Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 6:25-34. This month the Lord laid it on my heart that we're going to be combating something in this place. Throughout this month I've felt it so strongly in my heart as I've been preparing for it and I've been amazed just what the Lord has been doing inside of me through this study time. The issue we're going to be confronting is the issue of fear. How many of you believe that we serve a God of peace and of love and a sound mind? There are so many people who have been bound up in fear in so many different ways. I believe that God desires his people to be fearless people, a people who don't walk around intimidated, afraid or defeated but that we would walk in victory.
Today I want to start with just a small part of this issue entitled "Unlearning Worry". Worry really is fear so I want to deal with that first and foremost because before we can get into some of the deeper aspects of fear, the enemy coming in, we need to deal with something so basic as understanding that God cares about us day in and day out even for the most basic things of life.
Matthew 6:25-34, I hope that this is such a familiar part of scripture to you but I just believe that this morning as we study it some people are going to be set free from worry. "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life". That could be a sermon all on its own. How many of you have already given your life to Jesus? How many of you have died to your old ways? So how many know that we're living dead people anyway? We've already died so we don't have to worry about dying. The truth is this, you can take my life and I'm going to live even better than I am now.
"Therefore I say to you do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow, they neither toil nor spin and yet I say to you that even Solomon in ln all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothed the grass of the field which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, o you of little faith? Therefore do not worry saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear for after all these things the gentiles seek for your heavenly father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble".
Heavenly Father, we thank you that you're here and Holy Spirit we thank you that around this place you have placed angels that will keep out every demon of hell, every troubling thought, everything that would come to steal and hinder your word. Today Father, we fully yield ourselves to you. May we decrease and may you increase in this place, in Jesus name, Amen.
Matthew chapter 6 is one of the greatest chapters of the Bible. The more I read the Bible the more that I find that God really had a purpose in the way he laid everything out and the way he said things. He builds line upon line, precept upon precept.
The first part of Matthew chapter 6 says that we're to do our charitable deeds in secret and not to do it before man. The 2nd part teaches us how to pray. It's such an important part of our life. The 3rd part reminds us that we can't serve both God and money. How many of you know that's a good word for America today? The last part reminds us that we're precious to God and that we don't need to worry. There is nothing in this world that God doesn't know that we need and he already promised to provide it.
The idea of fear shows itself in many ways. The truth is that worry is one of the primary ways that the enemy strikes fear into our life; worry over finances, over food, over whatever it is, so many needs. In a country as blessed as ours we find a lot more things to worry about that many people in other parts of the world don't even give a second thought to. The most common things that we worry about we really can't even control. The things that we can control we don't worry about because we'll do something about them.
Two businessmen were talking about an economic recession. Jack said, "I'm about to lose my job and our house is in foreclosure but I don't worry about it". His friend Bob said, "How can you not be worried about something like that?" Jack said, "Well, I've hired a professional worrier. He does all my worrying for me. That way I don't even have to think about it. Bob said, "That's fantastic. How much does it cost to hire a professional worrier?" "$50,000 a year, Jack answered. Bob looked at him, "You're in foreclosure, where in the world are you going to get that kind of money?" Jack said, "I don't know, that his problem, I'll let him worry about it". I wish it was that easy.
I want to say this right up front that there is no such thing as a born worrier. We look at some people and think that they're more disposed to being a worrier, that person is a worrywart or they were just born that way.
We need to understand that worry is something that we learn to do. Worry is our response many times to life and the things that we can't control when they don't go our way. Someone once said that "Worry is really our personal irritation with God" because he didn't do something when we thought he should do it and the way he would do it. Worry is something we learn to do from experience. God never placed the seed of worry inside of us. Aren't you thankful God didn't say, "I'm going to teach you how to worry"?. After years of mistakes, after several unfilled expectations, a couple jams that we got into that we didn't enjoy, out of experiences that didn't turn out the way we thought they would, somehow certain ones of us begin to get into the habit of worry. Some of us have learned worry from our parents. If you have anxious parents you're going to have anxious children because worry is something that is learned and is something that can be unlearned.
