Tag: Bible verses about putting God first

Bible Verse of The Day – 4-20-24

Ephesians 5:2 (NKJV) 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

The Lord not only told us He loved us, but He proved it by following through with His plan. He gave Himself for us.

His plan was to do the will of His Father. He loved His Father and He loved us. He was focused on the plan to bring salvation to everyone!

It’s the greatest gift we will ever receive. Far greater than any material thing can be!

With that being said, why do we work so hard to gain wealth and material status? Why are all our efforts put toward gaining what we will leave behind someday?

This picture needs to change in the lives of believers.

He gave His life for us. He showed us how much He loves us. He was the ultimate sacrifice that was needed for us to be cleansed and set free from our sins.

He did it for us!

We, in return, need to give our lives by submitting to His plan for us, even making great sacrifices at times to do His will!

Amen.

We don’t know what He is asking you personally to do today, only you know.

Let’s get serious, church. The time is now!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries 
49 N Lamplighters Walk 
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 2-19-24

Mark 12:41-44 (NKJV) 41 Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. 42 Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. 43 So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”

Over the years, I have realized that many Christians have it all wrong when it comes to their giving.

What do I mean by that?

I mean that many Christians who give regularly do so only “when they can afford it” but quickly stop when money gets scarce.

They give what they feel to be a “reasonable” amount until things get financially tight. Then, when things get a little tough, they forfeit their giving. They quit.

Rarely do people like this tithe. They feel that giving 10% of their income is too much to ask. And they may even say that tithing was an Old Testament thing related to The Law.

This line of thinking goes something like this; Money has gotten tight, so I can no longer afford to give to God.

And how do I know this?

Because I used to be one of those Christians. I would give each week, usually far less than what would be considered a tithe. And then if things got tough, I would stop giving. I would quit.

But if we look at the example above, with Jesus observing the people as they “put money into the treasury”, He never suggested that the poor widow should not tithe or give according to her income.

On the contrary, He noted that she gave more than the rest despite her poverty.

This flies in the face of thinking that we should give what we can afford, and then we stop giving if things get tough.

Many years ago, during one of the toughest times we faced financially, God spoke very clearly to us and told us that we needed to tithe, trusting Him with our finances and our situation at that time.

We had no idea how that would work out, since we were already not able to keep up with our bills.

But we obeyed. We trusted God and took Him at His word, and we began sowing 10% of our income each week, even though I was unemployed, and we were living on very little income.

We didn’t look at it as us making a sacrifice. We looked at it specifically as us obeying God.

You see, it was all His money anyway. We were just stewards who had been entrusted with managing what He had provided.

And as we stepped out in obedience, He began to show us how trustworthy He is.

No, hordes of money did not suddenly come rolling in. And no, our situation did not instantly go from bad to excellent.

But as we continued to trust Him and obey Him, He slowly worked things out.

Some bills that we owed were mysteriously marked as “paid in full” with no explanation as to how or why.

Putting Him first in our finances taught us how to be diligent and faithful with what He had provided for us.

And, over time, He pulled us out of the hole we had gotten into.

That was roughly 30 years ago. And we have never looked back.

No matter what has hit us, we have never stopped obeying God. He still comes first. We still obey Him.

And He continues to prove that He is faithful. He is still the same yesterday, today, and forever.

There is none like Him.

And we can attest to the fact that tithing is never about whether we can afford it or not.

It is about whether we trust God or not.

Put him first. Obey Him. You will never regret it.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 2-3-24

Jeremiah 29:13 (NKJV) 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

With any relationship, we get out what we put in.

Our relationship with God is no different. It will grow on the same scale as the effort we put into it.

If we truly desire to know Him and serve Him wholeheartedly, we will intentionally make the time needed to grow and mature as a believer.

This isn’t something that we always think of or understand when we first become a child of God.

In fact, it is something that is not taught nearly enough.

While the forgiveness of our sins is monumental, if we do not feed our spirit with the word of God, it will be in danger of withering and dying.

Jesus taught about this when He shared the parable of the sower and the seeds.

Matthew 13:20-21 (NLT) 20 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 21 But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.

This is why we need to be sure to put forth the required effort to keep ourselves fed and growing.

It is something that no one can do for us. Yes, we can have people help us, lead us and guide us, especially in the beginning of our new walk with God. But in the end, we are the ones who are responsible for whether we grow or not.

Think of it like a newborn baby. When the baby is small, it requires constant help and nurturing. But as it grows older and older it must learn to take what it has been taught and use that knowledge to grow and mature on its own.

This is why it is paramount for each of us to do whatever is necessary to feed ourselves with the word of God.

God tells us that as we make the effort to seek Him, we will find Him if we seek Him with all our heart.

The key lies in the phrase, “with all your heart”, since God spells it out for us right there.

Suffice it to say that effort on our part is required. And that effort is something that we must be willing to put forth.

