Januari 16, 2017
- if you take out your message notes we're in a series i started last weekend called living in the goodness of god. if you missed that first message please go listen to it online. 'cause it's the foundationof everywhere we're going for the next 10 weeks. that when you don't understandhow good god really is it creates all kinds ofproblems in your life.
we specifically talkedabout four sources of stress in your life that you don't need when you understand the goodness of god. now, what i wanna dotoday is we're gonna start verse by verse through the most famous chapter in the entire bible. psalm 23 the lord is my shepherd. and this is a perfect pictureof the goodness of god and it shows you the antidote
to the nine greatest sourcesof stress in your life. today we're gonna look at worry. and at specifically i want you to see why god says you should neverhave to worry about anything. and then second, how do you connect with god meeting the needsthat are in your life. now, before we look atthat i wanna just give you three facts about the goodness of god. so why don't you write these down.
these are just three fundamental truths you can base your life on. number one, god is the sourceof everything i need to live. you don't have to look anywhere else. you don't have to look to wall street, you don't have to look to the government, you don't have to look to your spouse or your individual retirement account or your social security or your job.
god is the source ofeverything i need to live. now, the point i wanna make her is that if you're gonna putyour security in something you need to put it in something that can never be taken from you. because if you have put your security in something that'll be taken from you you're not secure. you can lose your health.
you can lose you job. you can lose your good looks. some of you already have. (laughing) you can lose, you can lose your family. you can lose your life. you can lose your mind. you can lose all of those things. don't put your securityin anyone or anything.
you put your security in something that can not be taken from you and that is your relationship to god. nobody can take that away from you. now, psalm 23 verse one, the first verse of this chapter says "the lord is my shepherd" and then read it with me "i will lack nothing!"
nothing. that's the place where he says i will be your security in every area. now, obviously the firstquestion is what's a shepherd? and most of you did notgrow up on a sheep farm but shepherd are thepeople who care for sheep. now, you probably don'tknow a lot about sheep but sheep are incrediblydefenseless animals. they have a lot of natural predators.
they're not fast, they can't run. they don't have claws. they don't have teeth withsharp incisors that can bite. and on top of that they'renot very smart animals. they're not very intelligent. they fall off cliffs and they get lost and all kids of things butthey really need a defender. they need a shepherd. left on its own a sheep'sprobably gonna get eaten.
and so, what does a shepherd do? well you might write this down because this is whatgod wants to do for you. a shepherd feeds, leads and meets needs. that's what a shepherd does. and god says "i will be your shepherd throughout. "i will feed you, i will lead you and i will meet your needs.
now, your needs are various. sometimes you need protection,sometimes you need comfort, sometimes you need encouragement, sometimes you need a little discipline, sometimes you need direction. we're gonna look atall the different needs that god has promisedto meet in your life. by the way, if you're a parent, listen, if you're aparent you're a shepherd.
dad's it is your job tofeed, lead and meet needs. mom, it is your job tofeed, lead and meet needs of those children. so you have a shepherd's role. if you are ever in anymanagement position, in a business in your career, and you have people underyou that you are supervising that you are caring for that has shepherding capabilities
or responsibilities to it. and as a manager it's your job to feed, information, motivation, things like that. it's your job to lead andit is your job to meet needs of the people. as a leader you servethem not they serve you. by the way, do you knowwhat the greek word for shepherd is? pastor.
i am a shepherd, that is my job. it is my job to feedyou through this book. it is my job to lead you, it is my job to meet your needs. that's what shepherd's do. so if you have any kind of caring capacity where you are over asmall group as a leader you're a shepherd. or you are a, you work in someministry, you're a shepherd.
and so the very thingsthat god does with us, feed lead and meet needs, god wants you to do with other people. now, the second truth iwant you to write down. first, god is the source ofeverything i need to live. number two, there is nothingi need that god can't supply. there is nothing thati need, that you need, that god can not supply. and we're gonna look at this in depth
but in philippians chapterfour it says this, verse 19, "god will supply all you'll ever need "from his gloriousresources in christ jesus." if you're taking notes you might circle "in christ jesus" we'll come back to that. god's goodness is notbased on your goodness. it's based on his goodness. you don't have to be goodfor god to be good to you.
god is good to you because ofwhat jesus did on the cross. and number three, third thing i want you to write down is this. god doesn't want meworrying about anything. nothing, nada, zip, zero. in fact, worry may be themost common sin on the planet. god says "you don't need to worry. "i don't want you worrying."
philippians 4:6 "don't worry about anything." that's pretty clear. i looked up that word,don't worry about anything and it actually means anything. "don't worry about anything. "instead, pray about everything." we've talked about this many times. you can pray or you can panic.
if you're not praying you're panicking. you can worry or you can worship. if you're not worshiping you're worrying. you invite worship in the front door worry goes out the back door. you invite worry in the front door worship goes out the back door. and so, god says "i don't want youworrying about anything."
now, why? why does god no want meworrying about anything? well, in the famous sermon on the mount jesus gives us five reasonswhy worry is worthless. i'm gonna go through these pretty quickly and then we're gonna look at what difference it makes in your life. so write these down, five reasons god says you should never never everever worry about anything.
number one, he says "worry is unreasonable." it's unreasonable, in otherwords it doesn't make sense. it's illogical, it isirrational, it is unreasonable. and the bible says this inmatthew chapter 6 verse 25. "don't worry about your life, "what you'll eat or drink "and don't worry about yourbody or what you'll wear. "your life is far moreimportant than clothes."
now, for some of youthat's a big revelation but that's true, okay. clothes don't make the man or the woman. and so he says "don't worry, don't worryabout these minor issues here." and he's saying is unreasonable. now, why is worry unreasonable? let me give ya threereasons it's unreasonable. in the first place,
we typically worry about the wrong thing. we worry about the little stuff. how i look, how i appear, what i say, who i'm talking to. stuff, am i gonna belate for this meeting? stuff that isn't gonnamatter in five years. it's all temporary. if you're really gonna worry,and god says you shouldn't, but if you were gonnaworry worry about things
that are eternal not external. worry about stuff that'sgonna matter in 10 years or 100 years or 1,000years or for eternity. don't worry about stuff that'snot gonna matter tomorrow. and at most of the things we worry about are temporary things, likein the next five minutes i'm worried about this. and so he says it's unreasonable because you pick the wrongthings to be concerned about.
