Category Archives: Bible Studies

Worry: Its Causes and Cure

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The verse we will consider today is Matthew 6:34.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

This verse is a concluding verse on the subject of worry, which Jesus has been preaching on from the preceding 14 verses (vv. 19-33); hence, He uses the word “therefore” to begin the verse. The verse also extends the teaching. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, whom I have been following, says this: “[Jesus adds] an extension of His teaching…In adding this [verse] He carried the teaching [about worry] one step further.”

Here we see that Jesus personalizes worry. In effect, worry seems to have its own power. I would say that worry teams up with the demonic; the demons mean to use worry to overpower us and defeat us. Almost all of us are familiar with what worry does to us. It argues with us and tries to convince us to overthink things, to over-plan for tomorrow. And it has a very active imagination, and it will come up with all kinds of possibilities—things that could happen, troubles! I am a house painter. And when I have a job coming up that I think will be difficult, I tend to want to sit and plan it all out. Some of that wise—I’m not against planning—but when it keeps me up half the night, its not good. I really don’t need that much thought on all the potential problems.

Jesus here tells us that worrying about the future is futile and achieves nothing. It is pointless because we can’t do anything about it until we get there. We are to live one day at a time, dealing only with the worries of the day—the present. But when we stack onto our present worries tomorrows worries, we are overburdening ourselves for that day; we are lessening our efficiency for that day.

We could look at it this way. God has given us twelve hours in each day. In order to be efficient in doing the tasks for that day, we must learn to concentrate most on that one day, blocking out the past and also the possible future. Oh, I know that it is wise to do some planning and reflecting. But when we have finished doing that—and it shouldn’t take that much time—we must move on and concentrate on the now. And one reason why we should do that is because thoughts on the past and the future are not always reliable. I think it is better to take things (problems) to God in prayer as they arise. It is better to live adventurously, and in faith and obedience.

We should say to ourselves, “Here is a day which is going to bring me a few problems; I will need God’s grace and help along the way.” And we could claim certain promises, like 1 Corinthians10:13:

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.

In conclusion, here are one or two thoughts:

Know that worry is always a failure to grasp and apply our faith. We apply it by learning to talk to ourselves and to convince ourselves to live by faith. We could say to ourselves with the Psalmist, “Why are thou cast down, O my soul? Hope in God…” (Ps. 43:5).

Then refuse any anxious thoughts. Faith in God is refusing to think about worrisome things and to set our mind toward God and trust in Him for today.

Living Like a Christian In a Non-Christian World

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I have been writing on the subject of worry. We are still on that subject, from Matthew 6; this time our emphasis is on not living like a Gentile (a non-Christian), but rather like a Christian. In Matthew 6:31 through 33 Jesus said,

“Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’ 32 “For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.

We Are Not to Live Like the Non-Christian

In verse 32 Jesus mentions that the Gentiles (non-Christians) are always seeking food, drink, and clothing, and yet they always seem to be worried over it. It is because they have a wrong view of life, a view that leaves open the door to worry. Here are two life views of the non-Christian.

1. The theory of contingency. This view holds that everything in life is accidental, that things happen without rhyme or reason and we never know what will happen next.

2. The theory of fatalism. This is the idea that whatever happens we can’t do anything about it. It is the belief that there are unknow powers, good and bad, controlling things, but we can’t do anything about it—whatever happens, happens; whatever will be will be. Doris Day use to sing that song, remember?

When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother, what will I be
Will I be pretty
Will I be rich
Here’s what she said to me

Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be

The non-Christian still has these views about life, and so you can see why they worry. And many will try to overcome worry by one of two way.

1. Party it up. They say, we don’t know what’s going to happen, so we might as well live it up now, for tomorrow we may die.

2. Suicide. There are all kinds of suicide. There is drug overuse, or immorality, both are used to blot out a depressed life. And some go crazy and just flip out, killing others and themselves.

Living by Faith

The Christian view of life is quite different than the non-Christian view. We could call it…

The doctrine of certainty. In this view things are certain because we are in the hands of the living God.

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that l all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  Therefore, we believe that God has a perfect plan for our lives, and much of that plan we see from day to day as we read His word and walk in His Spirit.

But why do so many Christians still worry (like me)? The answer is easy. Though they are believers and have the Holy Spirit, they unknowingly live not by the Christian view of life, but by the non-Christian view. And sometimes what they may say in ordinary conversation betrays them. They may say something like, “Well, we never know what the future holds.”

The answer to a worried life, of course, is to build up our faith; to constantly remind ourselves that we are a child of God and that we were meant to live by faith. Here are four things you can do to build up your faith in God.

1. Put every crisis in the context of your faith.

2. When faced with a crisis ask yourself, will my conduct show me and others that I am a Christian and that I belong to a higher realm.

