the gods of the ammonites in whose land you dwell but as for me in my house we will serve the Lord is that a good commitment yeah would you say that out loud with me say as for me and my house we will serve the Lord yeah that that that needs to be real in us a conviction that my house is going to is going to be a Godly house say how do I do that how do I

lead my family and my home and how can I make sure God is first again it's it's some of these other practices inserted into that uh that part of life okay uh going to church if you have especially if you have family you're married you have kids you make Church Center Point you you put that as a part of your your kids upbringing how about the atmosphere in your home what kind of atmosphere is it is is it one that God is praised and glorified or is it a home filled with Strife filled with fighting

filled with selfishness and those are the things that are the presence of the devil and not the presence of God I want the atmosphere of my home to be one of Peace amen and so when you find these other things happening in your life and people are at each other's throats and there's arguments and contention and all that step back I know it's a real struggle for some but say listen the Lord has got to be first in our home and you get with your family God has got to be first in our home we're

not going to give the devil place and we're going to solve these issues and we're going to love and forgive and figure out how to how to do this because we want to give no place to the devil but we want to have God be glorified in our family and so in your family again I could go back we could talk about giving we could talk about serving we could talk about uh the language of following God's plan Mom and Dad talk about following God's plan for your life even if you don't know what it

is say we're committed whatever the Lord's will is when you when you bring up your children you say you can do whatever God wants you to do in your life you can follow God's will talk about not just career choices and life plans and and college Pursuits talk about God's plan so they think yeah the Lord wants something for me or he has a has a plan I need to seek that I need to pursue that see that's God first in your family amen amen when there's hurt and when there's uh you know uh problems

forgiveness becomes the centerpiece even when the kids are young and they fight and they do different things and well we're going to talk about forgiveness now too so they grow up with the heart of God the love of God forgiveness as a norm praise the Lord so consider these and really we could go to many other areas if we had time uh we we could talk about your job but you ask these questions how do I put the Lord first on my job what does that practically look like how do I put the Lord first

in in my politics in my voting would that be a worthy question to ask because because what listen one of the problems we face today is people try to uh put that in a separate category outside of their walk with god well I'm a Christian but then my party my voting that's in this block over here and I don't mix the two no if you're a Believer you mix everything everything you understand that's how really it's the work of the devil to get God out of government you know the whole church and state argument yeah

separation of church and state for those some of you are probably well versed in this but you know when that when that was or originally written that statement that in a letter that that statement meant keep the state out of the church it did not mean keep the church out of the state amen okay that's not it's not constitutional but that's a whole another discussion I'm just saying as a Christian I'm not going to say my politics are this but I'm but I'm a Christian no if they don't intermingle I'm messing up the Divine principle

here the divine order amen he must guide me in all that I do uh including that praise the Lord hallelujah and so thank you Lord again we can talk about how do I how do I put God first in entertainment how any area of our life that we can identify this is a worthy question and I'm going to say what are the Lord's values what does he say is important what are his ways what is his righteousness and that's what I'm going to follow that's the divine order that's this before that and when things are

aligned there's no hindrance to God's blessings his provision becomes abundant and normal and natural for us hallelujah praise the Lord let's pray today father thank you for working in us thank you for your hand of blessing upon us thank you for your strength that is renewed as we wait upon you thanks for joining us for the message today I trust it has been a blessing and a help to your life you know the most important thing we could ever do is to receive salvation to receive eternal life you know Jesus died for our sins he

paid the price and it's available to every single one of us would you like to pray today say it from your heart say it out loud dear God in heaven I believe in you I Repent of my sins I believe that Jesus died for me on the cross he suffered in my place he died so I could live he was raised from the dead and he's alive today I receive him now as my savior I confess Jesus is Lord listen friend if you prayed that prayer with me today congratulations you're in you're saved you're right

with God I would love to hear from you so we can send you some additional material to help you in your walk and relationship with God God please text the word saved to 208 314 2660 also I'd like to invite you to join us for a live service this coming Sunday and you are more than welcome to be here visit our website at lcbo.com for all of the current service times thanks again for joining us today God bless you