the second reason is to worryabout something you can change or something you can't change is useless. if you can't change it whyare you worrying about it? to worry about somethingyou can change is stupid. so either way if you canchange it, change it. if you can't change it, so what? you can't do anything about it. worry will not change it at all. so he says it's irrational cause we think
that worry is actually a form of control. we think by worrying about something we're actually controlling them. by worrying about your kidswho're out late at night you think you're controllingthem, you're not. you're not. it doesn't change anything. and the third reason why it's irrational, and you've noticed this,
is that any time you worry about something it keeps getting bigger in your mind. it's not logical, it's irrational. and so, if you start worrying about somebody criticizes you,says an unkind word to you, says an off the wall commentit hurts your feelings and you worry about that. what, what did they mean? they've already forgotten it
and they probably didn't even mean it, it was just some stupid thing they said. but if you keep goingover a worry in your mind it doesn't get smaller. when you worry it gets bigger. and if you keep thinkingabout pretty soon you think "the world hates me." no, they don't hate you. that's the irrationality ofworry, worry is unreasonable.
number two, jesus saysyou should never worry not only 'cause it'sunreasonable, it's unnatural. nature does not worry, it's unnatural. human beings are the only thing in nature, human beings are the onlything god had created in all the universe that worry. you know, ants don'tworry, cows don't worry, plants don't worry, rocks don't worry, horses don't worry.
the only thing thatworries are human beings in rebellion against god. it's unnatural, you weren't made to worry. now, in the sermon onthe mount jesus gives us a couple of lessons. he uses a biology lessonand a botany lesson or plants and animals. look at this, verse 26 in matthew six, jesus says, you know, look at the birds.
"look at the birds of the air, "they don't sow or reapor store away in barns." they're not worried about, you know, do i have enough to live on? and he said "and yet your heavenly father feeds them. "are you not more valuable than birds?" if god takes care of birdsisn't he gonna take care of you? and then he says in verse28 and 29, matthew six.
"and why do you worry about your clothes? "go out and look at the flowers. "look at the field lilies. "they don't worry about how they look. "yet king solomon in all of his glory "was not clothed asbeautifully as they are." i don't know, if you've everlooked at a flower real close, an orchid or a rose or any kind of flower, the intricacy and the designand the detail and the beauty
of just an ordinary wild flower. "look, they're beautifulthe way they are." they don't have to put on makeup, they don't have to get fancy, they don't have to worry about how they appear to everybody else. they're not worriedabout their appearance. they're just who theyare and it's beautiful. now, what he's doinghere is he's giving us
a couple of lessons from nature. he says "okay, let's look at bird watching." if anybody's on god'swelfare plan it's birds. cause birds really don't do anything. what do they contribute to the world? all they do is tweet and poop. okay, and you do both of those. but you do a lot more than that.
birds, what, i mean what. i mean, you don't eat birds, they don't provide sustenancefor, you know, human beings. and he says they're ongod's welfare system. god just made 'em 'cause they're beautiful and sweet to listen to. and he says "look, they're not worried. "and aren't you morevaluable than the birds.
"i take care of them,i'll take care of you." and then he gives a botany lesson, he says "look at these flowers andhow god makes them beautiful "just the way they are. "you're beautiful just the way you are." so he's saying, animals don'tworry, plants don't worry. nothing in all of creation worries, the only thing i've created that worries, that trusts, that doubtsme, that doesn't trust me
are human beings. "all of creation trustsmy care except humans." he's saying worry isn't natural. did you know you weren't born to worry? you weren't made to worry. now, some of you think "well, i was a born worrier." no you weren't, worry is learned. you learned it by watchingother people worry.
no baby worries. they learn to worrywatching other people worry. now, anything that is learned can be, yeah unlearned. so, you don't have togo the rest of your life being a worrywart, being so uptight, having your stomach in a knot, getting a tight and tense back having to go get a message,getting a migraine headache,
all these other symptoms of worry. "you don't need to worry about that. "worry is unreasonableand worry is unnatural." you have to, by the way, notonly do you have to learn it you have to practice it to get good at it. but some of you are pro's at worrying. i mean, you are really good,you're good at worrying. but you can unlearn it. and notice is verse 26 there he says
"your father sees what the birds is." says your father takes it, itdoesn't say the bird's father it says your father, so you'rein a different category. god created everything elsebut he made you his child. god is not the father of cows, god is not the father of ants, god is not the fatherof, you know, horses. because they weren't made in god's image. you and i are distinctly different
from all the other plants and animals because we were made in god's image which gives us a capacityto trust him, to love him. you never see a cow praying, you know. you never see a doggy go into worship, unless you brought him. and, he's saying "it's not natural." he said
"god cares for you as a father." children get special privileges even more than the otherthings in creation. worry is unreasonable, worry is unnatural. number three, jesussays worry is unhelpful. what does he mean by that? it's useless, it doesn't work. worry is worthless. it doesn't change anything when you worry.
matthew six verse 27 jesus says "who of you by worrying canass a single hour to his life?" worry can't make you an inch taller, worry can't make you an inch shorter, can't make you bigger or smaller, thinner or fatter, worry doesn't work. "who of you can change anything?" "you can't add even asingle hour to your life." in fact, worry can shorten your life.
if you're worried, "well i may not live long" and if you start worrying about it the tension, the stress, couldactually shorten your life. but worry about any problem in your life will never move you onestep toward that situation. it's doing without doing. it's inverting a lot of emotional energy for something thatdoesn't gonna do anything.
