practice

It Is Christ Who Lives In Me

October 29, 2017 by Settled in the Truth

“And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”
– Acts 10:38

This same Jesus of Nazareth, the risen and eternal Lord Jesus, now resides in all those who believe in Him. And we go around doing good and healing all who are oppressed by the devil, for God is with us.

Or do we? For many of us, we do not yet realize the great potential of Christ now living our lives.

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
– Galatians 2:20

Do you see the amazing glory in Paul’s encouragement? The same Spirit that lived in Jesus of Nazareth is the same Spirit that lives in you! And we know that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” – Hebrews 13:8. His purpose as a man in this world has not changed – to destroy the works of the devil and to bring all men from darkness to Light and to the love of our Father. And He is still in this world as a human being – in you!

Even as we have died with Christ through His cross, we are now alive in Him through His resurrection. We now live His life, and we now live His purpose.

And we go around doing good and healing all who are oppressed by the devil, for God is with us.

Unfortunately we talk ourselves out of living His purpose because our faith is weak. Where we should be interceding on behalf of others, opening their eyes to the truth and freeing them from sickness and oppression, we still wonder if it’s actually possible to walk in the path of our Lord. What if we fail? What if we didn’t understand properly? What if our faith fails?

Our answer is, your faith can only fail when it isn’t used. Try. Step out and intercede. Offer to pray for someone for help, or healing, or freedom. What you are doing is allowing Christ to live through you. Ask the Father for His grace, tell the sick body to be healed, command oppressive spirits to be silent and depart, and invite the person you are interceding for to see the love of God for them. Christ, Whose commands were obeyed 2,000 years ago is our eternal King with all authority. His commands are still obeyed, and more so, and He is alive and active through your act of faith – you tried. You stepped out.

And (you) go around doing good and healing all who are oppressed by the devil, for God is with (you).

Remember that this new life you live is by faith. Christ does indeed live in you, and when you step out and try He lives through you as well. Your act of trust allows the Lord to honour your requests and your commands in His name. Step out and try. It’s an uncertain and frightening step when every experience you know as a human being says you won’t make a difference because life is life – it happens. But step out and try. Let Christ live through you and soon your experiences will be radically changed as you see His faithfulness proven time and again. Step out and try.

But how do I know that the Lord wants to heal someone or free them from an oppression? Allow Him to lead you. If you see someone hurting and the desire rising within you is to help them, that is Jesus inspiring your compassion and desire. Step out and try.

But what it I’m not feeling inspired? What if I think I’m just trying to prove something, or testing Jesus just to see what He does? Then pray. Talk to our Father and ask Him to open your heart to Jesus’ desires and to open your mind to His will. Look at the person you would intercede for and allow God to stir you. Your doubts will fade and your desire for that person’s good will grow. Step out and try.

Christ does indeed live in you, and when you step out and try He lives through you as well.

Step out and try. Our God is big enough to take our little faith and grow a huge tree with it 🙂 When your heart is for Him and your desire is for His will, you cannot make a wrong decision because God will work with and through your faith.

Settle it in the truth, the Lord Jesus lives in you. And when you step out and try He lives through you as well.

And (you) go around doing good and healing all who are oppressed by the devil, for God is with (you).

Being The Unforgivable Sinner

August 10, 2017 by Settled in the Truth

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”
– Hebrews 4:16

We have all heard talk and teachings about the unforgivable sin, but the unforgivable sinner is rarely spoken of. We don’t talk about sinners not being forgiven because as Christians our entire faith is built upon the belief of forgiveness for all who ask. And because as Christians we know that we ourselves are forgiven … aren’t we?

The truth is, yes, we are fully forgiven in Christ. Yet a sad fact is many of us live our new lives as if we were still without forgiveness. We conduct our days from confession to confession, ever seeking God’s mercy on us for who we are and what we’ve done. Our mood is marked by a sense of apology and contrition as we seek mercy for ourselves, not understanding that we are being rendered ineffective in the service of our King.

We fail to come boldly to the throne of His grace.

a sad fact is many of us live our new lives as if we were still without forgiveness

To gain a better understanding of this, consider someone in your life who you respect and who has authority in your life. Maybe a parent or grandparent, a teacher, an older sibling – someone whose opinion really matters to you. Now imagine you did something against them, perhaps you stole money or a possession of theirs, and you were discovered. Your first thought might be to try and make an excuse or to justify it, but inside you know there really is no excuse so you eventually confess to them your guilt, and you try to tell them how sorry you are for what you did to them. You offer to restore or make up for what you’ve cost them because you can feel your own heart breaking for what you’ve done to them.

