As He Is, So We Are

With all the struggles that believers may face in this fallen world, our trust should never be placed in what man can do, no matter how good it seems. The Holy Spirit through the Prophet Jeremiah tells us, "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited." (Jeremiah 17:5-6). For the believer, our trust should be wholeheartedly in the Lord, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit." (Jeremiah 17:7-8)  

I have highlighted two things in the above scripture that we should fully understand. The believers trust in the Lord keeps us from fear and anxiety. It is fear and anxiety that holds believers from experiencing the fullness of Christ. Jesus tells us, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father." (John 14:12) Believers will never experience doing the things the gospels reveal that Jesus did, and even greater, if they trust in man, rather than God. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us, "My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." (1 Corinthians 2:4-5) In other words, believers are to put their faith, their trust, in God alone. 

The gospels reveal numerous examples of the things that Jesus did. Keeping in mind that Jesus was as much a human as we are, let us consider the following. Jesus lived above natural laws. He spoke "peace" to the storm; (Mark 4:39) Food came when it was needed; (Matthew 14:13-21; 15:29-39) Money came when it was needed. He had no sense of the need of righteousness, that is, the ability to stand in God's presence without fear, guilt, or inferiority. He simply walked into the presence of the Father calmly and quietly. (John 11:42)  Time meant absolutely nothing to Him. He was never in a hurry, though He had the greatest work of any human being on His hands. (John 3:16-17) 

He faced the cross and its awful consequences with a strength that staggers us. He seemed to belong to humanity and lived in the realm of time, but in reality, He belonged to eternity. (John 18:36) He never reasoned, nor did He ever make a mistake. He always said the right thing in the right place at the right time. (John 12:49) He chose twelve men, and each one of them fitted into His program perfectly. No general in the history of man ever had such wisdom and such great insight into mans character as He. (John 15:16) He never lived in fear of contagious diseases. He laid His hand upon the lepers and the ones filled with fever and disease without a hint of apprehension. (Matthew 4:23-24) 

Jesus was and is all that God is. (John 14:1-11; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:3) He had perfect wisdom and perfect peace. (John 7:46) He had perfect self-control. He had perfect dominion over the laws of nature. He read the hearts and minds of men as an open book. (Mark 2:8) He stood absolutely alone, a Master, and yet He was utterly one with humanity. He sympathized with our weaknesses. (Hebrews 4:15.) He felt our limitations and the difficulties that we may face in this life. He was utterly holy, and yet the most vile person that comes to Him in faith will instantaneous "become the very righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:17) He was perfectly just, and yet the criminal who hung on a cross next to Him seem to have a sense of peace as he asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom. (Luke 23:42) He had no sense of limitation as He faced the needs of humanity and now through His meritorious work of redemption has answered every cry and need of humanity, especially to those who come to Him.

He has made Himself approachable for all people. By grace through faith, that is, ones complete trust in Him, He invites us to come boldly to His throne of grace without as sense of guilt, unworthiness or inferiority, to receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) The Father through Christ has given us every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3); He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness as well as exceedingly great and precious promises; (2 Peter 1:1-4) He has given us His name to use to cast out demons and heal the sick. (Mark 16:17-18) and as the Holy Spirit spoke through the Apostle John, "...as He is, so we are in this world." (1 John 4:17) So, let us give Him unending praise!!!

Who Cares

There are numerous human frailties that the Bible deals with. Most of them rob Christians of the abundant life the Jesus promised. (John 10:10) One of these is worry. Jesus says it this way...
"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 life more than food and the body more than clothing? (Matthew 6:25)  The first thing we see is Jesus dealing with human necessities which cause most people to worry. He finishes His statement with a question that we must truly consider, "Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?"

To answer that question, one must decide who it is that is master of their life. Jesus tells us, "No one can serve two masters..." (Matthew 6:24) Although Jesus is talking about serving God or wealth it still applies to each person when it comes to worrying. Worry allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles as well as excessive concern or uncertainty over actual or potential problems. Although the following statement will probably not go over well with some, the bottom line is, for a Christian, worry is sin. Why? It is an actual rejection of God's Word as the truth and the acceptance of what the world or the devil say is true. When we think about it, the world is filled with the ways of the devil and Jesus tells us that, "...there is no truth in him (the devil). When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it."  (John 8:44) Trusting in what the world has to say rather than what God's Word says, not only promotes worry but again it is sin We may want to deny that worry is sin but Paul tells us, "...for whatever is not from faith is sin." (Romans 14:23)

Jesus uncovers the reason why worry takes hold of the Christians life, "...O you of little faith." (Matthew 6:30) Well you may say "I have faith" and you would be absolutely correct. The apostle Paul tells us in Romans, "...God has dealt to each one a measure of faith." (Romans 12:3) But what have you done with the faith that God has given to you? If you still deal with worry it is obvious that you have not permitted God's Word to take hold of your spirit therefore growing your faith, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17) nor have you acted upon God's Word, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves...I will show you my faith by my works." (James 1:22, 2:18)

You may be thinking, "well how can I rid myself of worry?" It is a training process that every Christian (if you worry) must work through. We begin with the obvious, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:2); "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind." (Ephesians 4:23) Renewing our minds with God's Word will cause us to speak about our circumstances completely different. The writer of Hebrews says, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23). Basically, a renewed mind in God's Word, changes what we think, what we think changes what we believe, what we believe is what we speak and what we speak is how we will act. By giving the Word of God the ascendancy in our life we will confess and stand on His Word not the circumstances of life. This will eliminate worry because we learn to let go of our ability and trust in God's ability. We learn to place our faith in and on God's Word. In doing so we will do as Peter tells us, "casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7) There is no sense in us worrying if God says that He is going to handle the problem.

Finally, Jesus also tells us that we are of more value to our heavenly Father than all the rest of creation and that the Father knows everything that we need. (Matthew 6:26-32) Take some time and meditate on this fact. You are of more value to the Father than ALL of creation. Mix this with faith and you will see worry flee as well as seeing the works of God manifest in your life. (John 5:20) .