strive

He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. (Luke 12:22-31, NRSV)

How many of you can add an hour to your life by worrying?

I do not know of any one who is truly productive when they are worried. They are focused on somethign that is consuming them and they can not completely give them selves to somethign or someone else.

We get caught up in worring about our clothes, our looks, the food we will eat, the little details of our lives…

God will provide all we need and more, if we will stay focused on Him and what He is calling us to do. Strive for the kingdom, keep working to Him and trying to follow and stay focused on Him, and everything else will just fall into place.

tomorrow

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today. (Matthew 6:25-34, NRSV)

We worry about a lot of things and by doing that what does it help?

It doesn’t make the thing go away, it usually fixs our attention on something we can’t change.

Jesus tells the disciples and us here, not to worry about the liitle things like clothing or food, as they will be provided.

And do not worry about the future becuase it isn’t here yet, and the past is already gone, focus on the here and now, because it is truly a gift. That is why it is called the present!

One of my favorite songs is by a man named Steven Courtney. It is called Tomorrow Today will be Yesterday. The just of the song is that we need to look at today because like Jesus said Tomorrow isn’t here and yesterday is gone. And the end of the song is yesterday today was tomorrow, which means what Jesus said, tomorrow will bring it’s own worries, so focus on the here and now and give God and those around you all your attention!

refreshed

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its towns when I restore their fortunes: “The LORD bless you, O abode of righteousness, O holy hill!” And Judah and all its towns shall live there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. I will satisfy the weary, and all who are faint I will replenish. Thereupon I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me. (Isaiah 31:23-26, NRSV)

Have you ever woken up feeling completely refreshed?

The sleep you just had was complete and rested your body wholy?

You actually woke up without an alarm and did not need to run and grab a cup of coffee. (OK no morning is actually complete without a cup of coffee, but you know what I am saying!)

Here we hear about Israel’s refreshing sleep. We hear how the Lord blesses his habitation and him.

We see in this the refreshment we can have in the Lord if we but trust Him and rest in His control.

God has promised that He will give us rest and refresh us. All we need to do is trust Him!

rest

At that time, says the LORD, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus says the LORD: The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall take your tambourines, and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit. For there shall be a day when sentinels will call in the hill country of Ephraim: “Come, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.” (Isaiah 31:1-6, NRSV)

Do you feel like you have to be doing something in order that the kingdom of God will come?

We feel like in order to be serving God we have to go go go and never stop or rest.

But did you see it in the reading, when Israel sought rest…

Israel the man sought rest, or Israel the country sought rest, and The Lord appeared, and gave him rest!

God loves us with an everlasting love, and so will always be looking out for our best. Sometimes that means He will give us rest, and if we don’t take it, it will be given in a way we won’t refuse, or maybe can’t refuse.

Working in God’s kingdom could be like being physically fit. If you are constantly moving and working out, you will not build muscle or endurance, you will actually wear yourself out and make yourself sick. Youhave to rest and allow your body to heal, so it can grow and develop. That is what God does for us by giving us rest, He allows us to heal and develop into who He created us to be.

Plus God rested after He created everything, so If He rested, why do we think we have to go go go? Just rest in Him!

wings of eagles

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31, NRSV)

Have you ever run and not gotten weary?

I remember a recent 10k I ran. I say that like I run all the time. I actually tell people I don’t run, and if you see me running, you should probably be running too…

But I was running the race with my daughter, and we would run for a streach and then when one or both of us got weary or tired, we would walk. Now we still walked at a pace that kept our time at about a 4.2/4.3 mph pace…

But we got weary!

But in Jesus we have no need to fear of wearing out, or fainting. For when we trust in God He will mount us up like the wings of an eagle and upon His mighty strength we will soar!

So trust not in yourself or others, but trust in God and He will lift you up and make you to soar!

Change…

changeAt that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:25-30, NRSV)

Things hidden from us tend to make us question what we want…

What do you want?

If you are honest with yourself you will probably say:

I want to:
Grow
Evolve
Improve
Mature
Become better than I am right now

Yet if you are really honest with yourself you should probably also say:

I want to:
Be left alone
Not pushed
Untouched
Unchanged
Exactly the same as I am now.

We want to be different but we don’t want to change. Change brings upon death because we lose something we have held dearly for a long time. We want to grow but we don’t want to change…

Change brings the unknown.

Change implies risk.

Change is uncertain.

One can not be a part of the body of Christ though and stay unchanged. The one thing we are assured of is Christ accepts us as we are, but loves us too much to leave us that way! He will mold us and change us.

So be not afraid of the change that Christ will bring you.

Come to Christ as you are and walk away with Him a better changed person!

dwelling in your goodness

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds— his name is the LORD— be exultant before him. Father of orphans and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God gives the desolate a home to live in; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious live in a parched land. O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel. Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad; you restored your heritage when it languished; your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy. (psalm 68:4-10, NRSV)

God provides for the needy!

Have you ever wondered how God provides for the needy?

Have you ever given to a charity that helps build houses for people, or gives them jobs, or helps them with education?

Have you ever volunteered your time to work at a clothings store, like Goodwill or similar, or animal shelter, or food pantry?

Have you ever helped someone in need, either by your own works or through support of another entity?

God meets the needs of those in need through us! He uses us as His hands and feet to do His will in this place.

You makea difference by being you and doing the things you do every day! You are a pebble that causes waves in the lake, that show God’s love all around you!

So dwell in the goodness of God all around you and keep causing waves of Love to crash down the barriers that seperate us!