St Matthew, Chapter 6, verses: 31 - 34, Sermon on the Mount: Seek first the Kingdom of God for your Father knows your needs.

We end chapter 6 with the paragraph topic:  (We must have trust in God). 

Christ started this chapter by telling us that we should be pure in our intentions.  He told us that we should not do our good before men lest we loose our reward in heaven.  He continued by telling us that we should pray in secret so that our heavenly father will see us in secret and reward us because we do not do our good deeds before men but before God.  He taught us how we should give alms.  He told us how to pray and gave us an outline of a prayer.  Then he told us about fasting in secret before our father and not before men.  He gave us examples of things to consider when anxiety comes upon us, the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. 

All of this comes to the closing of this chapter where Christ further concludes that we should not be anxious about anything because our heavenly father already knows what we need.  So, why should we worry him and create stressful situations for ourselves, if he already knows what we need.  Our anxiety will not cause one hair on our heads to grow.  Our worrying will not cause us to gain one cubits in stature.  Our stress will not change one thing in our lives.  Our fear will cause us to get sick, it will put our bodies in a physical condition conducive to risk that could lead to the breakdown of normal functions and lead to corruption of our health.  Our stress may lead to heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, overeating, loss of energy, lack of proper sleep, and overall poor health.  Yet we continue to follow the road of the world and allow all of these conditions to affect us when all we have to do is trust in God. 

This may be easy to say but here it is in black and white, given to us some 2000 years ago by the spokesperson of God himself, Christ.  He tells us,  "Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be given you besides."   God loves us.  He is our father and he wants the best for us.  But we must first seek what is of the spiritual realm and that of the physical realm will be provided to us.  For that of the spiritual realm is of greater value and of eternal life than that of the physical realm which is of lesser value and of death.  Therefore, seek first the kingdom of God and his justice.  And when you find the kingdom you will know that the physical realm is of no value.  You will see that your joy and your peace comes from God and the things that you desire today you will no longer need.  The gadgets and shinny baubles that gave you passion today will only be dirt compared to the everlasting knowledge in Christ Jesus.

The knowledge of Christ sustains us.  The knowledge of Christ feeds us.  he knowledge of Christ clothes us.  The knowledge of Christ puts a roof over our heads and protects us.  The knowledge of Christ provides for us and gives us the resources we need to do his will.  For the knowledge of Christ is God.  It is God's will that we do and not ours when we have his knowledge.  Nothing else matters.  Christ then becomes our employer.  Christ then gives us a paycheck.  Christ then opens doors to opportunities.  Christ then promotes us to positions where we shine our lights that bring others out of the darkness and into the light.  For they see us and the works that we do to the glory of God. 

Be not anxious.  For tomorrow has anxieties of its own.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.  For if we are anxious about the needs of tomorrow, what will happen when we are sufficient for today.  What will we become when our food is provided for today.  What will we think about when all of our bills are paid up for today.  What will we do to supply our minds when we do not worry about providing for ourselves for tomorrow.  We become complacent.  We seek pleasure.  We seek lust.  We seek fun and challenge.  We seek thrills.  We then open ourselves to all of the inclinations of the mind that give way to the carnal suggestions from our passions and those that come from the devil. 

Be prepared.  Seek the kingdom of God first and all these other things will be given to you.    

St Matthew, Chapter 6, verses: 28 - 30, The Sermon on the Mount: Have faith for God clothes the lillies of the field in great splendor.

Our paragraph topic for today is:  (God clothes the lilies). 

Christ continues to talk about how God feeds us.  Today he tells us that we should not be anxious  for our clothing.  He gives us an example to ponder by telling us to consider the lilies of the field.  He says that the lilies do not toil or spin but in their glory they have more splendor than King Solomon in all of his kingly splendor and glory.  So, if God will take care of the lilies of the field and the grass, how much more will he take care of us.