Now imagine they smiled, gave you a big hug and said not to worry about it. They tell you that you are completely forgiven and ask you to stay for supper. During supper they laugh with you about funny times you’ve shared with them in the past and it is as if you never stole from them. You are happy with them just like before.

The next morning you wake up and begin to think again about what you had done to them when you stole. When the phone rings you don’t answer because you can see on call display it’s them. When they come to the door you keep quiet and don’t answer, pretending that no one is home. When you accidentally bump into them in the afternoon you quickly make an excuse why you weren’t at home – even though you were there – and nervously laugh when they ask how you’re doing and make up another excuse of having to be somewhere soon. You start to believe in your own guilt again, and you feel ashamed to be around them. You find every reason you can to avoid them from then on.

But let’s look at another option:

The next morning you wake up and begin to think again about what you had done to them when you stole. When the phone rings, this time you answer it and talk with them. You tell them how you’re still feeling bad about what you’ve done, and they begin to assure you it’s all good. You’re forgiven. And after a little while you begin to feel as happy and accepted as you did the night before. You go on with your day, confident because that dark weight is not on your shoulders. You don’t avoid phone calls or meeting people and you are useful for many things throughout that day. And you aren’t afraid to go visit them or to give them a call because you are reminded by their attitude that what you did will never be brought up by them again – it’s as if you never stole from them at all. You can boldly approach them just like before.

You’re forgiven.

And it’s the same with our forgiveness in Christ. The more time we spend with Him in prayer and in His word, the more we grow in being convinced of our forgiveness and the bolder we can be to approach Him at any time – for any reason. It is as if we never sinned in His eyes. He will never bring those things up again.

“And he has taken our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west.”
– Psalms 103:12
“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
– Isaiah 43:25

Unfortunately, so many of us get distracted and caught up in our day to day lives and we let go of that communication with our Lord. And as that assurance He provides diminishes it gets replaced with the old guilt – that same guilt that leads us to find excuses to not pray or read His word. Then as that guilt builds we eventually turn to Him and agonize about how bad we are and how sorry we are, and we beg Him to forgive us, and then we return to our distractions once again only to repeat that cycle – over and over and over again.

But shouldn’t our turning to Him cleanse us and give us a fresh start? Not in the way we might think. If, as a Christian, we told a lie or stole, that is an act that would cause us guilt and one that we would turn to Him for. He in His faithfulness would tell us that He forgave us ALL our sin – past, present, and future – and He would assure us of our value and worth. We would go forward from there confident and assured – boldly. So in that case, yes, He picks us up and inspires in us that fresh start feeling of going forward and not looking back. But, the guilt that renders us useless is not related to an act of sin but an ongoing state of sin. We come to believe in how unworthy we are and we act worthless as a result. Christ cleansed us and made us new creations, but that state of guilt is seeking forgiveness for something that no longer exists. We’re bringing up the things He said He will no longer remember.

we beg Him to forgive us, and then we return to our distractions once again only to repeat that cycle – over and over and over again

Jesus certainly does not want us stuck in such a cycle. He desires our hearts to be good ground that bears fruit to the glory of our Father. And that good ground is a heart that believes Him, and believes in His righteousness. Believing Him is the easier of the two. James wrote in chapter 2, verse 19, “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” What is harder for many of us to believe is His righteousness. Did you know that righteousness and justice are the same word used in the Greek and the same word in the Hebrew? They define as equitable, fair, without prejudice. And that means what Scripture already tells us – God does not get influenced by the status or state of any person, but is good to all without variance. That means if He forgives one who turns to Him, He forgives all. There is no one who turns to Him where He would say, “Not this one.” There is no unforgivable sinner.

And because we are blessed to share in His righteousness then we, too, learn to not be influenced by the status or state of any person. And we do not say, “Not this one.” And we do not say, “Not me.” But we all must – must – continue daily with our Lord, speaking with Him and listening to His word. He is the encouragement that reminds us of our forgiveness and acceptance, and our confidence to boldly approach Him and to serve Him usefully. Without His influence we are left to the ways of a sinful world, of flesh, and of the devil. And they do not understand God’s righteousness and so our ears and hearts are not reminded of our forgiveness – only about how bad we are. We need God daily.

There is no unforgivable sinner.

