THE END OF ANXIETY; Matthew 6: 19-34

                "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       
       
   

EFFECTUAL PRAYER, Matthew 6: 5-8

 From our Lord's "Sermon on the Mount of Olives," Mt. 5-7.
"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites
are:   for they love to pray standing in  the synagogues and
in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.
Verily I say unto you.  They have their reward." Mt. 6: 5-7

      It would be difficult for me to accept the possibility that
our Lord would answer, or even hear the  petition of a man
as he is praying  loudly, in a  public place.  The instruction
for prayer continues to indicate just that.  He sees the heart
and knows our motivation for prayer.  So, He might answer
such  prayer, but many times as one stands in the congrega-
tion and is asked to pray,  there is regard by that person for
people around him.  That is less than prayer.  For prayer to
be "effectual," it must be directed to the Father, in the name
of the Son.  The Holy Spirit, through the Word, directs such
a prayer.   Therefore, three persons of God are all involved
in the prayer.  God will answer such  prayer, since it began
in the heart of God.  In the following,  it is even more speci-
fic.  "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and
when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in
secret;  and thy Father which  seeth in secret,  shall reward 
thee openly."  Matthew 6: 6  (There are manuscripts leaving
out the word "openly." While that word may be a part of the
original message of Scripture, it is not integral to understan-
ding the instruction.)

   Next, verse 7-8; "But when ye pray, use not vain repetition,
as the heathen do:  for they think that they shall be heard for
their much speaking.  Be  not ye therefore like unto them: for
your Father knoweth  what things ye have  need of  before ye 
ask  him."  I am  not convinced  commentary is  needed here,
except to say...  There are certain "catch phrases" one hears
continually from various persons who "lead"  prayer within
our sanctuaries.  That may be "vain" repetition.  In the follo-
wing passage, vs. 9-13 we find the model prayer as given by
our Savior.  This is a "pattern" and not, necessarily, prayer
to be repeated.

     Finally, we see this;  "For if ye forgive men their trespas-
ses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye for- 
give  not  men their  trespasses,  neither will  your  heavenly 
Father forgive your trespasses."   Earlier, in this blog, there
is a  comment something like this.  One reason  we must for-
give to  be forgiven:   Is there any scenario where one might
offend you to the level of your offenses against a Holy God?
How could we expect our Lord to forgive our large offenses
against him when we will not forgive small offenses commit-
ted  against us?   Many times as I have been "offended," the
offense was not on the part of another,  but in the way it was
perceived.  The offense, therefore, was mine and mine alone,
and I am the one who should seek forgiveness, first from the
one  who was perceived  wrongly by me,  then from the Lord
who is quick to forgive if  we will just repent and ask.  When
we are offended by another,  our responsibility is  to clear a
matter with forgiveness, rather than take offense. (Scripture 
in this post taken from the King James Version)         

donporter,sr.)  edited 9.07.17