December 23, 2024

Week Three…Jesus’ Words on Faith (Matthew 6:33-34)

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Therefore do not worry about tomorrow
for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34 NIV

Jesus’ words…such the good thing to remember!!!  He spoke these words along with other instructions as He taught His disciples to not be anxious or filled with worries and fears.  He directed them to seek God and that God would take good care of them.   He was teaching them about having faith.

This is our third week of looking at Jesus’ words on faith here on the Seeking Him devotional blog.  Our bloggers, Ahmee, Ann, Cynda, Laura, and Tina, have shared their hearts about concerns for tomorrow, worry,  and faith.  Please listen….

 

In One Day At a Time, Ann encouraged us with the lyrics to a great song!

“This Scripture reminded me about a song I know (and I know most of you know it)…

♫ ♪ ♫  One day at a time, sweet Jesus
That’s all I am asking from You
Help me today to do everything that I might do
Yesterday is gone, sweet Jesus; and tomorrow may never be mine
So, for my sake, teach me today, one day at a time   ♫ ♪ ♫

This is very encouraging.  As God knows everything we need and so we need to know that He won’t deprive us.  And the Word says “And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life?” (Matthew 6:27).”

Ahmee made a great point about planning in Not Worrying Doesn’t Mean Don’t Plan:

“Worrying often comes from us depending on ourselves instead of the Lord. If we are depending on the Lord in every area of our life, then there is no need for us to worry!  Planning, on the other hand IS something we can do.  Here’s an example:  if you know that you make “X” amount of money each week and you have “X” amount of bills to pay each week, then making a budget for the upcoming weeks is not worrying; it’s called planning.

Planning is essential to our well-being.  God said in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you…”  God thought it was a good idea to have a plan for us; so we, too, should have plans in our lives.

Notice I didn’t say ‘plan our lives’…I said, ‘plans IN our lives.’

Only God can plan our lives.  The Bible says, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21).

Cynda directed us to the importance of Staying In the Presence.  

“How many times have you heard the phrase ‘One day at a time…’? Hundreds, maybe even thousands?  It sounds trite but it is exactly what we need to do—take one day at a time.  But HOW do we do that?  By staying in His Presence. Philippians 4:6 gives us the best advice and provides step-by-step instructions for staying in His Presence.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.

As we begin to thank God for all He has done, it causes us to reflect back on our life.  Psalm 77:11 (NLT) encourages us to recall what He has done and remember the miracles He has performed in our lives.

But then I recall all You have done, O Lord;
I remember Your wonderful deeds of long ago.

When we remain in His Presence, we have no need to worry.  He knows the plans He has for us…plans that give us hope (Jeremiah 29:11).  So let’s stop the worry and enjoy this day in His Presence.

Laura reminded us in Tomorrow Is Another Day of Scarlett O’Hara and her penchant to put things off ’til tomorrow.  Far more importantly Laura also reminded us of this Truth:

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1

“For those of us with strong faith in God, we do not have to worry about today or tomorrow.  God has everything in control.  We cannot see what tomorrow will bring.  We do know what will happen tomorrow if we have an appointment or something else scheduled.  However, we do not know what will happen around those planned parts of our day. We cannot control what will happen during the day.  Only God can.  Through faith we know that tomorrow will be there. Through faith, we hope and pray that we will see tomorrow.  Faith gives us the certainty that what we can’t see or touch really does exist.  Unlike Scarlett, we do have to live in the here and now.”

And in Trust Do Not Worry, Tina gave us the example of her parents who were always able to provide for their family…just like our God does.

“Dad worked at a saw mill while Mom stayed home.  She worked part-time at a veterinarian clinic which she truly loved!  They were poor and worried how to make ends meet. Mom and Dad always were able to provide for us.

Likewise, God provides for us.  All we have to do is trust Him.  As our parents provided for us, and we provide for our families, God will provide.

All we have to do is ask and trust that God will be there.

Faith Jumps

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Then He got into the boat and His disciples followed Him.
Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat.
But Jesus was sleeping.
The disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”
Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this?
Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
Matthew 8:23-27 NIV

I have always known that faith take you up high while fear hesitates and drags you down. There have been many times we have failed to exercise faith and we have ended up disappointing God. In Hebrews 11:6 the Bible says “...without faith we cannot please God.” What is this faith we are talking about?

Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen
Hebrews 11:1

Faith is a raw material for a product we are going to have.  As Hebrews 11:6 explicitly says without this raw material—faith—we cannot please God.  For us to have our hearts’ desires we need to have faith in the Giver and believe His word with no doubt at all.

The disciples forgot that Jesus was everything and started doubting…hence Jesus’ question (Matthew 8:25).  Jesus called Peter to walk on the sea toward Him. At first Peter did…and was not drowning but he started doubting and focused on the waters THEN he started drowning. The Bible records Jesus confronting Peter: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”  (Read this record here.)

So little faith can be a raw material for us to have a product that is not attractive and leads to not having a product at all. We need to build our faith always. So, how do we build our faith? By hearing the Word of God.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17

Meditate on the Word of God (Joshua 1:8), personalize the Word, receive it with gladness and obey what it says and, in so doing, we shall eat the good of the land.

Our God is good and He has made everything possible for us. It is our own wrong choices that lead us not to reach out to the great benefits that God has planned for us…if we only obey Him.

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Dear Heavenly father, I thank You for Your lovingkindness that endures forever. Thank You for who You are in our lives. Thank You for You are our Father who hears our prayers. We give You glory and honor. We pray, Lord, that You help us build our faith everyday as we study and meditate on Your word and as we listen to Your voice. Open our ears to hear what You are talking about and open our eyes to see Your greatness in the Word. May we live a life pleasing unto You always, in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.