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Relying Or Are You Lying?
Contributed by Kevin Hall on Feb 9, 2012 (message contributor)
Summary: Why Christians struggle with Depending and Relying on Jesus
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“Relying? or Are You Lying? ”
Matt 6: 25-33
Matt 6:30-33
Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Use suggested Illustration
You know what, there are a lot of people that think like that! There are even some Christian people that identify with Mark’s statement. The world in which we live offers many things to support us, but for many it is still not enough. But how many people fret and worry about things in their life on a constant basis! There are some people that are so nervous that are a walking heart attack waiting to happen@! Get so caught up with the stuff/junk/misfit of this world that they worry themselves to death!
Let me tell you something, there ain’t nothing in this world worth worrying and fretting about! But many church folks do, don’t they?
See, many people that get saved, still operate in the flesh, in many areas of their life. The most difficult of those mindsets is that of being dependant on the Lord.
Have you ever wanted something, that you didn’t need? We all have, that chocolate cake Wed night with the Hershey Kiss, mmm, I didn’t need it, I wanted it. Moment on my lips, lifetime on my hips!
No seriously….. if you have ever needed…. something so bad in your life…..you know what it is to want! To be in need of something, you become desperate in achieving what you desire!
Church, apart from Christ people go through desperate measures in life to get their needs met! Now I shared this Wed night, and Ill reiterate it again, that many saved people bring sin nature mindsets into their relationship with God. Most of the time we don’t even know that we have done it, because the sinful nature is just the way we have always processed life choices in the past. But the born again experience requires us to do as Paul says
Romans 12:2a
Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
See the experience that we have when we are saved, is the first step in regeneration. The renewing of our mind, is that our thought processes go back to the purist form. We no longer conform to the pattern of the sin nature way of processing life, rather through the Baptism of the Spirit we heed His direction, His discernment for processing life!
Why do Christians struggle Depending and Relying on Jesus?
Look what Jesus says is the first problem when it comes to why people struggle with worry…….
1.) Lack of Faith
Matt 6:30
Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
What color is the grass outside right now? What color is it in the springtime? But it is still grass right? Right. Jesus is saying the same thing. He is saying that you and I both can distinguish the differences between dormant grass and active grass. Why? Because of our experience with it, we have faith that it is still grass.
Church, many times when trials or struggles approach us a lot of people deal with those issues on their own first, before approaching God. Why? Because that is the way their experience has been in the past with dealing with problems. It is the sin nature way of dealing!
Some of you actively live this way. Been going to church for years, but operate in the flesh when it comes to worry and fear. You are unable to overcome anxiety, unable to be free from fear, unable to live without worry! Why? Because your unwillingness to depend on the Lord@! I’m preaching this morning! This is meant for someone!
I Cor 1:9
God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
It isn’t that you don’t have faith that Jesus is the Son of God,
“ “ “ “ that Jesus died for your sins
“ “ “ “ that Jesus saves people from Sin
But what it is about is that You don’t have enough faith to believe that He came to do it for YOU@! I am not saying you are not saved!