worry

Flowers of the field: Matthew 6:24-43

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Matthew 6:24-34New King James Version (NKJV)You Cannot Serve God and Riches

24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Do Not Worry

25 “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? 26 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 of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.30 Now if God so clothes 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?

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

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How to Overcome Fear, Anxiety and Worry | Story | BGEA

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How do we handle stress?  Life is not easy.  Even when things seem to go well there are many things that steal our peace: events in the news locally and worldwide, illness, the loss of a loved one, financial reverses.  A certain amount of stress is normal,  even healthy, because it sharpens our minds and presses us to greater achievement but if we feel unable to make changes and the circumstances become our preoccupation we may find the clouds of anxiety,  fear, depression, anger always hang over our minds and hearts and threaten our peace.  Here’s some great words from Billy Graham that I find true in my own life.

http://billygraham.org/story/how-to-overcome-fear-anxiety-and-worry/?SOURCE=BY155ANL2&utm_source=BGEA+Today+email&utm_medium=bgemail&utm_campaign=bgemailnewsletter&utm_content=05.19.2015+email+1

Light under the door: Scary or reassuring

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Could be a great opener for a sci fi.  Looks ominous.  Alien.  Even in this cold light my washing machine bodes a threat.

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But give the light the warmth of sepia and the fear gives way to the familiar.  It is beautiful.  Curious how our minds can invent pulse quickening, heart stopping, eye bulging possibilities that paralyze and plunge us into anguish.  The Bible says to cast down imaginations and bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.  In other words don’t panic.  Take our fears to Jesus and let Him work out the details.  That’s a great prescription for sanity that lets me give my heart and fears a rest.

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Consider the flowers of the field

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Consider the flowers of the field

We feel, at times, small, insignificant, unworthy. But Jesus dispels the myth of a distant relationship to God. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says God’s care and concern raises us above nature (the flowers of the field) and animals (the birds of the air) and declares He cares enough to even number the very hairs on your head! God invites us to come to Him with all our needs and worries. I Peter 5:7 says “Cast all your cares upon Him because He cares for you.” Jeremiah 33:3 says “Call unto me and I will answer thee and show you great and mighty things!” Seek. Ask. Knock.