If you are going through difficulties in your life that are causing worry and fear—as I sometimes do, here are three points to follow in order to keep you in God’s peace.
1. Ask God to help you overcome your troubles and fears and He who is the God of peace will keep your heart and mind in His peace.
Philippians 4:6-7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
2.Know that He is the God of love and power and since we have the mind of Christ, we have this same love and power. And so, with this mind we will be able to cast out, in Jesus name, any spirit of fear; it is of the devil.
1 Corinthians 2:16
For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
3.I noticed that if my mind thinks of good and Godly things my mind is more at peace and less fearful. God and His peace are with me.
Philippians 4:8-9
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
A while ago I blogged on the distress I go through in my self-publishing. Now I’m calling it “My fears of what will be”—my fear of possibly finding out that my book cover will not look very good, or as good as it should be. And in every project, that is my fear. But I did my best on it, so why do I fear?
As I look at some old people that are facing the end of life, I think they have the same fears (as I sometimes do). It is the fear of finding out that our eternal rewards will be small.
One of my favorite verses is Psalm 34:4: “I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears.” In this context, David was fearing for his life being in the camp of the Philistines; and so, he pretended to be crazy so that they would not think that he would be a problem. And it worked; they dismissed him and put him out (1 Sam. 21:10-15). Hence, God saved him. Apparently, David sought the Lord in what to do, and he thought God was telling him to pretend to be crazy (so God has a sense of humor!).
Now, as for whether we should have fears for our eternal rewards; if we do all that God leads us to do, all that we think He wants us to do, what else can we do? If we take each day at a time and obey Him, what else can we do? Remember what Paul said at the end of his life? “I have fought the good fight” (2 Tm. 4:7-8). Hence, if you also have done your best in fighting the good fight, there is no more you can do. Ask Him to deliver you from all fears. I think it is marvelous that it says all fears. I think fear tends to multiply itself and grow in our heart if we let it. And it need not be. Read further on in Psalm 34. God is telling us to focus on the Lord and praise Him and see that He is good; and then to fear Him. Verse 9 says, “O fear the LORD, you His saints: for to those who fear Him there is no want.”
I think that if we have a healthy fear of God (to trust Him and pray about everything), He will keep us from all the bad fears, the fears we find in this evil world.
These are the best words I can think of. Here’s my story. I am in the process of republishing a few of my books. I’m not the best at it, but I insist on doing everything myself (I’m a self-publisher). I am mostly redoing the book covers. Well, I won’t go into all the details, but it is a little tricky getting everything to line up and looking good. Then next, I have to submit it and buy a copy of the book. And when I get it back in the mail (in print form), I have to inspect it for its approval. If it looks good to me I will mark it as approved and then it is put on the market. However, if it is not right—for instance if the title and authors name on the edge of the book are not centered—I have to fix it and send it back again and go through the whole process again, which takes at least another two or three weeks. Well, sometimes it is Lulu’s (the publisher) fault and sometimes my fault. But regardless, it’s a headache and I get a feeling of regret over the loss of time and money. Sometimes I have to go through the approval process three or four times. I hate the waiting! I regret the waiting.
Or maybe it’s not entirely regret. Maybe it’s partly just grumbling and complaining and worry—and all distress.
Last night I had a good sleep and God allowed me to dream. I was in another world. I woke up refreshed. But then two seconds after I woke up I remembered my publishing problem and I said to myself, “Oh no, I am here again in this real world of distress.” I thanked the Lord for allowing me to escape for the night in my dreams, and I also prayed He would somehow take away my regret and distress—my feeling of loss, or whatever this bad feeling is.
You know, I think this feeling is what hell will be like—an eternity of regret over loss, and over my mistakes. And not being able to do anything about it.
But as time passes I am hopeful that God will give me more positive, peaceful, hopeful thoughts. Just to read and meditate on Scripture and anything more positive helps. And praying over it helps. God will help. Scripture tells us that praying about our problems will cause the peace of God that surpasses all comprehension to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:6-7). Here, I take it that because of our union with Christ when we pray, Jesus will give us a supernatural inner peace and will guard and protect our being. Sounds wonderful. Just thinking about it is giving me hope.
More thoughts. I regret mistakes I make at my painting, but that’s different because I can fix it the next day. In the publishing world you have to wait and wait and wait.
And there are many other losses people have to deal with, like their house burning down and having to rebuild. Some people deal with theses things well, others don’t.
