Pollination by a bee. by Louise Docker
Good morning, beloved,
It is a quiet morning around here. Wait for it…oh, well, nobody paraded out while I was typing this. I hope and pray that all are sleeping well in my household. We have many issues with sleep around these parts, and to have them all still asleep is golden. Ella went to the orthopedic doctor yesterday and the x-ray is normal. Yet for the amount of pain she has and her inability to walk, the doctor does wonder if she broke her leg and it is just a very small break undetected by x-ray. So she had a wonderful day of Grandpa and Mommy pushing her around Rush Med all afternoon in a wheelchair. She got to meet a therapy dog. She had a yummy lunch out. She was quite happy. My Dad was happy because everyone kept assuming he was Ella’s dad, talk about robbing the cradle…sheesh. Dad made this time so much easier on both of us, driving us there, taking good care of his girls.
Do you make a list of what you are grateful for to God? How about the three a day plan suggested by Ann Voskamp? Nothing like a new month to get you started on a new habit..Joy Dare for August. Join me? Print that out and put it on your fridge and start a revolution in your house. 🙂
So we start Sermon on the Mount today..2 weeks left. And then onto 1 Peter. I hope you’ll join me for this as well. This week is on Treasures, Worry and Judging. Oh, I have no problems with those things, maybe I’ll just skip. Ahem. Now for the truth! You all know it. This is a good week to dig on in. Let’s go!
Sonne hinter Pflanze Pulsatilla Fruit by Benjamin Gimmel
19 Do not gather and heap up and store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust and worm consume and destroy, and where thieves break through and steal.
20 But gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal;
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is sound, your entire body will be full of light.
23 But if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the very light in you [your conscience] is darkened, how dense is that darkness!
24 No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise and be against the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions, or whatever is trusted in).
25 Therefore I tell you, stop being perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing?
Larus canus in flight wings spread. Stockholm. by Bengt Nyman
26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?
27 And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life?
28 And why should you be anxious about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field and learn thoroughly how they grow; they neither toil nor spin.
29 Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his magnificence (excellence, dignity, and grace) was not arrayed like one of these.
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear?
Coast lily bloom, Givat Olga beach by Hannah Siva
32 For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all.
33 But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.
34 So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries andanxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.
So as you can see, I colored a certain phrase repeated several times. Do not worry or be anxious…
Where can we find hope? The treasures of God are eternal. The hope can only be in finding Jesus. The things of this earth will perish, fade away and wilt. Yet, God promises us all things in Him.
Let’s look at the word: treasures (thēsauros). 🙂 “a treasure,” Mat 6:19-21; 13:44; Luk 12:33, 34; Hbr 11:26; “treasure” (in heaven or the heavens), Mat 19:21;Mar 10:21; Luk 18:22; in these expressions (which are virtually equivalent to that in Mat 6:1, “with your Father which is in Heaven”) the promise does not simply refer to the present life, but looks likewise to the hereafter; in 2Cr 4:7 it is used of “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” descriptive of the Gospel, as deposited in the earthen vessels of the persons who proclaim it (cp. ver. 4); in Col 2:3, of the wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ.
Treasures of this earth
- Moth and rust destroy
- Thieves break in and steal
- Eye bad? WHOLE body full of darkness
Treasures of heaven
- No moths or rust destroying
- Thieves do not break in and steal
- Eye will be clear and WHOLE body full of light
Where you have your treasures…there your heart will be also. Where do we want our treasures? Oh, friends, lets hold the treasures of heaven. Eternal. You cannot serve God and wealth. Ponder this friends. Hold tight to this. Part of me always wishes that we didn’t struggle with living paycheck to paycheck. Part of me wishes that I could buy the kids the latest and greatest. Yet, when I look back at each crisis as we look to Jesus to provide for our every need, we look more and more like Him. He is so close to us. Out of his hand, we are delivered. And quite honestly, I need Him to be close. I need Him to breathe through me. If I had riches, I don’t think I would hold so tightly. It would be so easy to put my faith in that provision. Instead, I stay where God has me. It has the greatest blessing because I have Jesus. And He is enough. He’s never, ever let us go. He has never deserted us. Money comes and goes. But My God has never forsaken us. I’ll stick with Him, thank you very much.
What are we not to worry about?
- Our lives
- What we will eat
- What we will drink
- Clothing
- Tomorrow
Your heavenly Father knows you need all those things…Pray on, friends. Pray on.
Related articles
- “Why are you anxious?” (worryisuseless.wordpress.com)
- Worry (waltbrite.wordpress.com)
- The Birds of Heaven (brakeman1.com)
- Eight Reasons Why My Anxiety Is Pointless and Foolish (renewingthoughts.wordpress.com)
2 Comments
Thanks for the update on Ella. I was going to ask yesterday.
i was going to call you this morning…but I thought it would be not right at 7:30am. 😉 love you. she’s doing pretty good. keep praying for her..