Seek First – Kingdom Focused Devotionals

“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.” James 5:13 (NIV)

Independence is valued in our society. Being strong and self-sufficient tend to be the marks of success by the world’s standards. However, God’s economy has a much different value system. It’s not about personal strength, but reliance upon God’s strength. Self-sufficiency is replaced with dependency upon God and His provision. Success in God’s economy is marked by instant obedience and alignment with God’s plan.

Part of God’s plan includes our relational connection to God through an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ. The love relationship that God has made available to us in Christ is nurtured by our daily communion with God in prayer. The prayer connection flows from God to us and from us to God. God invites us into an intimate prayer connection that radiates from His heart of love and our response of awe and wonder. Imagine being able to share your heart as well as your heartaches with the God of the universe. We have that amazing privilege to bring everything to God in prayer. In Christ, we have been given access to the Creator of the universe.

Are you in trouble? Are you experiencing challenging circumstances or strained relationships? Don’t delay! Take your burdens to the Lord in prayer. Empty the contents of your heart before the loving and faithful God that you have come to know by experience. God has provided you with the ultimate communication instrument called prayer. Just pray! Begin to articulate to God whatever is perplexing you and whatever is bothering you. God can handle your hurt. God can make the fog lift. Be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). God’s line is never busy and yes, He can hear you now! 

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV)

Adversity is not terminal, but it produces eternal results. Our current adversity is achieving for us an eternal glory. One day we will receive our glorified body. We will be delivered from this fallen world. We have been justified by God’s grace. We are being transformed into the likeness of Christ and we will be glorified. The best is yet to come. Don’t give up! Don’t throw in the towel!

• “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed–in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” 1 Cor 15:51-53 (NIV)

• “No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.” Rev 22:3-5 (NIV)

Adversity will cease and God’s peace will reign. Our battle with sin, sorrow, and sickness will end. God’s glory will be revealed and we will reign with Him forever and ever! Are you ready for Heaven? Fix your eyes on Jesus! 

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

In my journey of walking with God, I have discovered that God will focus on the fruit of the Spirit in your life that is most neglected. Whichever fruit of the Spirit you are least evidencing is the fruit that God will seek to develop in you through the university of adversity. I’ve taken many courses in that particular university.

If you lack the fruit of the Spirit, love, then God will allow difficult people to come into your life in order to give you opportunities to develop that specific fruit of the Spirit. If you lack patience, God will allow trying circumstances to come into the domain of your daily life in order to produce patience in you. That’s why I never ask anyone to pray that God would give me patience. If you lack gentleness, God will orchestrate situations which will give you relational opportunities to develop that particular fruit of the Spirit.

In all things God works for your good (Rom 8:28) and God’s goal for your life is conformity to Christ (Rom 8:29). Anything in your life that doesn’t look like Christ will be removed through God’s loving hammer and chisel of adversity. Don’t be surprised by the adversity God allows into your path. God is building you into a portrait of His grace. Christlikeness is God’s goal for your life!

So how do you look? Do you look like Christ? Is there any attitude or behavior that is not Christlike? Are you drifting from God or drawing near to God? Is the fruit of the Spirit evident in your conversation and your conduct? 

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **

“And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’” Mark 15:39 (NIV)

What was it about the final hours of Jesus’ life that made an eternal impact on the centurion who approved of the punishment Jesus endured? What were the features of Jesus’ death that convinced the centurion that Jesus was the Son of God? I wonder how many crucifixions this centurion had witnessed before he even knew Jesus existed. Perhaps the centurion had personally witnessed hundreds or thousands of these executions.

There was something about the way Jesus died that changed everything for this centurion. Maybe the centurion overheard the conversation between Jesus and the thief on the cross who said to Jesus, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42 NIV). Jesus responded to the thief, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43 NIV). Perhaps the centurion saw the grace of God in action as Jesus put the needs of someone else before His own.

The centurion could have been standing close enough to overhear Jesus say to His mother, “Dear woman, here is your son” and to the disciple whom Jesus loved, “Here is your mother” (John 19:26-27 NIV). Maybe the centurion detected the deep love that Jesus had for His mother and the compassion He extended from the cross as He made sure His mother’s needs would be met. Of all the crucifixions the centurion assisted in, perhaps he had never seen such love.

