October 5th 2025
We Will Be Given Earthly Things That God Knows We Need, If We “Seek First His Kingdom!”
1 John 5:13-14 (NIV)
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
If you are a true believer your prayers will be heard in heaven! Such prayers will be answered through the will of God! When you pray you are approaching God and you are being assisted in forming your prayer by the Holy Spirit! What an amazing event occurs when a believer prays, and this is only available to those who have accepted their salvation through Jesus Christ. Prayers emanating from anyone who does not have their name recorded in the Book of Life, are not recognized by God in heaven!
Jesus tells a story or parable about “The Rich Man and Lazarus,” see Luke 16: 19-31 for the whole story. During this conversation between The Rich Man who is in hell (hades), and Abraham and Lazarus who are in heaven (paradise)! Jesus states, that there is a great chasm between heaven and hell. Jesus says, And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ (Luke 16:26). Of course, the meaning of this for us who are still living on the earth is that no one from either of these holding places can come back to the earth either. Thus, when we die, our immortal soul will go to either hades or to the paradise of God and remain there until the new earth AKA heaven is ready.
Remember, Jesus started preparing a room for you in the paradise of God, when you accepted Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, and you were born again. In this world we must be humble enough to acknowledge that we must trust and obey Jesus for our salvation. Paul wrote about his struggle with an issue of pride in himself and maybe his ability to worship Jesus? Paul asked Jesus to take this problem away, But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Paul’s real strength comes from Jesus when he allows Jesus to be in control.
Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12). If you use this comment to attract people to become a follower of Jesus, you will not get a very positive response! Some people who are non-believers do not believe in a place we call heaven so that they may not “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven!”
Jesus left the Holy Spirit behind when He left this earth, and this Spirit indwells true believers. Paul wrote about how we need to know that non-believers are not possessed or aided by this Spirit. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:14). Paul wrote about this lack of Spirit in those who are non-believers. Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:5-6). You need to let the Spirit guide your conversations with “outsiders” as best you can!
Our Bible supplies the absolute truth as it comes from God, but anyone who does not believe that will remain in darkness. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (John 3:20-21). Paul wrote about how our sinful nature causes us to be prone to temptation in this world. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no-one who does good, not even one." (Romans 3:12).
That is why Jesus came into this world without a sinful nature inherited from a human father. This helped Him avoid temptation, but remember Adam sinned before he was given the first sinful nature. We all need a Savior before we can gain some control over our sinful nature. We also are blessed with an immortal soul made in the image and likeness of God. In this lifetime we get the opportunity to direct our soul toward heaven! Jesus told us we can do this if work on becoming more Christ-like by dwelling on being disciples of Christ as our first priority. Jesus told us to live in this cursed world, But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33).
We will be given earthly things that God knows we need, if we “seek first his kingdom!”
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
1 John 5:13-14 (NIV)
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
If you are a true believer your prayers will be heard in heaven! Such prayers will be answered through the will of God! When you pray you are approaching God and you are being assisted in forming your prayer by the Holy Spirit! What an amazing event occurs when a believer prays, and this is only available to those who have accepted their salvation through Jesus Christ. Prayers emanating from anyone who does not have their name recorded in the Book of Life, are not recognized by God in heaven!
Jesus tells a story or parable about “The Rich Man and Lazarus,” see Luke 16: 19-31 for the whole story. During this conversation between The Rich Man who is in hell (hades), and Abraham and Lazarus who are in heaven (paradise)! Jesus states, that there is a great chasm between heaven and hell. Jesus says, And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ (Luke 16:26). Of course, the meaning of this for us who are still living on the earth is that no one from either of these holding places can come back to the earth either. Thus, when we die, our immortal soul will go to either hades or to the paradise of God and remain there until the new earth AKA heaven is ready.
Remember, Jesus started preparing a room for you in the paradise of God, when you accepted Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, and you were born again. In this world we must be humble enough to acknowledge that we must trust and obey Jesus for our salvation. Paul wrote about his struggle with an issue of pride in himself and maybe his ability to worship Jesus? Paul asked Jesus to take this problem away, But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Paul’s real strength comes from Jesus when he allows Jesus to be in control.
Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12). If you use this comment to attract people to become a follower of Jesus, you will not get a very positive response! Some people who are non-believers do not believe in a place we call heaven so that they may not “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven!”
Jesus left the Holy Spirit behind when He left this earth, and this Spirit indwells true believers. Paul wrote about how we need to know that non-believers are not possessed or aided by this Spirit. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:14). Paul wrote about this lack of Spirit in those who are non-believers. Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:5-6). You need to let the Spirit guide your conversations with “outsiders” as best you can!
Our Bible supplies the absolute truth as it comes from God, but anyone who does not believe that will remain in darkness. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (John 3:20-21). Paul wrote about how our sinful nature causes us to be prone to temptation in this world. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no-one who does good, not even one." (Romans 3:12).
That is why Jesus came into this world without a sinful nature inherited from a human father. This helped Him avoid temptation, but remember Adam sinned before he was given the first sinful nature. We all need a Savior before we can gain some control over our sinful nature. We also are blessed with an immortal soul made in the image and likeness of God. In this lifetime we get the opportunity to direct our soul toward heaven! Jesus told us we can do this if work on becoming more Christ-like by dwelling on being disciples of Christ as our first priority. Jesus told us to live in this cursed world, But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33).
We will be given earthly things that God knows we need, if we “seek first his kingdom!”
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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