August 30, 2011 … Living One Day At A Time

Passage of the Day: Matthew 6: 34 (see in bold/underlined) … 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

My Journal for Today: When one reads the focus verse for today, it almost reads as if Jesus is asking us to refrain from planning for our future. However, this is not the case. According to Dr. MacArthur from his devotional book, Strength for Today, Martin Lloyd Jones wrote, “Although it is very right to think about the future, it is very wrong to be controlled by it.” And therein lies the rub.

The key word when Jesus says, “… do not worry about tomorrow,” is, of course, the word WORRY. Oh, how Satan desires us to go into worry mode, which discourages or paralyzes us, and causes us to believe the incredible lie that God is not in control … that Jesus, our Lord, is not our sovereign God. I once heard our Pastor jokingly say that there was a Greek term referring to that lie; and it is “BALONEY!” ;) I’ve never been able to find that term in the Greek dictionary; but I think you get what I’m trying to say.

You’ve actually heard this theme several times this month if you’ve been following these August devotionals of mine; but hopefully redundancy teaches. It does for me. Jesus, in his magnanimous hillside sermon, was/is giving us, His disciples, very practical advice on the avoidance of worrying about the future. He is not saying that we can’t or shouldn’t look into the future; but our primary focus should be on faith for today and reliance on God for the future. If we plan for the future, thinking of God first (i.e., the message of both Prov. 3: 5, 6 and Matt. 6: 33), God will likely be smiling. However, when we look to the future, worrying out of selfishness or fear, that is to disbelieve that God has us covered with His love, mercy, and grace; and Satan smiles. For us to worry about our future is to fall into Satan’s trap of believing that God is not in control of our well-being. And to that, I want you to say that pseudo “Greek” term above. Say it with me, loudly …BALONEY!!! Now, my friend and fellow Christian, smile, knowing that God is in control; and knowing that He loves us and will provide for our every need.

If we worry about tomorrow, it will cause us to lose our joy for today. And choosing to lose our joy, (and joy is always a choice, not a feeling) due to self-driven anxiety, is sinful. God has a victory for any believer today; and any fear that comes from anxieties about tomorrow is a lie from hell trying to let our own deceit-ridden heart steal God’s victory from us. Jesus has never and will never change (see Hebrews 13: 8). Just as He is today, He’ll be there tomorrow to show us the way (again see Prov. 3: 5 – 6, a verse which you should have memorized) But even more importantly, He’s with us today in any circumstance in which we find ourselves (see Deut. 31: 6, 8 and Rom. 8: 28, 31).

Yes, plan for tomorrow; but never worry about it; because tomorrow is God’s.

My Prayer Today: All I need is You today, Lord … and for all my tomorrows. Amen

August 25, 2011 … The Giver of Life

Passage of the Day: Matthew 6: 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?”

My Journal for Today: Yes, same verse from yesterday, repeated today! And again we read Jesus teaching His followers (and by extension to you and me) about the essence of living as a Christian … that our focus should not be on our bodily, temporal, or worldly needs.

John MacArthur helps his readers today in Strength for Today (that’s me!) to understand that Jesus’ statement is an argument from the greater to the lesser. In other words, … if God gives me life, He will sustain my life … ergo, … there is no reason for me to worry about my bodily sustenance which is only part of life. And we have to remember that this lesson was being taught to people in Jesus’ day who were living in the edge, experiencing such things as severe draught, possible bad crops, occasional insect infestations, … all of which could produce famine or loss of income … and maybe even loss of home.

So this teaching by Jesus would have been much tougher for His audience of that day than it would be now for you and me; and you and I both know that it’s a hard saying even now. I read this with essentially no temporal fear of losing everything like some of those who heard Jesus teaching these truths back then on that hillside. And yet, these words are still true for me; and I’m convicted that I, all too often, find myself worrying about the clothes I wear or making sure I’ve got enough money in the bank or in investments to cover tomorrow’s contingencies. My risks may not be for losing my home to bad crops; but my worry is just as sinful for me as it was for those who didn’t trust God for their needs in Jesus’ day.

I’m convicted that I need to rely more-and-more on THE Provider of my life and everything involved in my life. He is Jehovah-Jireh; and HE is my Provider. And I pray that one day I can come to a place where I reflexively trust my Lord for all I need in life, seeking Him first and foremost in all things (again see Matt. 6: 33).

My Prayer Today: I seek You first, Lord; help me to seek You first and trusting in You always! Amen

August 24, 2011 … The Sin of Worry

Passage of the Day: Matthew 6: 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?”

My Journal for Today: John MacArthur, makes a stark statement when he writes for this date in Strength for Today, “To worry about the future is to sin against God.” That’s pretty clear; isn’t it? And though this will likely could be convicting to many who read this (it was for me!), MacArthur is dead-on, flat-out right!! In fact, I’ll go further to say that worrying about the future, with regard to financial well-being or personal security, may be the one category of sinfulness shared by MOST Christians.

What’s wrong with this, you may ask? Well, being concerned about the future and to seek God’s guidance in planning for it is one thing; but worrying about it is a matter of trust; isn’t it? Worrying about God’s provision may be our way of saying to God, “Lord, I believe that You died for my sins; but I just can’t trust You to provide for my needs.” Isn’t that what we really say to God when we worry about our lives?

