Who Among You Can Add A Day To Your Life By Worrying

Day 98

How to Stop Worrying

Wisdom Psalm 42:6b-11

New Attestation Luke 12:one-34

Old Testament Deuteronomy 9:1-10:22

Introduction

I tin can't even recollect his name and I didn't call up much of his talk. We were both 18 years of age. He had but joined the army. As he stood up to give the talk he produced his army boots every bit a visual aid. He chosen 1 of the boots 'trust' and the other one 'obey'. He described them as the left and right kick of the Christian life. He only spoke for 7 minutes, but his illustration hit home and I have never forgotten it.

'Trust' and 'obey' are, as he said, a very good summary of the Christian life. We run into in the passages for today that they are the answer to trials, temptation, worry, anxiety, fear, failure and all the other struggles of life. In particular, Jesus shows usa how to stop worrying and start living.

Psalm 42:6b-eleven

^vi My soul is downcast inside me;
||therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
||the heights of Hermon —from Mountain Mizar.
⁷ Deep calls to deep
||in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
||have swept over me.

⁸ By twenty-four hour period the Lord directs his honey,
||at night his song is with me—
||a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹ I say to God my Rock,
||"Why accept y'all forgotten me?
Why must I get about mourning,
||oppressed by the enemy?"
¹⁰ My bones suffer mortal desperation
||every bit my foes taunt me,
saying to me all twenty-four hour period long,
||"Where is your God?"

^xi Why, my soul, are you downcast?
||Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
||for I will still praise him,
||my Savior and my God.

Commentary

Trials and temptation

Information technology is often in times of difficulty that we put down deep roots. The psalmist uses the evocative expression 'deep calls to deep' (v.7). Anything that is not from the depth in us will not reach the depth in others.

The psalmist is 'downcast' (v.6b). He feels as if God has forgotten him (five.ix). He is 'mourning, oppressed by the enemy' (5.9b). He is in 'agony' (v.10a). People are taunting him, saying, 'Where is your God?' (5.10b) – rather like the way some people taunt Christians today.

The trials and temptations of life have overcome him like a mighty waterfall (5.7). Yet he knows deep downwardly that despite being submerged by the waves of life, he tin can trust in God: 'God promises to love me all solar day' (v.8, MSG).

Standing with the epitome of a torrential river, he refers to God as 'my Rock' (v.9). Though he feels that God has forgotten him, he knows the reality that God is the greatest security on which he can stand.

In the eye of all this he speaks to himself: 'Why are you lot downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God' (five.11). Through all the struggles, trials and temptation, fix your eyes on God and go on trusting and obeying him.

Prayer

Lord, thank you that yous direct your dearest towards me. Help me to keep trusting and obeying yous, 'my Saviour and my God' (v.11).

Luke 12:1-34

Warnings and Encouragements

12Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak kickoff to his disciples, saying: "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ² There is cipher curtained that will not be disclosed, or hidden that volition not exist made known. ³ What you take said in the night will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will exist proclaimed from the roofs.

⁴ "I tell y'all, my friends, practice not be agape of those who impale the trunk and later on that can do no more. ⁵ Simply I volition show y'all whom you should fearfulness: Fear him who, later on your body has been killed, has authority to throw y'all into hell. Yep, I tell you, fear him. ⁶ Are not five sparrows sold for 2 pennies? All the same non i of them is forgotten by God. ^seven Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't exist afraid; you are worth more than than many sparrows.

^eight "I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me earlier others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. ⁹ But whoever disowns me before others will exist disowned before the angels of God. ^ten And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Homo will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

^eleven "When yous are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do non worry nearly how you will defend yourselves or what you lot will say, ¹² for the Holy Spirit volition teach you at that time what yous should say."

The Parable of the Rich Fool

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my blood brother to divide the inheritance with me."

^xiv Jesus replied, "Homo, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" ^xv Then he said to them, "Sentinel out! Be on your baby-sit against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an affluence of possessions."

