Matthew 6:24-25a (NLT) 24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life….
Our church theme for this year is “Open the Supernatural Gates.” When the Lord first spoke this phrase to me, I was focused on the thought that God wanted to open the gates of his power on our world. I believe that is true. I believe we are in the beginning of the next great move of God. However, as I have progressed through the year the emphasis in my heart has changed a bit. I believe we are those gates.
The Holy Spirit does not just dwell in heaven. He lives in his church, the body of Christ. If God is going to pour out supernatural power, it is going to be through us. I am not saying that is the only way God can pour out his power. He is God. He can do anything he wants. I am saying that is the way he has established the outpouring of his Spirit in our day.
If there is going to be a move of God in the earth, God needs his people to be clear channels of the flow of his Spirit. We need to be open gates. We have seen some things that open our gates and some things that will keep them closed. For instance, thanksgiving opens the gates while unbelief keeps them closed.
Even if our gates are open, there are things that will tend to clog them up. Open gates that are full of debris are not really open. This week I want to talk about one of the major clogs that keeps our gates from being clear channels for the power of God.
Have you ever worried about anything? If your answer is no, you are in a very small minority of people. Everyone worries at one time or another. We worry about the future and we worry about the how the past will affect it. We worry about health and we worry about finances. We worry about our jobs, our families and much, much more.
People have always worried. I think we have developed the “art” of worry to a very sophisticated degree in our culture. We are bombarded with media that tells us we should be worrying. What have you done about retirement? What about health care? The news makes sure that we know all the possible catastrophes that could befall us in the next month.
We worry about floods. We worry about droughts. We worry about “global warming” while we worry about how to pay for the heat we used in the exceptionally cold winter we just experienced. Will it be that cold next year?
We worry about our children’s education while we worry about sending them to school because of sex, drugs and peer pressure. We worry about how to pay for college and we worry about what will happen to our children if they do not go.
The thing about worry is that worry always deals with things that have not yet happened and things that are generally beyond our control. The main purpose for worry from the devil’s point of view is to steal your faith in God.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) We build our faith by meditation in the Word of God. (Joshua 1:8) Those are biblical principles that God put into effect to ensure we can access and build faith at any time. The devil knows them as well as we do.
Worry is meditation in fear. We cannot meditate on the word of fear and meditate on the Word of God at the same time. We have to choose one or the other. Because of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, worry comes much more naturally than meditation in the Word of God. Left to itself, our minds will generally go to the bad possibilities and not the possibilities set forth in the promises of God. That is human nature. We do not have to settle for human nature.
We can choose what we will think. It is not always easy. The devil makes sure that we tend to see meditation in the Word of God as work while worry comes naturally. We even think that to worry is to be responsible. If I am not losing sleep over the possible bad situation, I am ignoring it. However, Jesus tells us why worry is so foolish. It does not work.
Matthew 6:27-28 (NKJV) 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;
I do not know why Jesus uses height to illustrate his point, but it works! I am a fairly short person. I joined the school basketball team when I was in 7th grade. At that time, I was the second tallest person on the team. I learned to play as a forward, which requires some height to be effective. I stopped growing shortly thereafter while the rest of my team kept growing. By the time I was a junior, I was one of the shorter players. I had to play guard, a short person’s position. I did not know how to play guard. How I wished I could “worry” myself into six more inches!
Of course, I could not. Worry will not do that. Why do we think worry will help us solve our problems? I am not saying we should not plan for the future. I am not saying we should not research options and make informed decisions. None of that is worry.
Worry is meditation is fear. It is going over and over in our minds what might happen in the worst case. Worry is that “movie clip” which comes to your mind’s eye unbidden but that you cannot get to stop playing. Worry is the questions and conversations you have in your mind that detail how dire the situation is even though nothing bad has yet happened. We must not allow worry to stay because we will eventually act on it. Then what we fear will, indeed come upon us.
Jesus makes an interesting connection in today’s scripture. Worry is how the God of mammon keeps us under control. When we give our mind to worry, we are giving our mind to the devil. That might seem a little harsh given that worry comes so naturally to all of us. I am not saying we should feel condemned because we fall into worry. You will do that and so will I. I am saying we need to recognize it as the enemy and do what it takes to deal with it.
When we are confronted with the choice to meditate on fear or meditate on the Word of God, we must choose the Word of God. This is usually a battle. The devil does not want you to meditate in God’s Word because he knows faith will come and you will overcome the challenge. You must take your mind and set it on the Word.
That is impossible to do if you never spend any time in the word. You will meditate on what you hear most. Again, look at the words of Jesus.
Mark 4:24 (AMP) 24 And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you—and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.
The measure of thought you give to whatever you hear, whether it is fear and worry or the Word of God will be the one you empower to control your future. Take stock this week and see which you are giving power over your life.
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