it's like sitting at a rocker. yeah, and you can rock back and forth, back and forth, back andforth, back and forth. and you spent a lot of energy but you're not one inch further. you have made no progress at all. worry can not change anything. in fact, the only thingworry can change is you. it'll make you miserable.
and that's what it does. it won't change that personyou're worried about, it'll only change you,make you more miserable. now, follow me on the logic of this. worry can not changeanything in your past, it's already done. your past is past, sowhy you worried about it? worry can not control your future. no matter how much you think you can
you're not controllingit by worrying about it. so if it can't change the past and it can't change thefuture what does it do? messes up today. it just keeps you messed up today. it keeps you stewingwithout doing as i say. it just ruins the present. it saps the strength out of your body. it is not only unreasonableand unnatural, it's unhelpful.
proverbs 12:25, the bible says "worry weighs us down." anybody wanna give a testimony about that? has worry ever weighed you down? of course it has. and you get so, you thinkabout so many things that you're worried aboutyou start to get discouraged. you start to get depressed,you start to get in despair. you see, god tells us that your body
was not designed for worry,remember it's unnatural. you aren't made to worry. and every time you swallow your worry your stomach keeps score. every time you swallow your worry you say "oh, my aching back." "oh, i got a headache." "oh, my stomach's upset." why?
because you weren't madeto internalize worry. it's unnatural and it's unhelpful. it's actually unhealthful andit is bad for your health. people who worry don't liveas long as other people. people say "well, i'm worried sick." yes you are. you worry, you can worry yourself sick and cause all kinds ofproblems in your stomach
and insomnia and stuff like that. in fact, i'll tell ya this,worry causes more fatigue than work. worry causes more fatigue than work. you can go to work, putin a full's day work, come home, you're tired butyou're not stressed out. but if you go to work andall day you're worrying worrying worrying worrying, you come home, you're not just tired,you're drop dead fatigued.
worry wears you out more than work. and yet the bible says in proverbs 14:30 "a heart at peace gives life to the body." you wanna be healthier? i mean really, you wanna be healthier? stop worrying, you gottalearn to trust god. worry is unhelpful, it isunnatural, it is unreasonable. number four, worry is unnecessary. that's the forth thing jesus teaches
in the sermon on the mount. he says worry is unnecessary. why are you worrying about this? "there's no need to worrybecause god has promised "to take care of you. "the lord is your shepherd. "he feeds, he leads and he meets needs." "there's no need to worry "because your heavenly fatherwill take care of you."
you know, when i was a kid,if i had any need in my life i didn't worry about it. i just went to my dad, i'd say "dad i need this." or "mom i need this." and if i needed moneyto buy something i'd say "dad i need some money to buy this." i never once worried about wherehe was gonna get the money.
that was his worry. you're worrying about a lot of things that are god's responsibility. worry is assuming responsibility that god never intended for you to have. every time you worry it's awarning light, i'm playing god. i'm acting like god. i'm thinking that it all depends on me, that i don't have a heavenly father.
that i don't have a shepherd who will feed and lead and meet my need. so you never worry if you understand that god is your heavenly father and you understand thegoodness, the goodness, of god. matthew six verse 30 says this, "if god cares so wonderfullyeven for the flowers "that are hear today and gone tomorrow." in other words, they're onlygonna bloom for a few days
and then they're gone. but your life lasts decades. "that are here today and gone tomorrow, "won't he surely care for you?" you see, what he's saying here is that god has assumed responsibility for the needs in yourlife and he cares for you because he says you are valuable. you have value.
you wanna know how much you value? look at the cross. jesus died for you on the cross. that shows how much value you have to god. you're not junk, you're not worthless. no no, you are valuable togod because you're his child. my children are valuable to me, my grandchildren are valuable to me. you are the child of godand you are valuable to god
and he says "i'm gonna take care of your needs. "i'm your loving heavenly father. "i am your shepherd. "and like the shepherd takescare of the defenseless sheep "when you need it, i'm there." what am i saying? i'm saying that worry in your life, every time you worry,it comes from the fact
that you misunderstandthe goodness of god. worry is a warning sign. it's a yellow cautionlight going bom bom bom that's saying at this point i've forgotten how good god is. i've forgotten the promises of god. i've forgotten what god haspromised to do in my life to meet all my needs. he says it over and over and over.
"i will meet all your needs." there's no need that god will not meet. if you trust him. now, if you don't trust him,you're out there on your own. but if you trust him he says "i will meet every need in your life." and worry means i've forgottenthat, the goodness of god. it comes from misunderstandingwhat god is really like. and you know what, wealways get into trouble.
every time, whenever we startdoubting god's goodness. when we start thinking "god's not gonna take care of me. "god doesn't really love me. "god isn't a good god." every time you start thinking like that you know where those thoughts came from. you're gonna get in trouble. you're gonna go down ablind alley, hit a dead end,
have all kinds ofdiscouragement in your life. and it doesn't even make sense. most of you here, sitting herein this day, are believers. you've stepped acrossthe line spiritually. you've said, you know, "i've put my trust in jesus christ "'cause i know heaven'sperfect and i'm not "there's no chance i'm gettingto heaven on my own goodness "cause i'm not good enough.
"so i'm trusting jesuschrist to forgive me "and to save me by his grace. "not but my works, but i'mjust trusting god to save me "'cause he loves me,he wants to forgive me, "he sent jesus to die for me." when jesus died on the cross for you he solved your biggest problem. you don't have any biggerproblem than eternal salvation. but if that's your biggest problem
why do you doubt his taking care of the smaller things in your life? what's the logic of saying "i'm gonna trust god to get me to heaven "but i'm not gonna trust him "to help me make my car payment." what's the logic inthat, it makes no sense. why would you trust godwith something so big, eternal salvation, but not trust him
with who am i supposed to marry or am i ever gonna get married or am i gonna get a job orwhat school should i go to and all the other major questions in life. why don't you trust himwith those things too? it doesn't make sense to say "oh, i don't doubt him for my salvation "but i do doubt that he'sgonna care for my health. "i do doubt that he'sgonna care for my career."
