A word from the Word “Off to a bad start” July 22, 2013 Scripture: Philippians 4.4-9 Verse for the day: Philippians 4.6 “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Additional Scripture: I Peter 5:7; Psalm 39:6; Luke 10:41; The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety. --George Muller How is your day starting off today? Most of you spent yesterday in the House of the Lord and I trust you found yourself encouraged and challenged to live the victorious life that God intends for all of His children. But this is Monday morning how did you find your frame of mind this morning as you ‘crawled’ out of bed? Or perhaps you bounded up out of bed with joy, energy and a ‘Lord, nothing can happen today but that you and I together can/will handle it” attitude. I hope the latter is true in your case. Is it dread, fear or anxiety that causes the teenager to mumble and grumble as he/she are called by mom in the morning? Why is it that the best dreams are always interrupted to get out of bed; why does it always rain on Monday morning; Oh Yuck! I hate oatmeal; and these complaints are not limited of course to young people, Why do I have to go to work?; My car isn’t running very well (guess I’ll have to take it in); Man has always been prone to worry, and the pressures of modern life have aggravated the problem. We worry about “What tomorrow may bring, we worry about what tomorrow may not bring. Teens worry about tests in class, jobs for tomorrow, how their favorite person is going to respond to them in any kind of situation, we worry about sports teams, how our garden is growing, how much rain we got, are getting. We worry about the end times, we worry about Israel, and Hamas, in in general the state of the world and peace. Historians may very well call our time “The age of anxiety” And then we come to the table and pray “Thank you Lord for the beautiful day, thank you Lord for the good food…”. Or, put it in another context for the anxious Christian, you barely get in the car on your way out of the church parking lot and you begin to complain about the message, the challenge, or the meal you are headed home to have. God, wants us to be joyful Christians, not grumbling Christians. Sometimes we get into the bad havit of grumbling about everything and after such a bad start days generally get worse. When you find yourself in such straits, try jumping up out of bed with a song on your lips and in your heart. Be sure and take that first opportunity to spend time with the Lord who wants you to have a good day rejoicing in the things He has done and provided for you. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN: WALK WITH THE KING JFW
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 12:32:07 +0000