Are you Anxious?

By: Pastor Joyce Picker

Philippians 4:6-8 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Messiah, Yeshua! Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.

I'm so stressed!

Recently, I have been thinking about this Scripture a lot. I need to be reminded of these excellent words daily. Sometimes, things are so busy during the day with work and before I know it, I have let stress or concern or worry creep in. The key is to find peace and joy in all circumstances. In all circumstances we must remember the promise of Yeshua’s resurrection and stand fast in the Lord. The Philippians knew that they needed to stand fast in the Lord and that they were Paul’s trophy.

I believe in the literal interpretation of the Word. When the Scripture opens with do not be anxious, it’s a command, not an option. Just like the 10 commandments. They are not suggestions. We need to practice not being anxious. Then because we are not anxious, we can pray as all areas of our life are important to Him. Everything is the proper subject of prayer. Prayer means all our communication with God but supplication on the other hand directly asks God to do something. Cross reference this to Matthew 6: 25-34 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I need HELP!

God created us so it stands to reason that He knows that we tend to worry, have stress and can let sadness consume us. We need HELP. That’s why He sent His Son to die for all these issues. His death was for us to be free of all the negative stuff that tries to plague us! He was resurrected from the dead for us!!! It means everything to us, look at some benefits:

HE died and rose for us!

·      Validation of faith

·      Victory over death

·      Confirms forgiveness of sin

·      Empowers new life today

·      Guarantee’s God faithfulness

·      Offers hope amid suffering

·      It calls us to live transformed lives reflecting His glory

And more. It is all encompassing. Without it, we do not have life worth living. God’s promises to us are yes and amen. This is what we need to focus on. After verses 6 and 7 of Philippians tells us not to worry, and we will have God’s peace which passes our earthly understanding, then Verse 8 directs us to think about what God wants us to focus on. These words were carefully chosen. Whatever is true- the Word of God, whatever is noble, the Word of God, whatever is right and pure, the Word of God! Lovely, admirable excellent and praiseworthy- all these attributes are the Word of God. We start out the day well but then things start happening and we tend to forget. We must constantly remind ourselves not to be anxious.

The word true means: accurate, verifiable, literal, correct and faithful!

Wow, the word itself describes the attributes of a believer. This is what we must focus on - not just a little bit but all the time. We know Satan is the father of all lies- the opposite of lies is truth. Refuse to believe him when he tells you that you are not good enough, you have too many flaws and you are a bad person; instead shift your thoughts to whatever is right and pure and praiseworthy.

Take a listen to the song by Josh Baldwin, Bethel Music- Made For More. I know who I am because I know who You are!!!!!

We must realize who we are In Messiah. Once we know, we are equipped to tear down strongholds. We can and will have peace, but we have to do our part to not be anxious! I am a child of the MOST HIGH God.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, You alone are worthy of all praise and worship. We praise You, thank You and love You. Thank you for anointing us with Your gifts, presence, the Holy Spirit and minds that keep the focus on You. We thank You for blessing us everyday and we thank You that we remember who we are because of who You are. We love You! Amen.

We can and will have peace.

Just a P.S. for everyone, over the past years I have written numerous teachings on the Biblical Feasts and Festivals and some of them are Blog’s. The Feasts are sprinkled throughout the calendar. If you want to read about them, please feel free to do so on the HHH website under blogs. You’re your friends, too! Thanks!

*Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.