Cast All Your Anxieties on God…But How?

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Have you ever thought about how we are told in the Bible to give all our worries and concerns to God? Ok, but have you ever thought, “How do I do that?” Today we are going to give you a strategy for that. 

 

Life is hectic isn’t it? Not too long ago, I came across a Snoopy comic strip, or a Peanuts comic strip, and it said – it’s Charlie Brown and Linus sitting by the fence – and this is what it said:

 

(Peanuts comic strip credit to Peanuts Worldwide @ schulzmuseum.org)

This is from Charles Schultz. It’s a comic strip. I thought comics were supposed to be funny! It caught my interest, and I realized that it struck a chord with me – Charlie Brown’s words did.

What Is Active Faith? Should I Be Worried If I Think I Don’t Have It?

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What is “Active Faith” Anyway? Should I Worry If I Think I Don’t Have It?

 

 

What is active faith? Take just a second and think about how you would answer that question. 

Many of us have ideas about this related to different types of works or service related to faith. 

Active faith, however, at its basis, is very simple. 

 

If you study the words and actions of Jesus in the entire books of Matthew and Mark, you will learn that active faith is the faith that enables you to discern where God is working in your life and in the lives of those around you. You will also see that, over and over again, people were praised by Jesus for their faith when they did nothing more than this: they made an effort to come to Jesus for help. 

 

We’ve been complicating the idea of “active faith” or “faith vs. works” for way too long, and it’s time to truly understand what it is and how powerful it is.  

Do You Know the Key Question to All Life’s Problems? (With Parable of the House on the Rock)

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Do You Know the Key Question to All Life’s Problems? (With Parable of House on the Rock)

 

Do you know that there is a key question that will help you to “unlock” the best decision to make for any and all of life’s problems?  We are going to reveal that question in today’s episode, but first – let’s look at a parable from Jesus. 

 

I’m going straight to Matthew 7:24-27.  This is Jesus speaking. “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

 

Ok, let’s stop a minute and ponder some of the themes we have been discovering in Jesus’s words and teachings.  Do you remember from a couple of episodes back, Jesus was in the house to take a break and get away from the crowds, and when informed that his family members were outside the house within the crowd, Jesus essentially stated, “Those who are learning and listening to me– they are my brothers and sisters and mother.” And now Jesus extends on this by further explaining a benefit of listening and applying.  Here, Jesus has explained, that “those who hear my teachings and implement them, they are wise and building their lives on a solid foundation.” 

When we stay close to Jesus, we now know that we receive two significant benefits:

 

1) We are considered to be like family to Jesus; and 

 

2) We can have assurance that by following Jesus’s teachings that we are banking our lives on a value and a purpose that is strong, good, and lasting.  

 

Now, let’s look at the whole parable, back to Matthew 7:

 

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

 

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

 

The house or the life of the person who does not learn and follow Jesus’s teachings – his teachings, I want to emphasize this, Jesus specifically says hears “my words.”  I am adding that clarification in to make sure we understand, Jesus said those who listen to “my words” and “do them” are living in a strong house. He does not say those who listen to other Christian leaders, or those who follow by all the rules and traditions of religion, or those who keep the commandments and laws of the Old Testament. He says “my words.” It is “my words” that if you follow you will be building your home and your life on a firm foundation.  

 

Ok, so what about this house on the sand?

 

Here is where I like to take this parable and apply it to ushere in our ways as Americans living today. See, in America when we think of a house on the sand, we think of a beach house, right?  A vacation home or a vacation rental. A beach house is often built on stilts and there are methods to strengthen it, but the conditions are that when the hurricane comes that house has a very good chance of collapsing. 

 

So to the person who may be a new follower of Christ; know this – by focusing on and applying Jesus’s teachings - and again – I emphasize on Jesus’s teachings – not on church traditions or the opinions of all the people at church – you have assurance that you have are building a life based on long lasting values and purpose. 

 

However, I also want those of us who have been walking with God for awhile to consider that this parable is for us too. How? Well, here is the way I like to frame it. I actually didn’t intend that pun, but since we are talking about building houses on rocks vs sand, then I also want to frame it this way: In America, we Christians are blessed that we have our houses on concrete foundations; but many of us also have the opportunity to take vacations. Some of us own a vacation house and others of us will go rent a house at the beach for a week or two. And similarly, in our lives – we have two houses and two ways of living. Let’s say we have times in our lives when we are staying close to Jesus, and then other times we really backslide. We move back and forth between our main house and our vacation house. And you know what? That vacation house – oh it looks so relaxing! It looks tempting! We can just move over there for awhile. We decide to take the risk – or maybe we don’t even consciously decide to take the risk, we just kind of slide into this state of being where we are not listening or looking for Jesus in our lives, and we get comfortable there.