Common … let’s admit it! To worry (i.e., holding deep anxiety) about anything is an affront to God. In fact, it strikes out at the very character of God and denies the validity of His word and His promises. Think about it! How can we, as believers, say that Paul was writing truth in Phil. 4: 19 when we hold doubts that God is going to supply for our needs? And worrying about our future is to say that our circumstances are bigger and more powerful than God can handle.

Really, I agree with Macarthur in his devotional entry for this date when he contends that worrying is a sign that a “Christian” doesn’t really know God; … because if one truly knew God deeply and intimately … if He knew and believed God’s word and His promises, … he would never doubt what God has said to us about His provisions and His power to meet our needs. Therefore, there would never be a cause to worry.

So, what is God’s prescription for the believer who worries? It is really quite simple. He would say to the anxious Christian, “Come … get to know Me. … To know Me is to love me. … To love Me is to obey Me. … To obey Me is to serve Me. … And to serve Me is to be blessed by Me.” And so, to know God as intimately as possible should be the goal of every believer who desires to eradicate worry from life.

My Prayer Today: O, Lord, I want to know You more today than yesterday … more tomorrow than today! Amen

August 23, 2011 … Letting the Fog Lift

Passage of the Day: Matthew 6: 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?”

My Journal for Today: Take in the word picture of Jesus in today’s verse, where The Lord exhorts His followers to avoid worry; and then let me share with you the picture used by John MacArthur in his Strength for Today devotional entry for this date.

MacArthur paints the word picture of worry being like a fog. Fog is a shroud of cloudiness, created by just a little bit of water dispersed into billions of droplets which hangs in the atmosphere to block our vision, often in the wrong place and at the wrong time. And in much the same way, worry, which is usually born out of very little substance, often descends upon our hearts, clouding our minds and crippling or paralyzing our choices. … Can you identify?

Remembering the context of Matthew 6, i.e., the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was teaching to people, most of whom didn’t know from whence their next meal would come. It would not have been uncommon for these people to have their minds clouded by worry over their next meal. So, the admonitions of Jesus in today’s passage would have been a hard saying for these people … probably much more so than for many affluent Americans, who so often worry about whether we have enough money or things to be secure or to “keep up with the Joneses.” How often do we let our anxiety about financial matters become a mind-paralyzing fog, causing us to grope for directions in life, especially these days when the world economy seems to be in free-fall?

That’s why MacArthur’s word picture of worry being a fog is so pertinent to our lives. We try to see through the fog of our own greed or obsessive security worries; and we can’t see where we need to go, … rather than following the advice of our Lord to walk step-by-step, following God’s will, which, if we let it, will lead us, like a fog horn of purpose/direction, out of the fog and into His light.

Our fog of greediness or insecurity is really a matter of whether we really believe the classic passage [which I hope you have memorized], Proverbs 3: 5 – 6: … 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Do we really believe this truth from God’s word, as well as that in another memorable verse from the Apostle Paul, Phil. 4: 19? Because if we do, there will be no fog of worry. We will know – that we will know that we will know – that God will provide … that we will always have what we need to live … that we can always follow God where He leads without fear. The question for us today is … do we believe these truths? And … do we live them?

My Prayer Today: I trust You, God; and I see clearly. Amen

2010 – October 26 – No Worries Today!

Study from God’s Word… Matthew, Chapters 5 – 7 and portions of Luke 6 from which we read Jesus’ famous and beloved “Sermon on the Mount,” likely delivered to a crowd of followers on a hillside just outside of Capernaum … Passage for Reflection: Matthew 6: 34 … NIV 33But seek first [God’s] kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things [the essentials of life] will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

My Journal for Today: Dr. LaGard Smith in his devotional entry for this date in The Daily Bible Devotional focuses on one of the teaching points Jesus emphasized in his Sermon on the Mount which was the focus of my devotional reading from The Daily Bible in Chronological Order today. And there is probably not one teaching from that great exposition about the kingdom of God where mankind transgresses any more than on the matter of stress, worry, or misplaced concern.

Who reading here with me this day would not have to admit – or confess – participating all too often in needless worry? And Dr. Smith asks a series of challenging questions which will likely nail you with conviction as much as it did me. He points to how many pills or drugs could/would be eliminated if we didn’t fret as much as we do. How many countless hours are wasted on worries about the stock market or the potential for terrorism in our world? How much of our health or well being is damaged because of our sinful worrying. And yes, my friend, it is sin we’re speaking of here, isn’t it?

And no, Jesus is not preaching about appropriate concern for you’re the well being of your kids or necessary planning for you to be a good steward of God’s providence. What our Lord is emphasizing here is the selfish – and yes, sinful – worrying and fretting that is birthed by our lack of faith in God’s providence and His love for His children. Do we really think God, our heavenly Father, is not big enough or caring enough to provide for His kids? So, Jesus was preaching to show His followers (and that includes you and me, I assume) that any time or mental effort we waste on worry is really a matter of choosing to focus on self rather than relying on our Savior.

And I’m not going to go off at length any more about this here this morning. I’m just going to take my conviction and be determined to move toward the reality and truth expressed in our Bible in passages like Isaiah 26: 3 … 1st Peter 5: 7 … and Proverbs 3: 5-6; because if I live in the reality of these truths, I will move toward God’s peace and away from any selfish, frivolous concerns or worry which stand in the way of a deep/abiding relationship with my Lord.
How about joining me today in a day of boycotting of self and resting securely in the love of God?

My Prayer for Today: Lord, today I rest in YOU and let YOU take control of my ship. Amen