GOD BEING WHO HE is must always be sought for Himself, never as a means toward something else.Whoever seeks other objects and not God is on his own; he may obtain those objects if he is able, but he will never have God. God is never found accidentally. "Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13) .Whoever seeks God as a means toward desired ends will not find God. The mighty God, the maker of heaven and earth, will not be one of many treasures, not even the chief of all treasures. He will be all in all or He will be nothing. God will not be used. His mercy and grace are infinite and His patient understanding is beyond measure, but He will not aid men in their selfish striving after personal gain. He will not help men to attain ends which, when attained, usurp the place He by every right should hold in their interest and affection.Yet popular Christianity has as one of its most effective talking points the idea that God exists to help people to get ahead in this world. The God of the poor has become the God of an affluent society. Christ no longer refuses to be a judge or a divider between money hungry brothers. He can now be persuaded to assist the brother that has accepted Him to get the better of the brother who has not.A crass example of the modern effort to use God for selfish purposes is the well-known comedian who, after repeated failures, promised someone he called God that if He would help him to make good in the entertainment world he would repay Him by giving generously to the care of sick children. Shortly afterward he hit the big time in the night clubs and on television. He has kept his word and is raising large sums of money to build children's hospitals. These contributions to charity, he feels, are a small price to pay for a success in one of the sleaziest fields of human endeavor.One might excuse the act of this entertainer as something to be expected of a twentieth century pagan; but that multitudes of evangelicals in North America should actually believe that God had anything to do with the whole business is not so easily overlooked. This low and false view of Deity is one major reason for the immense popularity God enjoys these days among well-fed Westerners.The teaching of the Bible is that God is Himself the end for which man was created. "Whom have I in heaven but thee"" cried the psalmist, "and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee" (Psalms 73: 25) . The first and greatest commandment is to love God with every power of our entire being. Where love like that exists there can be no place for a second object. If we love God as much as we should surely we cannot dream of a loved object beyond Him which He might help us to obtain.Bernard of Clairvaux begins his radiant little treatise on the love of God with a question and an answer. The question, Why should we love God" The answer, Because He is God. He develops the idea further, but for the enlightened heart little more need be said. We should love God because He is God. Beyond this the angels cannot think.Being who He is, God is to be loved for His own sake. He is the reason for our loving Him, just as He is the reason for His loving us and for every other act He has performed, is performing and will perform world without end. God's primary reason for everything is His own good pleasure. The search for secondary reasons is gratuitous and mostly futile. It affords occupation for theologians and adds pages to books on doctrine, but that it ever turns up any true explanations is doubtful.But it is the nature of God to share. His mighty acts of creation and redemption were done for His good pleasure, but His pleasure extends to all created things. One has but to look at a healthy child at play or listen to the song of a bird at sundown and he will know that God meant His universe to be a joyful one.Those who have been spiritually enabled to love God for Himself will find a thousand fountains springing up from the rainbowcircled throne and bringing countless treasures which are to be received with reverent thanksgiving as being the overflow of God's love for His children. Each gift is a bonus of grace which because it was not sought for itself may be enjoyed without injury to the soul. These include the simple blessings of life, such as health, a home, a family, congenial friends, food, shelter, the pure joys of nature or the more artificial pleasures of music and art.The effort to find these treasures by direct search apart from God has been the major activity of mankind through the centuries; and this has been man's burden and man's woe. The effort to gain them as the ulterior motive back of accepting Christ may be something new under the sun; but new or old it is an evil that can only bring judgment at last.God wills that we should love Him for Himself alone with no hidden reasons, trusting Him to be to us all our natures require. Our Lord said all this much better: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33) .

A.W. Tozer's materials are a mainstay in Evangelical churches in our day and he is one of the most quoted authors. He was a prophet in his day and his writings are even more influential in our day. One of his books: The Pursuit of God, has had over 1 million copies sold world-wide.

