MUB
7-25-04
WHAT? ME WORRY
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?
LAST WEEK I SHARED WITH YOU THE FIRST FIVE OF TEN SCRIPTURAL
REFERENCES TO EXPONENTIAL THINKING. HERE ARE THE NEXT FIVE;
6. Exponential growth is the result of God’s blessing. "That year Isaac’s crops were tremendous! He harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the Lord blessed him." Genesis 26:12 (NLT)
7. Exponential growth makes God smile.
"The first servant reported a tremendous gain—ten times as much as the original amount! ‘Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a trustworthy servant.’" Luke 19:16 (NLT)
8. The only barrier to exponential growth is our own unbelief.
"Because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any mighty miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their unbelief." Mark 6:5-6 (NLT)
9. The secret of exponential growth is believing God for big things.
"According to your faith will it be done to you." Matthew 9:29 (NIV)
"When a believing person prays, great things happen." James 5:16 (NCV)
10. Exponential growth begins with exponential thinking.
"Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left." Isaiah 4:2-3 (NIV)
"Lord, I have heard the news about you; I am amazed at what you have done. Lord, do great things once again in our time; make those things happen again in our own days." Habakkuk 3:2 (NCV)
"Pray that the Master’s Word will simply take off and race through the country to a groundswell of response, just as it did among you." 2 Thessalonians 3:1 (Msg)
LETS GET INTO THE WORD. WE CONTINUE TODAY WITH JESUS SERMON ON THE MOUNT. AS WE HAVE TALKED, THE THINGS THAT JESUS SPEAKS TO, ARE THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF MY LIFE. THE EVERYDAY HAPPENINGS. THESE WORDS, SPOKEN NEARLY 2000 YEARS AGO, STILL HOLD THE SAME POWER TODAY.
JESUS SPEAKS IN THESE VERSES ON THE SUBJECT OF WORRY. QUICK SURVEY
HOW MANY OF YOU WORRIED TODAY? WHAT DID YOU WORRY ABOUT?
AND FINALLY, DID YOUR WORRYING DO YOU ANY GOOD?
WHEN I WAS A KID, I USED TO READ, MAD MAGAZINE. THE COVER PERSON FOR MAD, WAS AND STILL IS, ALFRED E. NEUMAN. KIND OF A GOOFY LOOKING KID, RED HAIR AND FRECKLES. HIS TRADEMARK WAS, "WHAT? ME WORRY". HE HAD NO WORRIES, NO CONCERNS, NOT A CARE IN THE WORLD. OF COURSE NOT. BECAUSE HE WAS A FICTIONAL CHARACTER. IF YOU AND I WERE CARTOON, FICTIONAL CHARACTERS WHO ONLY EXISTED IN THE MIND OF SOMEONE ELSE, WE TOO, LIKE ALFRED, WOULD HAVE NO WORRIES. LAST TIME I CHECKED, WE ARE REAL LIVE, PEOPLE. BUT, I WANT TO SUGGEST TO YOU TODAY, THAT AS WE UNDERSTAND THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS, WE CAN BECOME A LITTLE MORE LIKE ALFRED E. NEUMAN, AND WORRY LESS.
THERE IS A TRANSITION BETWEEN TREASURES IN HEAVEN AND THIS SUBJECT OF WORRY. THE LAST THING JESUS SAID, PRIOR TO THIS, WAS–>YOU CANNOT SERVE TWO MASTERS, GOD AND MONEY. THEREFORE, AND REMEMBER EVERY TIME WE SEE, THEREFORE- ITS THERE FOR A REASON, AND ALMOST ALWAYS TO TIE TWO THOUGHTS TOGETHER. B/C WHAT WAS SAID BEFORE IS TRUE, WHAT FOLLOWS WILL BE TRUE AS WELL, AND IN ADDITION WILL COMPLIMENT AND AMPLIFY. KEEP IN MIND, THIS THOUGHT –> YOU CANNOT SERVE TWO MASTERS
IN THE HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW, 60 TO 90% OF ALL MEDICAL OFFICE VISITS WERE FOR STRESS RELATED SYMPTOMS. IN THIS DAY AND AGE, WE TALK ABOUT STRESS CONSTANTLY. WHAT IS STRESS? WE DIDN’T USED TO CALL IT STRESS, WE CALLED IT WORRY, OR ANXIETY, OR JITTERS, OR NERVES. NO MATTER WHAT LABEL YOU PUT ON IT, IT STILL COMES OUT THE SAME. JESUS SPEAKS TO IT HERE.
