"No man can serve two masters: for either he will
hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to
the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
mammon. Matthew 6: 24...
Is it sinful to be anxious? Can one serve Jesus Christ as the
Lord of life if he does not fully trust him to provide every need?
Following instruction on giving (alms) Mt. 6: 1-4, prayer, vs.
5-15, and fasting, vs. 16-18, our Lord takes up the idea of faith
in God and his Word with respect to personal possessions, or
wealth. There are certain memorable passages that shout out
to one as he reads this section of Matthew 6. The first one that
catches our attention in vs. 19-20, is the very temporary nature
of wealth on this earth. There are many ways through which
treasures may be lost, but Matthew mentions just three. There
is moth and rust which corrupt and thieves that steal. In vs. 21
is the problem with wealth. "For where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also." If you have been victim to thieves, you
know it can be devastating when one loses a large part of that
you were depending on for future use. If you have lost greatly
to neglect it feels similar. What if the reason your wealth were
lost, was neglect, or unwise handling, on your part? Then the
idea of self recrimination is involved; Especially when others
are also dependent,
So, what is the answer from God's Word? The short answer
occurs in vs 25. "Therefore I say unto you, 'Take no thought
for your life, what ye shall eat or drink, nor yet for your body
what he shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the
body more than raiment? Is it not fascinating how our Lord
puts things in perspective. When you give it thought, there is
nothing material of this world that may not be replaced, nor is
it life shattering when there is a loss. There's nothing material
that lasts into your eternal existence. Life goes on and the less
importance we place on our "treasures of earth," the easier
will be the adjustments to such loss. I am convinced one must
go through such a loss in order to learn the lesson. There are
times when our Lord may allow loss to bring us back to center.
The center is when we realize our good deeds performed in
the name of our Lord will go before us and make up something
of how we will experience eternal joy in our Lord. So you and I
must sacrifice material things and time here, for the benefit of
others, trusting the Lord God to meet every need, be it physical,
emotional or Spiritual. That will be the end of anxiety and our
other disorders, because we are considering others before self.
In that way, we will be like Jesus Christ who gave his life for us,
as undeserving as we are, to give us eternal life and joy on this
earth, and eternal life in the presence of our Lord, the Angels
and fellow believers. We must not forget; eternal life began as
we received our Lord Jesus Christ to be Savior and Lord, here.
Can we put off another minute of being selfless, like Christ, and
remaining selfish as we, no doubt are. Our eternal existence is
predicated on serving God and man without thought to self... If
we continue to put it off, one day it will be too late to make the
difference, in the lives of others, (eternal or temporal) we must
make, beginning today. Hebrews 3: 7-10
"WORLD WITHOUT END, AMEN!!!
Read Matthew 6: 19-34, donporter,sr, 8.31.17, Edited, 9.21.17
hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to
the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
mammon. Matthew 6: 24...
Is it sinful to be anxious? Can one serve Jesus Christ as the
Lord of life if he does not fully trust him to provide every need?
Following instruction on giving (alms) Mt. 6: 1-4, prayer, vs.
5-15, and fasting, vs. 16-18, our Lord takes up the idea of faith
in God and his Word with respect to personal possessions, or
wealth. There are certain memorable passages that shout out
to one as he reads this section of Matthew 6. The first one that
catches our attention in vs. 19-20, is the very temporary nature
of wealth on this earth. There are many ways through which
treasures may be lost, but Matthew mentions just three. There
is moth and rust which corrupt and thieves that steal. In vs. 21
is the problem with wealth. "For where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also." If you have been victim to thieves, you
know it can be devastating when one loses a large part of that
you were depending on for future use. If you have lost greatly
to neglect it feels similar. What if the reason your wealth were
lost, was neglect, or unwise handling, on your part? Then the
idea of self recrimination is involved; Especially when others
are also dependent,
So, what is the answer from God's Word? The short answer
occurs in vs 25. "Therefore I say unto you, 'Take no thought
for your life, what ye shall eat or drink, nor yet for your body
what he shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the
body more than raiment? Is it not fascinating how our Lord
puts things in perspective. When you give it thought, there is
nothing material of this world that may not be replaced, nor is
it life shattering when there is a loss. There's nothing material
that lasts into your eternal existence. Life goes on and the less
importance we place on our "treasures of earth," the easier
will be the adjustments to such loss. I am convinced one must
go through such a loss in order to learn the lesson. There are
times when our Lord may allow loss to bring us back to center.
The center is when we realize our good deeds performed in
the name of our Lord will go before us and make up something
of how we will experience eternal joy in our Lord. So you and I
must sacrifice material things and time here, for the benefit of
others, trusting the Lord God to meet every need, be it physical,
emotional or Spiritual. That will be the end of anxiety and our
other disorders, because we are considering others before self.
In that way, we will be like Jesus Christ who gave his life for us,
as undeserving as we are, to give us eternal life and joy on this
earth, and eternal life in the presence of our Lord, the Angels
and fellow believers. We must not forget; eternal life began as
we received our Lord Jesus Christ to be Savior and Lord, here.
Can we put off another minute of being selfless, like Christ, and
remaining selfish as we, no doubt are. Our eternal existence is
predicated on serving God and man without thought to self... If
we continue to put it off, one day it will be too late to make the
difference, in the lives of others, (eternal or temporal) we must
make, beginning today. Hebrews 3: 7-10
"WORLD WITHOUT END, AMEN!!!
Read Matthew 6: 19-34, donporter,sr, 8.31.17, Edited, 9.21.17