Morning and Evening with A.W. Tozer

Man - The Dwelling Place of God - God Must Be Loved for Himself

For Reading and Meditation:      Matthew 6:19-34We turn now to the next of our Lord's Beatitudes: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6). One of the axioms of life is this: everyone thirsts after something. Some thirst for success, some thirst for fame, some thirst for stable relationships, and some thirst for financial security. But there is a thirst which is common to every human heart - the thirst for happiness. Notice, however, that Jesus does not say: "Happy are those who thirst for happiness", but "Happy are those who thirst for righteousness." Happiness, therefore, is a by-product - to get it, you must focus on something else. Dr W.E. Sangster, the famous Methodist preacher, when dealing with this point in one of his sermons, gave this illustration: "Do you enjoy a game of golf or tennis? Then this pleasure is strictly proportioned to the degree to which you lose yourself in the game. While it lasts, it must absorb you: your whole mind should be on the game. If you stop in the midst of it and ask yourself precisely what degree of pleasure you are deriving from this particular stroke, the pleasure will evaporate and you will begin to feel rather foolish in following a wee white ball over a mile or two of turf." To experience happiness, one must forget it and focus on something other than its pursuit. Those who reach out for happiness are for ever unsatisfied - the more they strive, the less they find. Happiness, I say again, is a by-product; it is not something you find, but something that finds you. My Father and my God, I see so clearly that if my goal is wrong, then all of life turns out wrong. Help me to make my goal, not the pursuit of happiness, but the pursuit of righteousness. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>John 4:1-14</li><li>John 6:35</li><li>Psalm 36:8</li><li>Isaiah 55:1</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What did Jesus promise?</li><li>What do you thirst for?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (v. 33)

"But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33 See how the Bible opens: "In the beginning God." Let your life open in the same way. Seek with your whole soul, first and foremost, the kingdom of God, as the place of your citizenship, and His righteousness as the character of your life. As for the rest, it will come from the LORD Himself without your being anxious concerning it. All that is needful for this life and godliness "shall be added unto you." What a promise this is! Food, raiment, home, and so forth, God undertakes to add to you while you seek Him. You mind His business, and He will mind yours. If you want paper and string, you get them given in when you buy more important goods; and just so all that we need of earthly things we shall have thrown in with the kingdom. He who is an heir of salvation shall not die of starvation; and he who clothes his soul with the righteousness of God cannot be left of the LORD with a naked body. Away with carping care. Set all your mind upon seeking the LORD. Covetousness is poverty, and anxiety is misery: trust in God is an estate, and likeness of God is a heavenly inheritance. LORD, I seek Thee; be found of me.

Another classic from the pen of C.H. Spurgeon that will challenge and inspire you on your daily path to Heaven.

Charles Spurgeon's Faith's Checkbook

God First, Then Extras

If we separate the first four words of Genesis 1:1 from the rest of the verse, they form a sort of motto for all of life. They say, "God first."We find this motto suggested in the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." No one and nothing must take the place of the true and living God.We find it taught in the story of Elijah and the widow who had only enough flour and oil left to make one final loaf for her son and herself (1 Kings 17:12). Surprisingly Elijah said, "Make me a little loaf first." Though this might sound like gross selfishness, it wasn't. Elijah was a representative of God. He was saying, "Just put God first and your supply of the necessities of life will never fail."The Lord Jesus taught the same thing centuries later on the Mount when He said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33). The central priority of life is the kingdom of God and His righteousness.Again the Savior asserted His prior claim in Luke 14:26, "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." Christ must have first place.But how do we put God first? We have our family to care for. We have our secular employment to think of. We have a multitude of duties crying out for our time and resources. We put God first by loving Him with a love beside which all other loves are hatred in comparison. By using all material things as a trust from Him, holding onto only those things which can be used in connection with His kingdom. By giving top priority to matters of eternal consequences, remembering that even good things are sometimes enemies of the best.Man's best interests lie in a right relationship with God. The right relationship is when God is given first place. Even when man puts God first, he will have some problems, but he will find fulfilment in life. But when he puts God second, he will have nothing but problems - and a miserable existence.

With reverence, humor and skill, William MacDonald wove a daily devotional tapestry that challenges the reader to think deeply and Biblically, and apply God's Word to their lives.

Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

"In the beginning God - " (Genesis 1:1)

Luke 11:1-13"One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When He finished, one of His disciples said to Him: Lord, teach us to pray ."Our passage opens with an illustration of unconscious influence. The disciples saw their Master praying apart from them and yet within their sight, and were so impressed by something in His manner, perhaps His earnestness and fervor - that they wished to learn how to pray as He did. We never can know what the silent influence of our acts may be upon those who see us. One gentle person in a home, unconsciously impresses and influences the whole household. One quiet, restful person makes others calmer and more quiet. One faithful, consistent life in a workshop, an office, or a school - is a perpetual gospel, touching all the other lives. By simply being good - we may start in many others desires to be good also.A young man, lodging once with a stranger at a country inn, where the two were put to sleep in the same room, by kneeling at his beside before retiring, touched the other's heart and became the means of his salvation and consecration to useful life and service. We never know how far the influence of our example may reach.We all need to make the same request the disciples made, "Lord, teach us to pray ." We do not know how to pray, and there is no one who can teach us so well as Jesus can. We will find many words of Christ on the subject of prayer, all of which it will be profitable for us to study. We do not know what things we are to ask for. We are shortsighted and are apt to plead for comfort and help in the present moment, not thinking of the years before us. We all need to pray and need to be taught how to pray. The passage we are now studying, is our Lord's answer to the request of His disciples to be taught how to pray.The opening word of the Lord's Prayer, "Father," is really a Golden Gate through which we must enter into the temple of prayer. "When you pray, say, Our Father ." We must seek to say it as a child would say it to a father. When we actually do this - we are ready to pray. God wants us always to come to Him - as little children. If we think of Him in this way as a Father, it puts us into right relations with Him. Ideal human fatherhood means a great deal, and yet in its imperfection and its sinfulness, it is only a dim reflection of the Divine Fatherhood. We can get many precious thoughts of God, however, through what we know of human fatherhood on the earth - his love, his faithfulness, his thoughtfulness, his patience, and his care. The name also suggests what our feeling and conduct toward God should be. If He is our Father - then we are His children, and we should never fail in the duty of children.The honoring of God's name comes first among the true objects of prayer. "Hallowed be Your name," we are taught to say, as we enter God's presence. He is holy, He is glorious. The name of God stands for God's character, for all that He is. We should give Him the first place in our hearts. We should be careful that in all our life we honor Him, doing nothing that will misinterpret God to others, or dishonor Him. No lesson more sorely needs to be learned in these days - than the lesson of reverence towards God. The irreverence of people today, is something appalling. In many of our churches and Sunday schools there is a painful lack of reverence in worship.To hallow is to make holy. We cannot add to the essential holiness of God - but we can make people see more of His holiness and have higher thoughts of Him. We can talk about His greatness and goodness and love. Then we can show a reflection of His glory in our own lives, so that all who see us - shall learn something of God from us. It was said of a noble minister, that everyone who knew him fell in love with Jesus Christ.<div class="center-it mtb10">The second petition is a prayer for the coming of God's kingdom. We can help to answer this prayer, first - by letting Christ be our King indeed, ruling our hearts and lives, over all our feelings, dispositions, thoughts, tempers, words, and acts. We can also help to set up Christ's kingdom in this world - by influencing others to accept Him as their King. We are advancing His kingdom when we get even one person to accept Christ as Lord and Master. We can do much also by seeking to overthrow evil - and establish that which is good. The kingdom of heaven is begun on earth. Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). It must begin in our own hearts, and then extend its influence through us wherever we go.