Our Responsibility—God's Responsibility

Culled from Everyday Answers by Joyce Meyer - June 5, 2013

So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble. —Matthew 6:34

Every believer has the responsibility to live right—to be a doer of the Word and not just a hearer. Motivated by the reverential fear of the Lord, we can learn to live carefully and begin to make a difference in the world we live in. You and I need to be careful about what we allow into our spirits and how we live our lives. Proverbs 4:23 says to guard our heart with all diligence because out of it flows the issues of life. I believe we should have a careful attitude about how we live—not a casual or a careless one. We need to be careful about what we watch, what we listen to, what we think about, and who our friends are.
I’m not saying we need to live according to the strict and demanding dictates of man. Some would say we must not wear makeup or that we must wear colorless clothing from our necks to our ankles. That is nothing more than legalistic bondage to a bunch of rules and regulations. I had a very ­legalistic relationship with God for years and was miserable, so the last thing I want to do is teach legalism. What I am saying is that we shouldn’t compromise. We should recognize our responsibility as Christians to live our lives in such a way that unbelievers will be attracted to God by our behavior.
James 4:17 says, “…any person who knows what is right to do but does not do it, to him it is sin.” In other words, if we are convicted that something is wrong, then we must not do it—even if we see a hundred other people doing it and getting by with it. They may seem to be getting by with it, but sooner or later, we will all reap what we sow.
We know that worry and anxiety are not characteristics of a godly Christian. Yet still, many Christians worry. You can choose to worry, or you can reject worry and choose to live with joy and peace. Most people don’t want to hear that message, and they seem to find an odd comfort in thinking that worrying is beyond their control. It is not. Worry is a sin against God.
As long as I’ve been in the church, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone make that statement. But it is sin. It is calling God a liar. It is saying that God is not sufficiently able to take care of you and provide for your needs.
Faith says, “God can do it.” Worry says, “God isn’t able to help me.”
When you worry, you not only call God a liar, but you have also allowed the devil to fill your mind with anxious thoughts. The more you focus on the problems, the larger they become. You start to fret and may even end up in despair.
Think of the words of the great apostle: “I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency]” (Philippians 4:13). Or think of the words from the psalmist: “Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:5).
Jesus told His disciples not to be anxious and, as quoted above, not to worry about tomorrow. But He did more than teach those words; He lived them out: “And Jesus replied to him, Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have lodging places, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matthew 8:20). That wasn’t a complaint but a simple fact of life. Jesus trusted His Father’s provision for Him even when He didn’t know where He would sleep or what He would eat.
Jesus taught that we are not to worry about anything in life. He wasn’t speaking about planning and thinking ahead. He was saying that some people never act because fear holds them back. They can always tell you ten things that can go wrong with every plan. Jesus wants us to live a stress-free life. If you are worrying about what might happen, you’re hindering God from working in your life.
I heard about a couple whose daughter was diagnosed with a serious illness that wasn’t covered by insurance. The parents were struggling to pay all the medical bills. Not knowing what else to do, they both went into their bedroom for a lengthy time of prayer. Afterward the husband said, “It was really quite simple. I am God’s servant. My responsibility is to serve my Master. His responsibility is to take care of me.”
The next day, the doctors told them that their daughter was eligible to be part of an experimental surgery and all expenses would be paid. The wife smiled and said, “God is responsible, isn’t He?” What a testimony to their faith and trust in God who remains faithful and responsible at all times and in all things. God is no respecter of persons. What He does for one, He will do for another (see Romans 2:11). I encourage you to stop worrying and start trusting in Him.

Lord God, I know that worry is a sin against You. In the name of Jesus, help me overcome all anxieties and worry and enable me to trust You to provide for every need I have. Amen.

Getting What We Want

Culled from Every Day Answers By Joyce Meyer - May 03, 2013.

Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.
—Proverbs 3:5–6

I usually know what I want, and I like to get it. I’m exactly like most people. When we don’t get what we want, our negative feelings flare up. (And remember those feelings began with thoughts.)
“I drove across town to buy that dress, and you’re out of my size?”
“What do you mean there are no HDTVs left? You advertised it in the paper.”
Most of us are like that—and when we don’t get what we want, we make people around us miserable. It’s not something we learn in school—it may be inborn. As I wrote the above quotations, I thought of a scene in the grocery store.
A young mother was pushing her cart along and stopped at the cereal. Her child—less than two years old—reached out for a box. “Want! Want!”
“No,” the mother said. “We have plenty at home.” She put a different box of cereal in the cart.
“Want! Want!” the child said. Getting no response, she began to kick and scream. To the mother’s credit, she did not give in but pushed the cart to another aisle and distracted her child.
As I watched that behavior, I thought, That’s the way we all are most of the time. We decide what we want, and when we don’t get it, we’re angry.
“Jack and I were both up for the same promotion. I’ve been with the company longer, and my sales figures are stronger,” Donna said. “I deserved it, but he got the job.”
“I had a grade of 98 going into my final essay test,” Angie said. “If I had made another 100, it would have given me a 4.0 average, and I would have become the top student in my graduating class. But I made only 83 on the test, and dropped down to fifth in my class. I deserved a grade of 100, but my teacher doesn’t like me.”
Let’s look at this problem more closely. The individuals mentioned above, who didn’t get what they wanted, made one common statement: “I deserved it, but I didn’t get it.”
Too often, we Christians expect life to be perfect and for everything to go smoothly for us. We expect success, happiness, joy, peace, and everything else. When we’re thwarted, we pout or complain.
Although God does want us to have a good life, there will be times when we must be patient and endure not getting our way. These disappointments test our character and level of spiritual maturity. They actually show whether or not we truly are ready for promotion.
Why do we think we should always be first while others have to endure a lesser position? Why do we think we are entitled to the perfect life? Perhaps sometimes we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. A humble mind enables us to take a back seat and wait for God to move us to the front. God’s Word says that we inherit the promises through faith and patience. Believing God is good, but can we continue to believe God and trust Him when we don’t feel that life is fair?
Satan plays with our minds. Most of the time, the evil one says negative things to us: “You don’t deserve it; you are worthless; you’re stupid.” Once in a while, however, he tries a different trick: He tells us how hard we work or how much we’re entitled to. If we listen and believe, we may begin to feel cheated or believe that someone has taken advantage of us.
When we don’t get what we want, we fall apart, saying, “I deserved it!” We not only get angry with the boss, the teacher, or anyone else, but we sometimes get angry with God for not giving us what we felt we deserved.
The big mistake was to say we deserved it, because then self-pity creeps in when we don’t get what we want. We can take that attitude, or we can recognize that we have a choice. I can choose to accept life the way it is and make the best out of it, or I can complain because it isn’t perfect.
I think of the story of Jonah—not the whale story—but what happened afterward. He had announced that in forty days, God would destroy the city of Nineveh, but the people repented. Because God listened to their cries, Jonah was angry. “Therefore now, O Lord, I beseech You, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:3).
Sad, isn’t it? Jonah would rather have been right than to see 120,000 people saved. Our situations aren’t usually that dramatic, but so many people would rather sit and feel sorry for themselves, listen to the whispers of Satan, and miss out with God than to simply trust God in every situation.
The secret of the Christian life is that we commit ourselves fully to God. If we surrender our wills to God, what happens doesn’t make us angry. If God doesn’t give us what we want and ask for, our faith is strong enough to say, “Not my will, but Yours.”

God, help me. I often have strong desires, and when I don’t get what I want, I get upset. Forgive me. Remind me that Jesus didn’t want to die on the cross, but He lived in total submission to Your will. I ask You, through Jesus Christ, to help me live in total submission and be content with what You give me. Amen.

I must first change...

I haven't penned my thoughts for a long time now for the one reason that I was lacking motivation. I have come to the realisation that thoughts have great power, they are like seeds you plant in your mind.

The more you hold onto a particular thought, the more power you invest in it. Positive thoughts give us energy and strength. Negative thoughts rob us of power and make us feel tired and strained.

We are by nature positive. Negativity is the result of faulty thinking. You can change if you want to. You can't control other people, situation or circumstances, but you can control what is going on inside you. It takes time to change and transform those old patterns of thinking.
Be patient with yourself. It starts with a thought..... Today!

There is no greater teacher than one's own practical example. To be really benevolent therefore means that I must first change, then I have the power, the knowledge and the experience of thinking and doing for the ultimate benefit of all.
Enjoy the rest of your day!