What We Do First – A Vital Key to Living in the Maximum

From the JSMI Australia Blog

by | 1 Apr 2023 | JSMI Newsletters

What would you be willing to do to receive God’s best for your life? 

The word I received from the Lord for you this year was, “Tell the people that this will be a year for the maximum – the highest level attainable.” 

I want to see this prophetic word come to pass in your life. But it doesn’t just happen automatically. It’s important that you mix your faith with this word if you truly want to see it happen for you.

It matters whether you believe and activate your faith for it. The Bible says in Hebrews 4:2 that the Word did not profit those who heard it because they did not mix faith with it. Don’t let that happen to you. Don’t miss out on what God is doing because of a lack of faith for it. So, how do you know if you have the faith for it? How do you mix your faith? James 2:26 says that faith without works is dead. James goes on to say we show our faith by our works. So again, how do you mix your faith? You follow through with some corresponding action! 

The Lord said to me, “Tell the people what they DO FIRST is a vital key to living in the maximum in 2023.” What you do first always matters to God.

The book of Haggai dealt with God’s people not living in a way that allowed God to show them His best. The prophet Haggai warns, “Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways(Haggai 1:5).

The prophet goes on to say that all their effort is getting them nowhere. They plant but reap no harvest, they drink but remain thirsty, they put on clothes but are still cold. What they were doing was not working. If things in your life are not working, then it’s time to consider your ways. 

Haggai was sent to these people to help get their priorities back in line with what’s pleasing to God. We read that these people had begun to drift away from God, and they lived with misplaced priorities.

A lot of Christians are that way today. Now everyone wants to succeed, but you can’t put success ahead of seeking God. They live with misplaced priorities like the people Haggai was sent to. God wants you to succeed, but you can’t put succeeding ahead of your love for God and your passion to seek Him. Make sure you keep the first things first, and seeking God should always be first!

If there are things not working the way they should be working according to the Word of God, then remember, there is nothing wrong with God’s Word, there’s nothing wrong with God, there’s nothing wrong with the Holy Spirit, and nothing wrong with Jesus…did I leave anybody out? It may be you!

In the book of Haggai, the Temple had been destroyed by the Babylonian empire seventy years earlier and God had charged the people with the task of rebuilding the Temple. But they kept putting it off. Instead, they built their own good houses, and they left the house of God in ruin, even though He had given them the assignment, “rebuild the Temple.” 

They kept saying, “It’s not time.” They went about pursuing their own dreams, their own desires, and their own wants, and neglected the house of God.

Haggai’s message to the people was put first things first.

For the Temple to lie in ruins was not only an indication that they were prone to procrastination, but it also indicated a neglect in worshiping God.

I’ve discovered and observed over the years that when you get sloppy in some things, you also tend to get sloppy in your relationship with God as well. If you get sloppy in the mundane things, the things you do every day, then you usually get sloppy in your relationship with God. 

They got sloppy and it surfaced in their relationship with God. In 1 Corinthians 10:11-12 from the MESSAGE Translation the Apostle Paul writes about stories from the Old Testament saying, “These are all warning markers – danger… written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes.”

The reason that we have this account in the book of Haggai is for our benefit. Why? So that we don’t repeat their mistakes.

I want to give you 5 principles I’ve learned from reading the book of Haggai:

  1. Stop making excuses for not putting first things first.
  2. Stop being selfish—thinking only of your wants and your desires.
  3. Take a good look at where you have put the things of God in your list of priorities.
  4. Stop being the reason that your blessings are being blocked. 
  5. Let God hold the highest place in your life now and forever.

It’s time to put first things first and receive the maximum and highest level of God’s best.

Let me ask you this question, “What are your greatest needs, your greatest desires, and your greatest wants for 2023?” Take the time to actually write them down. Then, I want you to look at them from a position of being seed-minded instead of need-minded.

Seriously think about what you will sow to see them accomplished. God is interested in your needs, desires, and wants. He’s the God who cares. So, write them down and think about what you’re willing to sow to see them fulfilled.

I learned to do this years ago; Once I receive a prophetic word, the first thing I do is write it down. Then I print it out for my notebook. Then I pray about what seed I will sow to ensure that this comes to pass in my life.

I sow all the time, but for the fulfillment of this, I ask the Lord to show me what I should sow as a special seed that I designate for the fulfillment of this prophetic word coming to pass in my life.

Why is it important to be specific about your giving? Galatians 6:7 says, “For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” 

Who’s in charge of the harvest? You are. You plant, and it’s God who gives the increase. Through your sowing, you determine the kind of harvest that you will receive and the measure.

So, whatever happened to the people in Haggai? They eventually followed God’s instructions as they were given by Haggai as chapter 1 verse 14 reveals, “…they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God.”

And now, look at the results in Haggai 2:19 where God says, “…from this day will I bless you.”

The word from the prophet stirred them up to action. And as a result, they received the blessing of God. 

My greatest harvests have been the results of my sowing when the conditions weren’t perfect. It’s easy to sow when the conditions are perfect. It takes faith to sow when the conditions are not perfect. It takes faith to sow when in the natural it doesn’t look like it’s the right time to sow.

If we wait for the conditions to be perfect, satan will see to it that the conditions are never perfect.

I’m asking you now, consider your ways. Don’t make excuses. Now is the time to seek God and put His ways first. 

I wish I could go into further detail about this prophetic word the Lord has given me. That’s why as you give this month, I’ve asked my team to send my recent audio teaching, What We Do First – A Vital Key to Living In The Maximum, as my thank you. 

You can give securely and conveniently online, simply go to jsmiaustralia.org, by calling +61 7 5576 5534, or, if you prefer, you can use the enclosed reply slip and postage paid return envelope to give and be sure to check the box to receive my message via CD or MP3.

Genesis 1:29 reveals that God intended for man to have his life sustained by the seeds that he sows. God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed… to you it shall be for meat.” Seed was the provision in the beginning and it’s still the same principle today. God has not changed His plan.

As you respond to God’s prophetic word putting His purposes first, I pray that you receive a maximum blessing! 

In Him,

Jerry Savelle

P.S. Jesus instructs you to, “Seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness, His way of doing and being right…” (Matthew 6:33 AMPC).  I’ve said it like this many times before, when you do “His way of doing things,” then you’ll also get “His kind of results.” Put God and His way of doing things first in your life and step into the maximum and highest level attainable. I’m praying for you and hope to hear from you soon.

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