A forgiven person dares to ask Jesus to heal another. They dare to help the elderly and the young with their strength. They dare to ask help from their Father for their needs. They dare to intercede on behalf of another’s needs. They dare to give freely and with joy. They are useful to our Master and His service because they are reminded daily how loved and accepted they are by the Lord Himself.

An unforgiven person sits often alone, lamenting their shame and begging forgiveness. They try to serve but joy often escapes them. They neglect fellowship with Jesus and His children and only hear the words of condemnation that the world and the devil reinforce daily. They cannot usefully serve the Master.

Settle it in the truth then. You are forgiven, and you must to be reminded of this daily through your abiding in Christ and in His word and in His fellowship. Then boldly go forth – fully forgiven and fully useful in His service 🙂

Live By And Walk In The Spirit

July 11, 2017 by Settled in the Truth

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in [be guided by] the Spirit.”
– Galatians 5:25

There is so much said in such a short verse of Scripture. “If we live in the Spirit” is a hypothetical statement used by Paul to encourage believers who have received Jesus to walk in accordance to His Spirit. It is an intended redundant statement since as believers we have been raised to new life by the Spirit of God, even as our Lord was raised and emerged from the tomb by the power of the Holy Spirit. Its intended purpose is for all believers to respond, “Yes, let us walk in the Spirit!”, yet there are many who feel an absence of the experience to this new life in the Spirit. For many the conviction that comes from forces greater than ourselves seems missing.

Shouldn’t the experience of the Spirit of God joining with ours be something notable? Shouldn’t it go beyond the feeling that maybe we’re only just stirring ourselves up because we want so much to believe? The early church of Acts seems filled with examples of those who experienced something unique that stirred them to a greater participation and faith in Christ.

yet there are many who feel an absence of the experience to this new life in the Spirit

Our answer is, Yes, it is something notable and it does stir us up to greater faith! But our observation is that Acts also contains examples of those who did not seem to experience anything new, but instead continued on as they were before. Simon the sorcerer is recorded as believing, then he offered money to get the gift of laying on hands so others can receive the Spirit. Peter quickly rebuked him for turning the gift of God into merchandise. Ananias and Sapphira sold their possessions along with many others but kept back part of the proceeds for themselves. That greed led to lying about it which then led to their falling dead when faced with what they had done.

Those two examples were of believers who apparently received Christ, but continued to walk in their worldly ways and thinking in accordance to their worldly reasoning. Did they receive the Spirit when they believed? Yes, because the promise of God’s Spirit is for all who call on the name of Jesus – however – as notable and stirring as that impartation is, for many there are things still more notable and stirring to them than that Gift from God.

“For we also received the good news, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, since they did not share the faith of those who comprehended it.”
– Hebrews 4:2

Our faith is a reasoned choice and often tied into our worldly ways of reasoning. We rely on our experiences to determine what methods and outcomes we can expect in any given situation. To give you some examples to consider, who among us would have thought to look in a fish’s mouth for the temple tax? Or who would have reasoned that to feed a multitude with very little food we just simply multiply that food? Or to get to the other side of a stormy lake with no boat, who of us would have considered walking across it? Our worldly ways of logic would never have considered those options.

“For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
– 1 Corinthians 2:16

When the Spirit of God raises us to new life what happens is our spirit is blended with His – and we become one Spirit. The unity is so close and complete that one could not tell where he or she ends and God begins. Before we were raised to new life, the spirit that was in us as normal human beings is what stirred us to our actions and responses. It was the motivator and content used by our reasoning. Now we are one with God’s Spirit and the motivator and content has changed dramatically – but the reasoning still tends to remain the same. So we have the mind of Christ to think His thoughts – and our minds to think ours. And more often than not we rule out the promptings of Christ’s thoughts because they don’t seem logical to our minds.

We rely on our experiences to determine what methods and outcomes we can expect in any given situation

Being raised to new life in the Spirit means we have to die first. We need to die so we can no longer hold to the values and passions of our worldly experiences. When anyone dies all their attachments, affections, passions, guilt, ambitions, and possessions no longer have influence on them or attachment to them. When we die in Christ it is the same. All that we have held as important in our lives gives way to the importance we now place on our new life in Jesus.

But didn’t Jesus die in our place on the cross? Yes, but not so we would not have to die, but so that we could choose to die – with Him. And dying with Him means being raised to eternal life with Him also. We do not – and cannot – bypass the cross. Our act of faith in baptism or public confession is our declaration that we follow Jesus to the cross and die with Him.

