Not A Care In The World

I am sure you have heard the expression "not a care in the world." It is an idiom which means to be completely happy as a result of being free from all worry and or anxiety. Now for most, this may seem out of reach, to actually live life free from all worry and or anxiety, but the reality is, not having a care in the world is exactly the life that our Heavenly Father has provided His children through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said it this way, "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 all these things." (Matthew 6:31-32) "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Two main things that we must consider. First, "Do not worry...For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." Second, "I will give you rest."  Believers are not to worry. Worrying gives way to anxiety or unease to where one's mind dwells on difficulty, troubles or the uncertainty of actual or potential problems. However, Jesus tells us, "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 life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds 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 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?" (Matthew 6:25-30)

Believers must come to know without doubt, that in every area of our lives, our all-knowing Heavenly Father loves us, desires to take care of us and is able to do so, far greater than all the best human father put together could ever do. (Matthew 7:11) However, with worry comes an element of torment which robs us of the very thing that opens the door to our Father's care for us, our faith. Notice Jesus says, "O you of little faith." Faith is the quintessential required by God for all who come to Him and live through Him and for Him, " But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6) The Bible records four times, "The just shall live by faith." (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 311; Hebrews 10:38) This is not a suggestion and therefore there is no getting around this. If believers want the rest that God has provided, then we must shed ourselves of all worry and anxiety and exercise faith in our faithful God and Father. 

Jesus also tells us, "men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth..." (Luke 21:6) Fear is a product of the devil (2 Timothy 1:7) and I believe that fear is worry or anxiety left uncheck and taken to a higher level of destroying faith and robbing believers from all that our Heavenly Father has promised us. Notice, that men's hearts will fail due to things coming on the earth. In other words, things that are not real, they have not happened and there is no assurance that they will happen. Now let us look at what the Apostle Peter tells us, "casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith..." (1 Peter 5:7-9) The Amplified Bible puts it this way, "casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully]. Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour. But resist him, be firm in your faith..." 

As we can see, believers are to cast, "throw something forcefully in a specified direction" their cares on the Lord because the devil is looking for believers on whom he can take advantage of, that is, to steel from, kill and or destroy. (John 10:10) Even the American Medical Association agrees with this in some sense. The AMA has stated, "the effects of worry can cause a host of health problems." Let us be honest. Health problems are not from God. This is why believers are to submit to God, be firm in our faith and resist the devil. The Apostle James tells us, "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (James 4:7) How do we resist the devil? By being "firm in your faith...", that is, trusting wholeheartedly in God. The Apostle Paul reveals a plan to rid ourselves of worry and anxiety, "Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God." (Philippians 4:6 AMP), that is, "casting all your cares upon Him." How? "by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." 

When we do this, God makes us a promise, "And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours]." (Philippians 4:7 AMP) There's the rest that the Lord said He would give us. Let's face it, everyone, at one time or another may find themselves in the difficulties of this life. The crises of life come to all of us. The difference is, if we know God's Word; if we know the Holy Spirit; if we know how to effectively offer our prayers to God and cast all of our cares on Him rather than holding on to them, then we will find the rest of the Lord and be free from worry and anxiety.

Unfortunately, many believer today are holding onto cares that produce worry and or anxiety which rob them from the abundant life that is only found in Christ our Lord. If this is you, God wants you to turn your cares over to Him right now. Anything and everything that is causing worry and anxiety to manifest in your life, our Heavenly Father is waiting to receive from you, but you must give it to Him. Maybe worrying has become a constant habit in your life. It does not matter. It is time to make a habit of exercising faith and cast your cares upon Him. Again, if this is you, then I encourage you to make this declaration of faith every time you find yourself worrying or being anxious over any of life's circumstances...

"Heavenly Father, I am casting my cares upon you. I am turning them over to You. I refuse to worry anymore. I refuse to let anxiety have place anymore. You said to cast all my cares on You because You care for me affectionately and You care about me watchfully. Right now, I release, (name the cares) and I give them to you. They are in Your hands and now I rest in you. Thank you Father for freeing me from worry and anxiety in Jesus Name."

