Worship, Not Worry

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that rejects fear and champions faith. It emphasizes the importance of believing in God's word and trusting in Him to meet our needs. God cares for all of His creations and values humans more than animals. We are stewards of everything we have and should bless others. God promises to meet our needs, but not necessarily our wants. Belief and faith in God's word strengthen our trust in Him. God always provides for His children, but it's important to have the right motives and seek Him first. The spirit is the most important part of life and true riches lie there. We should talk to God about our needs and ask according to His will. He wants good things for us, but not those motivated by impure desires. God is able to take care of our needs better than we can. He will supply every need according to His riches and glory. Welcome to Fear No Fear. Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embrace you today. This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture. We reject fear in any and all forms. Fear is a spiritual force, the currency of darkness and ignorance. It's what we inherited when Adam gave up his faith and Satan uses it to keep people down. His only weapon is words. If he can get you believing or looking at words of fear, he's got you. Instead, we champion faith as an allegiance to God, as a belief and trust and loyalty to the Lord God Almighty. We accept the evidence of his word as unvarnished truth, as is, just as it's written. We get close to his perfect love through the word, and perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4.18 All scripture is taken from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Visit eBible.org Luke 12.4-7 I tell you, my friends, don't be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you from whom you should fear. Fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into Gehenna or hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Aren't five sparrows sold for two Assyria coins? Not one of them is forgotten by God, but the very hairs of your head are all counted. Therefore, don't be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows. An Assyrian was a small copper coin worth about an hour's wages for an agricultural laborer. Jesus used small animals as proof of God's valuing people on several occasions. He points out that the Father knows each and every one of his creations. He cares for them. Check out Genesis. Everything he made was good. He spoke it into existence and took a moment to look at it, to observe it, to think, Yeah, that is good. I like that. Creation is his taste, and since he values us more than animals, humans being in a different class of creation, Genesis 1, 26 to 30. Why do we worry so much about our needs? It says the hairs of our head are counted, as in pluck a hair, and he can tell you what number hair it is, no matter when you plucked it. With that level of attention to detail about our lives, how can we worry about what he thinks of us? Isn't it obvious? He likes us. Now notice that God cares about everything, not just humanity. Also notice that God does not promise no problems, immortality, and perfection. Because of sin, everything on this planet has to struggle to survive, and because of sin, all flesh will perish. But unlike the animal kingdom, we can make a covenant with God, which changes our circumstances. Of course, since we can be blessed in this way, and the animals can't, it's our job to make sure to pass it along with our care of them and their environment. That is dominion. That is stewardship. You want to know a hard truth? If you're a believer, you don't own anything. It's not your money, your vehicle, your home, your pet, or your property. Nope. It is all the Lord's, because you acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus. Psalm 24. Everything we have, we are stewards of. Colossians 3. That's why giving is such a big deal. Acts 20. That's why blessing is such a big deal. 2 Corinthians 9. The Lord can do what he likes with what is his. We are just the ones who help redistribute. We are blessed, so we should bless others. That is the responsibility of the Abrahamic covenant. Everything in our lives should be blessed just because we are around. But how far does that blessing extend? Short answer? As far as it needs to. What does the Word say in plain, easy-to-understand language? Therefore I tell you, don't be anxious for your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing? See the birds of the sky that they don't sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you of much more value than they? Matthew 6. 25-26. Again, while not promising easy street, you have seen how hard birds work, right? The Lord does promise that he'll meet your needs. Needs, not wants. We live in a culture of wants. We often start thinking of them as needs, but they aren't. What are your needs? Things like food, shelter, and clothing. Sometimes transportation, a place to wash, dishes. There can be a lot of them, but none of them include the latest electronics, fashions, or high-priced five-star meals. Those things are good. And if they aren't interfering with your walk with God, they won't be a problem. But they aren't needs. Needs are universal. Wants are individual. God promises he will meet the needs of his children, period, across the board. Psalm 34. 10. It takes belief and faith. You have to choose to believe the Lord. That can be hard when you have nothing in the bank account and rent is coming due. When you have no food in your cupboards and you don't have children to feed in the morning. What if you lose your job? What if the economy tanks? It's all about belief. Believing in the Lord. Believing in his words. Regardless of what you see around you. Choosing to believe and then standing on it. That takes faith. The way to strengthen your faith is through hearing the word of God. Reading the Bible and choosing to believe it. Every word verbatim. You may not understand it, but you can believe. Like when you were a child and believed what your parents said about things you hadn't learned yet. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. But they didn't all listen to the glad news. