WHAT ARE YOUR PRIMARY GOALS AND ARE THEY AT RISK?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.
(Matthew 6:33)

MEDITATION:
Many people pour their time, energy and effort into attaining things
like a good job, a nice home, improving their talents, etc. There’s
nothing wrong with setting goals like these and others, but each  
one can have the risk of becoming a major disappointment.

First of all, there is the heartbreak of dedicating everything to achieve
your goals but falling short of achieving them. Secondly, there is the
devastating anguish when your goals are achieved, but are lost later.

Companies can go out of business or downsize, and a great job can be lost.
Loss of a job can result in the inability to make house payments, which can
cause someone to lose the house they worked so hard to get. Someone’s
health can suddenly deteriorate which not only causes one to lose their
competitive edge, but sometimes they can struggle with normal activities.

In these tragic moments, a person can develop a feeling of being completely
and terribly alone. It is a loneliness that’s difficult to explain to others. As
they see others living their lives in good health and without struggles, they
can experience an increase in their frustrations and feelings of loneliness.
We all can have momentary times of loneliness, but when our health fails,
the feelings can be more intense.

However, praise God there is good news! It is at this point when we can
realize that God is the only source of real power, and the only enduring
One who provides the kind love and companionship we desperately need.
This is the reason we are told to
    “seek His kingdom and His righteousness”.

When our primary goal is to “seek His Kingdom and His righteousness”,
we know we won’t run the risk of losing them. We are also promised
additional blessings when our efforts are focused on the Lord and His
righteousness.

Some of our blessings might be achieving some goals we have established
for ourselves for years. When our desires are in the right order, we will be
equipped for handling the loss of our personal goals, which are secondary
to our primary goal of increased righteousness, decreased unrighteousness
and growing in our relationship and fellowship with the Lord.

ACTION:
Satan has many schemes to discourage and cause failures in people who
are part of God’s family. He wants to deceive us into believing ‘our’ goals
are more important than “seeking His kingdom and His righteousness”.
He wants to replace our primary ‘Godly’ goals with ‘our’ secondary goals.

When he can convince us that any goal is more important than a desire to
seek the Lord and His ways, then Satan is gaining a ‘foothold’ on our lives.
And, as believers know, a ‘foothold’ can be the first step in allowing the
Evil One to gain a ‘stronghold’ over us, which will render is ineffective in
fulfilling God’s plans for our lives (plans He established for each person
before we were born).

Questions to consider:
    – What are my primary goals?
    – Have I allowed my personal goals to
       replace or exclude God’s plans for me?
    – How much time and effort do I dedicate
       to achieving God’s will for my life?
    – Do I know which spiritual gift God has given me
       and if so, how am I using it to pursue His plan for me?
    – Have I prayed and asked God to show me His plan for my life?

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for revealing to me another one
of Your great promises. Make me aware if my priorities are out
of order and teach me how to reorder them so Your will for me
is my top priority. From what I have read in Your Word, I know
that seeking You and Your righteousness needs to be the number
one goal in my life. Forgive me for putting anything ahead of You.
In a world that is unstable, I recognize that the only stability I can
find is in You. Thank You again for your wonderful promise that
if I seek You and Your righteousness, all other things that are good
will be given to me as well.”

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