Hands up...Worries down!
Philippians 4:4-7 MSG
4-5 Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revelin him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!
6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Let's read 6 and 7 again...
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Let petitions and praises (or thanksgiving or thankfulness) shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.
What the apostle Paul is writing about here is an every day experience. The attack from the enemy doesn't wait for a holiday to show itself, but consistently rears its ugly nature for war everyday!
What he is saying is not to ignore it, but rather know it's going to come and be ready for it when it does!
"Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns!"
I came across a song the other day which inspired me to share this word with you today. Did you know that God will speak to you through whatever means it takes, to get your attention and His word to you?
The words go like this...it's from the song, "the God I Know" by the group "the love and the outcome"
(Chorus)
And Then I Threw My Hands Up
Worries Down
I Remember When He Showed Me How
To Break Up With My Doubt
Once I was lost but now I’m found
No Strings Attached When He Saved My Soul
I Want You To Know The God I Know
And as I listen to those words I couldn't help but think as Christians,
how we could all relate to them.
And by that I mean, we all have endured circumstances and situations and tried to get through them on our own merit and suffered needlessly. Stalled helpless right in the middle of them until our petitions turned into praises and our faith moved God to action!
Hands up everyone knows is a sign of surrender!
When our hands go up in Praise, our worries diminish with each breathe of praise we offer to God in faith, knowing that He is working on our behalf! Amen?
As Christians we don't have to live in fear, of not knowing what's up ahead around the corner, or what the future might bring.
And Paul wanted us to know as long as we are willing to praise God along with our petitions that it activates our faith as it happens and God will take care of us, no matter what the situation might look like!
the Bible says God never changes, I think we can safely say people are the same way. And by that I mean the fears and anxieties of human nature know no time.
Read with me and see if you can relate to what the people in this story were feeling 3,460 years ago?
Exodus 14:10-18 MSG
10-12 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw them—Egyptians! Coming at them!
They were totally afraid. They cried out in terror to God. They told Moses, “Weren’t the cemeteries large enough in Egypt so that you had to take us out here in the wilderness to die? What have you done to us, taking us out of Egypt? Back in Egypt didn’t we tell you this would happen? Didn’t we tell you, ‘Leave us alone here in Egypt—we’re better off as slaves in Egypt than as corpses in the wilderness.’”
13 Moses spoke to the people: “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and watch God do his work of salvation for you today. Take a good look at the Egyptians today for you’re never going to see them again.
14 God will fight the battle for you.
And you? You keep your mouths shut!”
15-16 God said to Moses: “Why cry out to me? Speak to the Israelites. Order them to get moving. Hold your staff high and stretch your hand out over the sea: Split the sea! The Israelites will walk through the sea on dry ground.
17-18 “Meanwhile I’ll make sure the Egyptians keep up their stubborn chase—I’ll use Pharaoh and his entire army, his chariots and horsemen, to put my Glory on display so that the Egyptians will realize that I am God.”
Now if you had been there, what do you suppose you would have been feeling?
Would you have been like Moses, or like the people?
They told Moses, “Weren’t the cemeteries large enough in Egypt so that you had to take us out here in the wilderness to die? What have you done to us, taking us out of Egypt? Back in Egypt didn’t we tell you this would happen? Didn’t we tell you.
But TBS with God all Things are Possible doesn't it? And how would things turn around the Israelites? When one righteous man was willing to put his hands up and his worries down and have faith to believe God would put His Glory on display for everyone, especially the enemy to see!
Exodus 14:20-21 MSG
19-20 The angel of God that had been leading the camp of Israel now shifted and got behind them. And the Pillar of Cloud that had been in front also shifted to the rear. The Cloud was now between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. The Cloud enshrouded one camp in darkness and flooded the other with light. The two camps didn’t come near each other all night.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and God, with a terrific east wind all night long, made the sea go back. He made the sea dry ground. The seawaters split.
You see, God had already been there leading the way, every step of the way. But circumstances have a way of distracting a persons attention don't they?
It's like God was saying ok, I know things are not looking good, but don't worry "I've even got your back!" His Glory is all encompassing! His Glory had made way when only seconds before, where there was no way! And God will do the same for you!
Exodus 14:22-31 MSG
22-25 The Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground with the waters a wall to the right and to the left.
(The Israelites walked, God had performed and made the impossible happen! But the people still had to step out in faith and walk through the miracle to see it come to fruition.
God had made a way, but they still had to have faith! And with each step, their petitions began to turn from fear to Praise! One step after another, each step stronger in faith and with more thanksgiving then the one before!)
Let's continue reading the scripture...
The Egyptians came after them in full pursuit, every horse and chariot and driver of Pharaoh racing into the middle of the sea. It was now the morning watch. God looked down from the Pillar of Fire and Cloud on the Egyptian army and threw them into a panic. He clogged the wheels of their chariots; they were stuck in the mud.
The Egyptians said, “Run from Israel! God is fighting on their side and against Egypt!”
26 God said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea and the waters will come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots, over their horsemen.”
27-28 Moses stretched his hand out over the sea: As the day broke and the Egyptians were running, the sea returned to its place as before. God dumped the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. The waters returned, drowning the chariots and riders of Pharaoh’s army that had chased after Israel into the sea. Not one of them survived.
29-31 But the Israelites walked right through the middle of the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall to the right and to the left. Goddelivered Israel that day from the oppression of the Egyptians. And Israel looked at the Egyptian dead, washed up on the shore of the sea, and realized the tremendous power that God brought against the Egyptians. The people were in reverent awe before God and trusted in God and his servant Moses.
Before they had ever got there, God had already made a way of escape for them! God is not a respecter of persons, He consistently does the same still today for anyone who is willing to believe in His Sons Salvation message of Grace!
Jesus is our way of escape that God has so generously provided to whosoever will accept, believe and take Him as their personal Savior!
Do you love Him today? Have you surrendered to His will for your life?
Are you trusting in His provision for your life?
Cause if you are the word says there's nothing to fear or worry about!
TBS perfect love, casteth out all fear!
Let us be truly thankful for our salvation, for what we have been given in Christ Jesus!
For if we are truly thankful, Paul offers us some great advice to follow!
Colossians 3:1-2, 12-17 MSG
1-2 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.
12-14 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
Let's Pray...