It may not always be easy or comfortable, but we need to keep in mind the incredible sacrifice that Christ made for us on the cross. This will usually put things into perspective and help motivate us to do what it takes to mature and grow as a believer.

And as we do this, let us liken ourselves to a runner in a race, disciplining ourselves, shaking off all that tries to hold us back, and doing all that is necessary to claim the prize at the finish line.

For the prize we race toward is eternal.

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV) 1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Amen

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 1-6-24

Psalm 121:1-2 (NKJV) 1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

Being careful not to idolize the one whom God uses to be there for us can be hard.

When someone helps us out of a devastating season or situation in our lives, it is hard not to want to lift them up in some way. It’s hard not to put them on a pedestal and praise them for what they did.

Because of the help they brought us, and the way it touched our hearts, it’s easy for us to take our eyes off the Lord, our Source, and put them on the messenger.

God uses people all the time to do certain things. That’s how He answers so many of our prayers and gets things done. He uses people in specific places.

No matter who the messenger is, the one who delivers it, God is our source. The one that He uses is only His instrument, and He will reward them accordingly.

We need to be grateful they obeyed, but not look at them as our rescuer.

This can also be a problem in the church today. If we are not careful, we can actually miss out on what God calls us to do simply because we don’t want to separate ourselves from the place or the person that God used to help us.

Don’t worship the messenger, but keep our eyes squarely on the One who created him or her to be used by Him. Don’t miss out on our calling because we are idolizing God’s messenger.

Remember, it’s the Lord that orchestrates it all, and He is worthy of our praise and loyalty!

Romans 11:36 (NKJV) 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 12-26-23

John 10:10 (NKJV) 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

The devil is a thief.

He will steal. He will try to bring death and completely destroy whatever he can.

But praise the Lord, Jesus came that we may have life!

It seems like we often concern ourselves with the wrong things; our careers, our home, our friends, our appearance, our food, our finances, etc.

We can stress and wear ourselves out over these things.

What if we told you that a lot of what concerns us is not anything we need to worry about? Would you believe it?

Let’s look at what Jesus has to say about these things.

Matthew 6:25 (NKJV) 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

There is more to life than these things. But we find ourselves worried about them more than anything else. The enemy wants them to consume us.

When these things concern us greatly, we are not trusting God. Our life is passing us by and we are missing out on great opportunities.

Colossians 3:2-3 (NKJV) 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

We need to ask ourselves how much time we spend thinking and concerned about our walk with God.

If we were half as concerned about our relationship with Him as we are with our earthly cares, and we made the necessary changes in our hearts, we wouldn’t be so quick to worry or be concerned about these things.

Wait. Do you mean He will just take care of them for us?

I’ll let Him speak to you Himself.

Matthew 6:33 (NKJV) 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

This doesn’t mean that we simply sit back, do nothing, and wait for Him to drop everything in our laps.

The key is to concern ourselves with, and seek after Him, more than anything else. In that we will find our answers.

Our true happiness and stability will come as we follow Him. That’s when our life will come together!  Amen.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 8-16-23

Proverbs 14:34 (NKJV) 34 Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people.

A nation who honors God in everything they do will always prosper.

If we were to look back through history, we would see a pattern where nations who put God first, and honored Him in how that nation was governed, became great.

Conversely, nations who were/are Godless tend not to last long, or they are in constant turmoil, with governments that are repeatedly changing, being overthrown, etc.

Without God at the forefront, there is no stability.

If we were to look at current events, and back through history, we would also see nations that started out on the right foot, putting God first. But as they strayed from their faith and left God behind, they began to falter, morally, economically, and socially. And they eventually crumbled.

Many such nations end up being invaded by outside neighboring countries, with their governments being taken down and replaced by ruthless leaders.

Other countries in this situation simply erode into a weak, pitiful mess where chaos and confusion reign, with evil completely unrestricted.

A sure sign that a nation is in decline is a marked increase in corruption.

God will be eliminated from every facet of that government and that nation.

He becomes nothing more than a distant memory. And with that mindset, evil increases rapidly.

Wickedness and sin no longer hide in the shadows. They become brazen and blatant; in your face and wide open for the world to see.

There is no longer any shame.

Lawlessness increases drastically. And the ensuing chaos will become more than many people can understand or bear.

Soon, that nation will become divided, as the remaining righteous men and women desperately hold onto what they know is right, and those who have abandoned God continue their downward spiral. And that nation plunges into darkness.

Please join us tomorrow for the continuation of this teaching.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-26-23

Luke 9:23 (NKJV) 23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

The world is a funny place.

It will tell us lots of things to make us feel good about ourselves.

It will say that we are number one, and that we should put ourselves before anyone or anything else.

It will tell us that we’re special, and that how we feel is what matters. Everything else is secondary.

It will tell us that our feelings about ourself are important, that our self-esteem should be high so we don’t get down about our lives.

