- In a 2005 message entitled, “What Katrina Can Teach Us,” Max Lucado stated, “We were barely into the new millennium
- Towers falling in NYC & planes crashing into the Pentagon & the PA farmland.
- Bombs over Baghdad
- The tsunami – a roaring wave that sucked life & innocence out to sea.
TODAY
- Forest fires have devastated the west
- Communities along the Mississippi are suffer under it’s mighty waters
- Average price of gas $4:00 expecting $5:00 by July 4th
- Crude oil doubles what it was a year ago
- Unemployment rises for the 5th straight month
- Highest in 20 years
- Tough times translates to the personal
- One women has given up buying meat & milk because she can’t afford either
- Contentment is learned, not earned as a result of things that money can buy
- How we are not to worry
- You got to be kidding Lord
- How do we not worry?
- Don’t you see the day we are in?
- There are bills to pay, mortgage is due
- My job is on the line
- Price for food & clothing is way up
- (Oh, Oh that’s in v. 25)
- There is not enough money for all that we need
- Not worrying does not come naturally
- My first response is to worry
- Jesus knows this
01 How to Live Worry Free.
❶. Watch Your Passions
- We feel it is hopeless
- How do we deal with these feelings
- I live according to what I believe
Matthew 6:24KJV
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
- End of the Sermon of the Mount
- Mt 7: 24-27 Two verses
- “Whosoever heareth these saying of mine, and doeth them I will liken him unto ..... either to wise or foolish
Matthew 7:28-29KJV
28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught them as one having authority ....
Heb 11:6But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him
Revelation 1:3KJV
3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Revelation 22:7KJV
7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Revelation 22:14KJV
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
- We are not living according to what we believe
- Prov 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart so is he ....
- Live according to who you really are
- Acts 16:31 .... Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved ...
- Not feel save but BE saved
- We may not be able for awhile change how we feel
- But we can change how we think
❷. Know There Will Be Problems
- Thought 6x in this passage
- Worry, Anxious, Trouble
- Complaints
- Israel gripes of not having water or food
- Manna in the wilderness
- Water from the rock
- Defeat of their enemies
- Quail from the dessert
Num 11
- A whole month of chicken fell for 600,000 men plus women & children
- 3 feet thick
- The less amount gathered was 100 bushels - Num 11:32
- Num 11:23 ....Is the Lord’s hand waxed short?....
Psalm 23:4KJV
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
❸. Seek His Purpose
- God is a great provider
- Look at nature - He cares
Matthew 10:29-31KJV
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
- You can’t stop birds from flying over your heads but you can stop them from building their nest in your hair
- Worry is the nest being built
- Do you know who the most miserable person in the world?
- The one who is between two fires
- The one who does not trust
- The one who denies the Lord’s work
- Peter denied Jesus at one fire and went out alone and wept bitterly - Lk 22:62
- Without Jesus we fish all night and catch nothing - Jn 21:3
- It is John that tells Peter “IT IS THE LORD” - Jn 21 7
- Peter’s response is to get to the Lord
- Restored at the other fire
- Jesus invites us to come — “Come & Dine” - Jn 21:12
- Nothing else matters when we “Follow Him” Jn 21:19
- Peter restored at a fish-fry on the shore
- Living in a state of denial makes us the most miserable person around
- What a difference it makes when Jesus shows up and build that fire on the shore
- Look around and see what you are thankful for
- In the simple things he blesses us
- If we provides for the little things will he not care for the big things
- We can’t serve two masters
- Worry & trust
- Mt 6:33
- First things first - “The Kingdom of God
- It’s not that we can’t be rich
- It’s we don’t need to seek to be rich
- v. 34 speaks of tomorrow twice
- Tomorrow can be a distraction
- Concentrate on today if you want to have freedom
- We can make it through anything with love
- It’s knowing and experiencing Christ’s love
Two Things to Concentrate On
1. Live one day at a time
2. Keep your life simple
These are Kingdom Thoughts
Philippians 4:6
Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God.
(Contemporary English Version)