"I TELL YOU, DO NOT WORRY ABOUT YOUR LIFE, OR FOOD OR DRINK, OR BODY OR CLOTHES." DON’T GET STRESSED OUT ABOUT THOSE THINGS. LET ME ASK YOU A QUESTION, HOW MANY OF YOU LOST SLEEP THIS PAST WEEK WORRYING ABOUT SOMETHING? HOW MANY OF YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE UP FOR YOUR LOST SLEEP THIS MORNING DURING MY SERMON? MY DAD USED TO SAY TO ME, WHEN I WOULD START ABOUT, WHAT IF THIS HAPPENS, WHAT IF THAT HAPPENS, DON’T BORROW A JACK. WHAT HE MEANT WAS, YOU HAVE GOOD TIRES ON YOUR CAR, DON’T WORRY ABOUT YOUR TIRES GOING FLAT, DON’T LOOK FOR A PROBLEM THAT DOES NOT EXIST. WE TEND TO BELIEVE IN THE PETER PRINCIPLE, IF SOMETHING CAN GO WRONG- IT WILL. WE OFTEN SEE THE GLASS HALF EMPTY.
OUR NATURAL BENT IS TO BE PESSIMISTS INSTEAD OF OPTIMISTS. WHICH ONE OF THESE BOYS DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH- TWO BROTHERS, ONE ALWAYS POSITIVE, THE OTHER ALWAYS NEGATIVE, THEY KEPT PUTTING THESE BOYS TO TESTS, FINALLY THEY PUT THE POSITIVE IN A ROOM FILLED WITH HORSE MANURE. HE IS DIGGING LIKE CRAZY, MANURE FLYING ACROSS THE ROOM. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? HIS RESPONSE, THERE HAS TO BE A PONY IN HERE SOMEPLACE.
IN VERSES 25-26 JESUS BEGINS TO EXPLAIN. HE USES THE BIRDS FOR HIS EXAMPLE. LOOK AT THE BIRDS, THEY DON’T SOW/ REAP/ STORE- BUT GOD FEEDS THEM. GOD PROVIDES. HOW MUCH MORE VALUABLE ARE YOU THAN A BIRD.
GOD BOUGHT YOU WITH A PRICE, AND THAT PRICE WAS- JESUS.
V27, CAN YOU GROW TALLER BY WORRYING? CAN YOU CHANGE YOUR PHYSICAL MAKEUP BY WORRYING ABOUT IT? WHEN I WAS A COLLEGE STUDENT, THERE WAS A YOUNG WOMAN WHO CAUGHT MY INTEREST, I HAD A BELIEF THAT WHAT SHE WANTED WAS TALL DARK AND HANDSOME, WELL, I COME UP SHORT IN THOSE AREAS, SO I WOULD DO THIS STRETCH THING, REACH FOR SKY, AND THINKING 6 FOOT 3. I DIDN’T MAKE 6’3" AND DIDN’T GET THE GIRL.
V28-29 CLOTHES. THE WISEST KING SOLOMON WAS ALSO THE RICHEST. AND JESUS SAYS, EVEN SOLOMON CLOTHED IN ALL HIS SPLENDOR COULD NOT MATCH THE BEAUTY OF A SINGLE FLOWER. STOP WORRYING ABOUT YOUR CLOTHES.
V30- LITTLE FAITH MAN. WHEN YOU WORRY, YOU ARE REALLY SAYING, I DON’T BELIEVE GOD. I MOUTH THE WORDS, GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU, BUT DO I REALLY BELIEVE IT.
V32- DON’T BE LIKE THE PAGAN UNBELIEVERS WHO SPEND THEIR LIVES CHASING THOSE THINGS. GOD KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED, AND HE WILL PROVIDE IT FOR YOU. HOW?
V33- GET YOUR PRIORITIES IN LINE. ACTIVELY SEEK, PURSUE, FIRST BEFORE ALL ELSE, MAKE THIS NUMBER ONE ON YOUR LIST, HIS KINGDOM, AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU.
IF YOU DESIRE A STRESS FREE LIFE, HERE IS THE ANSWER, SEEK GOD, FIRST.
THEN TRUST HIM.