“For surely you know that when we were baptized into union with Christ Jesus, we were baptized into union with his death. By our baptism, then, we were buried with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life.”
– Romans 6:3-4

[NOTE: There are many differing approaches to baptism from sprinkling to full water immersion to a no water public confession. The position we hold on this is that the method is not a point of debate. Our Father regards the hearts and when we come to Jesus and His cross in our response to declare and share in His death, whether sprinkled or immersed or neither, or in a church or a river or a bathtub, our answer is accepted before our Father. And we emerge in newness of life – a new creation!]

We do not – and cannot – bypass the cross.

Whatever the method of your baptism or public confession we encourage you to settle that in the truth that you have died with Christ and are accepted by the Father. The life you now live is in union with the risen Christ! And now “If we live in the Spirit” is answered. We do indeed live by the Spirit, as does everyone who turns to Jesus Christ.

So, are we then guided by the Spirit?

“Those who love their father or mother more than me are not fit to be my disciples; those who love their son or daughter more than me are not fit to be my disciples. Those who do not take up their cross and follow in my steps are not fit to be my disciples. Those who try to gain their own life will lose it; but those who lose their life for my sake will gain it.”
– Matthew 10:37-39

The phrase “not fit to be my disciples” means unable to be students, or unable to be taught and guided. Those who are still governed by their worldly reasoning cannot be guided by the Spirit of God. Consider receiving advice from someone you hardly know, and from someone you respect highly – who would you listen to? The one you respect highly, of course. And if the Spirit is guiding you, and your own reasoning is guiding you, if you have any attachments or affections that exceed your love for Christ then you will not listen to God’s Spirit … you would be unable to be taught or guided by Him.

Those who are still governed by their worldly reasoning cannot be guided by the Spirit of God.

“Jesus tells us not to seek after the things of this world, but the rent is due and He doesn’t seem to be taking care of it! And we need groceries, too!! I’ll need to get more hours at work, then, or a second job!!!“ Sound familiar? That’s our worldly reasoning looking into our wallet for God’s answers and provision. “Trust my Father” is Christ’s reasoning. Our reasoning has us anxiously borrowing, seeking, asking, focusing on our need and our reasoned solution. Christ’s reasoning has us convinced God has our need in mind and our solution at hand so we can move forward in the day without distraction, focused on what He wishes to accomplish through us by the guidance of His Spirit.

“I really should be calling for additional work because we need the money! … But I really feel like I should call old Mrs. Smith to see how she’s doing. Yet she’ll keep me on the phone for hours!!“ You have your worldly reasoning that has your best interests at heart, and you have the mind of Christ that says trust God and do good because your needs are met and the best interests of others is what’s at heart.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
– Romans 12:2

Practice trusting God at every opportunity. Start developing new experiences that will form the new basis of your reasoning. Settle it in the truth that God is a good Father who is deeply interested in you and your needs, and is willing and capable to meet and exceed those needs so that you are free to respond to His thoughts and guidance.

“Taste and see that the LORD is good. How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him!”
– Psalm 34:8

Experience the Father and your new life in Him by trusting Him. You will never be disappointed! Filter every thought and reasoning through trust in Him and let it become your practiced response, and you will find yourself walking in and guided by the Spirit. And encourage others because you’re not the only one learning this 🙂

* A closing thought: It’s not all about you. If it were all about you then you’d be in Heaven now. No, you’re still here in this life because it’s about others. Trust Him and find yourself extremely useful to His purposes for those others.

In the Name of Jesus Christ

July 3, 2017 by Settled in the Truth

“Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, the one who believes in me will also do what I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.”
– John 14:12-14

To work the works of our Lord we may find ourselves summoning up our resolve and will to believe. We envision the mightiness and strength of our majestic King and so we stand in that power declaring healing to occur or unclean spirits to depart. Our jaw is firm and our will is iron as we strain out our certainty … and nothing happens!

Why is that? Why does apparent failure seem to be the majority of our results? The strength of our Lord is without question, as is His authority and majesty. We believe those things fully and walk in them, so why doesn’t sickness and uncleanness tremble and flee when we command in His name? Because strength, and mightiness, and majesty are not His name for us.

“Place my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest for your souls,”
– Matthew 11:29

Gentle. Humble. That is His name for us. And that is what we are to be when we walk in His name. We are to be what He is, representing Him to the world, and submitting ourselves to all He has commanded and taught. Trying to emulate only the power renders us useless because He has chosen how He works.