There are 3 reasons why we should avoid worry. I want to speak them into your heart because some of you are going through things that you don't understand. Difficult situations, financial, emotional, relational, it doesn't matter, there's a whole gamut of things that you can worry about. What I want to do first of all is talk about 3 reasons why you shouldn't worry.
1. Worry is sin. The Bible says that anything not of faith is sin. Worry is sin because worry is faith in fear instead of faith in God. Worry is more than a mere concern. Worry is really a lack of trust, of confidence, a lack of certainty and a lack of believing that safety we have in Christ. Worry can rule your spirit, it can leave you sleepless at night, it can have you walking through the day bound up inside over the situation. How many of you have found that once you start worrying about things everything else seems to fall out of whack. You begin to get irritated with the people around you. As a matter of fact when that worry begins to get a hold of you, instead of letting Christ rule in us we let worry rule in us.
Those who live in constant fear really are practicing atheists. Someone once said that worry is practical atheism. Why? Because its faith in fear and not in God. Fear is a rejection of faith and a denial of God's goodness. It's a refusal to trust His word. How many of you in this room want to be right with God? You say, "Preacher, shouldn't you tell me how much God loves me first? Shouldn't you have started this thing really comforting me and letting me know how much he cares for me instead of starting off telling me that worry is sin? How many of you know that sin is easy to get rid of real quick? you just repent of it. Listen, that is one of the greatest things. The enemy will get you worried that you don't trust God enough and then he gets you all caught up in a vicious circle. The Bible says that "perfect love casts out fear". If you love the lord and God loves you, you know that fear will have to go. God gives us practical tools and repentance is one of the greatest ones. "Lord, I have failed to trust you". How many of you trust your family today? How many have ever had your family let you down? How many have ever had God let you down? God will never let you down.
Some people believe that it's hard to be a person of great faith but if you'll think about it for just a minute it really isn't because God has never failed. He may have not done everything the way you thought it should be, life may not have always lined up the way you planned it to be but God has never failed you once. Fear is proof that you don't trust the Lord, you don't believe that He can see you through the problem. I want to say it again, God has never failed and he never will. How many of you believe this word this morning? The Bible says, "The steps of a righteous man are ordered of God". We either believe that or we don't. that means that every day I get up I'm going to walk with him, I'm going to trust him and I believe that he's going to guide me. I believe that he's going to work in my life, "The steps of a righteous man are ordered of God". If you believe that you can rejoice in that everyday, trusting and not worrying.
2. The 2nd reason not to worry is that worry is a killer.
Proverbs 12:25 says, "An anxious heart weighs a man down". Another version says. "Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression".
Worry will not only literally kill you, it will ruin the quality of your life. It is medically proven that worry and stress is a catalyst of alot of the medical problems that we have going on in our life today. High blood pressure, ulcers, cancer, heart disease, all these things Dr's will tell you that it's not only what you eat that will harm your body but what's eating you.
Worry robs us in our body of rest. Worry is a tool of the enemy, it is fear. If you thought a prowler was walking around your house at night you wouldn't sleep very well but have you noticed the same thing if you have something going on in your life that you can't control and it just keeps going through your mind? Worry is a spiritual prowler that walks around in your life to rob you of rest. It robs you of peace.
The Bible says, "The enemy comes to kill, steal and destroy".
Listen, I believe this, that God is dealing with this issue of fear this month for a reason in our church. I believe that there is going to be victory on many different levels. Some of us have been living so bound up, how many believe God wants to set us free? There is something wonderful when you can walk in the confidence and strength of the Lord. Many who claim to serve the prince of peace live in an emotional hell every day.
Psalms 16:11 says, "You will show me the path of life, in your presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore".
Aren't you glad God has pleasure for your life?