It will tell us so much more, and it all revolves around making us the center of our own lives.

Much of this has spilled over into the church. Even some pastors are repeating these things. Some might even give it a “Christian twist” to make it more palatable and appealing to followers of Christ.

But Jesus seems to have something different to say about it; “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself”.

That is a far cry from putting ourselves front and center at every possible opportunity.

Christianity isn’t supposed to be like icing on a cake… always sweet and pleasant. It will have its moments and seasons when it is very sweet. But it is not always that way.

There are things that we may have to face, and some things that we may have to endure, if we are to walk this walk as a child of God.

This doesn’t mean that our lives will always be gloom and doom, cloudy and dark. Walking with God has many, many blessings. And our joy is found in Him!

But we must live our lives knowing that there will be times when our faith costs us. And we should be willing to pay the price, no matter what that price is.

This is part of being a mature believer; a believer with Holy Spirit-inspired understanding and the willingness to sacrifice our own preferences, comfort and wants if God places us in situations that require us to.

And as we do this, as we walk this straight and narrow path, let us find our joy in knowing that He is worth every sacrifice we have to make, every trial we must endure and every hard battle that we have to fight.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 5-10-23

1 Chronicles 18:6 (NLT) 6 Then he placed several army garrisons in Damascus, the Aramean capital, and the Arameans became David’s subjects and paid him tribute money. So the Lord made David victorious wherever he went.

“So the Lord made David victorious wherever he went”.

There is a lot we can learn from this short statement.

But in order to learn from it, we need to ask this one question; why was David victorious wherever he went?”.

The answer to that question is very simple and straight forward.

David loved God with all his heart and endeavored to honor God in all that he did.

David was not perfect. But he considered God in every decision he made. He despised false gods. He also abhorred people who stood against his God.

David was not afraid to stand against those who stood against his God. And he gave honor and credit to God for his victories.

His wife, Michal, even looked at him with contempt and she despised him in her heart because he danced and leapt with joy before the Lord in public.

2 Samuel 6:16 (NKJV) 16 Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.

And when Michal confronted him about making a spectacle of himself in public, here’s what David told her.

2 Samuel 6:21-22 (NKJV) 21 …“It was before the Lord, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the Lord. 22 And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight….

Let us all honor God the way David did. Let us all put Him first in our hearts and in the choices we make every day, that He might give us victory wherever we go.

Amen

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 4-29-23

Genesis 22:2 (NKJV) 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love – Isaac – and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

Our most important goal in this world should be to please God.

Whatever He asks of us, as long as we know it’s Him, we need to find it in ourselves to take the first step and say, “I will do it”.

How many of us are ready, willing and open to make many sacrifices to do His will?

A lot of people will not let go of the things that they need to let go of in order to reach this point.

As a couple, Pastor Curt and I are in agreement when it comes to putting God first!

And we are both aware of the fact we can’t have our say in some matters regarding God’s plan. We just have to agree with what He is asking of us.

We definitely cannot have any emotional attachments, or it will only make it that much harder when we have to let them go.

This is a heart condition. And it takes time, sometimes years, to reach this place.

But, as God changes us a little here and a little there, we will reach a point to where we will give up just about anything to please and obey Him.

Abraham would never have been willing to sacrifice his only son if his heart had been attached to anything more than it was to God.

God knows where each one of us are at in this process. If He is asking us to do something and it’s very hard to let go, remember that He wouldn’t ask it of us if He thought it would hurt us in any way.

He has nothing but good intentions for each one of us.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 4-1-23

Revelation 2:4 (NKJV) 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

As I was having my devotional time this morning, I felt God speaking to me regarding this verse; that the church on a large scale has left Him, their first love.

It has simply allowed things to come in and take our time and loyalty away from Him. These things have gripped us enough to put us in a place of rebellion.

Isn’t it just like the enemy to tempt us with all kinds of little things we may love, just to distract us and take away the time we’ve devoted to God?

As Jesus speaks these words to John regarding the church, He is definitely bringing correction, stating that they have completely left Him.

This is not a little thing. It affects us all. As we can see, it happened to the church then and it is happening to the church now.

He is calling His children into repentance. He is chastening us and drawing us close. Thank God for that!

Hebrews 12:6 (NKJV) 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens And scourges every son whom He receives.”

Stay focused. Embrace His correction in our personal lives. Know that He will chasten those He loves.

Revelation 2:7 (NKJV) 7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”.

Amen.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 3-26-23 – Your First Love

Please click to watch the video now.Greetings in the beautiful name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth! 

In the book of Revelation, Jesus spoke specifically to 7 different churches. 

In our new video, “Your First Love”, we teach about one of the messages that He had for one of the churches, and how that message impacts our own walk with God. 

We hope you’ll join us for this one! 

Please click here to watch the video now.

We pray that you are walking closer with God each day. 

We love you all! 

Sincerely, 

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie 

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443 

401-439-3780 

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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