And when the storm comes – whoosh – we may not weather it very well. We are less likely to weather it, and we may even lose things, we may even lose something in that vacation house on the sand. I have friends who have lost relationships, lost friendships and even marriages, lost their sense of integrity – all because, and they will admit this themselves, it’s not me judging them – they will admit this themselves – all because they had distanced themselves from Jesus. That’s where all the problems began, and they let themselves get too comfortable there. And whoosh – when the storms came, there was catastrophic loss. 

 

Now for anyone who is feeling guilty about taking literal vacations from time to time – that is not the point. There is nothing wrong with vacation homes, but take Jesus with you when you go. Vacations are better with Jesus too. Take Jesus with you and keep Him close and he will help to strengthen that vacation house too. 

So for our closing reflection, think about this: When was the last time that you weathered a terrible storm in life? Or maybe even you are weathering one right now. 

Ask yourself – How did you react during that storm? Or during the current storm? Do you see any connections with the way you weathered a storm and where you were in your walk or in your closeness with God at that time?

 

And finally – I want to share with you, a key question you may ask yourself whenever a problem comes into your life. When you have a big problem or a big storm in life, or any kind of problem in life that you need to resolve – this is a question you can ask yourself to help determine if you are responding well to that problem. Are you ready to hear it?  

Ask yourself, “Is the way I am handling this problem, is it bringing me closer to God? Or is it taking me further away?” Likewise, if you have two paths or multiple choices that you can take to solve a problem, choose the one that will bring you closer to God. 

When evaluating the options you have to solve a problem or to make a choice about going one way or another – choose the one that will keep you or bring you closer to God. That one – that choice - is likely the right choice.

——————————————————

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If you would like to learn simple, practical ways to walk with God every single day, then you would really enjoy Closer to God: Simple Methods, Starting Today

If you want to learn more deeply and fully about what Jesus taught, then you would enjoy He Called: 56 Daily Studies and Reflections with the Words of Christ. 

The author also posts on Facebook and interacts with her readers at http://www.facebook.com/GospelLifeBooks

And interacts with her readers at the following Facebook group: Sherry's Ministry Mall Group You are invited to join this group!

Author's other books can  be found at: https://www.amazon.com/Sherry-Elaine-Evans

Are We Growing in Relationship with God? Or Are We Just Making Coffee?

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Are We Growing Deeper in Relationship with God, Or Are We Just Making Coffee?

 The personal question to reflect on for this session is this:  If my personal relationship with God was truly the most important – the number one focus – in my life, how would my daily activities and routines be different than they are right now?

Honestly…even as I pose that question for my listeners and readers, I’m cringing a bit for myself. I know if I reflect on that question with any real depth, that I might be convicted to make some changes in my daily routine, and that can be hard for me because I’m a creature of habits, as we all are to a certain extent – and it’s hard to change habits. It takes a renewed commitment to do so.

Let’s look at another teaching presented by metaphor by Jesus. This one is another metaphor, or actually two, He uses two metaphors to make one point.

Now, this is a continuation of last week’s episode. Do you remember what was happening in our last teaching? Jesus and his disciples were being criticized because they were not fasting. They were not maintaining this tradition that the Pharisees were maintaining and that John's disciples were maintaining. And Jesus responded with a wedding metaphor. And what Jesus said was essentially –

 

Change your thinking about religious traditions. Some things are more important that religious traditions, such as relationships, our relationship with others and with God.

 

Then immediately after the metaphor about His reason for not following the fasting tradition at that time, Jesus tells two more metaphors. Here it is in Mark 2:21-22. Jesus said:

 

“No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”

 

What Jesus has done here, is He has taken his dialogue from a specific teaching on a specific tradition (the fasting tradition) and he then uses two additional metaphors in order to expand his point and make it even further reaching.

 

Jesus is telling his critics that, once again, they should re-examine their ways of thinking and their ways of doing things. With these two metaphors, Jesus tells them that what He teaches them is going to seem new to them, and His ways are not going to easily mesh with the ways that they have been focusing on their traditions, their rules, and rituals

 

If you attach a patch made of new cloth onto an old, shrunken garment – it doesn’t work. When it is washed, the new patch will soon tear off and make the original tear even worse. Jesus is essentially telling them, “My teachings are not going to be something new that you can just tack on to what you are already doing. It’s not going to attach. It won’t stick. You will stay just as torn as you are and potentially even worse off.”  Then, in the next metaphor, Jesus shares:

 

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”

 

It’s the same idea, He is saying, “You can’t pour these new teachings into the vessel that you have been using. It’s going to burst the container. You need a completely new wineskin container. You need to change your understanding and your perspective so it is renewed.” And Jesus is saying all of this within the context of minimizing tradition and focusing on relationships – on the relationship with God and with others.

