Day #148 - 'A Woman of Faith' Devotional
Verse: "Worry is a heavy load..." Proverbs 12:25 NCV
"Worry doesn't empty tomorrow of it's sorrow, it empties today of it's strength." (Corrie Ten Boom)
This is so true... worry is a futile thing. There really is no reason to be anxious or worry in the true sense of the word. Now don't get me wrong, we can get a little anxious for example, while watching Game #7 in an NHL playoff series that allows the winner to advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs... as my husband and I did last night during the game against Boston & Tampa Bay. I wasn't so much as anxious as my husband (who is a strong Bruins fan)... but I did want the Bruins to win as well for him. As you watch the game, you allow your emotions to take over, and you get worried or anxious regarding the players, the defense, the refs calls, the offense and the possibility of goals, the injury of players (on either team) (such as what happened to Stamkos getting a puck in the nose - I can still feel the pain for him, which certainly isn't the same amount of pain he felt). This is the same with life, each experience that comes our way, we can allow our feelings of worry to overcome us, and get us anxious about every little thing that comes our way during and after the first surge of worry.
Worrying is actually just silly, once you look back and see how God brought you through, but obviously in the middle of it, we don't see the 'silver lining'. With the hockey game, my husband was a little less anxious and allowed feelings of happiness to come in when his team scored the goal --- however, because there was still time left in the game, feelings of anxiousness were still there because the other team could have scored. We worry ourselves too much with the 'if only's' and the 'could happen's', and we don't focus on the 'now'. As Corrie Ten Boom commented, we spend too much time wasting today's strength, and not fully receiving what God has for us. God is in control, and we need to trust Him fully with our lives (and those around us as well). Trust Him and have the faith to believe that He is and will always be what He says He is; That He will do what He says He will do.
There will always be things to 'worry' about, but we need to cast those cares and worries at the feet of the Jesus. (1 Peter 5:7) He took ALL those to Calvary with Him for us, and we don't have to be bothered by them anymore. We do have the victory through Him! We just need to walk in the freeness, and the fullness of that truth! The enemy likes to lie to us and decieve us into thinking that we have to bear all those burdens, but we don't! JESUS IS the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE (John 14:6) and through Him we can receive that life to the fullest! Don't let the enemy deceive you or trick you any longer -- it says in His Word, that 'even the elect will be deceived'. (Matthew 24:24)
"Jesus answered: 'Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains... At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come... Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time'-'So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it." (Matthew 24:4-26)
"At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone." Titus 3:3-8 NIV
Another example of this kind of 'worry' placed on us by the enemy, is the 'END OF THE WORLD' comments made by certain religious groups. May 21st was supposed to be the 'end of the world-judgement day' according to one man (& his religious group). They put up posters, billboards, and had slogan after slogan on the internet telling people the end of the world would be May 21, 2011. They quoted a bunch of Scriptures, so that people would believe them, but they failed to mention one very important Scripture found in Matthew 24:36 - that no one will know the time when He returns. "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." If only the Father knows, and the only way we as humans can get to the Father is through the Son, then there is NO way that we as humans would know when that day is... especially if JESUS himself doesn't know. There were I'm sure people that were very worried, and were very anxious until 12:01 AM on May 22nd... same as there were people worried about the Y2K scare on December 31, 1999 to January 1, 2000. When they & we look back now, it was futile to get as worried as they/we did or may have done, and we see that we need to trust God more for sure, and not fall into traps laid out by humans through the work of the enemy. The group now claims that they were indeed wrong in their calculations, and that the end of the world is now in October 2011. So do not be deceived or tricked by them again. Place your life into the hands of the Father, and allow Him to control the future.
"Submit each day to God, knowing that He is God over all your tomorrows." ~ Kay Arthur
W.O.R.R.Y -- Whatever Oppresses, Restrains & Restricts You
J.E.S.U.S -- Just Everything Supernaturally U (& I need) Sufficiently
Cast your 'Worries' to 'Jesus' today and see what happens to them... and to you! Be RELEASED in JESUS' NAME!
BE BLESSED & BE A BLESSING!
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