No Fear No Worries

Jer 17:7 “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.

Jer 17:8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

The old gospel song personalizes this passage “I shall not be moved” I like that idea, I shall not be moved. It is personal, it is real, and it applies.

At times when we look at life we see little difference in the Christian and non-Christian communities. It seems as the Bible says, “to rain on the just and the unjust”. Often we see Christians succeed and overcome when faced with adversity, and likewise we see the same from the non-Christian community. The question then can arise, “Why bother with Christianity. If the results are the same, why bother? It seems the secular world is more successful at gathering money and just as successful in gathering happiness.

There are also Christians who never pray, never attend church or Bible study and they seems to get the same rewards as those who sacrifice and faithfully attend. So what is the value of faith? What is the value in the local church? Here are the answers:

First God is the God of all. He is the only God. He is the provider of food for the insect, the birds, the cats, the dogs and every person on this planet. When Jesus was entering, Jerusalem the people where cheering and praising Him, some people said to Jesus, “You should stop them from worshipping you.” Jesus responded, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Have you ever heard the expression dumber than a box of rocks? How can an atheist be offended by the statement, “one nation under God?” If you do not believe in Him what difference does it make? Apparently, the atheist thinks we need to outlaw ‘make-believe’. God is not make-believe that is why His name is offensive. His name is only offense to those who do not know Him personally, like a child at school who is unable to make there way into the “cool crowd” they just sit on the outside, criticizing and stewing about those who are accepted. The atheist is a plan old fashioned “wanna be.”

God is God we did not invent Him, He invented us. When we deny Him, he continues to be God. When He denies us, we are lost. A faithful follower of the Lord should not feel bad for the things the non-Christians receive. After all, it is all they will ever get and they will have eternity separated from God to appreciate their new car, nice house, face-lift, breast implant, hair transplant, financial security, country club memberships and of course, none of that will bring much comfort after about 10,000 years.

Second, what is the purpose of church? If you do not have to attend church be a Christian, why bother?

A Christian who does not attend church is a type of freeloader in the faith. Those who do not attend an organized church, do not evangelize, support missionaries, or pass the gospel to their community. They will never reach any child or friend not directly connected with their life. They count on the organized Church to reach the lost world and influence the community. These people also often criticize the organized church to such a point that they wound the ministry of that church. Recently I heard the statement, “You don’t have to go the church to be a Christian, but you do have to go to Church to be a hypocrite.” That is just not true; you can be hypocrite anywhere you want. Some of the biggest hypocrites I know are sitting home right now, saying they believe in God and doing absolutely nothing about it.

Third, if you want to be like a tree planted by the water, It does not fear, It has no worries.

There are a few things you will have to face:

1. You will have to face God, we need his help; we need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we cannot do it without Him.

2. You will have to face yourself, inadequate and unable to walk in truth and victory without help. The first place you have to look for help is within yourself, because until you realize you cannot do it on your own you will never be able to trust God to empower you to do it.

3. You will also need to look all around you, to your friends and your family and if this life is truly all you want then that is all you are ever going to receive. However if you would like to have an eternal life, then you need to live for God.