3. The 3rd reason not to worry is this: Worry is useless.
Matthew 6:27 says, "Which of you by worrying can add one inch to his stature". The NIV says this, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life"?
The truth is, not one of us. Worry has never solved a problem, worry has never paid a bill, worry has never cured an illness, worry has never lifted a single burden. As a matter of fact it puts a great deal of heaviness in your life. Worry has never dried a single tear. How many of you know Jesus has done all of that?
I want to say this again, worry is fear. It paralyzes so that you can't think clearly, so that you can't think clearly enough to work on a situation. Have you ever noticed that when you needed to be in your right mind the most that's when the enemy shows up so that it robs you of the clear thinking the Bible says he will give us? It's in those times that we need to trust the Lord all the more. Worry can't change the past, worry will never control the future. Somebody may say that just sounds like a cliche'. It's not. That's why we need to read the Word of God because many times we forget the basics. It will never change the past.
The truth is this, all of us have made mistakes, all of us have had things happen and as much as you stand there and wish that you had never said that thing or that you had never done that thing it will never change what happened. As long as you stand there and wish that that thing that came on you in life would have never taken place it still won't change the fact that it already happened. So why worry about it? It's useless, It really is. People may say, "Well isn't that careless living"? No, it's freedom living. It's living in Christ. Worry will mess up your today when it doesn't have to. Worry causes us to mentally live through something we may never actually experience. In that sense worry is not only useless, it's detrimental. How many of you have sat there and thought of scenarios that could happen? Not only have you tried to figure them out, you have thought them out and you have lived them out. You may lay there in bed and have already lived out the horrible incident and it never took place. You know the devil is such a liar, he makes us go through stuff God never intended for us to go through. If we'll grasp a hold of that we can live in freedom from fear that is useless that we don't even need to live.
There are steps that we can take to cure worry in our life. I want to encourage you with this because some of you have been living through stuff that you never had to go through. The truth is this, even if you have to go through it, God will be there with you in it. "God, what if i come home and there's no food in my refrigerator? Listen to me, I've been there and you know what? I've never gone hungry. Most of us laugh at camels, we think they're funny animals but the truth is we just wear our humps on the other side. You've got enough to keep you going for the next couple weeks. All you need is a glass of water and you're good to go.
I want to speak to you, comfortable American, you could lose your house today. What would happen? We live in an economy where people are foreclosing all around us and you may be in that place. How many of you know that God knows you need a house? God knows you need a place to live and God will take care of that. You may say, "I don't want to go to something less or something different". How many of you know that in our lives we're living dead people anyway? It all belongs to Jesus so it really doesn't matter.
Paul said, "I've learned to be content". Half the difference of worry is that we just haven't learned to be content in the Lord. He'll meet the needs. "Preacher, have you ever been there?" Yes. Was it fun? No, but was God faithful? Yes. Somehow in America we think that everything in life has got to be fun. It doesn't. I want to tell you this, it has been in those times that God has taught us his faithfulness and we grow the most, that we become more like him and he does a powerful work.
There are several steps we can take to cure worry, steps that will help you and me to avoid worry and help us to live in peace. This is more than a how-to list that you can just write down and say that was great but I could have gotten that in a book. I believe it will be liberating and life changing. I'm also not going to tell you to just start whistling, "Don't worry, be happy". It makes you laugh though even when you're going through a hard time. How many of you when you were going through a hard time wanted to climb through the video screen and choke the dude? But he did make you laugh.
1. The 1st way to avoid worry, I want you to mark this down, this is
deep, this is powerful, "Seek God First". It seems like this is a no brainer but the truth is many people struggle here. When you have gotten into worry how many of you went to your computer, or the calculator and you started figuring it all out or you got on the phone. Some of you have run up your phone bills in the process. You spend more time talking to other people than you do speaking to God.
Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you".
