Word for Today, Tue, 2 Jan 2001: Casting Our Cares

#1 · January 2, 2001, 9:49 am

Quote from Forum Archives on January 2, 2001, 9:49 am
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

In the past several years, I have probably heard, read, and seen
more devotionals, meditations, and sermons, on Matthew 6 than I
have any other passage of scripture. It could be that one of my
pastors really liked Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount", as it is often
called. I like it to, because it is so relevant to me. The
apostle Paul, in his letters to the early churches, often writes
about the same topics. Why is that?

It seems that there are many things that concern each one of us.
There is a frequent tendency for these things to completely
absorb and consume us. We worry, fret, get anxious, and
sometimes even get ill over the things that concern us. How do I
know this? Well, I've observed it, but I have also personally
experienced it. I have allowed the things around me to
completely consume my energy. I have worried about the troubles
I have had, to the point that, for a while, I lost my ability to
cope in a healthy way with my life at home and work. I allowed
the things around me to consume me.

It was not until I examined my thinking, and realized that I was
allowing just about anything to worry me, that I began to turn
the corner. Realizing I had a problem, and was willing to admit
it, was the first step in my turnaround.

At that point, I knew what these scriptures said, so I turned to
them again and claimed their promises. At first, I did so with
great fear, having allowed the fears themselves to consume me.
But I kept coming back to the promises that Jesus Himself made,
and decided that I would rest on those promises, one day at a
time.

What did I find out? One day at a time, the Lord led me through
the day, and kept me safe one more day. As time went on, God
used that little trickle of faith, that He, Himself, had provided
me, to strengthen my faith and teach me that His Word is not only
true, it is personally true and relevant for me.

Since that time, I have learned to share, not the great things I
have done in my life, but the weak, disgusting things I have
done, and the way God has taken my poor attitude, my weak faith,
and all the things that I lack, and has made something beautiful
out of my life.

Is this an easy journey? No way, it is a challenge every day.
Is God there? Is He faithful? Yes, definitely. He has taught
me that His ways are more sure, right, and true than even the
things that are right in front of my face. Today, I remind
myself, "How can I ever doubt the One who saved me"?

I am reminded by Neil's comments of the Psalty "Kid's Praise"
song, based on I Peter 5:7:

I cast all my cares upon You
I lay all of my burden
Down at Your feet
And any time I don't know
What to do
I will cast all my cares upon You

Dear Lord,

I thank You for the truth and the promise of Your Word. When I
consider the number of times You assure me of Your protection
and remind me not to worry I am moved. (I can think of Psalm 23,
37, Matthew 6, Philippians 4, and I Peter, off the top of my
head, so I know this is something You want me to learn and
remember).

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your personal attention to my worries
and concerns. You knew me well enough to speak repeatedly about
such matters, and being the One who made me and the One who saves
me, You have the answers. Thank You for caring enough to give
Your life for me. Because You gave it all, I know with
confidence that I can completely trust what You say. Knowing
that, I cast all of my cares and concerns upon You today, and ask
for Your protection over every aspect of my life today. Amen.

Brother Brian

Subject: Neil Anderson Devotional for Tuesday, January 2, 2001

N E I L A N D E R S O N D A I L Y D E V O T I O N A L
from Freedom in Christ Ministries

January 2

LIVE RESPONSIBLY TODAY

Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care
for itself (Matthew 6:34).

Trusting God for tomorrow is a question of our worth. Jesus
said, "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow,
neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than
they?" (Matthew 6:26). Birds are not created in the image of
God. We are! Birds will not inherit the kingdom of God, but we
shall. Birds are mortal; mankind is immortal. If God takes care
of the birds, so much more will He take care of us. That's why
the apostle Paul could write, "My God shall supply all your
needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus"
(Philippines 4:19).

Matthew 6:30,31 states: "If God so arrays the grass of the
field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the
furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little
faith? Do not be anxious then." God lays His own reputation on
the line. If we trust and obey, He will provide. This is a
question of God's integrity. "For your heavenly Father knows
that you need all these things....Therefore do not be anxious
for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has
enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:32,34).

God's will is that we live responsibly today and trust Him for
tomorrow. Are we people of little faith, or do we really believe
that the fruit of the Spirit will satisfy us more than earthly
possessions? Do we really believe that if we hunger and thirst
after righteousness, we shall be satisfied? Do we really believe
that if we seek to establish God's kingdom, God will supply all
our needs according to His riches in glory? If we do, then we
will seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these
things shall be added to us (Matthew 6:33).

Thank You, Lord for so faithfully caring for me. I gladly cast
all of my cares about today to You.

-----------
This daily devotional is published and distributed by
Crosswalk.com. It is written by Neil Anderson at
< www.ficm.org >.

You can purchase "Daily in Christ" and other titles by Neil Anderson at
christianbook.com (Christian Book Distributors - CBD).
< shopping.crosswalk.com/bye/devo_na >

Additional devotionals are available from Crosswalk.com:
< devotionals.crosswalk.com >.
-----------
To read the Current Feature Story from ReligionToday,
go to religiontoday.crosswalk.com/CurrentFeatureStory/

For today's complete News Summary from ReligionToday,
go to religiontoday.crosswalk.com/CurrentNewsSummary/

-----------
For Copyright Terms go to www.crosswalk.com/info/copyright

=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/
The Rules Have Changed...Get Paid to Surf the Web!
www.alladvantage.com/home.asp?refid=BKU-690

__________________________________________________
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Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

In the past several years, I have probably heard, read, and seen
more devotionals, meditations, and sermons, on Matthew 6 than I
have any other passage of scripture. It could be that one of my
pastors really liked Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount", as it is often
called. I like it to, because it is so relevant to me. The
apostle Paul, in his letters to the early churches, often writes
about the same topics. Why is that?

It seems that there are many things that concern each one of us.
There is a frequent tendency for these things to completely
absorb and consume us. We worry, fret, get anxious, and
sometimes even get ill over the things that concern us. How do I
know this? Well, I've observed it, but I have also personally
experienced it. I have allowed the things around me to
completely consume my energy. I have worried about the troubles
I have had, to the point that, for a while, I lost my ability to
cope in a healthy way with my life at home and work. I allowed
the things around me to consume me.

It was not until I examined my thinking, and realized that I was
allowing just about anything to worry me, that I began to turn
the corner. Realizing I had a problem, and was willing to admit
it, was the first step in my turnaround.

At that point, I knew what these scriptures said, so I turned to
them again and claimed their promises. At first, I did so with
great fear, having allowed the fears themselves to consume me.
But I kept coming back to the promises that Jesus Himself made,
and decided that I would rest on those promises, one day at a
time.

What did I find out? One day at a time, the Lord led me through
the day, and kept me safe one more day. As time went on, God
used that little trickle of faith, that He, Himself, had provided
me, to strengthen my faith and teach me that His Word is not only
true, it is personally true and relevant for me.

Since that time, I have learned to share, not the great things I
have done in my life, but the weak, disgusting things I have
done, and the way God has taken my poor attitude, my weak faith,
and all the things that I lack, and has made something beautiful
out of my life.

Is this an easy journey? No way, it is a challenge every day.
Is God there? Is He faithful? Yes, definitely. He has taught
me that His ways are more sure, right, and true than even the
things that are right in front of my face. Today, I remind
myself, "How can I ever doubt the One who saved me"?

I am reminded by Neil's comments of the Psalty "Kid's Praise"
song, based on I Peter 5:7:

I cast all my cares upon You
I lay all of my burden
Down at Your feet
And any time I don't know
What to do
I will cast all my cares upon You

Dear Lord,

I thank You for the truth and the promise of Your Word. When I
consider the number of times You assure me of Your protection
and remind me not to worry I am moved. (I can think of Psalm 23,
37, Matthew 6, Philippians 4, and I Peter, off the top of my
head, so I know this is something You want me to learn and
remember).

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your personal attention to my worries
and concerns. You knew me well enough to speak repeatedly about
such matters, and being the One who made me and the One who saves
me, You have the answers. Thank You for caring enough to give
Your life for me. Because You gave it all, I know with
confidence that I can completely trust what You say. Knowing
that, I cast all of my cares and concerns upon You today, and ask
for Your protection over every aspect of my life today. Amen.

Brother Brian

Subject: Neil Anderson Devotional for Tuesday, January 2, 2001

N E I L A N D E R S O N D A I L Y D E V O T I O N A L
from Freedom in Christ Ministries

January 2

LIVE RESPONSIBLY TODAY

Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care
for itself (Matthew 6:34).

Trusting God for tomorrow is a question of our worth. Jesus
said, "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow,
neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than
they?" (Matthew 6:26). Birds are not created in the image of
God. We are! Birds will not inherit the kingdom of God, but we
shall. Birds are mortal; mankind is immortal. If God takes care
of the birds, so much more will He take care of us. That's why
the apostle Paul could write, "My God shall supply all your
needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus"
(Philippines 4:19).

Matthew 6:30,31 states: "If God so arrays the grass of the
field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the
furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little
faith? Do not be anxious then." God lays His own reputation on
the line. If we trust and obey, He will provide. This is a
question of God's integrity. "For your heavenly Father knows
that you need all these things....Therefore do not be anxious
for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has
enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:32,34).

God's will is that we live responsibly today and trust Him for
tomorrow. Are we people of little faith, or do we really believe
that the fruit of the Spirit will satisfy us more than earthly
possessions? Do we really believe that if we hunger and thirst
after righteousness, we shall be satisfied? Do we really believe
that if we seek to establish God's kingdom, God will supply all
our needs according to His riches in glory? If we do, then we
will seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these
things shall be added to us (Matthew 6:33).

Thank You, Lord for so faithfully caring for me. I gladly cast
all of my cares about today to You.

-----------
This daily devotional is published and distributed by
Crosswalk.com. It is written by Neil Anderson at
< http://www.ficm.org >.

You can purchase "Daily in Christ" and other titles by Neil Anderson at
christianbook.com (Christian Book Distributors - CBD).
< shopping.crosswalk.com/bye/devo_na >

Additional devotionals are available from Crosswalk.com:
< devotionals.crosswalk.com >.
-----------
To read the Current Feature Story from ReligionToday,
go to religiontoday.crosswalk.com/CurrentFeatureStory/

For today's complete News Summary from ReligionToday,
go to religiontoday.crosswalk.com/CurrentNewsSummary/

-----------
For Copyright Terms go to http://www.crosswalk.com/info/copyright

=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/
The Rules Have Changed...Get Paid to Surf the Web!
http://www.alladvantage.com/home.asp?refid=BKU-690

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Photos - Share your holiday photos online!
photos.yahoo.com/