it doesn't make sense at all. if god can be trusted for salvation he'll carry everything else. if i were walking down,you know, a street out here say ortega highway andyou come by in a car, i've got a backpack on myback, and you stop and say "hey rick, you want a ride?" i say "yeah, i'd appreciate that."
so i get in the car with youand about five minutes later you look over and you see i'mstill wearing the backpack on my back, you say "rick, you can just tossthat in the backseat." and i say "oh no, it's enough for you to carry me "i'll carry the backpack." that's the kind of stupidlogic we do with our lives. oh yeah god you can save my life
but i'll worry about mymoney and my sex life and my social life and my career life and you know all the other things. my friendships, my relationships. no no, you don't need tocarry the backpack either. if he's gonna carry you to heaven he'll carry everything elsewhile you're here on earth. he's saying worry is unnecessary. and then number five.
worry is not onlyunreasonable, it's unnatural, it's unhelpful, it'sunnecessary, it's unbelief. number five, worry,jesus says is unbelief. worry is doubting god. god has promised to take careof every need in your life if you trust him, over and over and over. and when you doubt that you are an unbeliever at that moment. you're an unbeliever every time you worry
you act like an unbeliever. look at this verse on the screen. philippians 4:19, love this in the message and the living bible. "you can be sure," that means certain, it'snot a wish not a hope. "you can be sure that god will take care "of most things you need." no, it doesn't say that.
"god will take care of everything," everything, what notincluded in everything? "everything you need becauseof what jesus has done for us." again, god is good to younot cause you're good. god is good to everybody. he's good to even bad people in the world. they get the same life, they get oxygen, they get blood, they getfood, they get the sunshine. god is good based on his goodness
not based on your goodness. now he's saying here, if god's gonna take care of ever you need every time you worry you are doubting god. have you ever thought about that? that's why worry is a sin. it's doubting god. look at this verse, matthew 6:32. "people who don't know god.
"people who don't knowgod and the way he works "they worry over these things." now, let me be honest with you. if you haven't stepped across the line, if you're not a believer in christ, if you haven't madejesus the good shepherd or the lord as my shepherd of your life, you oughta worry. you oughta worry.
because you're up a creek without a pedal. you're out there on your own. you're not depending onyour heavenly father, you're not depending on god'sgoodness and grace and love. you're depending onyourself, you oughta worry. there's a lot of reasons to worry if you don't have god in your life. cause you gotta face allthose battles on your own, you gotta find all thesolutions on your own
and you're not god and neither am i. we're just not. and so it's the startingpoint is the humble attitude. god is god and i'm not. and when i understand that all of a sudden the worry starts draining out of my life. people who don't knowgod, the way he works, they worry about these things. yeah, non believers oughta worry
but christians are different because we have a heavenly father. a good god who promises to care for us. "hey you guys, what areyou worrying about?" "you're not plants, you're not animals, "you're not birds, you're my children." you see, it's actually an insult to god every time you worry. you're acting like anorphan every time you worry.
you're acting like youdon't have a heavenly father who has promised over and over again, over 3,000 promises in this book, to take care of your needs. you're acting like you're an orphan. you know there's a beautifulphrase we just read it said "your father knows you need them." he knows what you need. how many times do you act
like god doesn't know what you need? god, do you know about my sexual needs? do you know about my physical needs? do you need about my social needs? i don't think god knowsabout my career needs. really? that's doubting god. worry is unbelief. you don't think god sees it all.
what i'm telling you is this, when you worry, every time you worry you're acting like an atheist. you're acting like there is not god. there is not promises in the scripture. you know, i'm just out here on my own. worry is practical atheism. i say and i don't really believe god'll help me out of this mess.
and we start depending on ourselves and we start takingmatters into our own hands and we assume that wehave to figure it all out rather than just trusting. that's called playing god. and you know what,that's a poor testimony. if you claim to be afollower of jesus christ and you're worried all the time that's a lousy witness to the world.
it's saying "you know, i'm just like you, "i don't have a god whotakes care of my needs. "i'm playing god." and by the way, you know whatthe worst kind of worry is? when you say "you know, things are going too good." "oh, i'm just waiting forthe other shoe to drop "because things are going to."
that's the worst kind ofworry you can possibly have. i don't really believe god is a good god 'cause things are going too good so something is bound to happen. that's what job, there'sa whole book of the bible about that kind of worry,it's called the book of job. job was enormously successful. he was wealthy, he was well known, he was beloved, he waspopular, he was famous.
he'd be a billionaire today. and he kept going "hmm, things are going too good." and when everything fell apart he goes "that which i have feared has happened." it was a self fulfilling prophecy. when we get to heaven you're gonna see how many times you set yourselffor failure by worrying. instead of trusted, instead of trusting.
you think god's ever worried? no. and god made you in his image. he doesn't want you to worry. john chapter 14 verseone, jesus says this, "don't be worried." what do i do instead of worrying? "believe in god and believe in me." now how do you do that?
how do you trust god to meet your needs? well, it's not rocket science, friends. it's just three or four things and god makes it very clear in the bible that if you'll do these four things worry is gonna drain out of your life. i don't want you worrying anymore. every time you worry is awasted second of your life. it's wasted energy, they saidit doesn't change anything,
it's unreasonable, it'sunhelpful, it's unnatural, it's unbelief, it's unhealthy. so, how do i trust god for my needs? instead of worrying about my needs. well, the bible says you do four things. write these down. number one, you do this everyday it's not a one time thing. every day ask him to be my shepherd. every day i ask jesus to be my shepherd.
the lord is my shepherd andif i ask him to be my shepherd then he's gonna feed and he's gonna lead and he's gonna meet my need in that day. by the way, he'll not onlyfeed, lead and meet your need, he can also forgive yourmisdeed and help you succeed. if you just trust him. so, what do you do? you do this every morning when you get up. you sit on the side ofyour bed and you say
"the lord is my shepherd. "jesus christ, i'mexpecting you to feed me, "to lead me and to meet my needs today. "to help me succeed, forgive my misdeeds. "i will trust you today." and i start every day by saying "the lord is my shepherd,you're a good god." and then i say it throughout the day. every time you go into a meeting.