You either believe this word or you don't. I want to tell you there is something that is rising up in me in these last days. You either believe this word or you don't. I understand that we all go through
some bad days. How many of you know your preacher is not perfect? Can you imagine how our lives would be changed if we would seek the Lord first? For some reason when we are going through things there is a fight within us to seek God. We feel guilty like I'm just using God as a crutch. You know you should go to prayer. Remember, worry is your personal irritation with God. God says, "Listen, just come to me". The Holy Spirit is our counselor. He knows what you need and he'll help you to get it, whether it's peace, whether it's money, whether it's wisdom or direction, whatever it is it will be added to you.
My first question when people call me and they'll do it often and that's ok. Listen, don't be afraid to give your preacher a call. How many of you know I love you? In the body of Christ we don't have all the answers. But my first question whenever they come in worried and panicked is "Have you prayed"? What did God say? Have you brought it to the Lord? I want to challenge you in unlearning worry to train yourself to pray first.
Phillipians 4:6-7 says, "Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication or petition with thanksgiving ley your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses understanding will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus".
You know that song, "Don't worry, be happy"? I watched that video with my daughter the other day and it was hysterical. The guy walks around like he's clueless, his world is falling apart and he's walking around saying, "I'm happy". There's a difference between being clueless and being at peace. "The peace of God which surpasses understanding", it doesn't make sense, I don't get it, I don't deserve it, I shouldn't have it but that's what the word of God says.
The 2nd thing you can do to overcome worry is to control your thoughts.
Get a grip on your mind.
Proverbs 16:3 says, "Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established".
You say, "Well I can't help the way I think". Yes you can. That is a lie of the devil. You can help the way you think. The difference is you feel guilty about the way you think or you don't agree with the way God says you should think. The truth is "Commit you ways and your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established'. People ask me "What if they aren't"? They will be if you commit it. Either you did commit it or you didn't commit it. Either you gave it to God or you didn't. Another word for commit is to release, to let go. Release those things to the Lord and your thoughts will be established.
To unlearn worry we need to purposely train our thinking and we can do that. We train our thinking all the time. As a matter of fact we start training our children when they are young how to think, that's why we send them to school. School isn't so much about the problems that they do in reading, writing and arithmetic but the greatest thing about school is teaching them to use what God gave them. Learning algebra really is a way of thinking. Geometry is a way of thinking, it is to stretch your mind, not so much about the abstract principles in getting it, it is about teaching yourself to be expanded in your thinking. I still don't get geometry, maybe that's one of my problems. What I know is this, if we can train our mind then why not teach our mind to trust the Lord? Why not train our mind to think on good things, teaching ourselves to cast our cares upon God because his word says he cares for us.
Phillipians 4:8 reminds us that we are to meditate on good things. "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, if anything praiseworthy, meditate on those things".
Another way to overcome worry is to line up your will in obedience to God.
Phillipians 4:6 says, "Be anxious for nothing". This is simply a command, obey it. But pastor, you don't understand. No, obey it, "be anxious for nothing". Aren't you thankful? You can repent and you can obey. How many know these are easy things to do? We've got our minds so focused on the problems and the complications of what it takes to get through them that we just forget all God wants is obedience, that's it. "Be anxious for nothing".
Next is this, take one day at a time. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficent for the day is its own trouble". I'm so thankful that the bad day I had yesterday doesn't have to be the bad day I have today. I don't have to think about it becoming that tomorrow. Listen, there is a difference between worry and prevention. Wisdom sees what might happen and it takes action to prevent it. That's ok, that's not worry, that's wise. If you've commited your ways to the Lord and your thoughts are established, how many of you know that God will help you to start doing things so that those things your worried about won't take place. If they do happen, he will begin to lead you into ways to get out of it. Next, prevention takes action. Worry is frustrated with what it doesn't know and it begins to believe the worst so just take one day at a time.
The last thing I want to say is trust God to care for you and all that's important to you. Trust God to care for you. I want to ask you this, do you really truly and honestly, sincerely believe that God cares deeply for you?
Because he does. He says, "I want you to look at all my creation. I take care of the birds, I take care of the plants, Solomon had nothing on them".