</div>The next petition is a prayer for the doing of God's will by us on earth - as it is done in heaven. The kingdom of heaven, is really the making of one place on earth - like heaven. If God is our Father, His children should live the heavenly life, wherever they are. A thoughtful boy wanted to know how we can get to heaven, since it is so far away. His mother said, "Heaven must come down to you; heaven must begin in your heart." Then it will not be hard to get to heaven. We must have heaven in us - before we can be ready to enter heaven.Many people think of this petition of the Lord's Prayer as always meaning something very hard, something painful. They change their tone as they say the words and speak, "May Your will be done," in a strained, sad voice, as if a friend were dying, or as if they were passing through some great trouble. But the will of God is to be done not merely in the acceptance of crushing sorrow - but also in the acts and duties of our common days. We are to do God's will on the playground, in our schools, in our homes, in our shops, and on our farms - wherever we are. God's will is the law of heaven, and if we would help to make this earth like heaven - we must learn to do His will, while we stay here. It should be a glad and joyous prayer.We are apt in prayer to think of our own earthy needs first. Many people never go to God, until they have some request to make, some help to ask. But in the Lord's Prayer the petition for daily bread does not come until the prayer is more than half finished. We are to pray first for the honoring of God's name, the coming of God's kingdom, the doing of God's will - and then we are to ask God to give us provision for our bodies.<div class="center-it mtb10">We have the same lesson taught in the Sermon on the Mount: "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:31-33).</div>The prayer teaches us to ask for our bread only day by day ; and then only enough for the day. Thus God fed Elijah for many months at the brook Cherith - but only day by day. Thus God sustained the Israelites also for forty years in the wilderness, morning by morning. We ask for "our" daily bread, thinking of others as well as ourselves. We are never to be selfish in our praying.The next petition is for the forgiveness of our sins. God is always glad to forgive us - but in His prayer there is linked a duty also. We are asking God to forgive us - AS we forgive others.The latest petition of the Lord's Prayer refers to temptation. God does not promise to lead us in ways in which we shall have no temptations. The prayer we are taught to make, is that we may not be allowed to rush needlessly into any danger. We need never fear temptation, if it comes in the way of God's leading, for then we shall always have God's protection. But we should never dare to put ourselves into any place of temptation unless we are sent of God. God's design in temptations which come to us - is never to lead us to sin - but to have us overcome and grow strong in resistance and victory. The divine thought in temptation, is that we may be proved and may grow stronger .The lesson of earnestness in prayer, is taught in the little parable of the friend coming at midnight. The good man within did not give his neighbor food because the neighbor was his friend - but because the man would not go away from the door until he got the bread he wanted. The lesson is importunity in prayer. God wants us to be earnest, not rebellious and willful - but always earnest and persistent in our praying. He is pleased when we want things very much - and when we believe in His willingness to give them to us.The Syrophoenician woman is an illustration of our Lord's teaching. She knew that Jesus could heal her daughter, and she simply would not be driven away, without the blessed gift. Many prayers fail to be answered, because the person praying gives up too soon. A little longer patience and continuance in prayer - would have brought the answer.The love of human fatherhood is used in the last verses of our lesson in assuring us that God is willing to give us blessings, even the best that He has to give. We certainly would not say that human fathers are kinder than the Heavenly Father. No true earthly father would mock his son by giving him a stone - when asked for bread. We may turn the words about a little - and say also that our Heavenly Father will withhold from us the stone which we unwittingly asked for, supposing it to be bread. God will not give us anything that will harm us, however persistently we may plead.The best of all gifts is the Holy Spirit. Not only is God willing to give us things we need in this world, things for our bodies, supply for our passing needs; He is willing also to give us the best things of His own love, even Himself, the Holy Spirit. All we have to do is ask - but the asking must be sincere. It must be earnest and importunate. If we get the richest of God's gifts, and yet do not get God Himself - we have missed the best!