¹⁶ And he told them this parable: "The basis of a certain rich homo yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He idea to himself, 'What shall I exercise? I accept no place to store my crops.'

¹⁸ "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and in that location I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of grain laid upwards for many years. Take life like shooting fish in a barrel; eat, drinkable and be merry."'

^twenty "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very dark your life will exist demanded from you. So who will get what you lot accept prepared for yourself?'

²¹ "This is how it will exist with whoever stores up things for themselves merely is not rich toward God."

Do Not Worry

²² Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you lot, do not worry well-nigh your life, what you volition eat; or about your body, what yous will article of clothing. ²³ For life is more than food, and the trunk more than than clothes. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they accept no storeroom or befouled; notwithstanding God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! ²⁵ Who of you by worrying can add a single hr to your life? ²⁶ Since yous cannot exercise this very little thing, why do you worry about the residue?

²⁷ "Consider how the wild flowers grow. They exercise non labor or spin. All the same I tell you, non fifty-fifty Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ²⁸ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—y'all of niggling faith! ²⁹ And do not prepare your heart on what you volition eat or drink; do not worry about it. ^thirty For the pagan world runs afterwards all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ Just seek his kingdom, and these things volition be given to you as well.

³² "Do non be afraid, little flock, for your Begetter has been pleased to give y'all the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions and requite to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not habiliment out, a treasure in heaven that will never neglect, where no thief comes most and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will exist also.

Commentary

Worry and anxiety

Do y'all worry a lot? Are you ever 'struck with fear' or 'seized with alarm' (vv.7,32, AMP)? Are you lot always 'anxious and troubled' (v.22, AMP)?

Jesus never said, 'Don't worry because there is nothing to worry about.' He said, 'Don't worry in spite of the fact that there is so much to worry about.' Many times Jesus says to his followers, 'Practise not be afraid' (vv.4,seven,32) and 'Practise non worry' (vv.11,22,29). The respond to fear and worry is to trust and obey. Jesus gives us seven ways to bargain with worry, feet and fear.

1. Fearfulness God and nothing else
   If yous have a right and healthy fear of God, you demand fear nothing else (v.v). 'Don't be bluffed into silence or insincerity by the threats of religious bullies... There's nothing they tin do to your soul, your core being. Save your fearfulness for God, who holds your entire life – body and soul – in his easily' (v.5, MSG).

2. Know your value to God
   Jesus tells y'all non to worry or exist afraid because you are of infinite value to God. He loves you lot; 'You are worth more than many sparrows' (v.7b). He knows you intimately: 'The very hairs of your caput are all numbered' (v.7a).

3. Trust the Holy Spirit
   He tells you not to worry because you can trust the Holy Spirit to help you. Every bit you face opposition, difficult situations, meetings, and and so on, Jesus says, 'Do not worry near how you will defend yourselves or what you volition say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say' (vv.11–12).

4. Don't miss the betoken of life
   Jesus says that by worrying you miss the whole point of life: 'Life is not defined by what yous have, even when you have a lot' (v.xv, MSG).

   He tells the story of a businessman, who had built up a highly successful enterprise and made a considerable amount of coin. The world probably admired him. However, Jesus describes him every bit a fool and a failure (v.xx). He had fabricated the faux assumption that he had many years to live (vv.xix–xx). He had never seen beyond this life (v.xx).

   His life was focused on himself. The word 'I' or 'my' appears eleven times (vv.17–nineteen). As has been pointed out, 'A person wrapped upwards in themselves makes a very small parcel.' He idea he was worth what his possessions were worth. He failed to understand the way to exist truly rich. He was not 'rich towards God' (v.21). Who yous are every bit a person is far more important than what y'all do for a living.

5. Realise that fussing is futile
   Jesus encourages you to expect beyond textile possessions and concrete needs, 'don't fuss about what'south on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion' (v.22, MSG). There is nothing wrong with these things, but they should not be your focus – 'life is more than than nutrient, and the body more wearing apparel' (v.23).

6. Trust God's care and provision
   Jesus points out that worry is the reverse of faith (v.28). If you trust you will not worry. 'If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!' (v.28). Faith involves trust in God's intendance and provision.

7. Seek God's kingdom
   Trust and obedience go hand in manus. Rather than storing up things for yourself you need to be 'rich towards God' (v.21). Rather than worrying nigh material things you should 'seek his kingdom' (five.31) – which God in his good pleasure has given to you (five.32). This should be the focus of your life. 'For where your treasure is, there your heart will exist also' (v.34).

Prayer

Lord, thank you that you tell me over and once more not to worry and non to be afraid. Help me to seek your kingdom and trust that all 'these things will be given to [me] as well' (v.31).

Deuteronomy 9:ane-x:22

Not Considering of Israel's Righteousness

nineHear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls upwards to the heaven. ⁱⁱ The people are strong and alpine—Anakites! You know virtually them and accept heard it said: "Who can stand up against the Anakites?" ³ Only be bodacious today that the Lord your God is the 1 who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them earlier you lot. And you lot will drive them out and annihilate them apace, every bit the Lord has promised you lot.

⁴ Later the Lord your God has driven them out before yous, do not say to yourself, "The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land considering of my righteousness." No, it is on business relationship of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. ⁵ It is non considering of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will bulldoze them out earlier you, to attain what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ^vi Understand, then, that information technology is not considering of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this skilful land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.

The Golden Calf

⁷ Remember this and never forget how you aroused the acrimony of the Lord your God in the wilderness. From the twenty-four hour period you left Arab republic of egypt until you arrived here, y'all have been rebellious confronting the Lord. ⁸ At Horeb you angry the Lord'south wrath so that he was angry enough to destroy you lot. ^ix When I went upwardly on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I ate no breadstuff and drank no water. ¹⁰ The Lord gave me ii rock tablets inscribed past the finger of God. On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you lot on the mount out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.

^eleven At the end of the forty days and xl nights, the Lord gave me the 2 stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. ¹² Then the Lord told me, "Get down from here at once, considering your people whom you brought out of Egypt take become corrupt. They accept turned away quickly from what I allowable them and take made an idol for themselves."

¹³ And the Lord said to me, "I have seen this people , and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! ¹⁴ Permit me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they."

^xv So I turned and went down from the mount while it was ablaze with fire. And the 2 tablets of the covenant were in my easily. ¹⁶ When I looked, I saw that yous had sinned against the Lord your God; you had fabricated for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded yous. ¹⁷ And then I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.

^xviii Then once again I fell prostrate earlier the Lord for xl days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the Lord'due south sight and then arousing his acrimony. ¹⁹ I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was aroused enough with you to destroy you. Just again the Lord listened to me. ²⁰ And the Lord was angry plenty with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too. ²¹ Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed information technology and basis information technology to pulverisation as fine as dust and threw the grit into a stream that flowed down the mountain.

²² You likewise made the Lord angry at Taberah, at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah.

²³ And when the Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, "Go up and take possession of the country I take given yous." Simply you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. Yous did not trust him or obey him. ²⁴ Yous have been rebellious against the Lord always since I have known you lot.

²⁵ I lay prostrate earlier the Lord those twoscore days and forty nights considering the Lord had said he would destroy you. ²⁶ I prayed to the Lord and said, "Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Arab republic of egypt with a mighty manus. ²⁷ Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin. ²⁸ Otherwise, the land from which yous brought us will say, 'Because the Lord was non able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.' ²⁹ But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm. "

Tablets Similar the Kickoff Ones

tenAt that time the Lord said to me, "Chisel out two rock tablets like the first ones and come up to me on the mount. Also make a wooden ark. ² I volition write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the ark."

³ So I fabricated the ark out of acacia wood and chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went upwards on the mountain with the 2 tablets in my easily. ⁴ The Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the 10 Commandments he had proclaimed to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. ⁵ Then I came back downward the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made, as the Lord commanded me, and they are at that place now.

⁶ (The Israelites traveled from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him every bit priest. ⁷ From there they traveled to Gudgodah and on to Jotbathah, a land with streams of water. ^eight At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to behave the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to government minister and to pronounce blessings in his name, as they notwithstanding do today. ⁹ That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their beau Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance, as the Lord your God told them.)

^x At present I had stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, as I did the first time, and the Lord listened to me at this fourth dimension also. Information technology was not his will to destroy you lot. ¹¹ "Go," the Lord said to me, "and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land I swore to their ancestors to requite them."

Fear the Lord

¹² And at present, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you simply to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving y'all today for your own adept?

¹⁴ To the Lord your God belong the heavens, fifty-fifty the highest heavens, the earth and everything in information technology. ¹⁵ Notwithstanding the Lord set his amore on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, higher up all the nations—every bit it is today. ¹⁶ Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do non be stiff-necked any longer. ¹⁷ For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. ^eighteen He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. ¹⁹ And you are to honey those who are foreigners, for yous yourselves were foreigners in Arab republic of egypt. ^twenty Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and accept your oaths in his name. ²¹ He is the one y'all praise; he is your God, who performed for yous those great and awesome wonders y'all saw with your ain eyes. ²² Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and at present the Lord your God has made yous equally numerous every bit the stars in the sky.

Commentary

Fear and failure

God's approval is pure grace: 'It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity' (ix:5). Moses reminds the people of God of all the things that went wrong for them in the past. He tells them that the reason was, 'You did not trust him or obey him' (v.23).

Moses urges them that now they are to trust and obey God. 'What does the Lord your God ask of y'all but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to dearest him, to serve the Lord your God with all your eye and with all your soul, and to discover the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you lot today for your own adept?' (x:12–xiii).

When we are tempted to disobey God, it is because we practise not trust that he has our best interests at heart. Nosotros like to recollect that we know better than God as to what is best for united states. Nonetheless, the reality is that all God's commands are 'for your own proficient'. God loves you, cares for you lot and knows you lot, and that is why he wants yous to obey him.

The truth is that y'all can trust God, even when you find his commands difficult or restrictive. The almighty God, to whom belong 'the heavens, even the highest heavens, the globe and everything in it' has 'set his amore' on you 'and loved' y'all, 'and he chose you' (vv.14–fifteen).

This faith is inward, not just outward: 'Circumcise your hearts' (5.16). Nonetheless, information technology is a faith that leads to activity. You are called to follow God'due south example and defend the crusade of the fatherless and the widow, and dearest the alien, giving them food and habiliment (v.18). In that location is to be no racial discrimination. We should have a special love and service for the poor and the marginalised.

God promises that if you trust and obey him you will encounter growth and multiplication. 'Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were lxx in all, and at present the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky' (v.22).

Prayer

Lord, give thanks you that you accept set your affection on me, loved me and chosen me. Help me today to fear you, to walk in all your means, to dear you and to serve y'all with all my heart and all my soul. I pray that you lot would make your church as numerous every bit the stars in the sky.

Pippa adds

Luke 12:22

'Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your trunk, what you lot will wearable.'

It is so easy to captivate nigh body shape, image, health, diet… I must admit that when thinking about an upcoming upshot, the first thing that comes to listen is, 'Oh dear. What shall I clothing?'

Verse of the Twenty-four hour period

Luke 12:25

'Who of y'all by worrying tin can add a unmarried hour to your life?'

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References

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Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette United kingdom company. All rights reserved. 'NIV' is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (world wide web.Lockman.org)

Scripture marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Grouping.

Who Among You Can Add A Day To Your Life By Worrying,

Source: https://bibleinoneyear.org/en/classic/98/

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