THE SOLUTION FOR DEALING WITH WORRIES AND FEARS

For all who have been reading the devotionals God gives me to
to share (and any ‘new readers’), I just wanted to take a moment
and give some brief information about the devotionals. As you can
imagine, I could say a lot about them and the Lord’s involvement,
but I just want to mention a couple of things.

In addition to leading discussions for married couples at my church,
in 2013, the Lord tasked me with becoming His ‘distributor’ of the
devotionals He would provide. I want to emphasize up front, that
He is the ‘Author’ and I have been called to share what He provides.

Initially I was distributing them to a fairly large group of people
(via email) and later He guided me in creating a BLOG for storing
the devotionals and providing the link for each new one I receive
from Him.

He created in me a desire to distribute them as an encouragement
for others to love God and to increase their desire to hear from Him.
He made it very clear to me that none of this would be for influencing
anyone to focus on me, but that it’s all about Him, and His Son, Jesus!

The devotionals are free and each one can be read in less than 10 minutes.
Jesus suffered on the cross for six hours to show His love for us, so it is
not too much for us to spend 10-15 minutes reading and meditating on
God’s messages to us. These brief devotionals are being viewed in all
50 states and well over 80 foreign countries (so I know the Lord is using
what He provides to change lives). The views have been increasing as we
see signs that the return of Jesus is getting nearer.

Some of them are created as a series of several devotionals
with the same topic and title, such as these:
    “I’m Saved, Now What?”
    “Living A New Life In Christ”
    “Joy”
    “Learning More About The Holy Spirit”

Currently, He is providing a series of devotionals on the topic of “Love”.
He provides me with a new one each week and as of this date, He has
given me 34 of them to share. If you want to see the ones we have read
so far, type “DEVOTIONAL SERIES ON LOVE” in the Search Field
and you will see a list of them.

Each day, I am amazed at how as He provides me with the thoughts,
words, and scriptures to include in these devotionals, and the good
thing for me is, I get to read them first! I try to share what I sincerely
believe the Lord wants to communicate to us with ‘His’ devotionals.

One of the things that keeps me motivated is:
    Although His message for the day is for all of us, He often
    targets selected individuals who need to hear from Him
    that day. Why would I say that? Because I get emails and
    comments from viewers who say the devotional for that
    day was exactly what they needed to hear from the Lord.

God knows everyone who receives the devotionals (including me),
so I am not surprised when I receive positive feedback regarding
His messages for the day. It encourages me and confirms that He
is not only speaking to all of us, but He has a message specifically
designed for someone with a special need to hear from Him that
day (because of the things going on in their life at the time).

God loves us so much and He knows that we will struggle with
some of His commands. Consequently, He wants to encourage
us to become more obedient and trust Him with every part of
our lives (which means obeying all of his commands and not just
the easy ones and the ones we like).

If you enjoy hearing from the Lord, consider becoming a part
of His earthly ministry by telling others about His devotionals.
Over the years I have found that many believers want to serve
the Lord, but haven’t discovered their spiritual gift and don’t
know where to start. This is a good launching point while you
await additional directions from the Lord.

Devotional for today:

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“I sought the Lord, and He heard me,
and delivered me from all my fears.”
(Psalm 34:4)

MEDITATION:
Wouldn’t you agree that it is safe to say mankind has always had
worries and fears. We worry about the things that will happen
tomorrow. We worry about the world we live in. We worry about
our health and financial stability. We worry about the health and
bad choices of those we love.

We have fears regarding the type of world our children will have to
live in. We have fears of losing our freedoms due to corrupt politicians
in government. We have fears of being attacked by criminals (and in
particular, those without consciences or feelings of guilt for their actions).

As believers, we have fears of witnessing to others. We also have fears
of being excluded, shunned or ostracized by others because of our faith.

According to statistics, mankind’s greatest fear is the fear of
death (and following close behind is the fear of public speaking).

Many people are filled with countless anxieties. The pressures
of modern life is a major contributor to our worries. However,
Jesus gives us advice for handling our fears and worries:
    So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or
    What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
    For the pagans run after all these things, and your
    heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek
    first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these
    things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not
    worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
    itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
    (Matthew 6:31-34)

We can see two important messages in the advice Jesus gives to us.
    1. Pagans (aka ‘ungodly) will always worry and spend
        a lot of time trying to find ways to allay their fears
        and worries. Why? Because they keep trying to solve
        problems in their own strength. They haven’t discovered
        that there is a loving God who is qualified (and has a desire)
        to help us with our struggles. One of their greatest fears
        is death, because they don’t have any assurance they will
        spend eternity with the Lord.

    2. The solution to worry is to ‘seek God’s kingdom and His
         righteousness’. Whenever we ‘seek His righteousness’, it
         means that our highest priority is to have a relationship
         with God. Our desire is to not only be obedient to His
         commandments, but to also develop the characteristics
         of Jesus in our own lives.

        When we genuinely want to be more like Jesus, and this desire
        grows and becomes more intense, we will discover that we are
        being transformed into a closer relationship with Him. As our
        fellowship with Him grows, our desire to be more like Him
        increases.

        This process is a result of God beginning His sanctification of
        us when we receive salvation. God wants to transform us into
        a likeness of His Son, Jesus. For Him to do that, He will start
        removing our unrighteousness (thoughts, attitudes, habits and
        addictions) and replace them with righteousness.

        The decision every new follower of Jesus must make is,
            “Will I embrace a transformation from the Lord, or
              will I rebel and reject His efforts and choose to hold
              on tightly to the some (or all) of the unrighteousness
              things I have become comfortable with, and enjoy?”

        When we are close to the Lord and have a desire to become
        even closer, the intensity of our worries and fears will begin
        to decrease because we realize that He provides all that we
        need (maybe not all we ‘want’, but all we ‘need’).

The psalmist also gives us good advice.
    He said that once he sought the Lord,
    the Lord heard him and removed his fears.

If we want to overcome our worries and fears, then we need
to follow the advice from the psalmist and Jesus – which is
making the Lord our highest priority. It is more than just
a knowledge of His existence (even the demons are aware
of His existence); it is developing a relationship with Him
and becoming more like Jesus as we live out our lives on
earth in anticipation of joining Him in heaven at the end
of our earthly journey.

ACTION:
Are you burdened down with worries and fears? How are you
trying to overcome them? Is it through your own strength? Do
you actively seek the Lord and do you have an increasing desire
to be like Jesus?

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, I know that You have the power to help
me overcome my worries and fears. Forgive me if You are
not the highest priority in my life. Create in me a desire to
be more like You. You love us all and have a desire to see
everyone accept Your gracious gift of salvation. Help me
have a desire for the same things You desire. Your Word
tells me that when I obey Your commands, I am confirming
my love for You. Forgive me for disobeying any of Your
commands and create in me a desire to obey all of Your
commands, and not just the ones I like and the ones that
are easy for me to obey. Lord, I trust You to give me the
courage I need for witnessing to others. Help me to live
the kind of life that will serve as a witness to others that
my faith in You is genuine. Knowing that You hear me
when I pray, gives me peace, and calms my spirit in the
midst of the storms of life. You have shown and told us
of Your love for everyone You have created. Increase my
love for You so I will have a closer fellowship with You.”

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