In today's time it is not God whom we believe that will provide for us.  We believe that it is not our heaven Father that will give us our daily bread.  We believe that it is the government.  We believe that it is the local supermarket.  We believe that it is the gas station, the laundry mat, the airlines, the trucking company, the manufacturer, the car dealership, the restaurants, the convention center, etc., that will provide us with a job and give us a weekly or monthly paycheck to pay our bills.  We depend on these entities to provide for us.  We believe that God does not employ, at least not in these hard times.  Those who wish to become priests and ministers and deacons may be provided for by their parishioners, but the rest of us depend on a job to sustain us and provide for our well being and not God. 

We place our faith on being able to get a 9 to 5 that pays a descent wage that will allow us to survive.  We do not put that faith in God.  We place our faith in the world, that it will be stable enough to maintain our economy so that we can live in peace and harmony.  We believe in the system, and not in God.  Yet God gave us the system.  God maintains the system.  God allows for the system to exist so that it will provide for us. 

God created the heavens, the stars, and moon, and the sun.  He is the reason that the sun holds its orbit and does not pull the earth into it.  He provides for the rain that waters the earth and the rain gives us water to drink.  He is the reason that the earth grows food.  He is the reason that we have fish in the sea and the reason that life regenerates itself through the animals that we rely upon for our food.  He causes the wind to blow.  He makes the sun to shine.  He has provided the earth with all kinds of minerals and elements that we use to make the products that assist us with our daily life.  God created the beauty that surrounds us in the trees and the flowers, and the birds, and the plants, and all life.  He created the stars and the galaxies that we see in awe and wonder.  Yet within our minds we do not accept the evidence that is before us.

We accept football games.  We accept parties.  We accept cars, and clothes, and money, and sex and lust, and beer and wine, and alcohol, and wealth, and music and TV, and all manner of earthly things.  It is not his glory that we accept but the glory of men that we worship.  For man has done great wonders on this earth.  He has created great inventions that give us the pleasures of life.  He has created great buildings and great machines, and great marvels that give us the life we live.  All of these things keep us focused on man and yet even man himself is the glory of God. 

But even the creation of man is being refuted by our great minds, making us believe that we are creations of chance.  We are products of evolution that has created all life on this planet.  Therefore, we are not alone in this universe.  As a result of evolution, our great minds would have us believe that somewhere out there in the universe there are other beings great and small.  And with that mindset we have the TV and movie, scientific fantasies of today.  We now believe that we will live into the twenty fifth century.  We will travel the galaxies.  We will encounter other life forms.  We will survive all manner of dangers and battles.  This is our future.  This our mindset without God as our focus.

We have taken away the central belief in our God.  We have abandoned our faith in our creator and substituted it for smoke, created by man and supplanted by the devil.  Christ, in this sermon, admonishes us as being of little faith.  He has given us proof of the existence of our heavenly father and how he provides for us, yet we do not believe.  We have no faith in our God.  And when trouble comes, do we turn to him?  When hard times come do we believe that God will provide?  When good times come do we acknowledge God and give him the glory?  We can see the beauty in the flowers, the birds, the trees, and even in each other.  Can we give glory to God for the wonders that he has put before?  With this evidence, can we have just a little faith that we will survive and God will take care of us? 

It is amazing the structure and sequence of these sermons that Christ has given us.  He tells us of true riches.  Then he tells us that God feeds the birds of the field and in this sermon he tells us of the lilies of the field.  All three sermons point to our faith in our heavenly father.  We spin and toil over such little things and miss the one thing that is of most importance, God our father.  Believe that he is alive.  Believe that he will provide.  Believe that you are more than just flesh and blood.  Believe that you are a spirit being created in the image and likeness of God.  Seek the evidence of your existence for Christ has told us that the eye is the lamp of the body and if the eye is sound we are full of light.  Let your light shine within and know that you are a child of God.  Let your faith know that you believe.
 

St Matthew, Chapter 6, verses: 25 - 27, The Sermon on the Mount: Do not be anxious for your life, or for food, or for clothing.

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.