WorryWhich comes first, worry or stress? Worry is a major strategy of Satan to defeat us as Christians. Satan uses worry to torment and oppress us. When we are bound by worry and stress, we can't exercise our faith.
Let's describe worry:
"Worry is the wrong use of our imagination"
Webster
"...to cause to feel troubled, or uneasy; make anxious; distress.
"to strangle, to twist, choke..." Worry is an abnormal sense of
fear or concern accompanied with doubt concerning a situation.
Worry disarms us from the most powerful weapon we have as believers - THE WORD..Are you aware of the power of the Word of God? Jesus used it to defeat Satan in the wilderness. Without the Word, we become weak and powerless. Satan can't destroy the Word!! His alternative is to make it ineffective. The best medicine in the world can not cure if it is not used and used properly. Satan bombards our minds with worry until the Word becomes ineffective. When our minds are filled with worry, we are unable to believe God for: Finances Miracles Healings.
As we worry, we become discouraged, depressed and STRESSED! Jesus exposed Satan and his strategies in the Parable of the Sower.
Mark 4:1-9 (NIV)
Stealing the Word out of our hearts
Mark 4:14-15 (NIV)
How many Christians are hearing the Word, yet they don't take it to heart.
They don't let it into their inner being. Some don't understand Some have
a head knowledge Some know the promises (word) and fail to act upon it.
They don't apply it to their lives. Satan snatches the seed (word) out of
our lives.
Hide the Word
Mark 4:16-17 (NIV)
If Satan cannot steal the Word, he will hide the word by tribulation and
persecution. One of the sad things about some Christians is that they do
not allow the Word to take root. They have no firm foundation!! They receive
it but they will not make any effort to keep it!! These same Christians
are the first shaken when live gets rough. They get their eyes fixed on
the circumstances and their minds are so occupied with the problems they
are facing. It is as if the Word of God is hidden from them and they are
unable to stand.
Choking the Word
Mark 4:18-19 (NIV)
Worries of life choke the word making it unfruitful. Does that sound like
what is happening in your life? Our thesis: GOD DOES NOT WANT ME TO WORRY
ABOUT ANYTHING!! God has planned for your mind to be worry free! Worry is
an abnormal sense of fear or concern accompanied with doubt concerning a
situation. It is an attack on our mind.
Worry is paralyzing! Worry conditions our mind for failure. Worry fills our mind with doubt and unbelief concerning GOD, and His love and His promises. Too many Christians listen to the lies of Satan.
We have come to the place where we think worry is normal!! Is that a truth about you or someone you know? There are times we feel guilty when we aren't worrying. Worry is normal to the world.
It is not God's will that you not worry. Someone said "If you worry, you are disobedient. It is SIN." What do you think? I am convinced that worry is one of Satan's most effective weapons. God does not want our minds to be in turmoil.
2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
Do you hear the truth expressed here? NO FEAR - A SOUND MIND! We need to
redesign the T-shirt that says "No Fear" What is a sound mind?
Free - healthy - at peace. Fear, worry, doubt, etc, etc have no place in
your life!!
God has planned that we have the mind that was in Jesus! 1 Corinthians 2:16 (NIV). The way to have the mind of Christ is by: Filling our minds with the Word. Fill our mind with the knowledge of Christ
A Command to not worry
Luke 12:22-32 (NIV)
We are not to worry about even the basic necessities of life. God doesn't want us to worry about our finances. God doesn't want us to worry about our transportation. Kind of car we drive. Etc. God doesn't want us to worry about where we will live. God doesn't want us to worry about our jobs God doesn't want us to worry about our children.
Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
TLB {6} Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell
God your needs, and don't forget to thank him for his answers. {7} If you
do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than
the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your
hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.
CIRCLE THAT WORD "ANYTHING" IN YOUR BIBLE.
God does not want me to worry about anything! God wants you to have PEACE and not turmoil. Luke 12:29-30 (NIV) "And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. {30} For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them."
We worry when we forget that God knows! He knows what we need before we ask. He knows our real need, not just symptoms. Romans 8:32 (NIV). If we REALLY believe that God has already given us all things in Christ, what is there we can possibly worry about?
Why is worry so destructive? Worry brings:FEAR - DOUBT
What is being double-minded? Is it not that we believe in God and then proceed to worry? Fear? Doubt? James 1:8 (NIV). Worry disarms us ... It paralyzes our faith! Worry causes us to let down our "shield of faith"
Let look at Ephesians 6:16 to see what the shield of faith does for us. "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows (fiery darts KJV) of the evil one."
Do "fiery darts" sound like worry? Is this a way that we think? "I know God is able, but not for me!" Somehow we think that faith and other spiritual truths are for others, not ME.
God is telling me;
STOP BEING DOUBLE MINDED!
Either believe God's Word or call it a lie. When we worry we doubt God!!
We doubt His love...
We doubt His provision for us...
We doubt His promises to us...
We doubt His ability to do what He has promised
We are like the disciples who were in a storm at sea. Mark 4:38-40 (NIV)
Three things that this passage says to me:
1. Jesus was sleeping (at peace) & disciples were terrified.
2. Jesus SIMPLY spoke to the wind
3. Asked in disbelief "Do you still have no faith?"
Haven't you learned anything yet? Are you still so immature? They had seen the miraculous provision of Christ. Luke 21:34-36 (NCV) "Be careful not to spend your time feasting, drinking, or worrying about worldly things. If you do, that day might come on you suddenly, {35} like a trap on all people on earth. {36} So be ready all the time. Pray that you will be strong enough to escape all these things that will happen and that you will be able to stand before the Son of Man."
Let's follow the admonition in this passage!
Pray that you will be strong enough to escape all these things that will happen and that you will be able to stand
God has planned for my mind to be ruled with His peace. BELIEVE IT!
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