Today's paragraph topic is: (God feeds the birds).
Christ takes a turn in his sermon by telling us about the birds that God takes care of and feeds. He tells us directly: "Do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on." This is a direct statement to those who heard him long ago and to us who read the Bible, today. Yet how is it possible to not be anxious? How is it possible in this world that we live in today to not be concerned or to not worry about what we shall eat or what we shall drink, or what we shall put on, or how our bills will be paid, or how or mortgages will be made, or how the car note will get paid, or any of the concerns that we have in these hard economic times.
Being able to find a job to pay our bills is a number one priority with many of those who are unemployed today. The economy has sank to a low that has not been seen since the great depression. Thousands of people do not have jobs or income to support themselves. People are cutting back to the bare essentials to meet the basic needs of life. Amongst all of this turmoil and chaos comes Christ's words telling us to not be anxious. How can we not be anxious?
Christ tells us to look at the birds of the air. They neither work, or have jobs. They do not have money in bank accounts or savings accounts, or investments. Yet our heavenly Father feeds them. What will he do with us? Will he let us starve? Will he allow us to live without shelter? Will he allow us to be without clothes to keep us warm? Or do we believe that he has anything to do with it? Is it not up to us to provide for ourselves? Are we not the ones who must work to provide for ourselves and our families, to keep a roof over our heads, to keep the bills paid, to keep the lights, water, gas, and electricity on? Or is this God's responsibility? We did not have anything to do with the economy failing. We go to work and do the things that we have done for years, being average people and this happens. Our means of support fails and the job that we worked in 10, 15, 20 years is now no longer there to support us and our families. It's like a storm came along and wiped out all that we had to live on and now we have nothing.
What shall we do? How shall we survive? Worry and anxiety are a daily part of my thinking because I am faced with all of these problems with no solutions. I worry. And I worry and I continue to worry. Worrying makes me sick and gives me headaches. It drains me of all my energy. It takes the life out of me. And Christ asks, which of us by being anxious can make any of this change? Which of us by being anxious about it, can add to his stature one inch??
It is an easy thing to say, trust in God. It is a cliche saying that God will provide. How will he provide? How will he take care? Will he pay my house note? Will he put food on my table? Will he make a miracle happen and help me win the lottery? How do I trust? How do I believe? How do I have faith??
These are the questions that our minds may question as we think about what this sermon tells us to do. If we have no foundation in faith then it is not something that is easy to do. If we have some belief in God and Christ and know that their words are truth, then it becomes a battle in our minds. It becomes a battle to keep the thoughts from coming that would have us be anxious about our life. It becomes a battle of belief.
Satan would have us believe that we are on our own and that God will not provide for us. He would have us to take control and attempt to fix the problem ourselves. He would have us to try and find solutions on our own. And many will take up the gun and the knife to commit sins by robbery and stealing and all manner of other illegal activity.
God, through Christ, tells us to not allow anxiety to take control of us. He tells us to know that we are valuable in his eyes and that he will provide for us. He will not allow us to fail. He will not allow us to be without food and shelter and clothing to keep us warm, if we believe in him. His words are truth. His words do not lie. His words will fight the battle in our minds that would have us believe that their is no God who will provide for us. It is up to us to put those words in our minds. It is up to us to keep those words before us when the other thoughts come. It is up to us to believe within our hearts that we are children of our heavenly Father and he will not fail us. We must pray on this. We must meditate on his words. We must keep them in our hearts and minds, daily, weekly, and even minute by minute. For he will take care of us if we believe in him.
For those who do not have a foundation, then it is time to build a foundation. It is time to try something that you have not tried before. It is time to try God. Give him the opportunity to come into your life. Give him the chance to provide for you. Give him the time to show you that he is real and alive and the Lord of the heaven and earth.
Read his words. Keep them near to you. Take them with you wherever you go. Write them out on paper and memorize them. Believe in them and surround yourself with others who also believe in them. These actions will change your life. He will give you signs of his work. He will show you that he loves you. He will be close to you in your every need, if you do not allow anxiety to come in. If you keep the door closed to those negative thoughts that would have you believe that God will not provide, you give yourself the opportunity to see how good God is. Open your eyes. Open your mind. Open your heart. Let God come into your life and keep him there as you build a foundation for a life that is not of this world.