3. Know that you will never be in any situation that is outside of God’s love and care.

4. When faced with any situation in life, know that you should seek first His kingdom and righteousness, and then believe that all other things will be taken care of by God (read Matthew 6:33).

Five Purposes for the Biblical Millennium

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarStudying Bible Prophecy

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Have you ever considered why God thought it necessary to come to the earth some day and rule over the earth for 1000 years?  These five purposes, presented in no certain order, will give you a good foundation of knowledge as to the reasons for the millennial kingdom.

  1. To restore harmony to His creation. Certainly, all things will be put in order after the millennium, when God creates a new heaven and a new earth. So why is there a need to try to restore harmony to this present creation? Or why is there a need for the millennium at all? I don’t have all the answers, but what I have gathered from my reading is that there is a need to preserve God’s character in our mind, that it will not be said or thought of God that He started a work on this earth that He could not complete.  Therefore…

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Seeing the Fall of Man through Ducks

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She takes the lead and listens to the wrong voice. Big mistake.

Genesis 3:2-5

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'”

4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

She breaks away. He watches and follows her lead.

Genesis 3:6-7

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

She wanders off in shame.

He is alone and ashamed.

Genesis 3:7-8
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Jesus and the Pharisees: from Matthew 21:33-46

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Our purpose as the church is to bear fruit.

This is our twelfth study. Please click HERE for an intro to this study. Today we will focus on the meaning of the parable of the landowner.

Matthew 21:33-46

33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone the builders rejected

has become the capstone;

the Lord has done this,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

Observations

This parable speaks to the Jews as nation and particularity to the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees who killed the prophets (the servants) and would kill Jesus (the Son). The verdict given by the Pharisees upon the vine-growers (vs. 41) was a verdict made upon themselves. Yes, they who were the vine-growers in the parable convicted themselves. The other tenants who would be given the vineyard (or the kingdom) would be the church (v. 41, 43). So, this parable speaks prophetically about the end of the Jewish program and the beginning of the church (Rom. 11). The stone whom the builders rejected would be Christ (v. 42). The Pharisees were not stupid. They understood that Jesus was speaking about them and they wanted to kill Him.

Applications

The obvious application for me that I see is in verse 43. I am part of the church and my purpose is to produce fruit.

Moving on from Little Faith to Great Faith

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In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus talks about how we ought not to worry or be anxious in life; and He talks about how we should look at the birds and the flowers to see how God our Father takes care of them and how He will even more take care of us. Then in Matthew 6:30 Jesus points out to us what the ultimate problem is that is causing us to worry. We have a lack of faith. He said, “O ye of little faith.”

What does He mean by little faith? He does not say “no faith,” but little faith, or not enough faith. And Jesus is not speaking to unbelievers, but to believers—those who began a life of faith in Him.

But we must proceed on from the faith we began with—from the faith that saved us. Let us desire a larger, deeper faith. Or let me say this: if we don’t move on to a larger faith, we may always have trouble with worries and doubts—and along the way, some may even doubt their salvation!

What is a larger faith? It is a faith that believes on God for more than salvation; for our entire life—for every little thing; for food and drink and clothing, and also that He will care for you in everything you do.

To be of little faith means that we are mastered by our circumstances. This should not happen to a Christian! We as Christians should be above our circumstances. We can even rejoice in tribulation.

Another way of looking at it is that we as Christians who are of great faith learn to be thinkers not just responders. Hence, the trouble with the one of little faith is that he does not think; he does not think of the truth and the promises of God. He is just blown around by the wind of circumstances.

We must spend more time studying the bible and thinking of on the lessons that the Lord gives us, and on His promises, and to believe them. This is the essence of faith. And conversely, little faith is not to open the bible but rather to cling to a vague memory of our salvation.

I am not saying that our salvation is not important. But we must go on and build on that salvation. A larger faith realizes the full implication of our salvation. It sees who we are as Christians; that we are children of our heavenly Father and that we have a great inheritance in Christ. All the promises of God are meant for us. Paul wrote, “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things (Ro. 8:32).

Here are some things to think about which He has given us:

  • He has put our names in His book (Rev. 20:12). He has many things in store for us for all eternity.
  • Think of His great love for us (John 3:16).
  • He is concerned for us. He cares for us (1 Pt. 5:7).
  • He is so strong for us. His great power is working for us (Eph. 3:16-20).

As the World Fans the Flame of Racism

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The thing that is most on my mind these days is how certain groups and people are fanning the flames of racism—mostly against the police. Black Lives Matter is the worst, but very influential leaders are also doing it, like the governor of Minnesota (my state), and the mayor of Minneapolis. Some of the things that are said are downright stupid and very damaging to the police—an institution that we ought to be respecting; for God has established it, and when we resist that authority, we are resisting God Himself (Romans 13:2). When our leaders talk against the police, they are spreading a message of disrespect against them and ultimately against God. It is no wonder that black people are rising up in rebellion against them.

