Seek First The Kingdom Of God & Seek God’s Righteousness
You Need to Seek God With All Your Heart
In the Bible God promises us that if you seek God with all your heart, then you will find Him. If you seek to know God in real and personal ways with all of your heart, then you will get to know God by Him revealing Himself to you.
When you commit to seek God’s will (ahead of our own will) and seek God with all your heart, then God will reveal His perfect will and calling to you. If you seek God’s guidance and wisdom and seek God with all your heart, then God will personally guide you and give you His far superior wisdom for any decision, need, or situation.
Seek First The Kingdom Of God & His Righteousness
Matthew 6:33 says if you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then God will take care of everything you need in your life. Seek first the kingdom of God means to put God’s top priorities as your top priorities. God’s top priorities are to build His kingdom by preaching the Gospel and reaching lost people, and then making disciples. When you have this as a top priority in your life, then you are living the words seek first the kingdom of God.
God’s other top priority in Matthew 6:33 is for you to seek first His righteousness. That means you need to place as a top priority in your life having a right relationship with God. God’s main calling on your life is to have close fellowship with Him and intimacy with God. And to have a partnership with God in His kingdom work and mission. Your calling and top priority is to have a right and close personal relationship and fellowship with God. And then a partnership in God’s kingdom work and mission.
GOD’S PROMISES ABOUT SEEKING GOD
God promises that if you seek Him with all your heart then you will find Him. Any promise that God makes in His word you can take to the bank… God will always fulfill His promises because of His perfect character and His perfect faithfulness. God is perfectly faithful so His promises are guarantees. So if you are seeking God with all your heart, then you will surely find Him.
Deuteronomy 4:29 – “But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
1 Chronicles 28:9 – “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.”
James 4:8 – ” Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
Luke 11:9-10 – “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
Another Promise: Seek First The Kingdom Of God & His Righteousness…
Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
- If you have as your top priority seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (your relationship with God), then God will take care of all of your needs and everything else in your life.
BIBLICAL MEANING OF SEEK GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART
In the Bible the Old Testament and New Testament words for “seek God with all your heart” mean:
- to seek the face of God
- to desire
- examine or explore
- to seek earnestly
- diligently search for
- to wish for
- to crave
- investigate
- to pursue
GOD NEEDS TO TOUCH OUR HEARTS
Only God can touch your heart and give you the desire to continually seek God with all your heart, and the desire to know Him and to want His will & plans & ways above your own:
- “I will give them a heart to know me.” – Jeremiah 24:7
- “ O Lord, God of our fathers, keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you. And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, requirements, and decrees…” – I Chronicles 29:18-19
- “For it is God who works in you to will and act according to His good purpose.” – Phil. 2:13
SEEKING GOD IS ABOUT HAVING A LOVE & PASSION FOR GOD
To seek God with all your heart is all about having a love and a passion for God. Then your heart will be the way God wants it to be:
When in your heart God is your First Love. God loves us as His first love, and He loves us more than anything else that He has created. God wants us to love Him back this way… to love God more than anything else or anyone else.
When in your heart God is your Treasure. God sees us as very special and precious treasures, and we are more special and valuable to God than anything else He has created. God wants to be our Treasure, so that we will value Him more than anything else.
When in your heart God is your Passion. God is passionate about us, and has a passion to have close fellowship with us. God wants to be our passion, where we are more passionate about God (and the things He is passionate about like saving lost people…) than anything else.
WHEN GOD IS OUR FIRST LOVE, TREASURE, AND PASSION
When God is your First Love, your Treasure, and your Passion, then you will seek God with all your heart. Paul was a very faithful and passionate servant of Jesus, and is a good example for us to follow. He was so devoted to Jesus that he was able to go through anything for Him, even suffering and dying for Jesus.
When God is your First Love, your Treasure, and your Passion, then you will seek first the kingdom of God. Your heart will be in unity with God’s heart. God’s desires will be your desires. God’s priorities will be your priorities. Since God’s top priority is to build His kingdom, then yours will be to seek first the kingdom of God.
“I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. They are rubbish to me so that I may gain Christ… I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection…” – Paul (Philippians 3:7-11)
PROMISES IN THE BIBLE ABOUT SEEKING GOD
Here are more verses and great truths & promises in the Bible about seeking God with all your heart:
1 Chronicles 16:10-11 – “Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD ! Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore !”
2 Chronicles 7:14 – “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 15:2-4 – ” The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law; but when in their trouble they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them.”
Ezra 8:22 – “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.”
Psalm 9:9-10 – “The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble. And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.”
MORE BIBLE VERSES ABOUT SEEKING GOD
Psalm 14:2 – “The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.”
Psalm 25:4-5 – “Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.”
Psalm 27:8 – “When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.
Psalm 69:32 – “The humble shall see this and be glad; And you who seek God, your hearts shall live.”
Psalm 119:1-3 – “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the LORD ! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart ! They also do no iniquity; They walk in His ways.”