Christ takes a turn in his sermon by telling us about the birds that God takes care of and feeds. He tells us directly: "Do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on." This is a direct statement to those who heard him long ago and to us who read the Bible, today. Yet how is it possible to not be anxious? How is it possible in this world that we live in today to not be concerned or to not worry about what we shall eat or what we shall drink, or what we shall put on, or how our bills will be paid, or how or mortgages will be made, or how the car note will get paid, or any of the concerns that we have in these hard economic times.
Being able to find a job to pay our bills is a number one priority with many of those who are unemployed today. The economy has sank to a low that has not been seen since the great depression. Thousands of people do not have jobs or income to support themselves. People are cutting back to the bare essentials to meet the basic needs of life. Amongst all of this turmoil and chaos comes Christ's words telling us to not be anxious. How can we not be anxious?
Christ tells us to look at the birds of the air. They neither work, or have jobs. They do not have money in bank accounts or savings accounts, or investments. Yet our heavenly Father feeds them. What will he do with us? Will he let us starve? Will he allow us to live without shelter? Will he allow us to be without clothes to keep us warm? Or do we believe that he has anything to do with it? Is it not up to us to provide for ourselves? Are we not the ones who must work to provide for ourselves and our families, to keep a roof over our heads, to keep the bills paid, to keep the lights, water, gas, and electricity on? Or is this God's responsibility? We did not have anything to do with the economy failing. We go to work and do the things that we have done for years, being average people and this happens. Our means of support fails and the job that we worked in 10, 15, 20 years is now no longer there to support us and our families. It's like a storm came along and wiped out all that we had to live on and now we have nothing.
What shall we do? How shall we survive? Worry and anxiety are a daily part of my thinking because I am faced with all of these problems with no solutions. I worry. And I worry and I continue to worry. Worrying makes me sick and gives me headaches. It drains me of all my energy. It takes the life out of me. And Christ asks, which of us by being anxious can make any of this change? Which of us by being anxious about it, can add to his stature one inch??
It is an easy thing to say, trust in God. It is a cliche saying that God will provide. How will he provide? How will he take care? Will he pay my house note? Will he put food on my table? Will he make a miracle happen and help me win the lottery? How do I trust? How do I believe? How do I have faith??
These are the questions that our minds may question as we think about what this sermon tells us to do. If we have no foundation in faith then it is not something that is easy to do. If we have some belief in God and Christ and know that their words are truth, then it becomes a battle in our minds. It becomes a battle to keep the thoughts from coming that would have us be anxious about our life. It becomes a battle of belief.
Satan would have us believe that we are on our own and that God will not provide for us. He would have us to take control and attempt to fix the problem ourselves. He would have us to try and find solutions on our own. And many will take up the gun and the knife to commit sins by robbery and stealing and all manner of other illegal activity.
God, through Christ, tells us to not allow anxiety to take control of us. He tells us to know that we are valuable in his eyes and that he will provide for us. He will not allow us to fail. He will not allow us to be without food and shelter and clothing to keep us warm, if we believe in him. His words are truth. His words do not lie. His words will fight the battle in our minds that would have us believe that their is no God who will provide for us. It is up to us to put those words in our minds. It is up to us to keep those words before us when the other thoughts come. It is up to us to believe within our hearts that we are children of our heavenly Father and he will not fail us. We must pray on this. We must meditate on his words. We must keep them in our hearts and minds, daily, weekly, and even minute by minute. For he will take care of us if we believe in him.
For those who do not have a foundation, then it is time to build a foundation. It is time to try something that you have not tried before. It is time to try God. Give him the opportunity to come into your life. Give him the chance to provide for you. Give him the time to show you that he is real and alive and the Lord of the heaven and earth.
Read his words. Keep them near to you. Take them with you wherever you go. Write them out on paper and memorize them. Believe in them and surround yourself with others who also believe in them. These actions will change your life. He will give you signs of his work. He will show you that he loves you. He will be close to you in your every need, if you do not allow anxiety to come in. If you keep the door closed to those negative thoughts that would have you believe that God will not provide, you give yourself the opportunity to see how good God is. Open your eyes. Open your mind. Open your heart. Let God come into your life and keep him there as you build a foundation for a life that is not of this world.