I just heard that our governor has suggested that traffic cops maybe will not carry a gun. Because of one mistake made by a police woman, we are going to put in danger the entire Minneapolis police force. How stupid!

You know, if people would start respecting the police and do what they are told to do—like get out of their automobile…put their hands on the dashboard…etc.—we wouldn’t have the problems we are having. I think the police needs to crackdown more on people who don’t obey them. They are being too lenient. They ought to be giving out stiff fines for disrespectful language and certainly for not obeying their orders. The bible says,

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities…whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God (Romans 13:1-2).

But what can we do about governors who are telling the police to “backdown” and do nothing when there is a riot? All we can do is vote against them, but also pray. We have not yet come to the terrible times as it was in the early church when the Christians were under so much persecution by Nero and others. But it will be coming—if things keep going the way it has been. Those Roman dictators were all possessed by demons and were homosexuals. Yes, they were! They were given anything they desired to please themselves: young boys and girls were molested; and it was recorded that Nero used live Christians as torches to light his courtyard. These sins are returning to us—because of our latest policies in favor of homosexuals of all types—LGBTQIA, etc.

However, in all of the terrible trials we face and hear about, we can stand strong and rejoice in the Lord. He will always be with you and build you up. And know also that He is coming soon to receive you to Himself (read 1 Thess. 4:16-18).

How to Carry Burdens in Prayer

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

When the Holy Spirit gives you a burden He also gives you the responsibility to hold it and carry it along.  For this reason, you must listen closely to the voice of God and give attention to those peculiar feelings of compassion He gives you for certain individuals.  Then when you feel a special mercy, tenderness, or pity for a person, give heed to this feeling—go immediately to prayer.

But give attention only to those unselfish concerns.  Pay no heed to those interests by which you will benefit from.  In this regard, be careful in your praying, as you pray for certain members of the opposite sex that you are attracted to.  Guard your heart, as your prayers may be nothing more than Satan’s trap to get you more emotionally attached, which in the end may have very destructive consequences. Overall, I think, to give yourself consistently and exclusively to…

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Trails with Meaning

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The narrow most treacherous road may be the best one. As Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14,

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

A wide dirt trail. Easy to walk on. Many think it is easy to follow Jesus in His way. But as Jesus was walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Lu. 9:57).

A grassy trail.

The grassy trail is a quiet trail and best for conversation. Two men one day reflected on their conversation with a stranger:

Luke 24:32
32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”


How Birds and Flowers Can Help a Christian

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Our text for this blog is Matthew 6:25-30, where Jesus is giving a sermon to His followers.

Matthew 6:25-30

“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? 26 Look 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? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

For many, food, drink, and clothing are the whole of their life. It is all they think about. And the world is doing its best to get us to live on that level. But Jesus has said that we should not be anxious about those things. And He points out two things in nature that will help us in that area—birds and flower.

BIRDS

Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air [Look at and think about them].”

  1. They don’t sow or reap or gather.
  2. Yet God our Father feeds them.
  3. And we are better (closer to God) than they are; we are His children. So, He definitely will care for us.
  4. Also, what good will it do anyway to worry about these things. Will worrying change anything? Will it extend your life?

Let’s look at the birds and all humans, how God provides for them.

Birds: They do nothing to provide for themselves, yet God provides for them.

Humans: They have to sow and reap and gather for themselves, but then God alone will give the increase.

In both cases God provides. And though man must enter into the process (sowing, reaping and gathering), it is God alone who ultimately provides for man, because He makes it rain and He makes the crops grow.

Now let’s look at the argument from the standpoint of a Christian.

  • If God provides for both the birds and for all humans, how much more will He provide for His own family—His believers?
  • If He provides for mere creatures and for unbelievers, will He neglect His own Children? No!

If we reason these things out with ourselves, this will defeat anxiety and worry in us. If we realize that because He provides for the birds, He will most certainly provide for us even more, because we are His beloved children.

When you really see yourselves as His child, you should know that He will care for you. Maybe this is your problem. That you forget (or you don’t think about the fact) that you are His child and He loves you as His own.

FLOWERS

Flowers do nothing! Even birds have to look around for worms and seeds to eat; but flowers do nothing. And God makes them grow and look beautiful. He gives them the sun and the rain.

See how these flowers bend toward the west.

Have you noticed how flowers always face the sun? You may notice how in the evening they will bend way over to continue to look into the sun. We could learn a lesson in that.

If we look at (and think about) the flowers, we see the hand of God, His perfect creation, the glory of His creation. The flowers are perfectly clothed by God and are dependent on God for everything they need to keep living and to look good.

If God our Father so clothes the flowers with such beauty that last only a little while (a few months) will He not cloth us His children whom He loves and that lasts forever?