Are Christians Supposed to Worry?

Many of us worry about our daily lives from time to time. Some more than others. Worries about affording your next meal, getting a new job, school, making more money,etc, can be overwhelming for many. I'm definitely guilty of worrying way too much in the past! But what does God say about worrying?


Well Philippians 4:6 reads; "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God".


So God instructs us not to worry or be anxious about anything in our lives, but in thanksgiving, present your requests to Him! How many times have you or someone you knew prayed, not thankfully, but in anger to God about their problems? I'll admit I've done this many times in my past, and it's no wonder things didn't get better! We are instructed to trust in Him, and to be thankful for what we do have (as little as it may be), and He will listen and make our paths straight.


More confirmation of God's instruction not to worry can be read in Matthew 6:25-34;"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? 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"


What an amazing verse! This verse changed the way I think about day-to-day life. I try to give my worries to God and be thankful for the blessings I do have, instead of focusing on the things I don't have!
So instead of worrying, we should pray, give our requests to God and most of all trust in Him to make everything work out in the end. The Lord always does what's right! If you're reading this article right now, give praise to the Lord, you are alive! What a blessing that is in itself! :)
 
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." -Matthew 11:28-29

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What Does the Bible say about Acceptance?

I've seen some Christians who have a hard time accepting other people based on appearance, history, or even because of the way they speak! But is this a "Christian" thing to do? Let's see what the scripture has to say about acceptance;

"Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God." -Romans 15:7

"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out." -John 6:37

"And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?' But when he heard it, he said, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.'" -Matthew 9:11,12


"Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt." -Exodus 22:21

In this verse God also stresses the fact that even the lowest of the low are significant in His eyes; "So the last will be first, and the first will be last" -Matthew 20:16

God is absolutely clear that we as Christians are to love our neighbors and even our enemies. If someone comes to us for help,we should not reject them based on their past or their appearance, but we should accept them with open arms as Jesus would! 

When I hear stories of "formal" churches where everyone dresses very well, rejecting or looking down upon someone who shows up in jeans or torn up clothes, it simply disgusts me! Jesus called everyoneto come to Him, regardless of what they can afford to wear! "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost." -Isaiah 55:1



God Bless,

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God Has a Plan for your Life: Even when you're Suffering!

I'm sure we've all at some point in our lives wondered,"What is going on God?!?!".  It's kind of funny for someone to actually pose such a question to an all-knowing, all-powerful God! But yes, I've done it many times (sadly)! 

There were times when my life was complete chaos, I was questioning God and asking Him what was He doing? Where is He? What's going on? Is He even listening to me or am I being ignored? 

Well, I want to tell you with full confidence that even in those hard times, when you just can't understand why bad things are happening in your life or why you are going through so much suffering, that God is still in control. Now don't think that this goes for everyone, because God is only going to mold the life of a born again believer. If you're still living in sin and rebellion towards God, chances are that the turmoil you are in will not change much until you come to Him and give your heart to Jesus completely. (see Acts 2:38)

If you are born again and you are going through hardship, remember that God sometimes allows your suffering to mold you and give you spiritual maturity and character that you otherwise would not achieve. Proverbs 3:11-12 says, "My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in."

So delight in your suffering, because it proves you are a child of God.  Here are more verses to give you complete confidence that God is molding your life, and that there is a great reward awaiting you at the end of your trials!:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience; patience, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." ~Romans 5:2-5

"Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation." ~1 Peter 4:12-13

"Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right." ~1 Peter 4:19

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." ~Romans 8:28

Keep pressing on towards the prize! God bless you all.

