“Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” (Matthew 6:31–32)
Jesus wants his followers to be free from worry; therefore he must mean that God’s knowing is accompanied by his desiring to meet our need. He is emphasizing we have a Father. And this Father is better than any earthly father.
I have five children. I love to meet their needs. But at this moment I don’t know where any of my children are. I don’t know what is in their heart at any given moment. I don’t know their future.
Because of this I can’t be for them a very strong reason not to worry. But it is totally different with Our Father in heaven! He knows everything about us, where we are, now and tomorrow, inside and out. He sees every need.
Add to that, his huge eagerness to meet our needs. Remember the “much more” of Matthew 6:30, “If God so clothes the grass of the field… will he not much more clothe you?”
Add to that his complete ability to do what he is eager to do (he feeds billions of birds hourly, around the world, Matthew 6:26).
So join me in trusting the promise of Jesus to meet our needs. That’s what he is calling for when he says, “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.”
~ John Piper

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30–31)
I feel so strongly that among those of us who have grown up in church and yet can yawn through sermon after sermon, worship service after worship service — that among us something must be done to help us once more feel the awe, the fear, the astonishment, the wonder of the Son of God, begotten by the Father from all eternity, reflecting all the glory of God, being the very image of his person, through whom all things were created, upholding the universe by the word of his power.
You can read every fairy tale, every mystery thriller, every ghost story ever written and you will never find anything so spellbinding as the story of the incarnation of the Son of God.
How dead, callous and unfeeling to your glory and your story we are, O God! Let us say, “God, I am sorry that the stories men have made up stir my emotions, my awe and wonder and admiration and joy, more than your own true story.”

Perhaps the galactic movie thrillers of our day can do at least this: they can humble us and bring us to repentance, by showing us that we really are capable of some of the wonder and awe and amazement that we so seldom feel when we contemplate the eternal God and the cosmic glory of Christ and a real living contact between them and us in Jesus of Nazareth.

Oh, how I pray for a breaking forth of the Spirit of God upon me and upon you; for the Holy Spirit to break into my experience in a frightening way, to wake me up to the unimaginable reality of God.

One of these days lightning is going to fill the sky from the rising of the sun to its setting, and there is going to appear in the clouds the Son of Man with his mighty angels in flaming fire. And we will see him clearly. And whether from terror or sheer excitement, we will tremble and we will wonder how we ever lived so long with such a domesticated, harmless Christ.
The whole Bible is written that we might believe — that we might be stunned and awakened to the wonder — that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came into the world.
~ John Piper

Why do you obey God? If it is out of a sense of gratitude, it may indeed be off base. For example, “Look how much God has done for you. Shouldn’t you, out of gratitude, do much for him?” Or, “You owe God everything that you are and have. What have you done for him in return?”
There are 3 problems with this:
1. First, it is impossible to pay God back for all the grace he has given us. (Romans 11:35). He already owns all we have to give him — including all our efforts.
2. Even if we succeeded in paying him back for all his grace to us, it would only be turning grace into a business transaction. If we can pay him back, it was not grace. If someone tries to show you a special favor of love by having you over for dinner, and you end the evening by saying that you will pay them back by having them over next week, you nullify their grace and turn it into a trade. God does not like to have his grace nullified. He likes to have it glorified (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14).
3. It tends to overlook the crucial importance of having faith in God’s future grace. Gratitude looks back to grace received in the past and feels thankful. Faith looks forward to grace promised in the future — whether in five minutes or five centuries from now — and feels hopeful. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:1).

Obedience does not consist in paying God back and therefore turning grace into a trade. Obedience comes from trusting in God for more grace — future grace — and thus magnifying the infinite resources of God’s love and power. Faith looks to the promise, I will be “with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9), and goes ahead, in obedience to whatever He asks you to do.
~ John Piper

Thinking . . . either God makes a difference in my every day life or He doesn’t. If He doesn’t, that means I am on my own and I better try as hard as I can to get to the “positive side of the ledger”. If He does, then it only makes sense to get to know Him and His ways more and more all the time . . .
Max Lucado says, “No moment, event, or detail falls outside of God’s supervision. God is the one who “causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). He isn’t making up this plan as he goes along. Daniel 5:21 says, “The most High God rules the kingdom of men, and sets over it whom he will.”
God took the crucifixion of Jesus on Friday and turned it into the celebration of Sunday. Can he not do a reversal for you?”

