Seeking What You Want

Seeking What You Want

If you seek after something, you desire it. You crave for it. You want it.

For the Gentiles 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤 after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 them all. But 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. - Matt 6:32-33

The word 'seek' in v32 is to desire, to crave and to want. The Gentiles WANT material things. God is not saying that we should not have material things. It says that He knows that we NEED them.

If we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, all the material things that the Gentiles WANT will be added to us because we NEED them.

The word 'seek' in v33 is different from v32. The Greek word 'zéteo' means 'to seek with earnestness and diligence, with the intention of finding it'.

I like to read a verse from a 'backward' or an 'opposite' perspective. 

If we seek His Kingdom and His righteousness, but not FIRST as the order of priority, then the material things will not be added to us. If it is NOT ADDED to us, it means that there is NO INCREASE, and our own hard work, toil and labour is fully necessitated to see them.

If we seek (desire, crave, want) the material things, His Kingdom & His righteousness will be 'subtracted' from us.

This is why a Mammon-focused industry has many Christians living in unrighteousness. Not because they intentionally wanted to, but because the order of priority is in a wrong order. Thus, His Kingdom and His Righteousness cannot be manifested. On the contrary, the enemy's kingdom and the enemy's unrighteousness becomes manifested through their lives.

Sometimes, we think that we have the capacity to do both. But He Himself said that it is impossible to serve two masters (Matt 6:24).

The moment we go after material things (in the name of 'for the sake of my family' and/or 'for my retirement' and/or 'for financial freedom'), we choose the Gentiles' ways.

The Kingdom's way is always upside down. It often defies the logic of this world. It often reforms the patterns of this world.

What do you seek FIRST? It is revealed through your priority and your actions, not your words.

The Gift Of Communication

Connecting and communicating with the Japanese uncle about his Rubik cube and trying to use his newly learnt Japanese vocab with him.

On his van journey back, we wanted to give the US guy some rest. So we insisted that J gave him a break.

He was a tad sad, so we let him sit beside this Japanese uncle. You can see him beaming from ear to ear.

This Japanese guy is one of the rare few who grew his own coffee beans in Tokyo (not a suitable climate) using AI and greenhouse effect. Wow!

J simply loves people. He has a heart to connect with people of all ages and countries. God has given him the gift of communication. We pray that this remains permanent for the rest of his life.

A Word for Parents

A word for parents whose kids are entering into the teenage years...

Do NOT deal with their behaviours.

Deal with their identity.

This is especially so for boys, since girls are generally easier in their teenage years.

Their behaviours may frustrate you...

Their behaviours may surprise you...

Their behaviours may confuse you...

But they are NOT their behaviours.

If you deal with them according to their behaviours, you will lose them.

If you deal with them according to their identity, they will draw close to you..

Going Before Your Son

One of the things which a father does is to empower his child.

But empowerment doesn't necessarily mean risking one's safety.

We chose to live near MRT so that J can be empowered to be more independent. We are not going to spoil him by driving him everywhere he goes.

Today's generation has an entitlement mindset. And we do not wish that J walks in that kind of mindset.

He travels to some of his classes on his own, provided that the journey is not too crowded in terms of road traffic (if he has to cross the road), and that the demographic in that area is reasonably decent.

Afterall, he is our ONLY child.

Today, his karate location officially changed. After dropping him by car, I searched for the route to walk to the MRT.

Here I am, doing a recce of the route, checking out the car traffic and the demographic. 

As a father, I'm going before him. Before he goes.

Verdict: Not safe.

In this case, we will travel with him by the MRT until we are ready to let him be on his own.

The Father in heaven always goes BEFORE us. Wherever we go, He was already there. This is why Joshua 1:9 is a timeless principle.

People sometimes ask me to pray, "Can you pray if this place is where God wants me to go? Will He be in it?"

Well, there won't be a place where He wasn't there and there won't be a place where He won't be with you. Since He lives right on the inside, where you go is where He goes.

The Next Generation

The Next Generation

Alot of God-things ended with the first generation. The second generation often dropped the baton.

I believe the main key lies with fathering. This is why the Old Testament ended with the hearts of the fathering turning to the next generation and vice versa.

So many God's generals (Roberts Liardon) didn't have a second generation who walked in the same power or surpassed the first generation.

What is warred and fought for is usually stewarded better than what is simply handed over. Similarly, our first generation of leadership in the nation had to war and fight for the nation. But the next generation of leadership was simply given the power and privileges.

Moses fathered Joshua well, though Joshua didn't have his next generation. Yet we see a similarity. Both Moses and Joshua had to war and fight. It wasn't enough that Joshua witnessed Moses warring. Joshua needed to have his own warring (i.e. Jericho).

Fathering is not merely nurturing. We need to train our child to war and fight in the spiritual realm. We need to prepare them for battles. At times, we will need to let them go through battles without interference so that God-things do not end with the first generation.

Today's kids are given many privileges. These are not going to help them rise above us unless they are put through warring and fighting. 

True fathering is empowerment.