the lord is my shepherd, he'sgonna help me in this meeting. you got a parent-teacher conference, the lord is my shepherd. what i'm about to heari may not wanna hear but he's gonna feed me,lead me and meet my needs. you got a major decision to make, you might say it 10 or 15 times a day. but if you'll start saying that phrase your worry will go down.
every time you start toworry you need to say i asking jesus christto feed me, to lead me, to meet my needs and i'mnot gonna worry about it cause he says "i've promised, i willtake care of your needs if you will trust me." now, in john chapter 10, jesussays this, verse 14 and 15, "i am the good shepherd." when you say the lord'smy shepherd who is that.
jesus, says "i'm it, i'm him. "i am the lord, i am the good shepherd "and i know my own sheep and they know me "and i lay down my life for my sheep." that's what he did on thecross, he gave his life for you. and if he loved you enough to die for you he certainly loves youenough to feed, lead and meet your need.
every day you need to praythe prayer that david prayed. it's this next verse, psalm 28 verse nine. "come lord, save us and bless us. "be our shepherd and alwayscarry us in your arms." "you can pray these things." the lord's my shepherd so i need to say "lord, i need you to save me today. "i need you to bless me today. "i need you to be my shepherd today.
"i need to carry, you tocarry me in your arms." you remember when you were a little kid, your parents would go on an outing. you'd go on a picnicor a hike or, you know, you go hunting or fishingor you go to disneyland, and at the end of the dayyour little legs are so tired mom or dad has to carryyou out to the car. 'cause you're just pooped out. your legs give out as a little kid.
and that's what happensduring the week sometimes. you need to say "god, i am just pooped out, i am worn out. "i don't think i can put onefoot in front of the other. "i need you to carry me right now, "carry me to the car, takeme home, get me home." "i'm your shepherd, i'll care for you, "i'll bless you, i'llprotect you, i'll save you, "i'll guide you, i'll direct you,
"i'll discipline you when you need it, "i'll defend you. "i will all of these thingsand when you're worn out "and you're tired and you can't put "one foot in front ofthe other i'll carry ya. "just hop on and i'll take you, "i'll take you to thecar, i'll take you home." that's what you do, every dayask him to be my shepherd. number two, second, it's very important,
i give him, jesus, first placein every area of my life. this is extremely important. that i give jesus first placein every area of my life. now, if you're a believer you've given him first place in your life, saidi want you to be number one. but there's different parts in your life that are not under his control. and when you say "jesus, come into my house."
"have the whole house. "you got access to the bedroom, "you got access to the bathroom, "you got access to the kitchen in my life, "you got access to that closet over there "where i got all kinds of stuff hidden, "you got access to the garage, "to the living room, to thedining room, it's all yours. "jesus, take over the whole house."
have you ever said that? not "yeah god i want you,just get me to heaven." i want you to be numberone every area of my life. now, the bible says this,matthew six verse 31-33. "your heavenly father already knows perfectly well what you need." now, let me stop right there. your heavenly father perfectly knows,
already, what you need. so any need you mentionto god, he already knows. some day i'm gonna do a message called phrases you'll never hear god say. like, "oops." you know, you never wannahear a surgeon say that when you're laying on the table. god never says oops, god never says
"well i didn't know that. "well slap me, you know, ididn't see that one comin'. "i didn't see that one comin'." god will never say that. god knows your needs better than you do. you got needs, you don'teven know you've got needs. but god says "man, that's a big need. "that's a big need in their life,
"they don't even seeit, they're blind to it. "they got a blind spot. "they have no idea howmany needs they've got." so anytime you come to godwith a need he's not gonna go "whoa, i never saw that one comin'." he knew it before he made you. god, listen, allows needs in your life so you'll come to him. so he can answer thatneed, so you'll trust him.
we looked at that circle last week. you get a need and then youask god to meet that need, you cry out, god meets that need and then you trust godmore and you do that circle thousands of times. that's how you learn to trust god. if you didn't have needsyou'd never trust god. so god allows needs in your life so you can learn to trust him.
but he says "i already know what youneed before you even ask." "and he will," not might "he will give you what you need if" here's the condition "if you give him first place in your life "and you live as he wants you to." so you give god first placein every area of your life.
now, let me just tell you something, any time you worry that is a warning light that that particular area of your life you have not given him first place. every time you worry you go "oh, that's an area wheregod's not number one." any area of your lifewhere god is not number one you're gonna worry about it. any area of your lifewhere god's not number one
that's gonna be a sourceof insecurity in your life, your job or anything else. any area of your life thatis not under the lordship of christ, is not givenfirst place to god, that's gonna be a constant source or worry and insecurity your entire life. so if nothing's first, god is first place in not area of your life, you got everything to be worried about.
but you might hold onto a couple areas. "god, you can have the whole house "but don't have the bedroom." then you're gonna worry about that area. "god, you can have every area of the house "except the kitchen." it's the sign that he's not number one. it's an indication thatyou've got mixed up values. when you make jesus christ number one
in every single area of your life it really simplifies your priorities. and it also give you a wholelot less to worry about. see, when it's given to god then you don't have to worry about it. too often we worry about things. we worry about physical possessions. and it's just like that, ifyou have fewer possessions you have less, you know, inever never never never never
worry about getting barnacles on my yacht. 'cause i don't have a yacht. so i've never never worried about how am i gonna get thosebarnacles off that yacht. i don't have to worry about it because my life is simplified and the things that are in mylife i've given them to god. now, as long as you love anythingin your life more than god that area's gonna becomea source of worry to you.
just count on it. it's gonna become a source of stress and a source of insecurity if god, if you love it more than god. you're gonna victimizedby worry and anxiety. and eventually everybody has to decide, you and me and everybody else, what am i gonna live forand who am i gonna live for? and whatever that answeris becomes your lord.