No doubt, the devil will do all that he can to try and bring the cares that you have just cast on the Lord, back into your mind. If or when he tries to do this, simply laugh at him and remind him that you have given the situation over into the very capable hands of your Heavenly Father because He care for you affectionately and He care about you watchfully. Paul also gives us a great way to help us guard our mind against the cares of life trying to take hold of us. He tells us, "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." (Philippians 4:8)  May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ rule your heart and mind!

Resting From Our Labors

The first Monday in September is a holiday, created by the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of the USA. Through the years, the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. Through the following years other states passed laws to establish Labor Day. Finally, on June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories. Labor day has also become known as the unofficial end of summer.

Taking a rest from laboring is an important part of life. We see that God Himself rested after completing the work of creation, "Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Genesis 2:1-3) God Himself sees the benefit of resting from to the point where under the Mosaic economy He called for one day of rest, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." (Genesis 20:8-11)

But what about today? Should believers have a day of rest? Yes, but not in the sense of a special day. The Apostle Paul tells us, "One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind." (Romans 14:5) This is why I said that believers should have a day of rest but not in the sense of a special day. The rest for the believer starts with and continue in, Jesus Christ. First, Jesus gives all people an invitation to rest, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) 

Although Israel was to observe a day of rest, under the Mosaic economy, they never really came into true rest, "And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3:18-19) "Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: So I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: And God rested on the seventh day from all His works, and again in this place: They shall not enter My rest. Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience." (Hebrews 4:1-6) 

So, let us see the true rest that God has promised by looking at the statement Jesus made in Matthew eleven. To "come" to Jesus is to come humbly and to come in faith. God provides salvation through Jesus Christ, which includes the fact that man must give himself to the Lord Jesus Christ in commitment before it becomes effective. Jesus said, “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me,” and then immediately added, “and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37). Salvation is not through a creed, a church, a ritual, a pastor, a priest, or any other such human means-but through Jesus Christ, who said, "Come to Me." To come to Christ is to believe in Him and submit to His lordship. 

"All who are," indicates a condition that already exists. Those whom Jesus invites to Himself are those who already are weary and heavy-laden. "Weary," or “to labor,” carries the idea of working to the point of utter exhaustion. John uses the term to describe Jesus’ fatigue when He and the disciples reached Sychar after a long, hot journey from Jerusalem (John 4:6). Weary refers figuratively to arduous toil in seeking to please God and know the way of salvation. Jesus calls to Himself everyone who is exhausted from trying to find and please God in his own resources. Jesus invites the person who is wearied from his vain search for truth through human wisdom, who is exhausted from trying to earn salvation, and who continuously struggles trying to achieve God’s standard of righteousness by his own efforts. 

"Heavy-laden," indicates that at some time in the past a great load was laid on the wearied person. It suggests the external burdens caused by the futile efforts of works righteousness. In Jesus’ day, the teachings of the religious leaders had become so massive, demanding, and all-encompassing that they prescribed standards and formulas for virtually every human activity. It was all but impossible even to learn all the traditions, and was completely impossible to keep them all. Jesus spoke of the heavy loads of religious tradition that the scribes and Pharisees laid on the people’s shoulders, "For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." (Matthew 23:4). In a similar way, Peter, at the Jerusalem Council where the apostles and elders came together to discuss important doctrinal issues, noted that the Judaizers were trying to control believers with the same man-made “yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear” (Acts 15:10). 

Therefore, to enter God’s rest is to cease from all efforts at self-help in trying to earn salvation. It is a place where God gives His children freedom from the cares and burdens that rob them of peace and joy. It is to have the wonderful assurance that our eternal destiny is secure in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. It is to be freed from vain philosophies, dead works, man's traditions and false doctrines, that is, freedom from dead religion that has no power, which puts the focus on self rather than Christ. When we enter into God’s rest, we are given the assurance that “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6)

Finally, resting in Christ also means depending on Him. Believers can depend on our Heavenly Father with utter certainty, because, "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19) "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it." (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24) "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 4:19) 

Although "Labor Day" is a national holiday where the American worker can rest from their labors for a day, believers can find their rest in Jesus Christ every day. PTL