Anxiety

Anxiety is sin. My anxiety infers that:

-God is incompetent.
If I’m anxious, it suggests that there’s an issue in my life that God is potentially incapable of resolving. If His arm is not shrt and His ear is not deaf why am I kicking and screaming trying to save myself?

-God is forgetful.
Do I suspect that my need has slipped God’s mind? Does the Lord need me to send Him a reminder in the form of my panic and stress…just to make sure He doesn’t miss the appointment?

-God is indifferent.
1 Peter 5:7 teaches that I can cast all my anxiety on Him-because-and only because-He cares for me.
By refusing to cast my cares on Him, I expose my deep down belief that He really doesn’t care -about me…about my particular burden. Anxiety puts the pressure on me to perform as my own personal Saviour, thereby undermining the intentions of God on my behalf.

Be anxious for nothing.
Anxiety is unbiblical. It’s counterproductive. And it’s a direct insult to the proven character of a powerful, faithful, loving God.

Faith Is Action

I like the old King James translation of Hebrews 11:1:

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith is not an abstract theoretical proposition. It’s not wishful thinking. It’s substance. It’s action. Faith is something you do and not just something you think about.

Most of my life I imagined faith is synonymous with hope.

But according to Heb 11:1, that is not so. The more I study Scripture, the more I detect a sharp distinction between hope and faith. Hope is a desire. Faith is a demonstration. Hope wants it to happen. Faith causes it to happen and acts as if it’s already done.

Faith is not content to want it really, really bad. Faith consults the drawings and gets busy building. Hope is the blueprint. Faith is the contractor.

Some of the things we’re believing God for will never happen in our lives if we just stand in hope instead of walking in faith. At some point hope must become substance. At some point, you must step out of the boat and put your hope into action.

Gamblers For Christ

"He risked his life for the work of Christ."

What a commendation by the Apostle Paul speaking of Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:30. That Greek verb for risk, parabouleuomai, can be translated: "to play the gambler." And it's that word and the example set by Ephaphroditus that inspired the Parabolani Brotherhood, aka the Gamblers. The Parabolani Brotherhood were the members of a Christian brotherhood who in the Early Church voluntarily undertook the care of the sick and the burial of the dead when no one else wanted to do it. They gambled their lives by exposing themselves to contagious diseases and caring for the sick during the plagues.

Gambler for Christ. I like that terminology. I think it has an edge to it. And I think it's a reminder of our calling. While soldiers gambled for his clothing, Christ gambled his life on the cross for yours. And he didn't die just to keep us safe. He died to make us dangerous. What are you gambling for Christ? What risks are you taking to serve the cause of Christ?

You are not playing it safe, are you?

It Will BE Just Like Jesus Said!

They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
Luke 22:13

Jesus gave the disciples very specific instructions about the preparations they needed to make for the Passover meal. See Luke 22: 7-12.

The disciples followed His instructions to the detail. And everything was in place, just like Jesus said.

I can’t count the number of times God has called me to take a step of obedience that seemed somewhat far fetched at the time. But when I got to the place where he told me to go, I found things just as Jesus told me they would be.

When God calls you to obey Him in your finances, career, or relationships, do it. And once you get there, you’ll find everything is in its place.

Just like Jesus told you.

You know what happens as a result. You grow closer to Him. You just learn to trust Him more and trust Him big. That is what big faith does, it builds a great relationship with Jesus. Because trust is the essence of all relationships!

Celebrate!

Some people wonder why we take the trouble to celebrate special occasions like church anniversary or birthdays. And at first glance, I can see how all the fuss may seem like a misappropriation of energy and effort. After all, doesn’t a growing, thriving, mission-centric church have more important things to do?

I feel the same way sometimes when I read through all of the required feasts and festivals God prescribed for Israel in the Old Testament. Didn’t they have more important things to do? Doesn’t the celebration and remembrance get a little excessive?

Apparently God didn’t think so. He commanded that His children commemorate His extravagant deliverance in an extravagant and intentional way.

The Pharisees found fault with the extravagant demonstration of appreciation initiated by a sinful woman in Luke 7:36-50. Jesus commended her expression of love as appropriate and fitting… “he who has been forgiven much loves much”.

It might not always be convenient or efficient to stop and make a big deal about the things God has done, but it’s Biblical and worthwhile.

When God changes a lives in your cell, make a big deal about it! When someone in your cell gets baptized celebrate? Babies first-month? Celebrate the gift from God!
When your ministry gets a fresh breakthrough and hits a new level, make a big deal about it!
When your one of your kids makes significant progress, make a big deal about it!

When we fail to celebrate what God did for us yesterday, on what grounds do we expect Him to bless us today? We grow in BIG faith when we learn to celebrate what God has done in our lives!