MAT 6:25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ’What shall we eat?’ or ’What shall we drink?’ or ’What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Verse 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. This is a promise from Jesus Himself. We christians don’t seem to have problems whenever it come to "naming it and claiming it" on most of God’s promises; we seem to simply not believe or hold on to this one very much.
After all, we gotta work, don’t we? Of course! The Bible says if you don’t work, you don’t eat....and by all means, we need to "worry" about our clothes....that is, we need to be wearing some! The text here is telling us that we don’t necessarily have to have "designer" clothes, or expensive clothes. God will provide.
Now the trouble with christians seems to be that God doesn’t provide the way we think He ought to. "Yes, He got me a car, but it wasn’t the one I really wanted!" or "Yes, He got me a job, but He could’a got me a higher paying one!" "Look’a here, preach’a.... God really NEEDS to get me a better house....we’ve outgrown this one!" Think about it...at least you have those things. Some people don’t have anyplace to lay their head or a car to drive to work.....5% of this very country doesn’t even have a job to go to! Thank God most people can get clothes!
Jesu is not trying to minimize our needs/wants/desires here. He is simply telling us that we need to keep our focus on Him. Chasing after the cares of this life will come in-between you and your relationship with God. 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. He knows what you need even before you ask. God is committed to taking care of His children....and that IS a promise. God doesn’t lie, nor does He break His promises. SO why, then, don’t we seem to living in the blessing of God’s promises?
You remember last week we kinda "defined" what God calls His people. It’s not what we call ourselves that matters, but what God sees us as that we will be held accountable to.What’s important to know here is that God will not/cannot renege on any of His promises as long as we are doing our part. He is incapable of breaking His Word.
Listen, a promise is only as good as the one making it. Have you ever been promised something by someone and it never happened? "Well, pastor.....there are a lot of promises in the Bible that don’t seem to be working for me....I see it work for everyone else, but not for me"....What do you think makes you different that God’s promises don’t apply to you? DO you believe in God’s integrity? Do you believe that God has the ability to supply all your needs according to His riches in glory? If so, then how can we not apply these principle in our text with full confidence that God will take care of us no matter how dire our circumstances look? He made a promise, and He is faithful and just to keep His promises, just as He is to forgive your sin whenever you repent and ask Him into your heart!
If you don’t know where your next meal is coming from, or you just don’t know how you’ll pay your bills this month, then God has you right where He wants you. "What kinda crazy talk is that, preach’a?" Well.......if you are in this circumstance, you are either going to worry yourself to death or.......you are going to learn to trust God and believe in His promises. And the more that you are unable to totally trust God whenever you are in trouble.....any kind of trouble, including financial trouble.....then the more you are going to be put to thru this test until you get it right and learn to trust God.
I believe that this great country’s greatest time and greatest generation came out the great depression. People who had no hope, and literally no money or provision, learned to trust God, didn’t they? They had to. Out of this great time of trial came some of the greatest Americans that ever lived.....and a whole generation of Americans, the likes of whichave not been seen since. They learned a very important message in their desperation.....trust God. They had to. We need to learn that lesson. I want to read some of PROV 3 to you....
1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, 2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. 3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. 9 Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
Right now, there are a lot of "christians" doing right in their own eyes. They have watered down the Bible to make it fit themselves. God’s Word has not nor will not change. We always come back to this one thing. We cannot claim ANY of God’s promises unless we are obedient to His Word. I want to show you something....2 Samuel 22:21The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. Uh-oh...according to my righteous-ness???? Now look here...PSALMS 18:20The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. The cleanness of my hands?????
God rewards faith and righteousness. If you are simple "doing right in your own eyes" then don’t expect this promise to be yours. PROV 14:12There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. It is imperative that we do what is right in "God’s eyes" not ours. His is the great measuring stick that we will all be judged by....and yes, I said judged! Don’t believe me? HEB 9:27And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Everyone loves to run around saying "don’t judge me, don’t judge me"...well, God is sure going to, and if I’m not doing something right, then I would perfer someone here tell me so I can get it straightened out before God has to tell me what it was. When God judges it, you don’t get a second chance!
ROM 8:28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. You CAN live in God’s righteousness! He called you and He justified you!
31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? Now look at vs 37...
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nothing can seperate me from the love of Christ. Every promise in the book is mine....if I am obedient to Him totally, if I am totally submissive to His will, He will take care of me. I know, because the Bible say so. By the way, you do know that sin is simply disobedience to God, right? "Oh, preach’a...that all sounds good, but I could never be righteous....it seems like I’m always doing something wrong or making a mistake, or saying something I shouldn’t". Look here.......... 1 JOHN 1:9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If you were cleansed from all righteousness, wouldn’t that make you righteous? Do you believe ALL God’s promises? He cannot lie. Where are you at today? Are you living in His blessing? If not, why not? What is keeping you from His promises? Have you given Him everything? Are you holding back because you say you have faith, but you really don’t want to depend on Him totally? The sooner you get this concept and understand that He already supplies all your needs, then the sooner He can begin to bless you even more.