It was on the Sabbath – our Saturday – that Jesus went , as the song says, “from the Cross to the grave.” (Matthew 27:57-61, 66)
There He was, Jesus the Messiah – dead and buried. All the hopes and dreams of His kingdom gone.

Jesus tried to tell them this would happen. But few truly understood what Jesus came to do. Few could grasp the purpose of the Lamb who “was slain before the foundation of the world.”

My father-in-law, Pastor Ray McCollum, always taught that between the promise and the provision, there’s a problem.
That problem with Saturday – the second day – is that we don’t have a clear understanding that the third day – Sunday – will bring life, hope, and resurrection power. The good news of the gospel is about the death and burial AND resurrection of Jesus!

Just as surely as Friday and Saturday came, so did Sunday. We can be encouraged that Sunday is definitely coming! The provision of God comes on Sunday. The Easter story of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus brings confirmation to us that we can live with expectant faith and hope in the power of the resurrected Christ. Just as surely as Jesus was resurrected, He will show up for us in our hour of need. Death couldn’t stop Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him. Because we are seated with Him in heavenly places, we are partakers with Him of His glorious overcoming power.

If your life at this point is a Saturday season for you, rest assured that Sunday is coming! God is faithful and trustworthy – believe Him and live in hope!
~ Kirk Henderson

You can have confidence in these uncertain times because 1) God does EVERYTHING according to his good pleasure and with a purpose, and 2) He willingly chose YOU to be a part of His plan. Commit your life to Him today and rest – knowing that He’s in control and He’s got you!

“The power of knowing that you are chosen means that God took into account every mistake, every “deficiency”, everything that you think is missing in your life… God accounted for it all. He knew what He was doing when He made you. That’s why you don’t have to chase status, approval, validation, or clout because YOU’RE CHOSEN. When you know that you are chosen, you don’t have to chase anything because no one has anything to give you that your father didn’t already put inside of you. YOU’RE CHOSEN!”
~ Steven Furtick

“God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless in God’s presence before the creation of the world. God destined us to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ because of his love. This was according to his goodwill and plan and to honor his glorious grace that he has given to us freely through the Son whom he loves.

This is what God planned for the climax of all times: to bring all things together in Christ, the things in heaven along with the things on earth. We have also received an inheritance in Christ. We were destined by the plan of God, who accomplishes everything according to his design.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1:4-6, 10-11‬

God is more interested in our deliverance than our desire. 

Sometimes we desire big and great things in life, and hope in their fulfillment. Maybe we desire the wrong things. And other times, we desire the hurts, the emptiness, and all the hard parts of our lives to go away. 

Even though there’s still unsettling circumstances or still uncertainty. The promises of God still remain true and still stand firm. 

So we look ahead knowing our Deliverer will come through. Whatever today brings, we claim God’s promises. Whatever tomorrow holds, we trust in God’s direction.

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5)

Prayer: God, let Your desires for me become my desires. Help me trust You as my Deliverer over the hard parts of life. Remind me Your promises still remain true and stand firm. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

In our thoughts, most of us are experts at anticipating the “what if’s” that life could bring us – these kinds of thoughts produce worry. Worry is a response to fear.

But here’s a different kind of “what if.” What if we had the ability- through the power of God’s word and the Holy Spirit- to actually calm and quiet our own soul?

King David has some wise words for us:

“LORD, my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD From this time forth and forever.” (Psalms 131:1-3)

What does he mean by “things too profound for me”? I believe he is saying that he intentionally avoided over-thinking the various possibilities of dread in life that were beyond his control. David actually counts this as pride – to presume to know all things and fully prepare for all things unknown. Only God knows the future. Our lives are in His hands. It’s not our job to have faith and believe for the worst in life. That’s beyond our natural ability.

