I wish I were him...

I just watched my son fall asleep. I love doing this. So peaceful. So carefree. His biggest concern? Is Mommy coming home soon? The only person who has it better...my cat. Sam knows I am going to take care of him. He does not worry. Why? He is convinced I love him.

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you. 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)

Dance to the time warp again

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself... Matthew 6:34

Most people do not live in the now. Today is missed. Many either live in regret of things yesterday or live in anxiety about things tomorrow thus today is missed and simply becomes another day regreted.

When we worry, we use our imagination to create a negative future in our mind. We predict a bad tomorrow. Often our worry takes part in making the "imagined" bad tomorrow a reality. We tend to move toward our dominant thought. Worry can be a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy.

It is much better to focus on living today in a healthy and productive way. Today is a good day. It has many good possibilities. Take advantage of the moments to love and know the people around you. If you must allow your thoughts to drift to tomorrow, then imagine it being a good one. I think I'm going to go tickle my son now.

Imagine

Isaiah 26:3
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.

Do you meditate? If you worry you do. Worry is simply negative meditation. It is using the power of the mind-the power of imagination to run scenarios where bad things happen.

For the believer, worry is the sin of taking the most powerful gift God has ever given anyone-thier own mind, and using it to dispute His promises and negate His character. It is unbelief.

Why not use the gift of imagination to picture God coming through for you. Why not envision Him being a loving, caring, Father who makes promises and keeps them. He invites me to trust Him and experience His faithfulness. Imagine that.

Hostage week 2-Worry

4 Reasons Not to Worry

What Does the Bible Say About Worry?

1. Worrying Accomplishes Absolutely Nothing.
Worrying won't help you solve a problem or bring about a solution, so why waste your time and energy on it?

Matthew 6:27-29 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.

2. Worrying is Not Good for You.
Worrying is destructive to us in many ways. It becomes a mental burden that causes us to grow physically sick as well as age faster.

Proverbs 12:25 Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.

3. Worrying reveals I am not trusting God.

Here's a little formula to remember: Worry replaced by Prayer equals Trust.

Matthew 6:30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

4. Worrying Puts Your Focus in the Wrong Direction.

Even in the difficult times, when it seems like God doesn't care, we can choose to focus our trust toward the Lord and on his kingdom.

Philippians 4:6-7 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Do you ever worry about anything? I mean really worry? Ever have anxiety that wakes you up in the middle of the night-grinding your teeth? How do you deal with worry and anxiety?

Worry is a notorious joy thief. It is impossible to worry and be happy at the same time. This week and this weekend at NCC I am discussing how to win over worry and experience joy.

Worry cannot be eliminated, it must be replaced.