We live in America, Solomon didn't have microwaves, he didn't have refrigeration or air conditioning, he didn't have suits or ties. How many of you know you're dressed better than Solomon was? You live in a nicer house than Solomon had. You have indoor plumbing, that makes it better right there than what Solomon had. God cares for you.
Psalms 37:25 says, "I have been young and now I am old yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his descendents begging for bread".
Psalms 55:11 says, "In God I have put my trust, I will not be afraid".
God cares for you. Why do I believe that this is so vital that we get this into our hearts here at Harvest Community? You see, there's a work that God is doing inside of us and he has a plan for us to reach this city for Jesus. The truth is this, if your struggling with the basic concept that God will feed you, clothe you, house you and take care of you, How in the world can you by faith lay hands on the sick and see them recover? How can you talk to the person that is despondent, has a gun to their head and says, "I'm going to end it all"? Pastor, does that happen? My friend this week got a call on Friday morning by a friend of ours who had gone into his trailer, had cut the end of an electrical cord off and arranged to have it stuck so the power supply he would get would be more than 110 and he made a way so he could hold on to the cord. Let me ask you, the kind of hope that we have in Christ can set the most despondent person free. That man is alive right now and I'm believing God to continue to work in his life. The truth is if you live in worry, you might just join him someday. How many know as Christians we don't need to be joining him, we need to be helping him. I want to tell you this, if you'll unlearn worry you will live in the freedom, the provision and the hope that God has and your life will never be the same. Over the next couple weeks we're going to be dealing with the issue of fear.
It was kind of interesting because I didn't even put two and two together but this is Halloween month. I love beating the devil at his own game. I'm telling you, by the end of the month, no ghost or goblin is going to be able to scare you or put fear into you. The truth is this, I believe that God is raising up a people of the Lord that not only will worry not effect them but if they were to face the devil himself face to face, if death were to walk into your door, that the people of God would have victory in Jesus name.
The Bible says, "Cast your cares on Him because you know that he cares for you".
"Holy Spirit, right now we come to you and the first thing we're going to do is what the word says, we're going to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray right now that the one whom the son sets free would be free indeed. Father God, right now we cast every one of these cares into your hand, every bit of fear, every bit of uncertainty, every bit of doubt, every bit of worry, Jesus we give it to you.
Whatever the situation from finances to relationships to sickness, God we cast it into your hands. We release it to you God, that problem is yours because your the one who said that you're our provider, you're the one who said you would take care of us, you're the one who said that all these things would be added to us. Holy Spirit I pray that in each one of these lives you would begin to change their mind, that their thoughts would line up with the word of God, that their thoughts would be on those right outcomes instead of seeing and living the things that they don't have to live through. Holy Spirit, I pray that there would be strength and I thank you Lord that even if the worst thought came true, that Father you would see them through, that you would release joy into their lives, that along with that peace that passes understanding there would be a true joy even in the midst of their difficult times, that they would enjoy life and watch as you take care of them. God right now I pray that hedge of protection on them, that as you're working in them the enemy can't have his way any longer, not in their families, not in their finances, not in anything but God it all belongs to you. Today we give you praise right now. Your word says that we're to bring everything to you with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Father right now we thank you that you're our God, we thank you that you love us, we thank you that the answer is on the way, we thank you Jesus that you're doing the work inside of us. Lord, whether the situation changes or not, we are changed and we are safe and we are whole. I thank you Lord that we don't have to worry about one of these things because you will take care of us and we'll give you the praise. Amen.
God is taking care of it. "Commit your ways to the Lord and your thoughts will be established". You release it to him, you give it to him, you watch the way your thinking changes. You watch God begin to do the work in your life. I want you to hear me now, if you trust him you will not be disappointed. Even if things don't go the way you thought they would be, God has a better way. Aren't you glad he's got it figured out? The Lord bless you. "Father, bless each one as we go our ways this week, strengthen, encourage and bring help and hope".
