Don't Worry III

This is the third part of the series I call - Don’t Worry

Jesus warned His followers about serving two masters - The Almighty God and Mammon.

No man can SERVE two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. - Matthew 6:24 (KJV)

He said it is not possible to worship two masters, this is based on the Law of Middle Ground

The Law of Middle Ground states that -

that there’s no middle ground.

You cannot be in two places at the same time, you cannot have light in a room and at the same time have darkness.

In the spiritual realm, you cannot sit on a spiritual fence. You are either in the kingdom of light or you are in darkness.

But verse 24 isn’t my focus today, my focus today is from verse 25, His sermon continues. The next verse continues with the word: ‘Therefore’

THEREFORE I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? - Matthew 6:25 (KJV)

Several translations have the word ‘therefore’ which is a conjunctive adverb. This tells us that the speaker was still speaking on the same subject of worshipping 2 masters.

‘Therefore’ there•fore adv. /ˈðeəfɔː(r) / from Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary means

used to introduce the logical result of something that has just been mentioned

Wow!!!

To surmise this in a sentence: Jesus was going to tell us that when you worry about material things and well being - things that money can buy, you are serving mammon because those things have taken the place of God in you heart.

I think the New Living Translation does a good job by replacing the word ‘therefore’ with a relative clause ‘that is why’:

“THAT IS WHY I tell you not to WORRY ABOUT EVERYDAY LIFE—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? - Matthew 6:25 (NLT)

So the reason why Jesus told them that they can’t serve 2 masters at the same time is, when one worries about the cares of life - what to eat, drink, wear etc they take their eyes away from the True Master whom they ought to serve and rely on and give their attention to worldliness and its god - the god of this present world.

He mentioned worry several times in verses 28,29,32 & 34.

The knowledge that God knows what you are going through is the place to start. Realising that you are not alone, that he’s right there with you.

Jesus didn’t leave us without a way out of worry, he said:

These things DOMINATE the THOUGHTS of UNBELIEVERS, but your heavenly Father ALREADY KNOWS all your needs. - Matthew 6:32 (NLT)

If God knows, he knows the way out.

He has got the master plan.

He said don’t worry about them, God our Father already knows our needs. When we worry, it sends the wrong signal to God. Like we don’t believe that He thinks good thoughts about us, that we will do a better job taking care of ourselves than He will.

So we carry the burden ourselves.

Know He knows, and ‘fling’ all the cares and worry on Him:

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. - 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)

Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. - Psalms 55:22 (NLT)

God knows that when we are emotionally balanced in our minds, we will be more healthy mentally. That’s why Jesus said that worrying about things is how unbelievers roll. It is what dominates their minds and thoughts, as Christians it shouldn’t dominate our mind.

That’s why Paul gave us a list of things that should dominate the mind of a believer:

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. FIX YOUR THOUGHTS on what is TRUE, and HONORABLE, and RIGHT, and PURE, and LOVELY, and ADMIRABLE. Think about things that are EXCELLENT and WORTHY of PRAISE. - Philippians 4:8 (NLT)

You might jump on me and say Paul wasn’t talking about all these things as a solution to worry. Then I say to you, “you might have to look at the pre-text in verse 6”, which takes me to the next point.

Don’t WORRY about anything; INSTEAD, PRAY about everything. Tell God what you need, and THANK him for all he has done. - Philippians 4:6 (NLT)

You can see clearly Paul was handling the subject of worry. This is an important subject that contends with worship in our hearts.

Paul said pray about it and forget it.

After praying, step into thanksgiving. Start with thanking him for all the things He did for you in the past, them step into thanking Him for the present worries - this is a show of faith in God who already knows that we have need of these things.

Thanksgiving is a key that unlocks indescribable peace, the atmosphere where miracles thrive:

Then you will experience GOD’S PEACE, an indescribable warm feeling on your inside that calms you and tells you, ‘it is done!’, ‘it has been handled’.

His PEACE will GUARD your HEARTS and MINDS as you live in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:7 (NLT)

This unusual peace, the calm in the midst of storm, guards your heart and mind. This is the peace that Jesus had when He slept through the storm in the boat. This peace gives no place to mammon in your heart.

Practice these steps, the peace of God is unlocked when you cast your cares, worry, anxieties on Him through prayer, thank Him and fix your mind on the word of God:

KEEP PUTTING into PRACTICE all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. THEN the God of peace will be with you. - Philippians 4:9 (NLT)

May the God of Peace dwell in you as your miracles hastens.

No more depression!

No more suicidal thoughts!

Answered Prayers!

Met Desires!

💗

See you at the next one!