WINNING OVER WORRY

‘Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not the life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the bids of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink” or “What shall we wear?” For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is it’s own trouble.’ Matthew 6:25-34

‘For all that is in heaven and in earth is yours… Both riches and honor come from You… in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all… For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You… O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a hose for Your holy name is from Your hand is all Your own.’ I Chronicles 29:11-16

‘Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, and the whole nervous system. I have never met a man, or known of a man, to die of overwork, but I have known a lot who died of worry.’ Dr. Charles May, Mayo Clinic

‘Many perceptive observers have sensed that the greatest danger to Western Civilization is not, as is sometimes alleged, prevailing ideologies such as Marxism, Islam, the New Age movement, or humanism, but rather the all-pervasive materialism of our affluent culture. We try so hard to create heaven on earth and to throw in Christianity when convenient as another small addition to the so-called good life.’
- The New American Commentary/Craig Bloomberg

“’But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!’ And the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.” Job 1:11-12
“And he said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.’ In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.” Job 1:21-22
“Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!’ But he said to her, ‘You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and shall we not accept adversity?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” Job 2:-10

I. STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLE
‘Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not the life more than food and the body more than clothing?’ v.25
‘Therefore…’
1. Since ‘Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also..’ v.19
2. Since ‘If your eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light..’ v.22
3. Since ‘No man can serve two masters..’ v. 24
‘Do not worry about your life…’

II. STATEMENT OF ILLUSTATIONS
‘ Look at the bids of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?’ v.26-30
A. The Birds… (v.26)
‘Who provides food for the raven, when its young ones cry to God and wander about for lack of food?’ Job 28:41
B. Your Body/Life… (v.27)
C. The Lilies Of The Field… (v.28-30)

III. STATEMENT OF PRIORITY… (v.31-33)
‘Therefore do not worry, saying “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink” or “What shall we wear?” For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.’ v.31-33
‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.’ Philippians 4:6

IV. STATEMENT OF POSITIVE ACTION
‘Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is it’s own trouble.’ v. 34
James….
‘But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.’ James 1:22
‘What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?..... Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.’ James 2:14, 17
Jeremiah …
‘Through the LORD’S mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.’ Lamentations 3:22-23
‘O my God, my soul is cast down within me; Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan, and from the heights of Hermon, from the Hill Mizar.’ Psalms 42:6
‘You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.’ Isaiah 26:3

‘Give us this day our daily bread’