Election Day and Anxiety

No worries for our little grandson Luke on Election Day 2020. He has good parents caring for him—but, we have a good God caring for us! No worries!!

Today the big day we have been anticpating has arrived—election day! How are you doing with anxiety concerning who will win and what the next four years will look like? A calm and peaceful heart is attainable even today.

Philippians 4:6-7 “…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” These two verses apply to every single event, day, and moment of our lives. Today we have such an opportunity to make this truth real in our lives. Most people will fret all day and continue fretting into the days ahead. However, this is not how God desires for us to live. He does not want us to worry about ANYTHING, but rather, talk to Him about the situation and be thankful to Him. Fairly easily we can measure how we are doing in this area. Are we praying with thanksgiving, or tied up in knots with worry?

This Thursday morning I want to encourge you to “not be anxious about anything.” Plan to join our live group at Harborview Fellowship at 9:30 even if you have not been part of our study before. Or, you may join us on Livestream at discoverybaptist.org. I can’t guarantee the Livestream will be “live,” however it willl always be available within an hour of the completion of our study. Allow God’s Word to change your life from one of fretting to a life of peace and calm.

Worry

Our cozy little tree house Nehemiah and Mark built for the grandkids.

Last summer our son Nehemiah and Mark built a wonderful tree house in the woods on our property. Since then many little children (and some bigger ones) have scampered up the stairs and enjoyed a fun time in this place where imaginative play blossoms. One thing I particularly think of when I see this little place is the great carefree hearts of those who enjoy it. When did you last enjoy such freedom of care/worry?

While reading Jerry Bridges book “Respectable Sins” this week, particularly his chapter on worry, I found some thought provoking quotes. Consider this: Suppose someone you love were to say to you, “I don’t trust you. I don’t believe you love me and will care for me.” What an affront that would be to you! Yet that is what we are saying to God by our anxiety.  Jerry Bridges Another quote from John Newton (the author of Amazing Grace) caught my heart. “ [One of the marks of Christian maturity which a believer should seek is] an acquiescence in the Lord’s will founded in a persuasion of his wisdom, holiness, sovereignty, and goodness. … So far as we attain to this, we are secure from disappointment. Our own limited views, and shortsighted purposes and desires, may be, and will be, often over-ruled; but then our main and leading desire, that the will of the Lord may be done, must be accomplished. How highly does it become us, both as creatures and as sinners, to submit to the appointments of our Maker! and how necessary is it to our peace! This great attainment is too often unthought of, and over-looked; we are prone to fix our attention upon the second causes and immediate instruments of events; forgetting that whatever befalls us is according to his purpose, and therefore must be right and seasonable in itself, and shall in the issue be productive of good. From hence arise impatience, resentment, and secret repinings [i.e., complainings], which are not only sinful, but tormenting; whereas, if all things are in his hand, if the very hairs of our head are numbered; if every event, great and small, is under the direction of his providence and purpose; and if he has a wise, holy, and gracious end in view, to which everything that happens is subordinate and subservient; — then we have nothing to do, but with patience and humility to follow as he leads, and cheerfully to expect a happy issue. … How happy are they who can resign all to him, see his hand in every dispensation, and believe that he chooses better for them than they possibly could for themselves!” John Newton

I cannot express well enough how excited I am to be starting a brand new class for the Ladies Bible Study this week on the subject of worry. Do we really know what it is and do we actually know what to do about it? We will be doing the first chapter in Juanita Purcell’s book “Worry-Free Living.” If you don’t have a book, let me know. Please note that this book gives us the structure for what we will be discussing each week, however, many wonderful resources exist beyond it. In particular my son’s book “What if…How to Kill Worry and Anxiety Before It Kills You” would be an excellent supplement for our study.

See you on Zoom (find us at discoverybaptist.org) Thursday morning at 9:30.

Peace When Surrounded by Enemies

Photo by Vernon Raineil Cenzon

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;…” Psalm 23:5a

Think for a moment about the literal understanding of this wonderful verse from the 23rd Psalm; sitting down to eat with my enemies present. I don’t know about you, but, the last thing I would find desirable when “enemies” are around me would be eating. Any kind of distress immediately shuts down my interest in food—it is like my stomach just cannot handle it. So, let’s imagine the opposite situation where peace, calm, and joy reign within me. Yes, now food sounds wonderful. So how do we merge a difficult situation AND happiness to be eating a wonderful meal? Only one possibility exists for such a combination. There must be someone totally in charge of the “enemies;” so completely in control that I have absolutely no concern about them. Only God meets the qualifications of such a protector. Is He your protector, or are you relying on someone (or something) very inferior to Him?

This Thursday morning at 9:30 join me on Zoom to discuss Psalm 23:5a in great detail and be encouraged in enjoying the blessings of God in the midst of trying people and situations (like maybe the Virus :)).

You can watch the great Jennifer Rothschild video for this lesson by following the instructions below. If you would like to see a recording of last week’s study, please let me know.

Login to https://my.lifeway.com/redeem with an email address and password
On the left-hand side click on Redeem Code
Insert the code and click Redeem. From there, click on My Account then  Digital Media on the left-hand side.
You will see the sessions under the Rentals Header
You can play these videos as many times as you need.

The redemption code is-- IJE8QP24C1 Video 6