 

So let’s return back to the question for us today. Are there any traditions or routines that we have been using or relying on in our daily or weekly habits - that could be potentially hindering our growth with God - or at least maybe they are holding us back, or are substituting for a closer relationship with God?

 

Let me give you an example from my own marriage – in the mornings, my husband Corbin wakes up before I do, and he makes the coffee and he typically makes my cup of coffee for me. He has been doing this routine act of kindness for years. It’s to the point now where if he wakes up later than me, or if for some reason the coffee isn’t made by the time I wake up, I will joke and say, “I guess I have to make my own coffee today?” I am intending that to be sarcastic and a bit funny when I say it– but I’m not sure it always comes off that way. The point that I am trying to make is that what started as an act of thoughtfulness and kindness has become routine and with less thought put into it. And as it becomes more routine it becomes more of an expectation on my end. The tradition of my husband making my coffee for me is now routine and it does not substitute for other things that are needed to keep our relationship strong. Now, I realize I’m going to probably get in a little trouble for saying this – so Corbin, if you do listen to this or read it, I want you to know that I love you and I’m very thankful for all the cups of coffee you have prepared for me over the years! I’m just trying to make a point here – that is all.

 

The traditions, the issue with our religious traditions and routines is – we often rely on those, after they have become habits – as the only thing we are doing to represent our closeness with God. Just like a cup of coffee in the morning does not substitute for the love and growth in a close relationship.

 

So if we are really seeking a closeness with God…how would our daily routines and activities change? Would they need to change?

The spiritual truths don't just attach by tacking them on.

 

Sometimes I have to stop and reflect, “Do I think that I have grown spiritually with God over the past year – or have I backslid or stagnated?” One way to measure this is to consider the growth of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.  Have we become more loving over the past year? More patient? More kind? More peaceful? Are we more joyful than we were a year ago? Are we able to withstand difficulties and trials with more peace than before?  For me, if the answer is no – or if the answer is that I have stagnated – it usually come down to this reason:  I have allowed my relationship with God to become marked by routines and habits, a quick morning prayer here, a quick scripture reading there without actually reflecting on it. It’s kind of like I’m just making cups of coffee, and yes it once was a special act, but it’s become so routine it’s not as meaningful anymore, and I am no longer growing because the relationship isn’t growing.

 

So let’s realize that it may be time to consider that just “making the coffee” and doing the spiritual daily habits aren’t moving us forward into new ways of growing and walking with God. We need to consider if we are really present in our own time with Him, and if not, we will hopefully find these teachings of Jesus to be motivators for us to refresh our thinking and refresh our daily habits so that we truly are in a growing relationship with God, and not just in a stagnant routine.   

 

Finally, if you think you would benefit from some additional readings on methods and strategies which may be new for you and may help you in renewing the time you spend with God, then I have written a short but powerful book which can be found on Amazon. It is called Closer toGod: Simple Methods, Starting Today. I have received good

feedback from many who have read it, and they have told me it has helped them to renew and get re-motivated again in their relationship with God. It is only available at Amazon and if you have a Kindle Unlimited membership, you can read it for free. If you don’t have a Kindle Unlimited membership you can get a membership, usually free for the first 30 days and you can still read it for free during that first month. It’s also available as a Kindle book and as a paperback. It’s just a resource I want my readers and listeners to know is readily available if anyone is trying to think of some renewed strategies to help us with our spiritual motivation and to be more present with God in our day to day lives. Again it is titled, Closer to God: Simple Methods, Starting Today and it is published under the author name: Sherry Elaine Evans

 

If you would like to learn simple, practical ways to walk with God every single day, then you would really enjoy Closer to God: Simple Methods, Starting Today

If you need motivation to eat healthier or lose weight while also growing 

closer to God, then you would enjoy Weight Loss for Christians, An 

Extraordinarily Simple Way to Conquer Cravings

Book on Amazon

If you want to learn more deeply and fully about what Jesus taught, then you would enjoy He Called: 56 Daily Studies and Reflections with the Words of Christ. 

The author also interacts with her readers on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/GospelLifeBooks

Instagram: @gospellifelearning

Twitter: @gospellifelearn

Youtube: Gospel Life Learning

Author's other books can  be found at: https://www.amazon.com/Sherry-Elaine-Evans