BENEFITS OF SEEKING GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART
Proverbs 2:3-6 – “if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.”
Proverbs 28:5 – “Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand all.”
Lamentations 3:21-26 – “This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him ! The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD.
Zephaniah 2:3 – ” Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the Lord’s anger.”
Matthew 6:33 – “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Acts 17:26-27 – “He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.”
Hebrews 11:6 – “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
MORE ABOUT SEEK GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART
We will continue to look at what the Bible says about seeking God with all your heart. It would be good to ask God to search your heart and help you too see if you are truly seeking God with all your heart. Are you seeking God ?
Remember, seeking God is not some religious discipline that good Christians do in their daily life… seeking God with all your heart is all about having a passion in your heart for God.
Intimacy with God and the fullest possible fellowship and partnership with Him comes as you desire and seek to know God, His plans, will and His ways. Prayer and spending time with God is all about desire & passion for God ; it is not a “religious” discipline in your Christian life.
“If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways, so I may know you and continue to find favor with you… Show me your glory.” – Exodus 33:13,18
Moses placed God first in His life, and He was continually seeking to know God, His will, and His ways
DAVID AND HIS DESIRE FOR GOD
“One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek; that I may dwell in the house (presence) of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in his temple.” – Psalm 27:4
“O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory… you love is better than life…” – Psalm 63:1-3
“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty ! My soul yearns even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” – Psalm 84:1-2
David had a desire and passion in His heart to seek God and continually be in His presence.
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God ? – Psalm 42:1-2
DAVID’S ADVICE FOR SOLOMON (AND FOR US)
David gave Solomon his son and us some wise advice for our lives that encourages us to devote ourselves to seeking God with all your heart. He knew that in order to have intimacy with God and close fellowship with Him, as well as have the victorious and fruitful life that God wants us to have, we would need to devote ourselves to God and to seeking God with all your heart.
“Now devote your heart and souls to seeking the Lord your God.” – I Chronicles 22:19
“And you my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek Him he will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” – I Chronicles 28:9
SEEK GOD TO FIND HIS WILL & HIS PLANS FOR YOU
The Bible clearly shows us that God has specific plans for our lives. God first has a great desire in His heart for all to be saved and have a reconciled relationship with Him (1 Timothy 2:4). For Christians God has a desire for us to have close fellowship and intimacy with God (1 Corinthians 1:9), and a partnership with Him in His kingdom mission of reaching lost people and making true disciples ( 1 Corinthians 1:9, Matthew 4:19, Matthew 28:19-20). He has specific plans for each one of us, His children.
In order to know God in real and personal ways, and to have close fellowship with Him, and to discover God’s great plans for us, you need to be continually seeking God with all your heart … by regularly / daily spending time with Him in prayer, reading God’s Word the Bible, and listening for His voice and asking Him to reveal His will and plans.
“For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. – Jeremiah 29:11-13
MORE TRUTHS AND PROMISES ABOUT SEEKING GOD
Other great verses to read on seeking God with all your heart:
Hosea 10:12 – “Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.”
James 4:8 – “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
Deuteronomy 4:29 – “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
2 Chronicles 15:2 – “He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.”
Proverbs 21:21 – “Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.”
YOU NEED TO PUT GOD FIRST IN YOUR LIFE
God loves us as His first love, His treasure, and His passion. Because God loves us so much, He wants us to love Him back that way. God wants us to pursue and seek Him first, above all other things or people.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness (close fellowship and intimacy with God), and all these things will be given to you as well. – Matthew 6:33
To seek first God’s kingdom means to have a partnership with God in His kingdom work & mission
it means to place as first or top priority in your life God’s desire and mission for all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4) and to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20)
To seek first for God’s righteousness means to place as top or first priority in your life your relationship and fellowship with God.
GOD’S MAIN CALLING ON YOUR LIFE
God main desire and calling for your life is to have close fellowship and intimacy with God
1 Corinthians 1:9 – “God is faithful who has called you into fellowship with His son Jesus Christ.”
In this verse the Greek word “koinania” is fellowship, and it means to have to closest possible intimate fellowship with God, oneness or complete unity with God, and a partnership with God in His kingdom work and mission.
Pursuing Intimacy With God
Pursuing Intimacy With God is committed to helping you with the most important thing in your life … having intimacy with God , your fellowship with Him, and your partnership with God in His Kingdom work & mission.
There are hundreds of Bible verses and great truths & promises in the Pursuing Intimacy With God studies book
** New Expanded Edition of Pursuing Intimacy With God Bible Studies Book – 40% more material
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Other Links
Salvation: The Requirements for True Salvation
Preview the Pursuing Intimacy With God Studies Book
The Keys To A Powerful Prayer Life
Prayer Is Passion For Seeking God
God’s Purpose & Mission For You And Your Church
Spiritual Gifts: All Christians Have Gifts
Jesus Wants To Heal You & Set You Free
The Kind of Christian & Church God Wants