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Jesus is the Holy Ghost/Comforter

Matthew 28:20--And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

John 14:16-18 -- And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Romans 8:9-11--You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you

Comments:

One must be exercise caution to remember that the Holy Spirit is God's Spirit, not a separate entity.  The words "Holy Spirit" are "pneuma hagion" in the Greek.  Translated it means "holy breath." It was the holy breath of God that hovered over the waters in creation (Genesis 1:2).   That same holy breath of God overshadowed Mary, the mother of Jesus, and then lived in his son.  The holy breath of God raised Jesus from the dead.  The spirit of the risen Christ referred to in these verses is the same holy breath of God.  Only now, the spirit has taken up permanent residence in a man.  Jesus told his followers in John 14: "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you" (KJV). He identifies himself as the comforter, which is one and the same as the Holy Spirit.    In Romans, Paul refers to the Spirit of God living in you, and in the next phrase emphasizes the importance of having the Spirit of Christ in you.  The connection should be simple. 

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Forget the Past, Live a life of Purpose!

Many of us struggle with unpleasant memories. The hardest memories are the ones that caused hurt, pain, sorrow or regret. How do we get over the things we've done in the past, or the things others have done to us? How do you begin to heal from deep emotional distress that placed an unwanted imprint in your mind?

The first thing you must know, which is something I've recently learned, is that we have a choice in what thoughts/memories we allow to reside in our brains. No, I'm not saying that we can erase a memory (I wish!), what I'm saying is that if an unpleasant memory or thought comes into our minds, we can choose to reject it immediately, or allow it to take its residence in our minds and spirit!

So let's say that a painful memory comes into your mind, you can say to yourself, "I will not dwell on this, it's no longer a part of my life", and you can replace that thought with a positive one. Dr. Leaf, who holds a Masters degree and Phd in Communication Pathology said the following about controlling your thoughts:

"There is a point in your brain called the “free will” and it is a genetic structure, there is genetic code. You can use that free will to accept or reject that incoming information. So if you are controlling your thought life, you don’t have to just receive all of this input that is coming in from the outside world, from the media, from external and also from your internal world; we’ve got a lot of existing toxic memories in our head, everything from birth to death is stored in your brain. So you’re going to have information coming from the outside, information from the inside and it all meets at this point of the free will in the brain. You can make a decision at that point to accept or reject that information. If you decide this is not good for me and you actually analyze that thought and say, this is not good for me, this is not healthy. You can reject that thought and it goes out and becomes heat energy. It actually becomes hot air and it doesn’t become part of you. But if you choose to think about it, if you choose to meditate on that, if you choose to ask, answer, discuss, analyze to give meaning, you push it into these memory trees of the mind, into the memory circuits and once they’re there, they are there for good. Once they’ve moved into what the neuro-scientists call the magic trees of the mind, once they’re there, they’re there for good, you can’t get rid of them. Then you’ve got to rebuild, that’s the renewing of the mind. Much more difficult to rebuild than it is to reject."
~ Dr. Caroline Leaf 

What profound information isn't it? And it should give us a different perspective on the way we think. Christians, we DO have a choice in what we allow to control our lives. We DO have a choice in what kind of person we will become! Your past does not determine your future, but your mind does! Romans 12:2 tells us, "And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." 

This renewing of the mind starts with first making Jesus Lord of your life. Then you can start taking control of what you allow your mind and spirit to yield to. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 

Christians, we need to take those negative thoughts captive as soon as they creep in and make them obedient to Christ! Every thought that goes against God's word, or that we know is not God's will for our lives, we need to take it captive and rebuke it in the name of Jesus! 

Remember: You don't have to be what you always were. Think about who you want to be, because that's who you should be! God bless you.

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12-14)

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Are Christians Supposed to Worry?

Many of us worry about our daily lives from time to time. Some more than others. Worries about affording your next meal, getting a new job, school, making more money,etc, can be overwhelming for many. I'm definitely guilty of worrying way too much in the past! But what does God say about worrying?


Well Philippians 4:6 reads; "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God".


So God instructs us not to worry or be anxious about anything in our lives, but in thanksgiving, present your requests to Him! How many times have you or someone you knew prayed, not thankfully, but in anger to God about their problems? I'll admit I've done this many times in my past, and it's no wonder things didn't get better! We are instructed to trust in Him, and to be thankful for what we do have (as little as it may be), and He will listen and make our paths straight.


