This is what will happen when you seek after walking uprightly – fulfilling what Jesus said in Matthew 6:33.
Matthew 6:33 | NKJV (33) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
We are in the Kingdom of God now. We are citizens of that Kingdom, so we don’t have to seek after what we are already a part of. So, Jesus must have meant something more than just position.
Colossians 1:13 | NKJV (13) He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
Matthew 6:33 | TPT (33) “So above all, constantly chase after the realm of God’s kingdom and the righteousness that proceeds from him. Then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly.
Matthew 6:33 | ERV (33) What you should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what he wants you to do. Then he will give you all these other things you need.
We should notice that Jesus did not say we could not seek after other things. But we should keep seeking the Kingdom of God, our top priority.
Don’t make God and His Kingdom A priority. Make it your TOP priority.
Matthew 6:33 | AMP (33) But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.
We need to learn God’s ways, more than we need to learn God’s rules.
Psalms 81:13 | NKJV (13) “Oh, that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!
Ways – a road, a course of life, mode of action, method of operation.
An ignorance of God’s ways will keep us out of God’s highest and best for our lives.
Psalms 95:9-11 | NKJV (9) When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. (10) For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ (11) So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ “
Hebrews 3:7-11 | NKJV (7) Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “TODAY, IF YOU WILL HEAR HIS VOICE, (8) DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS IN THE REBELLION, IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, (9) WHERE YOUR FATHERS TESTED ME, TRIED ME, AND SAW MY WORKS FORTY YEARS. (10) THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THAT GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN MY WAYS.’ (11) SO I SWORE IN MY WRATH, ‘THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.’ “
Psalms 119:26 | NKJV (26) I have declared my ways, and You answered me; Teach me Your statutes.
There is a blessing on giving the ways of God your attention.
Proverbs 8:32 | NKJV (32) “Now therefore, listen to me, my children, For blessed are those who keep (attend to) my ways.
Isaiah 55:8-9 | NKJV (8) “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. (9) “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Matthew 6:33 | AMPC (33) But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.
Righteousness – God’s character, consistent in character
What did Solomon Pray For?
1 Kings 3:5-14 | NKJV (5) At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” (6) And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. (7) Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. (8) And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. (9) Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” (10) The speech pleased the LORD, that Solomon had asked this thing. (11) Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, (12) behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. (13) And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. (14) So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
It is alright to ask for riches and honor but not at the expense of integrity and uprightness.
If God cannot trust us to walk uprightly, how can he trust us with prosperity?
A proper foundation of uprightness is necessary for these things to come to pass in our lives.
What does a foundation or uprightness look like?
Psalms 15:1-5 | NKJV (1) A Psalm of David. LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? (2) He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart; (3) He who does not backbite with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; (4) In whose eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who fear the LORD; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change; (5) He who does not put out his money at usury, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.
This is not a salvation Psalm. This Psalm is God’s plan for how to succeed, His blessing, prosperity and advancement in life as a believer.
In verse 1 of this Psalm, abide and dwell mean to stay on a permanent basis.
Psalms 91:1 | NKJV (1) He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
The world can bring happiness, success and advancement but there will always be some type of sorrow with it. When God brings these things to your life there will be no sorrow with it.
Proverbs 10:22 | NKJV (22) The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.
When the world brings prosperity, it will not last. When God brings prosperity, it lasts.
Proverbs 8:18 KJV (18) Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.
Durable – Hebrew: antique, valued.
Proverbs 8:18 | NKJV (18) Riches and honor are with me, Enduring riches and righteousness.
The devil will try and tell you, “I can make you rich and it will not be as slow as God.”
What we see in verse 5 is that God is endeavoring to get us to a place where we will not be shaken. This simply means a place of stability in our life.
Notice the end of the Psalm talks about you can arrive at place of not being moved.
Walking in holiness is not difficult. Walking in un-holiness is difficult.
The Bible says the way of the sinner is hard.
Psalms 15:2 NKJV (2) He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart;
- Walk uprightly
- Do works of righteousness
- Speak the truth from our heart
The three things that we are TO DO can be said very simply: your walk, your work, and your words.
Psalms 15:3 NKJV (3) He who does not backbite with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
Then in verse three, he gives us three things that we ARE NOT supposed to do:
- Backbite with our tongue
- Do evil against our neighbor
- Take up a reproach against our neighbor.
When God saves us, He wants our lives to be dramatically changed.
When we are speaking about our walk, our works and our words, that is pretty much the sum total of our lives. God wants us to walk uprightly in all of these areas.
God not only saved us from our sins (past) but He saved us from our sins (present).
- Walking upright means to simply do not sin.
The Bible teaches us to flee sin.
This is our witness to non-believers around us. They want to see that you can live free from sin. They want to see that it is possible to walk free from sin.
Psalms 4:4 | KJV (4) Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
Psalms 119:11 | NKJV (11) Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
1 John 2:1 | NKJV (1) My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
1 Corinthians 15:34 | NKJV (34) Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.
We must depend on the greater One on the inside of us to live free from sin. The power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God are available to help us live free from sin.
Again, Jesus did not die just to save us from sins but to also to save us from sinning.
It is not trying to live separately from the world (people) that keeps you from sinning because you can live in a commune by yourself somewhere and still sin.
Witnessing is not telling the world to be holy, it is telling them that Jesus came to set us free from sin and its results.
- The next thing in verse two we see is the works of righteousness.
Ephesians 2:10 | NKJV (10) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Remember, our goal as Christians is not just to go to heaven. It should be to do those good (God) works which further God’s plans here, now.
Matthew 5:16 | NKJV (16) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Works of righteousness come from a giving heart.
2 Corinthians 9:8 | NKJV (8) And 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.
Colossians 1:10 | NKJV (10) that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Our fruit is not for ourselves. A tree does not consume its own fruit. It is for the passerby’s.
1 Timothy 6:18 | NKJV (18) Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,
1 Timothy 6:18 | MSG (18) to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous.
- He speaks the truth from his heart.
You are speaking from a heart that is filled with the Word of God.
There are two kinds of truth that we speak from:
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- Truth from the Word of God
- Truth that is not a lie.
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Psalms 34:12-13 | NLT (12) Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous? (13) Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies!
The course of your life is determined by the rudder of your tongue (James 3:4-5). Where are you headed today?
Ephesians 4:25 | TPT (25) So discard every form of dishonesty and lying so that you will be known as one who always speaks the truth, for we all belong to one another.
The moment that your words leave the truth, they become a lie. Don’t stretch or shade the truth.