However, we do have the ability to believe for God’s divine intervention and have faith in His abundant provision and safety. We don’t pretend that nothing is wrong and deceive ourselves. But we can choose to not focus on the reality of circumstances and redirect our focus on God’s character, goodness and strength in times of trouble.

David also calmed himself. We can do the same by intentionally reminding ourselves of God’s word and His goodness. The truth of God’s faithfulness in the midst of perilous situations has to ring louder in our ears that the fear of man!

He will never leave us. What can separate us from the love of God? Our hope is in the Lord, who will never leave us or forsake us. Let us remind ourselves and others of this truth and immerse our thoughts in Jesus’ love daily!

~ Kirk Henderson

We find ourselves quite often alone with our thoughts. Most of us are experts at anticipating the “what if’s” that life could bring us – the things we most dread and fear. And these kinds of thoughts produce worry.

Worry is a response to fear and it can easily sabotage a wonderful day or evening. Out of nowhere, the enemy reminds us of a dreaded possibility and we ruminate on it, often without much effort.

But here’s a different kind of “what if.” What if we had the ability- through the power of God’s word and the Holy Spirit- to actually calm and quiet our own soul?

King David has some wise words for our moments of contemplation…

“LORD, my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD From this time forth and forever.” (Psalms 131:1-3 NKJV)

What does he mean by “things too profound for me”? I believe he is saying that he intentionally avoided over-thinking the various possibilities of dread in life that were beyond his control. David actually counts this as pride – to presume to know all things and fully prepare for all things unknown. Only God knows the future. Our lives are in His hands. It’s not our job to have faith and believe for the worst in life. That’s beyond our natural ability.

However, we do have the ability to believe for God’s divine intervention and have faith in His abundant provision and safety. We don’t pretend that nothing is wrong and deceive ourselves. But we can choose to not focus on the reality of circumstances and redirect our focus on God’s character, goodness and strength in times of trouble.

David also calmed himself. We can do the same by intentionally reminding ourselves of God’s word and His goodness. We must talk to ourselves- even out loud if we have to. The truth of God’s faithfulness in the midst of perilous situations has to ring louder in our ears that the fear of man or the reality of the status quo!

A weaned child has had the experience of the love, security, and provision from his mother. At this stage of life, the child has formed a beautiful trust in his source. We can take our cues from this analogy by resting in God’s promises. We have first-hand experience of His love and goodness. He will never leave us. What can separate us from the love of God? This eternal perspective will cause us to reject the negative evaluations of our soul and embrace the truth of God’s presence and faithfulness in trying times.

Our hope is in the Lord, who will never leave us or forsake us. We should remind ourselves and others of this truth daily and immerse our thoughts with Jesus and His mercy.

~ copied

Part 1 in a 4-part series

The Lord never created us for control. Control was always meant to remain with Him.
“For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.” (Psalm 22:28)
Our heavenly Father created us for dependency on Him.
Therefore, here are 4 things God’s more interested in from us as His children:

1.) God is more interested in our surrender than our sufficiency.
Although your struggles, needs, and empty spaces may look different than mine, we all experience the same moments of desperation.
Like the kind that makes us hope we are all cried out someday. The kind that makes us question our faith. And praying the same prayer over and over because of a lingering void in our life.
But we hold the power not to let it affect the trajectory of our lives. Our power comes in focusing on how complete God is, not how incomplete we are. We concentrate on our heavenly Father’s sufficiency instead of our shortage.
To do this, we put the spotlight on God’s power and glory. Total serenity comes in placing our hope in the Lord alone. So, we fully surrender to who He is as God and Lord over our lives.
“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God.” (2 Corinthians 3:4)
Prayer: Lord, help me surrender to You. Because in You, I find true sufficiency. In Jesus’ name. Amen.