ChangeMatthew 6:25-34
English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
My husband & I traveled last week to Augusta, Georgia for the National Championship for the Professional Disc Golf Association. We were up very early and fog was coming up, with a little rain as we traveled down the rural highway to Wildwood Park. As we traveled, we notice some dead pine trees. I asked my husband if Georgia had some drought like the record drought and wildfires of our area of Houston. We noticed some yellowing in the trees. I cried out - "Oh no, they've had drought too!" Thankfully no, Georgia was experiencing the beginning of fall, the trees barely touched with red and gold.
Change - Life is a lot like being in the Mississippi River, we are pushed by tremendous forces we cannot see or control. We have eddies and resting places, we convince ourselves that now we in control. We have life in our own boundaries. But the people we love - move, they age, they change - we change. The things, the places, the people we love are not within our grasp, our vision… forever.
Change cause us to grow. Like faith.
Matthew 13:32
It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.
Rick Warren points out in the book he co-authored called "40 Days of Love" that permanent change requires changing beliefs first. "Trying to change behavior without changing beliefs is a waste of time. Say I have a boat on auto pilot headed north. If I want it to head south, I have two options: I could wrestle the steering wheel or (the better way) change the auto pilot. Change always starts in the mind. "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2). The Bible teaches clearly that the way we think affects the way we feel, and the way we feel affects the way we act."
It's difficult to achieve the peace Matthew 6 tells us we can have. Jesus summed in up in
John 14:1
Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
Father God, be with us as life changes. Prepare us to do the good works You have planned for us. Help us to rely upon You in courage and in the hope Your plans always involve a working towards good. We ask in the highest name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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My husband & I traveled last week to Augusta, Georgia for the National Championship for the Professional Disc Golf Association. We were up very early and fog was coming up, with a little rain as we traveled down the rural highway to Wildwood Park. As we traveled, we notice some dead pine trees. I asked my husband if Georgia had some drought like the record drought and wildfires of our area of Houston. We noticed some yellowing in the trees. I cried out - "Oh no, they've had drought too!" Thankfully no, Georgia was experiencing the beginning of fall, the trees barely touched with red and gold.
Change - Life is a lot like being in the Mississippi River, we are pushed by tremendous forces we cannot see or control. We have eddies and resting places, we convince ourselves that now we in control. We have life in our own boundaries. But the people we love - move, they age, they change - we change. The things, the places, the people we love are not within our grasp, our vision… forever.
Change cause us to grow. Like faith.
Matthew 13:32
It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.
Rick Warren points out in the book he co-authored called "40 Days of Love" that permanent change requires changing beliefs first. "Trying to change behavior without changing beliefs is a waste of time. Say I have a boat on auto pilot headed north. If I want it to head south, I have two options: I could wrestle the steering wheel or (the better way) change the auto pilot. Change always starts in the mind. "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2). The Bible teaches clearly that the way we think affects the way we feel, and the way we feel affects the way we act."
It's difficult to achieve the peace Matthew 6 tells us we can have. Jesus summed in up in
John 14:1
Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
Father God, be with us as life changes. Prepare us to do the good works You have planned for us. Help us to rely upon You in courage and in the hope Your plans always involve a working towards good. We ask in the highest name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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