A unique type of devotional from the writings of James Russell Miller, published between 1908 and 1913.

Devotional Hours Within the Bible

Luke 11:1-13

Jesus Teaching How to Pray

Matthew 6:19-34The Christian life is very simple - if only we understand it. It has only one principle - single-hearted devotion to Christ. Paul stated this principle when he said, "To me to live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21) Jesus states it here also when He says, "Seek first His kingdom, and His righteousness."In our present passage, we have a whole scheme of life.To begin with, we must find something real and permanent to live for. It concerns the matter of possessions. Earth's banks are not absolutely safe ; and even if they were, they are not eternal. We are immortal, and we must find a place of deposit secure for immortal years. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal."How can we lay up treasures in heaven? By living for God, by committing our lives to Jesus Christ, by spending our money for the glory of God. There are men who possess little money or property when they leave this world - but are rich in treasures laid up in heaven. Paul had only the clothes he wore, an old cloak and a few sacred parchments when his martyrdom came - but he was rich beyond measure in glory! There are millionaires here - who will be beggars in the next life; and there are poor men here - who will have an inheritance of glory in heaven.Single-heartedness is the secret of true godly living. "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Some people seem to think they can keep on safe terns with God - and at the same time maintain close relations with the world. The Master's teaching here shows us that it is impossible to be half God's - and half the world's. There is room for only one lord in our life, and we must settle who this will be. If we belong to God, the world is our servant. It seems strange indeed that anyone with an immortal soul, should be willing to have mammon - money - for his god. Money may do much good and be a great blessing, if it is used for God - but when a man gets down upon his knees to his money, crawls in the dust for its sake, and sells his manhood to get it - it has only curse for him. One who truly serves God - cannot give money half his heart. God will not share a human heart with any other master.A great many people are talking now about the secret of happy living. The Master gives it here. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life." Anxiety is very common. There is a great deal of worrying in the world, even among good people. One does not meet very many whose faces shine always with the light of a perfect peace. The majority of faces show lines of care. Not many people pass undisturbed through all manner of experiences. Is worrying a sin - or is it only an infirmity ? There certainly are a great many cautions and warnings in the Bible against worrying.But how can we help it? Paul tells us how to keep worry out of our life. "In nothing be anxious." But how can we obey this counsel? What shall we do with the things that we would naturally worry about? Here is the answer: "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." That is, instead of worrying about matters that would naturally fret us - we are to put them out of our own hands - into God's hands, by prayer. Then we have this assurance: "The peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).It will help us with our lesson, if we look carefully at the connections of the words as they stand in the Gospel. "You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious." That is, anxiety comes from serving mammon. We say we are God's children - yet when mammon seems to be failing, and then we begin to worry. That is, we trust mammon more than we trust our Father. We feel safer when mammon's abundance fills our hands - than when mammon threatens to fail and we have only God. If we truly served God only, we should not be afraid, though we have nothing of mammon, not even bread for tomorrow.Jesus illustrates His teaching: "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them." Elsewhere Jesus says that not even a sparrow is forgotten by our Father. The sparrows are the most useless and the most troublesome of all birds. You can buy two of them for a farthing. Yet God watches over them, and not one of them shall fall to the ground without His permission. If God so cares for quarrelsome sparrows, He will care much more for His own children. We are of more value than many sparrows. Souls are of great worth - it took the blood of the Son of God to buy us back from bondage. Birds do not bear the Divine image. They have no spiritual nature. The God who cares for the soulless little birds - will surely care much more thoughtfully, more tenderly, for a thinking, immortal being, capable of eternal life. God is our Father - He is not the birds' father; He is their creator and provider - but they are not His children. A woman will give more thought to her baby - than to her canary. Our heavenly Father will provide more certainly for His children - than for His birds.Worrying is also most useless. "Which of you by being anxious, can add one cubit unto the measure of his life?" A short person cannot, by any amount of anxiety, make himself and inch taller. Therefore, why should he waste his energy and fret his life away - in wishing he were taller, and in worrying because he is not?Worrying about a coming trouble - does not keep the trouble away! Worrying over a loss - does not bring back that which is gone. People find obstacles, difficulties and hindrances in their life. There are hard conditions in their lot. But is there any use in worrying over these things? Will it make them any easier? Will anxiety cure the lame foot, remove the ugly mole, reduce the undesired tumor, or put flesh on the thin body? Will fretting make the heavy burden lighter, the hard work easier, the rough way smoother? Will anxiety keep the winter away, put coal in the bin, or bread in the pantry, or get clothes for the children?Even philosophy shows the uselessness of worrying, since it helps nothing, and only wastes one's strength, unfitting one for doing his best. But religion goes father than philosophy, and tells us that even the hard things, the drawbacks, the obstacles, may be changed into blessings - if we meet them in the right spirit. So we learn that we should quietly and with faith accept life as it comes to us, fretting at nothing, changing hard conditions to easier if we can - but if not, using them as a means for growth and advancement.The fact that God cares for us - ought to keep us from worry. "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." Does God really care for the flowers? Yes, He weaves for them their matchless garments and fills their little cups with fragrance. Yet they live but for a day. If God clothes these frail plants so gloriously for only a few hours' beauty - will He not far more surely clothe His own children?It is told of Mungo Park the great traveler, that once in the desert he was famishing for drink, and could find no water. In his exhaustion he had sunk down in the hot sands of despair, and had given up to die. He saw a tiny shoot of moss growing in the sand, and the thought came to him, "God tends this little plant. He placed it here and He is watering it. Surely, then, He will not forget me - but will provide for me, too." He roused up from his despair and passed on and was saved.Here we come upon the great principle of Christian living. "Seek first His kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." That is, we are to put all the energy of our thought and life into one effort - to do God's will. We are not to worry about our clothing or food - that is God's matter, not ours at all. We are to take thought, however, about our duty, our work, the doing of God's will, and the filling of our place in the world. Too many people worry far more about their food and clothing, lest they shall be left to need, than they do about doing well their whole duty. That is, they are more anxious about God's part in their life - than about their own! They fear that God may not take care of them - but they do not have any fear that they may fail in faithfulness to Him.It will be a great point gained, if we learn here once and for all that providing for our needs - is God's matter, not ours; and that our first and only care should be our duty, the doing of our work. This God will never do for us - but if we are true to Him we shall never have any occasion to fret ourselves about our care. Suppose we are nearly starving? Well, we must go on, doing our duty in the circumstances, and not worrying; and in due time, perhaps at the last moment - but somehow or other, and in some way, the Lord will provide. Or if not, He will take us home.

