[Faith-talk] FW: [thefamilyoffaith] Turning All Your Worries And Problems Over To God

[Eric Calhoun]

Original Message: 
From: "thefamilyoffaith" <TheFamilyofFaith at tampabay.rr.com>
To: <thefamilyoffaith at yahoogroups.com>,
<INTERCESSORS-ALLNATIONS at yahoogroups.com>,
<dfpprayerwarriors at suddenlink.net>, <unitedprayermail at aol.com>
Subject: [thefamilyoffaith] Turning All Your Worries And Problems Over To
God
Date: 
Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:34:04 -0500



Turning All Your Worries And Problems Over To God




It is sometimes a troubling truth for many Christians that even though we
belong to God through faith in Christ, we still seem to experience the same
problems that plagued us before we were saved. We often become discouraged
and bogged down in life's cares. The fact that both the Old and New
Testaments address this problem the same way indicates that God knows
problems and worries are inevitable in this life. Thankfully, He has given
us the same solution He gave in both Psalms and Peter's letter. "Cast your
cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous
fall" (Psalm 55:22), and "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for
you" (1 Peter 5:7). 

Contained within these two verses are several amazing truths: God will
sustain us, He will never let us fall, and He cares for us. Taken one at a
time, we see first that God declares both His ability and His willingness
to be our strength and support-mentally, emotionally and spiritually. He is
able (and best of all, willing!) to take everything that threatens to
overwhelm us and use it for our benefit. He has promised to "work all
things together for the good of those who love him, who have been called
according to his purpose." Even at times when we doubt Him, He is still
working for our good and His glory. And He has also promised that He will
allow no trial to be so great we cannot bear it and that He will provide a
means of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). By this, He means that He will not
let us fall, as He promised in Psalm 55:22.

The third statement-"he cares for you"-gives us the motivation behind His
other promises. Our God is not cold, unfeeling or capricious. Rather, He is
our loving heavenly Father whose heart is tender toward His children. Jesus
reminds us that just as an earthly father would not deny his children
bread, so God has promised to give us "good gifts" when we ask Him (Matthew
7:11). 

In the spirit of asking for good gifts, first we must pray and tell the
Lord that we hear what He's saying in John 16:33, where Jesus says, "These
things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world
you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the
world." Then we should ask the Lord to show us how He has "overcome" our
problems, our worries, our anger, our fears and our guilt.

The Lord reveals to us through His Word, the Bible, that we can be of
good "cheer," that we can:

1) rejoice in our problems because God will use them to our benefit.
"Knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance
(patience); character; and character, hope" (Romans 5:3-4);

2) see our "worries" as an opportunity to practice Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust
in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in
all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths";

3) counteract our anger by obeying Ephesians 4:32, "And be kind to one
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ
forgave you"; and

4) deal with any sinful feelings by believing and acting upon the truth
of 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." All of our
problems can be dealt with through simple faith in God's Word.

God is bigger than all our worries and problems put together, and we must
realize that if we are to have any victory in our lives. Everyone suffers
with these difficulties, because the Bible teaches that temptation is
"common" to mankind (1 Corinthians 10:13). We must not let Satan deceive us
into thinking that all our problems are our fault, all our worries will
come true, all our anger condemns us, or that all our guilt is from God. If
we do sin and confess, God forgives and cleanses. We need not feel ashamed,
but rather take God at His Word that He does forgive and cleanse. None of
our sins are so heavy that God cannot lift them from us and throw them into
the deepest sea (see Psalm 103:11-12).

In reality, feelings come from thoughts, so, even though we can't change
how we feel, we can change how we think. And this is what God wants us to
do. For example, in Philippians 2:5, Christians are told, "Let this mind be
in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." In Philippians 4:8, Christians are
told to think on things that are "true," "noble," "just," "pure," "lovely,"
"of good report," and "praiseworthy." In Colossians 3:2, we are told to
"set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." Therefore, as
we do this, our feelings of guilt diminish.

So, each day, taking one step at a time, we should pray for God's Word to
guide us, read or listen to God's Word, and meditate on God's Word when the
problems, worries, and anxieties of life come along. The secret to giving
things over to Christ is really no secret at all-it's simply asking Jesus
to take our burden of "original sin" and be our Savior (John 3:16), as well
as submitting to Jesus as our Lord in day-to-day living.

 

If you have received this study as a forward and want to be added to the
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now and decide for any reason you want to be removed from my writing
ministry let me know. Just email me and in the subject line state "Add me"
or "Remove me." My e-mail address is brothermiller1 at yahoo.com 

 

I encourage you to forward my studies to others as you are led of God.
Please leave this statement with the forward.