some of you your job is your lord. for some of you yourmarriage is your lord. for some of you yourchildren is your lord. those are all good things,nothing wrong with them, they just don't deserve god's place. and when anything takes the place of god that's called an idoland it creates stress and it creates worry andit creates insecurity. you know, one of the thingswe worry about the most,
of course, is money. what i've discovered isthat no matter how much or how little you've got ofit, you still worry about it. you know, i've been in 164 countries and i've seen the poorest of the poor of the poor of the poorest of the poor. and on the other hand, iknow a number of billionaires and multi multi billionaires. and you know what i'vediscovered at both ends?
they both worry about money. and if you don't have ityou worry about getting it, if you've got it you'reworrying about keeping it, saving it, spending it,investing it, protecting it. "i don't want you worrying about that. "i'll take care of all your needs." so every day as jesus to be my shepherd. the lord is my shepherd,say it 50 times a day. and then i give him firstplace in every area of my life.
here's the third thing. this is the third thinggod wants to say to you and we're gonna cover thismore in detail next week. relax. relax and give him my worries in prayer. god wants you to relax. he wants you to give himyour worries in prayer. and you say "jesus, just take thesethings i'm worried about."
and you just hand them over to him. you know, last week we talkedabout counting your blessings. i said "you know, look at all the things god has done for you inyour life that are good." "make a list." "make a list of all the goodthings god's done for you "and when you start getting down "pull out that list and read.
"wow, god really has been good to me. "the freedom i have, i have a brain, "i can see, i can hear." all of the many thingsthat you take for granted. so, you make a list of blessings but sometimes, you knowwhat you need to do, you need to make a list of worries. and you say, you know,sometimes you have this sense of i just feel anxious.
i have this general anxiety,i feel a little uptight, a little nervous. and i don't really know what's causing it. well, you can just say "god i give you my generalized worry." but it's even better to stop and go "what is it that's really bugging me? "am i worried that somebody'sgonna disapprove of me?" then you write that down.
"am i worried that i'm gonna be rejected?" and you write that down. "am i worried that i'm gonna be insecure "and not have enough?" you write that down. "am i worried that i'm gonnabe lonely the rest of my life?" you write 'em all down andthen you give god your worries. you say "here's the list lord.
"here's some stuffthat's on my mind today. "i'm not gonna keep 'em. "i'm gonna give 'em to you." notice this next verse, first peter 5:7. "give all your worries and cares to god," in other words don't stuff 'em, "for he cares about what happens to you." just give them to god, you weren't made, remember it's unnatural to worry,
so you shouldn't swallow your worries. when you swallow your worriesyour stomach keeps score, as i just said. and so, you need, when you are worried it doesn't work to tryto deny it or ignore it. like push it down, i'm notworried, i'm not worried, i'm not worried, i'm not worried. that doesn't work. 'cause in your mind it's going
yeah you're worried, yeah you're worried, yeah you're worried, yeah you're worried. and you keep pushing it out of the way and it's like putting it under the carpet and then the carpet pilegets bigger and bigger and you start stumbling over it. now, when you are worrieddon't repress it, push it down. don't suppress it, deny it, "i'm not worried."
yeah you are. don't repress it, don't suppress it, express it to god. confess it to god. and say "god, here's my list to worries." if you try to push downthe worries in your life you're gonna get sick. it's like taking a can ofcoke, shaking it all up
real violently and thenputting it in the freezer. what's gonna happen to that can of coke? it's gonna explode, it's gonna expand, it's gonna explode and it'sgonna come out sideways. and it'll come out sideways in your life. in a broken relationship,an explosion at work and all these other areas. when we take so much worry onto ourselves and eventually it comes out.
so you relax and you give himyour worries and you just say "god, here are the thingsi'm worried about." and now you remember we read that verse where jesus said, you know, "don't worry about anythingi'm gonna meet your needs." well right before that he had said this. look up on the screen. matthew 6:32 he says "for the people who don't know god,"
the unbeliever, thepeople who don't know god, they run after all these things. he said, you know, "do i look good, do i feel good, "do i have the goods, ami living the good life? "do i have the clothes,do i have the food, "do i have the appearance,do i have the car, "do i have the right jewelry, "do i have the accessorizing myself?"
and all these different things, so the people who don't know god run after all these things. now, i don't have to go into this cause you know what people arerunning after in california. material goods, keepingup with the joneses, all those things. they run after all these things. you know it's interesting,i looked up this word,
run, it says thesepeople who don't know god run after these things. it actually means ingreek, frantically seeking. frantically seeking materialism. you know, passions,pleasures, possessions. the frantically seeking,it's scurrying to get about. when i think of this verse,they run after these things, i think of shopping crowdsat the mall on black friday after thanksgiving.
they're running after these things. i'm afraid i'm not gonna get the deal. and there's a limitednumber of items on sale so i gotta get there and igotta elbow you and push you. "unbelievers, people who don't know god, "they're like this, they're frantic." get get get, grabbing. "they run after all these things, "they're hurrying andscurrying all the time."
i want you to write this down. hurry creates worry. hurry creates worry andthe faster you go in life the more likely you are to worry. you need to slow down. you need to relax. you need to take a little bit slower pace. hurrying and, if you'rehurrying and scurrying you're gonna end up worrying.
now the bible says this,we looked at the first earlier but i want to go back to it. on the screen, philippiansfour verses six and seven. it says this, "instead pray about everything." don't panic, pray. "tell god about all your needs," okay that's give it to god, "and thank him for all he's done for you.