More confirmation of God's instruction not to worry can be read in Matthew 6:25-34;"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? 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"


What an amazing verse! This verse changed the way I think about day-to-day life. I try to give my worries to God and be thankful for the blessings I do have, instead of focusing on the things I don't have!
So instead of worrying, we should pray, give our requests to God and most of all trust in Him to make everything work out in the end. The Lord always does what's right! If you're reading this article right now, give praise to the Lord, you are alive! What a blessing that is in itself! :)
 
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." -Matthew 11:28-29

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Christ in the Hebrews - The Impressive Minister

A More Excellent Ministry (vv. 1-6)
The Superior Priest (v. 1). Here we pass from the consideration of the Person of the Priest and watch Him perfectly discharging the duties of His office in the new sanctuary. 
The chief point is “we have such a high priest.” 
He is infinitely above all other priests,
In position - “sat down,” 
In dignity - “at the right hand,” 
In authority - “at the throne of God,” 
In supremacy - “The Majesty in the heavens.”
No other priest ever sat down in recognition of a finished work, nor had any the perfect right to this place of highest honour in heaven. His sitting down is an indication of His royal position; for He is a royal priest. He is the antitype of Meichisedec - thus combining in Himself the two offices of Priest and King.
The Sanctuary Perfect (v.2). This living High Priest is the administrator of the holy things in the real tabernacle in heaven. There He has a work to do corresponding with the spiritual dignity of His office, and He never fails to give us help. “The heavens” as referred to here, denote the eternal dwelling place of God Himself.
The word ‘minister’ signifies one who serves in an official capacity and it is used of the service of the priest of the sanctuary (Isa. 61:6; Jer. 33:21; Neh. 10:40). As there is only one Priest, Christ in heaven, so there is only one holy place, the heavenly sanctuary (v. 5;9:24). “True” - real abiding; opposed to that which was typical and temporary. His ministration there is more to us than all the old pompous ceremonies and services of the old economy. That perfection which the earthly tabernacle could never produce is reached here and in this tent God does really and personally dwell. (Acts 7:48; 17:48). In this tabernacle the Lord Jesus is not only High Priest but Mediator likewise uniting in His person the offices of Moses and of Aaron.
A Sacrifice Essential (v.3). The purpose of priesthood is to “offer gifts and sacrifices.” This was to be accomplished in and by Christ, which He did when He offered Himself (9:13,14). This theme is developed in chapter 9. “Gifts” covers all types of offerings presented to God; sacrifices, gifts in which an animal was slain.
Sphere of Priesthood (v.4). Heavenly not earthly. The teaching refers to Christ’s present ministry in the Sanctuary, and not to what He did on earth. ‘Sphere,’ not time or place is in view here. Seeing that God had vested the earthly priesthood in the tribe of Levi (Exodus 28:1); the Lord Jesus who belonged to the tribe of Judah (7:14); would not violate that order, and consequently could not be a priest on earth. His priesthood rnust needs be heavenly and eternal, being connected with the new covenant.
Superior Ministry (v.5,6). The quotation in verse 5, taken from Ex. 25:40, proves there is a real tabernacle in the unseen world of which the one that Moses built was a copy.
The Tabernacle in the wilderness was a figure of the way of access to God. The outer court represented the earth, and the holy place answered to heaven; the holiest of all corresponding to the heaven of heavens, the very presence of God Himself. The true tabernacle, the heavenly and the spiritual is designed and passed by God Himself. To go back to Judaism is to leave the substance for the shadows and this was retrogression not progress.
In contrast to the work of Aaron our Lord Jesus has a more excellent ministry; is the Mediator of a better Covenant giving to His own better promises. The superiority of His Priesthood is emphasized in the words “better” and “more excellent.”
May we heed the warning here and not be tempted to go back from the Priest in the true sanctuary to the priests in the copy of the true.