Adversity creates unique opportunities to show the love of Jesus as you serve others. Jesus exemplified servitude in the midst of extreme adversity. Are you watching for opportunities to serve others while you navigate the terrain of adversity? 

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:6-7 (NIV)

Adversity is as normal in this life as the rising and setting of the sun. Living in a fallen world accentuates the instability of morality. Selfishness and sinfulness permeate the global landscape. Since the Fall of man, we have combated our three enemies: Satan, our flesh, and the world. Eliminate Satan and you still have to contend with the cravings of the sin nature and the gravitational pull of the world. Yet, all three enemies are alive and well.

Jesus prayed that God would protect us from the evil one (John 15:17). The enemy is at work seeking to destroy the work of God in us and the work of God through us. In the midst of the battle, God converts what the enemy meant for evil into good (Gen 50:20). Remember, if God allows adversity into your life, He will use it for your good and His glory.

Will you grow through adversity as you go through adversity? Will you allow God to build your character and develop your faith through the assembly line of adversity? Your faith is of greater worth than gold to God. God’s goal is that your faith be proved genuine so that it may bring glory to God when Jesus Christ is revealed.

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16 (NIV)

As believers, we commune with God through Jesus. As a Christ follower, you have direct access to God through Jesus. Are you aligned with God’s agenda? God’s will includes you.

God’s will involves prayer. Prayer is aligning your life with God’s agenda. God has a plan for your life. He has a purpose for you to fulfill. How do you get connected to that purpose and plan? Through alignment!

Prayer is the avenue through which we connect with God. He has already broken down the barriers that separated us. God grants us access to Him through prayer based on the atonement of Christ. Because Jesus paid the penalty for our sin, we have the privilege of communing with God through prayer.

The Israelites communed with God through the use of the Tabernacle.

• “‘Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.’” Ex 25:8-9 (NIV)

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” Romans 12:3 (NIV)

Do you have a skewed view of yourself? When you examine your life, what do you see? Perhaps you have a low view of yourself. It may be that you have an inflated view of yourself. Someone has remarked that we view others based on their actions and we view ourselves based on our intentions.

How does God want you to view yourself? The proper way to view yourself is in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. How do you measure that faith? You need a standard! The wonderful news is that Jesus is our standard. He is the benchmark for our assessment. God wants you to use sober judgment. In other words, you are to measure your life with accuracy. Instead of comparing yourself to others, examine your life in light of Christ.

Assess your current reality using Jesus as your standard. He is the model to follow. Jesus is the example to emulate. Obtain a proper view of yourself. Allow the standard of Christ’s life to produce an element of brokenness and humility inside of you. Embrace the desperation and invite Jesus to take you to the place of being more like Him.

Begin to view others through the lens of the journey you are on. Recognize that you haven’t arrived. Start viewing others through the prospect of their life fully yielded to Christ. What if they became like Christ? View yourself and others through the measure of faith God has given you. You are in Christ because of God’s unconditional love.

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **

“But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” James 4:6 (NIV)

Grace is getting what we do not deserve. We do not deserve God’s forgiveness, salvation, reconciliation, favor, blessing, and Heaven. But God demonstrates His love by gracing us with that which we do not deserve. God stands in opposition to the proud but responds with grace to the humble. So what does humility look like? As we examine the life of Jesus, we see humility defined. Jesus willingly put others before Himself. Jesus lived selflessly and died sacrificially. Jesus came to this earth to serve and to save. How will you respond?

• “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” James 4:10 (NIV)

• “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” 1 Pet 5:6 (NIV)

We are to humble ourselves. As an act of the will, we are to choose to humble ourselves. God can navigate circumstances to bring humility into our lives to remind us of our dependency upon Him. Yet, God wants to us choose the way of humility without the influence of outward circumstances. Based on our love relationship with God, we are to respond to His grace by exemplifying a life of humility.

Is there an element of pride in your life? Have you exhibited the sin of pride through your conversation or your conduct? Trying to do life your way instead of God’s way is an expression of pride. Embrace the way of humility which places God’s agenda above your own agenda. Anticipate God’s grace to flow like a river!

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **