.. Worry ..

I was reading this sermon this morning, by John MacArthur. It brought up several good points on worry that I could not keep to myself!

First of all, consider this:

“…the Bureau of Standards in Washington D.C. and they had a little feature in there that was telling about fog, and what was the composite element of fog. And this I thought was fascinating, a dense fog that covers a seven city block area one hundred feet deep, and by that they mean a very dense, thick fog seven blocks and a hundred feet deep, is composed of less than one glass of water, divided into sixty thousand million drops. Not much is really there at all, but it can cripple an entire city. And I think that's a pretty good illustration of worry, put it all together and you don't have much more than a glass of water, but you can sure mess up a whole lot of people.”

How often do we let worry in our lives OVERTAKE everything?! Just like less than a glass of water can cripple a city… hmmm….

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And besides that, 4 times in this passage, part of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ commands us not to worry:

"Therefore, I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; neither yet for your body, what ye shall put on….Therefore, be not anxious saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Be, therefore, not anxious about tomorrow; for tomorrow will be anxious for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is its own evil." – Matthew 6:25-34.

I know, I know… easier said than done, but that’s not an excuse to not try, right? Don’t go around looking like this:

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Instead, trust and hope in Christ to provide EVERYTHING!

“Life Chapter” for this Beautiful Season

The more and more I read Ephesians 5, which has been daily lately, the more I want my life to be modeled after this chapter. The last section hasn’t really applied to my life until now. I hope and pray I can live my life this way…

Excerpts from Ephesians 5 - NIV [source]

“1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and 2 live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

³But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. ⁴Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. ⁵For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God…

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰and find out what pleases the Lord. ^{…. 13}But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, ¹⁴for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:

"Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."

¹⁵Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil….¹⁹Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, ²⁰always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…

Wives and Husbands

²²Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. ²³For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything…”

Such a high calling for any Christian and we could not achieve it without His Grace! We all need to be comparing our lives to scriptures, to make sure we’re living up to the standards and truths of Scripture… it’s not easy, it hurts, it’s gross sometimes… but it is SO WORTH IT to become more like our savior everyday!