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report? So faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10, 14-17. If you haven't built up a trust in God through his word, it's harder to bring it to mind when you need it. What good is it to panic flip through the Bible, searching out verses about healing after you have been diagnosed? It's better to have it in your mind so you can rest on it immediately. When you get told this is wrong, your mind immediately brings up verse after verse about the healing in God's wings. It is impossible to get worried about a diagnosis, any diagnosis, when you've already convinced yourself God is worthy to trust in for healing. That doesn't mean you'll be cheerful in thanking the doctor for the diagnosis. It doesn't mean you'll be happy to hear it. It does mean that you have confidence in God and what he says. You know that you know that God has you, no matter what happens or what way you will proceed. Instant healing, gradual healing, doctors helping you. The method isn't the important thing. The confidence and trust in God to walk where and how he says, that's the important thing. To instantly know this verse, that verse, they say God has me. That is healing by the word of God. It works the same for meeting our needs in any and every circumstance. God's provision is for all his children. Do yourself a favor and look up some verses about the provision of our needs that the Lord has for you. It's for me, you, and everyone who confesses that Jesus is Lord and believes in their heart that he was resurrected to life again. When that is true, you're part of the family, and God always provides for his children, every time. Try him, he'll show you. But I did that, and I still don't have what I want. First, remember he promises needs, not wants. Second, if you don't have the right motives, God doesn't listen, James 4.3. He isn't a God of selfishness, greed, or gluttony. He is a God of abundance and blessing. This was told to me yesterday. Look at a squash. You plant a single seed, you get this plant. And inside that plant are like 30 or 40 more seeds. That's not one-to-one blessing. That's here, you plant one, and you get a whole bunch back, providing for your future. Now, that is a God of abundance and blessing. But we're not to seek the blessing stuff. We are to seek him first and foremost, Matthew 6.33. We are to prosper in the Spirit first, 3 John 1.2. Why? Because the Spirit and its house is the most important part of life. Everything else comes after that. Everything else is temporal, malleable, and temporary. The Spirit is eternal. The Spirit is where true riches lie, Luke 16.11. God knows what we need before we need it, Matthew 6.8. He doesn't want us to worry about it. He does want us to talk to him about it, Philippians 4.6-7. This is the boldness which we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us. And if we know that he listens to us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him, 1 John 5.14-15. According to his will. What is the will of the Father? The Word. As we abide in Jesus and spend time thinking thoughtfully about the Word of God, we will see the will of the Father. If we ask in accordance to that will, believing that we are receiving it, then, right then, we will get it when it's the right time for him to give it to us. God wants good things for us. God wants to get good things to us. But not that which is motivated by impure desire. Not that which will negatively impact our relationship with him. All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but not all things build up. 1 Corinthians 10.23. But God has a better idea of blessing and taking care of needs than we do anyway. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work. 2 Corinthians 9.8. My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory. In Christ Jesus. Philippians 4.19. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. In Christ. Ephesians 1.3. Clearly the Lord God Almighty has good things in mind for us. That he wants to bless us. That he wants us to have rich spiritual lives. And also, just as with the rest of his creation, he wants us unworried about our needs. For us to bring him our concerns, and then to praise and thank him for meeting them. To stand on that. To not let go of that truth. And for us to watch as he meets our needs over our expectations. Because he is a good father. And a good God. Our daily affirmation of God's love is Isaiah 53. Jesus loved you a lot. He went through the wringer for you. On purpose. Voluntarily. He did it so that you wouldn't have to. He paid for sin. He took care of sin forever. In him and through him, it's gone. God is not holding anything over you. God wants you with him and is seeking to love you, not punish you. That is amazing news. The best news. It is a total solution for all the problems of life. And to those who believe and stand on it, He will one day divide the plunder of the earth. Zechariah 14. The rewards of the kingdom are ours. Because the family of God resides in the kingdom. And we are in the family. John 1.12. And Hebrews 5.5. Through Jesus, we are co-heirs of the kingdom. Romans 8.16-17. Our inheritance is in heaven. 1 Peter 1.3-5. It's all ours. By grace. Through faith. Because God loves us. Because he loves us so much. It's great to be in a family full of love. Isn't it? As we close, remember that you have earth. You are precious and valuable. Declare this. Today, God loves that I... Now you fill in the blank. Was it a meal you made? A smile you gave? Did you get out of bed? Read? Put on socks? There's no wrong answers here. There is no end to God's love. And no end to the things about you that he loves each and every day. Pick one. And remember, the Lord loves you. Just because you're you. 1 John 4.9-10 tells us. By this, God's love was revealed in us. That God has sent his only born son into the world. That we might live through him. And this is love. Not that we loved God. But that he loved us. And sent his son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His perfect love turned away God's wrath because of sin. And it casts out our fear too. See verses 18 and 19. We love because he first loved us. He just loves us. Can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.