“‘In Him’ we have a present priesthood, which we are to appropriate (v.1). It is royal and ministerial (vv. 1 ,2), sacrificial (v.3), heavenly (v. 5), and perfect (v.6).” W.H. Griffith Thomas.
The More Embracing Covenant (verses 7-13)
From Christ’s Priestly acceptability (vv. 1 ,2); and activity (vv. 3-5); we turn to His Priestly assurance (vv. 6-9) and announcements (vv. 10-13).
Strictly the new covenant has application to Israel, but we have to read the spirit of it, we must be on the terms of the new covenant though not strictly under it. The covenant itself is made with Israel and Judah and will be under grace not law. It is a covenant of promise and the Son of God is the surety that the promises will be fulfilled (7:27).
Its Perfection Announced (vy. 6b-7).
God does everything in this new covenant. A covenant is a contrast in which each party lends himself to the other in certain conditions. The first covenant was not perfect (Ex. 24:7), its basis was the promises of man - “we will.” The second covenant is perfect, the basis of it being the promise of God “I will” (Jer. 31:34).
The character of the Priest gives superiority to the Covenant (ch. 7), but here it is the superiority of the Covenant which adds dignity to the Priesthood. Other contrasts might be noted; (ch. 7) Christ is Surety of a better Covenant; (ch. 8) He is the Mediator through whom all the terms of the Covenant are carried out.
The Old covenant though educative was impotent and temporary and its replacement is contemplated (v.7). The new covenant is redemptive, dynamic and eternal, its promise of spiritual blessings being the principle thing. The mind is directed to heaven, the heart is cheered with the hopes of immortal life.
Its Provision Adequate (vv. S-12).
It is promised by God (v.8), prophesied to be better (v.9), and providing fellowship with God for all (v.10).
The weakness is not with the old covenant but with the people (v.8). Their total depravity was brought out in their failure to keep the promises they rashly made. The law, revealing to man his sinfulness, was designed to be proparatory to the Gospel. God Himself set the old covenant aside because it was inadequate. In the new God is the principle party covenanting - “I will make” (v.8). His power and faithfulness are pledged to its fulfilment. Note this covenant is directly with the twelve tribes and does not apply to Christians today (v. 8b). We enjoy the spirit of it today, forgiveness from God and fellowship with God.. The new covenant is new in quality and in its scope, for it is going to unite that which had been divided and close the schisms.
What God promises He provides, for His promise is absolute. The new covenant is better because of its spirituality (v. 10), and its efficacy (v. 11), and its assurance of forgiveness (v.12).
The character of the covenant is stated negatively (v. 9), and positively (vv. 10-12). The effect produced will be permanent. The people of God will enjoy a deeper revelation, their understanding being enlightened - “My laws in their minds.” Their affections will be engaged - “My laws upon their hearts”; a new relation will be enjoyed. “I will be to them a God,” and their allegiance will be expressed in being - “to me a people.”
That coming day of blessing will also be marked by an intimate knowledge of the Lord - “from the least to the greatest,” an experience of unparalelled mercy - “be merciful” and assurance of free forgiveness (vv. 11 , 12).
Its Permanency Assured (v.13).
The old is obsolete and ready to vanish. The sacrificial system did indeed vanish away with the destruction of the temple in AD 70. This covenant is faultless and final, based as it is upon the complete redemption of Christ (10:15-17). “Near to disappearance,” this refers to that covenant and its outward administration - the temple, the priests and the order of approach to God.
The New will be permanent, for Jesus not Aaron is the Surety, the Guarantor from God’s side. He is also the Mediator, not Moses, for only our Lord Jesus could secure and bring to fruition the terms of the covenant. What, was prophetically foretold (Jer. 31:31-34), and historically fulfilled (Luke 22:20) and doctrinally expounded (Heb. 8:10-13), is absolutely guaranteed (v. 8).
May we appreciate this revelation of love and mercy (v. 12), of law and knowledge (vv. 10,11), and the realization of fellowship (vv. 11,12) and worship in the beauty of holiness within the veil. 
By J. B. Hewitt

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