"if you do this, "if you do this, you'llexperience god's peace," god's peace, not yourown peace, god's peace, "which is far more wonderful "than the human mind can understand." the bible calls this the peacethat passes understanding. what is the peace thatpasses understanding? it's when you're at peace and you have no logical rational reason to be at peace.
i just lost my job. somehow i'm at peace about it. the lord is my shepherd. you just got the dreaded wordand report from the doctor "it's cancer." but for some reason igot a peace about it. peace that passes understanding because the lord is my shepherd. i just found out some bad newsthat a dear friend of mine
just died, somehow i'm atpeace about it in my heart. because the lord is my shepherd. he feeds and he leadsand he meets my needs. that's the peace that understand it and that's a witness to the world. when people go "man, i wanna be like that guy. "i wanna be like that woman. "she's at peace in the middle of chaos."
anybody can be at peacewhen you're out fishing. you know, but if you're atpeace in the middle of chaos that's the peace thatpasses understanding. "don't worry about it,god's peace will give you what you need." so, every day i start the dayand throughout the day i say "the lord is my shepherd." i ask him to be my shepherd. then, i give him first placein every area of my life.
not just this area but everysingle compartment of my life. and then i relax. and every time a worry comes up i say "the lord's my shepherd." and i give that worry to god. i don't hold onto it and i don't think "i gotta think about it later." "god, take that one. "i don't have time tothink about that worry.
"take that worry god. "take that worry god." and you just keep loading'em on, he can handle it. he can handle it. now, the forth thing isthis, very important. trust him, trust god, trustjesus for one day at a time. trust him for one day at a time. don't try to steal thewhole future into the day and bring it back here, have worries about
all this kind of stuff that's coming up. matthew chapter sixverse 34 jesus says this. "so don't worry about tomorrow, "because tomorrow willhave its own worries. "each day has enough trouble of its own." anybody agree with that verse? yeah, you don't need to borrow trouble. he's saying "don't borrow trouble for tomorrow.
"i'm gonna give youenough grace for today. "i'm not gonna give youthe grace for tomorrow "until you get to tomorrow. "you don't need it today." "don't open your umbrellauntil it starts to rain." okay. don't start, that stuffhadn't happened yet. you can't change the future,can't change the past, just work on today.
there are two days of every week you should never worry about. yesterday and tomorrow. cause you can't do anything about them. and you don't worry about the future until you've successfullylearned to manage today. some of you aren't doingthat good a job on that one. so why are you borrowing trouble and worrying about somethingthat's happening in two weeks?
you see, when you think about it, today is the tomorrow thatyou worried about yesterday. and so yesterday, you messed up yesterday 'cause you're worrying about today. now today you're messing the today 'cause you're worrying about tomorrow. just don't do that. take one life, take one dayat a time through your life. why does god say that youshould only live your life
one day at a time. well, 'cause it's true, it'sthe only thing you can do. you can't live in the past. you can't live in the future. you can only live today. but there's a couple reasons why you should only live one day at a time. first, when you worryabout tomorrow's problems you miss all the blessings of today.
some of you, you got somethingcoming up in two weeks, or a week or a month, andit's scaring to death. and you're making it worsebecause you're ruining every day between now andthen by worrying about it. what is that worrying doing? it's unhelpful, it's unuseful, all of those different things. and so you're missing today's blessing. some of you are soworried about retirement
you're not enjoying today. you're missing the blessing of today. "i don't want you doing that,take it one day at a time." and the other reason is, you can not solve tomorrow's problems with today's power. when you get there, tomorrow, god will give you thepower and the perspective and the grace and the wisdom. he'll give you what you needwhen you need to get there.
but he's not gonna giveyou the power and promise and purpose and all thosethings for tomorrow today. so you're taking on a problem, god says "i'm not giving you power for that. "'cause i want you to trustme one day at a time." the bible does not say "give us this day our weekly bread." no, you're gonna pray, giveme today my daily bread. give me just enough strengthto make it through the day.
he wants you to dependon him one day at a time. now, let me be clear, as yourpastor, 'cause i love you, it's okay to plan for tomorrow. it's okay to plan for the future just don't worry about the future. planning is good, worrying is bad. jesus highly recommends planning. there's a whole book inthe bible about planning it's called the book of proverbs.
god says it's foolish not to plan. like, only a fool would goall the way through life unprepared for somethingyou know is inevitable called death. are you kidding me? you haven't made your peace with god? you know you're gonna die, you don't know when it's gonna happen. to go through life unplanned for death,
you're not ready to live'til you're ready to die. so oughta plan. you can plan for tomorrow butyou can't live in tomorrow. now i know that the future can often seem, you know, very overwhelming. but god graciously dividedit up into 24 hour segments. so you don't get all the future at once. you get it 24 hours at a time. and if god gave you allthe future at one time
it would overwhelm you. but you're not there yet,you're not ready for it. and so god gives it toyou in 24 hour increments. think of your life like an hourglass, remember where the sandgoes through the hourglass. the sand, there's all this sand up here but it goes through one grain at a time. you can handle that. you can handle one grain at a time.
you can't handle all the sand at once. so it's not gonna come at ya all at once. you're gonna hit thefuture one day at a time. now psalm, matthew six verse 34 says this, look up here on the screen. i love this in the messagetranslation it says this "give your entire attention towhat god is doing right now," not yesterday not tomorrow, "right now, and don't get worked up about
"what may or may not happen tomorrow. "god will help you dealwith whatever hard things "come up when the time comes." when the time comes. now, having said all this. is it possible that worry may be one of your most chronic sins? it's unhelpful, it's unreasonable, it's unbiblical, it doesn't work.
it's irrational, it's unbelief. and maybe just need to say "god, i'm sorry. "i haven't been sayingthe lord is my shepherd, "i have been saying i'm worried. "i'm worried." now, let me just add here. if you struggle with chronic anxiety and you've had it foryears and years and years,
you need more than just this. and you need a care team around you, you need a support team around you. because if you havechronic anxiety you need, first you need a doctor. you need to go and get some tests done and you may need some meds. that's okay. it's a chemical issue.
when people's chemistry's messed up some people are chronically anxious like others are chronically angry or others are chronically depressed. so you need a doctor and you need to just go get that. then second, you need a coach. you need a counselor, you need somebody to talk with about it.
