“Who? Me?...Worry?
Matthew 6:25,26 MSG
25-26 “If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
There has been, a lot of things going on around us lately...world events, changes in leadership in countries around the world,
that leave you wondering what effects will be felt from it...
a myriad of questions about healthcare, for ourselves and our families.
Global warming...or lately in the past few weeks, it seems more like Global freezing!
I guess climate change is safer...because it covers both.
How big is your carbon footprint?
What is a carcinogenic?
Is that politically correct?
Sometimes it seems like society is sliding down the tubes 90 mph
and there's no place left, to hang on to anymore!
And No..you can't pray in public...
and the 10 commandments can't be displayed In the courthouse courtrooms...
And the Gideon's can't pass out free bibles to our children anymore...
And once again, Baby Jesus...is not welcome for display..on any public land, whether it's His birthday or not!
So few say..I'm offended..well I'm sorry, but Christians all over the globe...
ought to be standing up and saying.."I'm more offended than you are!"
What happened to freedom of choice?
Whatever happened to common sense??
Makes me glad, that I know The Lord this morning!
How about you?
Cause if I didn't...all those things would have me, at the least concerned and even worried at times!
I’m sure there are many here this morning, that are familiar with the question,
that Jesus was asking...
“Which of you by worrying can add minute, let alone one hour to his life, or as the KJ. Puts it, can anyone add one cubit to his stature?”
Matt. 6:25 NKJ.
"“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.
Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing?” "
Not many of us though, actually let the word get into our hearts and allow the love of God to free us from our habit of worrying.
You see there are times we all are a lot like children, ya know they hear their parents telling them what they need to know and how they need to do it.
But somehow, it always seems to go right through one ear and out the other.
The truth of the matter is this, no amount of worrying can lengthen your life or add anything to your stature!
Instead, worrying robs you of everything. Your sleep, your health and your LIFE....
over and over and over.
It's like Groundhog Day...robbing you everyday of the week, 52 weeks a year...like a broken record the devil keeps helping you play the same old song...
It's only when you break the cycle and stop the worrying...
that God’s anointing will flow freely in you, strengthening, healing, restoring and adding to you.
Do you know what worrying is?
No...it's not genuine concern, that things are going to go wrong!
Worrying is all about what you can't do, to control your situation...
not what God can do.
Worrying keeps the infasis on you,
while trusting God...takes you completely out of the picture.
When you stop trying to do it on your own and rely on Gods ability to take care of the situation,
No matter what it is, or how big it is...that’s when the stress stops and the resting in God’s ability starts,
that’s when the peace of God takes over the situation...and that, if you've never experienced it before...is a beautiful thing!
Illus. I heard a story about a girl who went off to college. She didn’t write very often, but on this one occasion she wrote her parents.
When they got the letter they were elated. But when they opened it, it read,
"Dear mom & dad, I would have written sooner but all my stationery burned up when the dormitory burned down." Then she went on to say, "Please don’t worry. I found this good friend, & I have been living with him now for the last 3 months. And mom, I think you ought to know that he is such a good friend that we have decided to get married. And oh, by the way, you’re going to be grandparents soon."
After she had written all that, she signed her name & then added a P.S. "Please disregard all the above. The dormitory did not burn down. I am not living with a man. I am not going to get married. And I’m not pregnant. But I did get an ’D’ in History."
Matt. 6 Vs. 27 NKJ.
27. And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life?
Oh, I’m sure most people think it would be nice, if life were one mountain top experience after another,
But if life were that easy, it wouldn’t require much faith, would it.
We would be able to take care of everything on our own, it’d be great!
It would just be a D.I.Y. kind of life, you know the Do It Yourself Life,
Oh I’m sorry, I almost forgot, all of humanity already thinks it is a D.I.Y. kind of life,
That’s why almost everyone is worried to death and stressed out all the time..enjoying their wonderful life!
When we do the opposite though, and put our faith and trust in God, T.B.S.(the bible says) it doesn't have to be that way.
His yoke is easy, His burden is light.
Thing is, there are a lot of Christians out there that know this, but choose to worry and stress themselves out anyway.
They have Sias...you know S. I. A. S. Self Imposed Agony Sendrome!
MSG. Matt. 6:30-33
"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers— most of which are never even seen—
dont you think he’ will attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?
What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving.
People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions
Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.”"
