For Worriers Like Me

Do you know anyone that is what some might call, a “natural worrier”? Growing up I often heard people say let tomorrow worry about tomorrow, focus on today. What I did not know as a child that this was one of the teachings of Jesus. In Matthew 6: 34 it says “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” I have often thought about this in my Christian walk, I guess because I have thought of myself as a natural worrier. This one scripture is great, but it is even better if we read what leads up to it.

For me most of my worries are about my family and their well being. Will they have the food they need? What about the clothes for that certain thing at school? Or when they are old enough how will they buy a house? Matthew 6 actually addresses this more fully. Jesus is explaining the bigger picture of life, which was always the good news He was trying to bring. God is watching over His creation. He provides food for birds, yet they have no barns. The lilies and wild flowers are arrayed like kings, but they did not search for that covering. God cares much more for us. God is on our side. His point was that we run into trouble with our eyes because they are the lamp to the body. What does He mean?

From outside us we get inputs. We get to choose what inputs we pay attention to with our eyes, ears, actions, etc. If we let our concerns rule us, we will forget that God is watching over us and that He is on our side. We can be in danger of becoming like the children of Israel in the wilderness, believing in God but also not trusting that He was on their side – no faith. Jesus was doing what He often did, providing the course correction away from the doctrines of men and the fears within us and toward the good news that God was on our side. “Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things, [your every need] will be added unto you (Matthew 6:33).”

Prayer
Father, thank You for being on our side. I ask that You give us what we need today, for me and my family, for the those that are worried today and their families, and for those that do not yet know Your greatness. Reveal Yourself to men that they might know that it is You alone that are the King of the universe. In Jesus name. Amen.

Finding the Lighted Path

Ever get up in the night and stub your toe or hit your knee on something you forgot was there? I remember when I was younger getting up in response to one of my kids crying when they were very little and falling completely over a footstool. At the time I was scared, frustrated, and even angry. It is funny today, but not so much then. But isn’t that the way of things? At the moment they seem like such huge intrusions on what we want to have happening. Later we all laugh at how trivial they are in the grand scheme of things.

In Psalm 119:105-112 we see someone that “stubs their toe” yet remains unmoved. The Psalmist is rejoicing in how the word of God lights his way and guides his steps. He has found the lighted path. We see as we read that he has taken an oath to God to follow him. What is his condition? He is suffering great affliction and asking for revival from God. What does he offer to God in exchange for relief? Gold? Silver? Possessions? No. His offering is his freely praising God with his lips. He rejoices in having God’s words, His precepts, and he considers it his precious heritage. He chooses not to waiver, not to be scared, not to be frustrated, not to be angry. What does he choose? He will stand with God, to the very end… I want to be that guy.

Prayer
Father, thank You for lighting the way we should go. Your word is more valuable than anything we could possibly ever possess. You give us this way freely, only asking in return that we follow You. Let us be the ones that say, “to the end” with offerings of praise for You on our lips. In Jesus name. Amen.

Awaken the Dawn

It truly is an amazing God that we serve! In Psalm 108 David rejoices because he is steadfast in his heart. This morning as I watch the woods and hear the sound of the birds first songs of daylight, I understand at least in part what David was saying. No matter what else happens, God is with us, God is for us, God is on our side and will deliver us. Our hearts can rest in that, knowing that everything else is of much less importance. David goes on to call to the instruments to wake up because it is time to praise the living God. He further says he will awaken the dawn by singing God’s praises among the people and among the nations. Why? Because God’s mercy is great, it is above the heavens, and His truth reaches the clouds. David continues by saying that God has spoken, stating that He will defeat the enemies. David then says it was God that brought them to the low place, and now it is God who will deliver them. There is no help from man. As Psalm 107 also says, we are brought low when we stray from God, but when we cry out, He turns to us and breaks the chains and bars of iron and bronze to deliver us that all men may know that it is God alone that is our Deliverer King!

Prayer
Father, let the dawn come in our hearts today. Deliver us from the bondage that evil brings, not because we deserve it, but because You alone are the Deliverer King. You alone are the merciful God. You raise one up and cast down another. You move the hearts of those that rule at Your will. Move upon our enemies today, Lord God, and crush them in their evil ways that all men may see and call upon Your name, for You alone are worthy to be praised. You alone are God! In Jesus name. Amen.

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt pressured by something in life an you just needed God to come through for you? Maybe it was something in a relationship, or financial, or even a physical healing. If so, then this is for you. Always remember, and say out loud to yourself as often as you can, we serve a very great God! Hebrews 11 tells us faith is what we feel when we are expecting something, that eager anticipation, or elpis in the Greek (verse 1). This is defined as believing that there is a God and that He is on our side to do us good (verse 6). James 2 tells us that faith without works is dead, which I interpret to mean what I am acting like is what I really believe. If I am having trouble maintaining that feeling of eager anticipation, and my actions and my beliefs are not the same, then likely I am having difficulty with my faith. Some may express this as “wavering”. In the days of the Exodus they protested to Moses that he must have brought them out into the desert to die. Doesn’t sound like they thought God was on their side, right? Or that they eagerly anticipated something good? So how do we move towards having faith, that trust in God to be on our side?

Paul said that the change in us is what we say with our mouth and believe in our heart (Romans 8:8-10). In this same area he quotes Moses who said the power was in our mouth and in our heart. In verse 17 he says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The word for word here is rhema in the Greek and means human utterance. Back to our question: how can we move towards faith if we feel ourselves struggling? Talk out loud to ourselves, saying the good things of God. Say the scriptures to ourselves. Sing a song that encourages us. Pray in the spirit. In short, hear through our ears things that build up our faith, and we can do that from our own mouth.

Prayer
Father, thank you for being the King. Please help me today to say Your good things out loud where I and others can hear them. Help me to choose to listen to the good. Help me to say the good. And please give these same things to all who struggle today with believing You are on their side. In Jesus name. Amen.

Many people today look to the death of Jesus. Whether you believe He died on a Friday or on the Passover (Nissan 14) it is a truly solemn event in the history of the world. Much like the Passover in Egypt, it was an eternal game changer. For the children of Israel, they just wanted their freedom from their oppressor. They just wanted to worship their God by keeping a feast in the desert. Was it so much to ask?

Today, there remains a tyrant that thinks more highly of himself than he should. He oppresses the poor and the fatherless. He seeks to destroy anyone and anything good. His goal is world domination, and only those that follow the Messiah can usher in his defeat. How is that done, we ask, if he is such a powerful and horrible taskmaster? Who is he? He is the enemy of our souls, the devil. He thinks himself all powerful, but in reality, he is nothing when compared to the power of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Once again we are called to sprinkle the blood on our doorposts (hands) and lintels (minds) with our words and praise, that God might again judge the gods of Egypt (Ex 12:12).

It is interesting to think that the life of a nation, the balance of their future, lies in the death of a lamb…

Prayer
God, thank you for your deliverance from bondage, for the children of Israel and for us. You are a Delivering King. You are our pillar of smoke by day and pillar of fire by night, both guiding and protecting us. We ask that today, at this moment, You once again show Yourself powerful on our behalf, and deliver us from our enemies. Show the world that You alone are God, King of the Universe. In Jesus name, Amen