we have counseling in this church. we do over 300,000 hoursof free counseling a year in this church. so you need a doctor, youneed a coach a counselor, and the third thing youneed is a support group. and we have, at saddleback,we have support groups for anxiety and general anxiety. in fact, we got a supportgroup for anything. you got a problem, we got a group for it.
and you need at least those three things to make it through. because if you're having achemical imbalance in your mind and for me to just say "well just trust god." it's like cutting of thewing of a bird and say "well just fly." and they're going, all saying all you want "fly fly."
if it doesn't have awing it's not gonna fly. and so you might have toget your brain stabilized. now let me give you one last principle i wanna share on this. it's not on your outline butshe wants you to write it down. god is a good shepherd whowill give you what you need. and here's what i'm gonna say. what god gives to me hewants to give through me. in other words, everything god gives you
he wants you to share with others. the lord is my shepherd,when he meets you needs god wants to use you to meetthe needs of other people. the fact is, i don't know ifyou've ever realized this, but god is constantly testinghow much you trust him. every day of your lifeyour faith, your trust, is being tested by god. he's gonna see "are you gonna trust me?"
and he does it many many ways. by the way, do you know what is the number one way god testsyour trust and your faith? money. money, finances. because we spend so much ofour life trying to earn it, make it, spend it, use it,save it, invest it, whatever. and what i've learned isthat the more you have the less likely you are to trust god.
because you start trustingyour bank account. and this is a test, it's a test. but when i meet other people's needs with what god has blessed me with god gets extremely happybecause god is a generous god and he gives nine promises. i'm gonna close with a verseyou may have never read. it's not on your outline so write it down. cause i want you to go homeand read this verse again.
isaiah chapter 58, isaiah 58 versus 7-11 and in this passage god makes some amazing astounding promises as our shepherd. "if you'll do these certain things "i'll make sure al of your needs are met." i'm gonna read it to ya, okay,it's up here on the screen. isaiah 58:7-11. now, he starts off withwhat he wants you to do and god says this
"i want you to share yourfood with the hungry." okay, you're eatin' well he says then he says "and i want you towelcome the homeless poor "into your homes." well, that could even include immigrants. "i want you to put clotheson those who need them." great, got it. and then he says
"and i want you to help yourrelatives who need your help." oh, come on god. the first three i can get okay. i don't wanna help that crazyuncle, he's such a flake. "i want you to help yourrelatives who need your help." this is a test. "if you do these things," and he makes nine promises. these are amazing, look at this.
number one, "my favor will shine onyou like the morning sun." god smiles on your life,your business, your career. number two, "your wounds," the things where you're hurting, "your wounds will be quickly healed," 'cause you're helpin' somebody else. number three,
"i will always be with you to save you," all right. number four, "my presence will protectyou on every side," i like that. number five, fifth promise. "when you pray, i will answer you." now, he says, goes back alittle more, he says now "i'll do this if you putan end to oppression,"
and that would includeracial prejudice and bigotry. put an end to oppression. "and if you stop every gestureof contempt or others," including who are politicallydifferent from you, oh oh. "you gotta stop pointing theother side with contempt. "if you stop every gestureof contempt of others "and you end your vicioustalk and pointing fingers," on social media. i just thought i'd throw that in.
no i'm kidding. "okay, if you stop being sucha gripy complaining person." you stop saying they'renuts, they're dumb, they're stupid. and i don't care whoyour favorite group is to say that about. "if you'll do that andinstead if you spend yourself "in behalf of thehungry, and you take care "of the needs to the oppressed,
"then darkness around you will turn into the brightness of noon." he said your light'sgonna shine like crazy. "and i the lord will," here's the other promises, "always guide you and iwill satisfy your needs," that's number eight, "and i will keep you strong and well." hello.
(applauding and cheering) now, if that's not true, god's a liar you should go home and nevercome back to church again. because i'm not gonnaworship a god who's a liar. but god has said "if you do these things "i will do these things in your life "because i am your shepherd." let's bow our heads.
dear god, you are the sourceof everything we need to live and yet we look everywhere else. and there's nothing that weneed that you can't supply. and it's really clear in your word that you do not want us toever ever worry about anything. you said it repeatedly. you've told us that worry is unreasonable, it doesn't make sense, it's illogical, it blows things out of proportion.
you've told us that worry is unnatural. we humans are the onlypeople in the entire universe that worry. nothing else that you've created worries. everything else in creation trusts you. you told us that worry is unhelpful. that it's not gonna add asingle hour to our life, not make us taller or shorter. can not change the past,can not control the future.
you told us that worry is unnecessary. that you have promised to meet our needs if we'll just trust you. and you've told us that worry is unbelief. that when we worry we'reactually acting like atheist. or acting like orphans that don't have a loving heavenly father,don't have a shepherd. you said "don't be worried, believein god and believe in jesus."
so lord, today, we wanna learn to trust you to meet our needs. and we wanna practice it this week. now you pray, say, "god, every day i wannaask you to be my shepherd. "and if i have to say it 20 times a day, "the lord is my shepherd. "i'll remember that when i worry "you're gonna feed, you're gonna lead
"and you're gonna meet my need. "jesus christ, i wannagive you first place "in every area of my life. "have access to every room in my home. "no drawer, no closet, noroom is off limits to you. "and whenever i worry help me to realize "that that area is an areathat's not under your control. "that i've held it back and that i love it "more than i love you.
"god, this week andduring this entire series "teach me to relax. "and to not hold onto my worries, "not to stuff 'em or repress 'em "but to confess 'em. "to give you my worries in prayer, "to not hold on to 'em and say "'god here's a worry,i'm worried about this' "and give it to you.
"and then jesus help me totrust you for one day at a time. "to not worry about tomorrow "it'll have enough trouble of its own. "but depend on your powertoday to solve today's problems "and your power tomorrow tosolve tomorrow's problems. "i just wanna trust youin every single area." if you've never said it before say "jesus christ i want youto become the shepherd. "the lord is my shepherd.
"jesus be the lord of my life. "and i humbly ask thisin your name i pray. "amen."
Tidak ada komentar
Posting Komentar