Matthew 6:19-34

Worldliness and Trust

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given 
to you as well. (Matthew 6:33 NIV)
And that putting first often meant a letting go of everything personal.... 
What is disappointment to us? Can we always say that disappointment which we 
think is disappointment with the Lord and over His things is because we did so 
much want the Lord to have what He wanted irrespective of our interests at all; 
we were prepared to let everything go, WE were 
not mixed up in this thing somehow? In the Lord getting what He wants, we see 
ourselves figuring in some way. It has to be a very sharp instrument that gets 
in between those two things and defines them because they are so mixed up. Is it 
not true that faith wavers, weakens and ofttimes goes right down and under when 
in the way of the Lord's interests ourselves are 
entirely shut out?
What is the key to faith then? The key to faith is this dividing of soul and 
spirit, or, in other words, it is the complete abnegation of self-interests – 
not in the Buddhist sense of annihilation, but in the sense of God's interests 
becoming positive and predominant. That is where the battle of faith rages; it 
rages upon that ground always. If we were so utterly – and not one of us really 
is – if we were so utterly consumed for the Lord's interests alone that no other interest 
in our lives had any precedence or power to govern us, we would be in victory 
all the time. It is this completely disinterested concern for what the Lord 
wants that is the key to faith. If Israel in the wilderness had taken this 
attitude – "Well, this is a very difficult experience, but the Lord is after 
something, the Lord wants something, and He evidently knows that that is the 
best way to get it; all right, I am with Him, I may lose everything, I may 
suffer the loss of all things, but it is what the Lord wants that matters. The 
Lord wants us in that land; well, if it means everything, to be there for the 
Lord's pleasure, that is the thing that matters." If that had been their 
attitude, do you think they would have journeyed forty years in the wilderness 
round and round, do you think at the border of the land they would have been 
turned back to perish in the wilderness? You can see in the consummation that 
next generation which did go in, went in on this matter of faith only. The whole 
story is based upon faith.

This devotional contains short daily portions from a selection of Mr. Austin-Sparks' messages. In his own words, “Perhaps this is just like a window opened into heaven. If you get the right window you can see quite a lot. You can see great things and you can see far things. But the best that I can hope is that this has just opened a window, and that as you look through it you are seeing one thing - how superior is Jesus Christ to all else, and how superior is the dispensation into which we have come, and how superior are all the resources at our disposal to all that ever was before!” Open Windows messages have been selected and compiled by Austin-Sparks.Net from the works of T. Austin-Sparks. In some cases they appear in abridged form. The introductory verse and its associated Bible version have been selected by the editor and did not always appear within the original message.

Open Windows

The Most Difficult Thing in the World

 The Key to Faith 

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all… things shall be added to you. § He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? § All things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. § As having nothing, and yet possessing all things. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. § The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. §  The living God… gives us richly all things to enjoy. § God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Morning Daily Light

 My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 

Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. § Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. § Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. As long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. § Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today … then you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.” Is not the Lord your God with you? And has He not given you rest?

 The Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. 

Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh. § The bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. § If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. § My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. The children of Israel … gathered, some more, some less … He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack … They gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” … Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Evening Daily Light

 “What is it?” Moses said to them, “This isthe bread which the Lord has given you to eat.” 

33 <woj>But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. </woj>

<woj>But seek first his kingdom<cr>1</cr> and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.<cr>2</cr> </woj>

Matthew 6:33

 33 But seek first his kingdom   and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

<woj>But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. </woj>

 But seek first his kingdom   and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  

Bible Verse of the Day

November 24, 2025

Matthew 6:33 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

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