I’m reading about Jonathan Edwards. He had some real distresses to deal with. After serving as head Pastor in a church for over twenty years, because of a controversy over communion, a few leaders in the church expelled him. I’m sure he and his large family suffered a great loss. But was Janathan overcome with regret and sorrow? No. He remained strong in faith. He said, “The Lord has not forsaken us, nor suffered us to sink under our trials. He has in many respects exercised a fatherly care of us in our distresses.”
And God did have another mission for him as he began a mission to a group of Indians located about 100 miles west in the deep wilderness. It was a calling he was prepared for since he already had a prayer burden for them.
I’ll start off with my overall feelings—how I feel, generally, about everything, about every little thing. I mean it seems like so many things are beginning to pile up on me and making me anxious. I suppose that’s why I think it’s time for an update. I need a vent. I need to put things in perspective, to organize, and most of all to bring things to the Lord—the One who knows it all and who cares.
I can’t find an adequate description of how things are with me. There are fears and worries and tiredness and some regrets and some health issues and just a lack of clarity about things. And then I worry about what is happening to me. Okay, I have a list I want to work through—mainly for my sake, but you can listen in if you want.
The News
I heard the other day that, I think it was about 65% of people, don’t believe the news—TV news, newspapers, all of it. News people these days have an agenda. They aren’t true journalists. They have a plan. They write the way they want to influence people. For instance, the reason that they are writing in the papers and on TV news about the Jan. 6th subpoenas and about those who are refusing to come, it is all an effort to get people to think badly about what Donald Trump did—so that they will think twice about voting for him. Again, its all politics. Its all about stopping Trump. It’s so sick! I could say more, but I think that’s enough on news for now.
My Reading
I’m reading United States of Socialism, by Dinesh D’Souza. Generally, I think it’s a good book—very informative and true. But sometimes, like the news, it gets to be too negative. I guess I have to also be reading the Word. It’s like drinking coffee. For every gulp of coffee, we should also take one or two gulps of water, especially on hot days when I am working outside. My doctor told me that.
My Writing
I’m an author, so most of my writing will be on a book. And then I will transfer parts of it to my blog. I’m writing now on the Tribulation. That sounds pretty negative, but I’m actually being blessed by the writing—because I’m using the bible as my main source. I’ve gotten to the point now where most of what I write comes out good on the first try—no editing requited. But recently that’s not been true—because of a hard passage in Revelation. Anyway, I was fairly sure of this one thing I wrote. Then last night because of additional reading on it, I know now that I will have to change it. It must be changed. And when you are writing a biblical commentary on a passage, it is critical to get it right. And when you do finally get it right after the second or third try it will always be a blessing and worth the effort.
My Jobs
It’s always nice to take time off. But I’m getting the itch now to go back to work—at least a little. Oh, I’m a house painter if you didn’t know. I’m retired, but I’m thinking that as long as I feel good enough to work, and want to, I will. I like painting and I especially like doing it to help people. It’s something God has gifted me at and put me into. However, it seems that because of my aging, I have more worries about it—about every aspect of it: doing it right, not falling off a ladder, pleasing people, all of it. Well, I’ve come to the end now on this blog and I feel better. Thank the Lord.
This will sound like a broken record, but I am still on this journey to get rid of worry—worry…worry…worry…
Recently, I have been having auto troubles—hearing loud grinding noises from the starter. Yesterday morning I was reading from Psalm 37. The words trust, rest in, and wait on the Lord were the most predominant and helpful. I said “yes” to the Lord in regard to those things. I will trust Him and wait patiently.
Well yesterday afternoon, just before I was ready to leave my work place, I wondered how many starts I had left in my truck. Just before I would turn the key, I prayed and gave my situation to the Lord. I turn the key. It made a little noise and then nothing. It was gone. I called a tow truck and waited.
Surprisingly, I wasn’t too worried because I had given it to Him. Yes, I knew I would be tested, but I also knew that He would be with me—as He always is. I don’t know why I worry.
Today my auto shop guy gave me a new starter. All is well until the next test. I will try to remember those words: trust, rest in, and wait on Him. I think it is just a matter of my will saying “I will trust Him… I will rest in Him.” And in every test, it is another opportunity to trust Him.
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.
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…
Thedoctrine 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).
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].”
They don’t sow or reap or gather.
Yet God our Father feeds them.
And we are better (closer to God) than they are; we are His children. So, He definitely will care for us.
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?
For some reason I really like this photo. I have often past by this small tree next to that old telephone pole with the old spikes, and I usually always see little birds like these resting on the branches—without a care in the world. Oh, look at the birds. They have no worries. I wish I were as worry free as the birds.
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? Matthew 6:26.
Stephen Nielsen 