**Here it is, summed up in one sentence..the answer for all of life's problems!
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Sounds easy doesn’t it, God made it just that easy for us...
He has given us abundant resources and wants us to enjoy life...
John 10:10 NKJ
10. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
But I need a financial miracle....
But my child is so far away from God right now....
But I need a healing in my body....
All those things are covered by Jesus Declaration He made...
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
The they He is talking about there...IS YOU!! Amen??
Then why does it always seem so hard to do?
Because the answer is found in seeking what God can do for you, not what you can do for you!
The answer doesn't involve you..manipulating the outcome in your favor!
God tried to make as easy as possible for us, He said, Just seek after Me and My righteousness, relax, sit back and watch Me do everything else!
But what about this problem that’s going on in my life, seek God and you’ll find it in the “everything else”
What about the little issues that are bugging me, seek God and you’ll find it in the “everything else”
But what about this and that, and that is to come?
Step 1: Seek God and His Righteousness
Step 2: Have faith, He will take care of it for you!
Step 3: Repeat steps 1 & 2 until your answer comes!
God made it just that easy, its our human nature that always complicates things.
We always seem to try to make things harder than what they are.
If I had a decree, that was the law of the land..part of the constitution and it was stamped with the nations seal and notarized and recorded as a matter of public record.
And it said this, follow these words to a stress free life:
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
If you held that document in you hand,
Would that make it any easier for you?
I can go you one better than that.
We don‘t have man’s word recorded on the subject, we have Gods word on the subject, words that we can take hold of, stand on and believe that what He says will happen, will happen!
We don’t just have a contract written on a piece of paper, framed and hanging on the wall,
we have the covenant that God made with Abraham 1,000‘s of years ago,
that includes all of his heirs and descendants forever, it's our God Given Right!!
Gal. 3:26-29 NKJ.
26. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
That’s us, all who believe, we are the heirs of Abraham! Through our salvation in Jesus,
We became heirs, according to the covenant, according to the promise God made!
When we accepted Jesus as our Saviour, we became sons and daughters and truly a part of God’s family.
What is a covenant?
Well it is like a contract.
Yet, it is more than a contract, it is better than a contract.
A contract is binding only for a period of time, or until certain obligations have been lived up to, but a covenant is forever.
When you realize all that God has done for us, to provide for and take care of us,
And He said He would honor it forever... it gives new meaning to our text!
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
God has more than done His part, so you don’t have to worry about what will happen next to you..when you do your part and simply trust Him! Amen? Amen??
T.B.S. When you know the truth, the truth shall make you free, and God‘s word is truth.
The opposite of worry and fear is faith.
Worry and fear will put you in prison!
We don't have to be a prisoner of WORRY and FEAR!
Faith will set you free!!
Did you know that, When you have worry and fear in your life, you are actually believing...that the devil has the power to make things happen in your life that God cannot protect you from.
But when you refuse to worry about how things may look in the natural and have some faith..not in your ability, but in His ability!
When you seek first the kingdom of God in every situation and stop trying to do it yourself.
It’s then and only then, that you will have more confidence in His love and power working through you and for you,
than in the devil’s ability to harm you!
Illus. A man, who was telling his friend about an argument he'd had with his wife, commented, "Oh, how I hate it. Every time we have an argument, she gets historical." The friend replied, "You mean 'hysterical.'" "No," he insisted, "I mean historical. Every time we argue, she drags up everything from the past and holds it against me."
That's how the devil is...he knows where you've been,
but hasn't a clue to where your headed...with God at the helm of your life!
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Your future..has yet to be determined, but is so full of promise!
The devils future was determined long ago...his future is one of endless torment in hell forever...without any possibility of a different outcome!
The more you remind him of his future, the less he will remind you of your past
Conclusion:
If you feel worry or fear coming round your doorstep, Remember these 3 simple steps.
Step 1: Seek God and His Righteousness
Step 2: Have faith that, He will take care of it for you!
Step 3: Repeat steps 1 & 2 until your answer comes!
When you refuse to worry, but choose to rest in the finished work of Christ,
you will see the situation that you have been praying about come to pass.
You will see your miracle!
There is so much more our Lord has in store for each and everyone of us
If we will just Seek Him and His Righteousness and let Him rain down His Marvelous Provision that He wants and longs...to give to us.
Let us pray!