“But the Lord said, ‘My grace is all you need. Only when you are weak can everything be done completely by my power.’ So I will gladly boast about my weaknesses. Then Christ’s power can stay in me.”
– 2 Corinthians 12:9

Instead we seek to walk as our Lord walked, gentle and humble. When we read accounts of Christ healing and commanding demons to go, what we do not see is Him straining out the power with gritted teeth, or firmly asserting that power with a commanding tone, or even pleading for that power to work. He spoke and it was done, and even just touching His cloak was enough. There was nothing in Jesus’ manner that drew attention to Him or His efforts because He knew Who His Father was, and He knew His Father would never fail Him in His mission. So He walked as a man, mortal and weak, but sent by and authorized by God.

Trying to emulate only the power renders us useless because He has chosen how He works.

Of ourselves, we are not the power – we are the vessels. And as the vessels, we carry His power on the mission He has given to each of us. And what is our mission? In short, to do good.

“We have this treasure from God, but we are only like clay jars that hold the treasure. This is to show that the amazing power we have is from God, not from us.”
– 2 Corinthians 4:7

Jesus was sent to find what was lost and to save what was perishing. Though He was only sent to the house of Israel God’s desire and intent for Jesus was for all of us to be saved and brought into fellowship with Him. Israel had to reject Him first in order to fulfill Scripture and allow the rest of mankind to receive His grace. His mission – ultimately to all of us – was to preach the good news, heal the brokenhearted, give sight to the blind, set the captives free, and release from bondage all who were oppressed. To declare the acceptable year of the Lord while God’s Spirit confirmed the truth.

Our mission then is also to declare the good news – and do good. Pointing people to Jesus and the Kingdom of Heaven is our purpose, with healing and deliverance the proof of how good it is to trust in Jesus. We do not need to make it happen by our force of will or our intellectual prowess. We just follow His yearning within us for the lost. That heart we share in God’s Spirit is what compels us to tell others the truth that is the Gospel, gently and humbly, because we know it is and we want others to experience and receive the same. And that same shared heart is what tells unclean spirits to leave and bodies to heal, gently and humbly, because we know God does set free and heal and we want them to experience His goodness.

That’s it. That’s in the name of Jesus Christ – when He seeks through us and yearns through us and we respond in agreement.

as the vessels, we carry His power on the mission He has given to each of us

If you brace yourself when stepping out, be comforted in the fact that you are not alone. It’s our natural, soulish way of thinking to doubt. Have you ever wanted to share about a healing with someone and inside you begin to debate if you are exaggerating? That’s the doubt at work.

Settle in the truth that Jesus came to save the lost, and to do good, and that is what He continues to do through each of us. If you were given $100,000 to distribute to the poor would you hesitate? Would you be afraid to approach the poor in case you couldn’t help them, and maybe look like a fraud? Of course not! You have the money in hand and the mission ahead of you. Settle it in the truth then that you have the authority to do good in hand and the mission ahead of you is known. Just do because Jesus does!

Back to the $100,000 analogy. With the money in hand do you need to declare it to be? Do you have to command, or exert, or even plead to give it its value? No. It just is, so you just go ahead and make use of it. Gently and humbly because it already is. The value and authority it represents is already in place and does not need to be summoned. And that desire for the lost – it also just is and evidences that the value and authority it represents is already in place and does not need to be summoned.

Share the good news – and do good. You’re in His name.

Just do because Jesus does!

There Is Now No Condemnation

June 18, 2017 by Settled in the Truth

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
– Romans 8:1

Forgiving others can be difficult at times, but it’s something every Christian seeks to do. We are told by our Lord to forgive, and it is important for that reason, so we make deliberate efforts not to harbour ill will against those who cause us injury or grief. But despite the struggle to fulfill this command we often fail to forgive a person crucial to our walk of faith.

We often fail to forgive ourselves.

“I wish I had never…!” “If only I could change that!” “How can you possibly forgive me?!” Sound familiar? We have a tendency as fleshly, worldly thinking persons to glorify our failures as greater than those of others. We exaggerate them to the point that we are continually groaning and chastising ourselves for our failure – always punishing ourselves and condemning ourselves. If left unchallenged we can judge ourselves as always a failure, and therefore giving us the excuse we need to fail again and again. Also sound familiar?

Here is what Jesus specifically asked God the Father about you and me:

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
– John 17:20-21

Did the Father say no? Of course not. So we are one with Jesus, and that means…

“For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”
– Galatians 3:26

You are a son, or daughter, of God! How? Through faith – you’ve settled the issue in the truth. You have decided your value is determined by God, not you, and you practice that daily. But maybe you don’t feel like you’re His – that’s okay. We all experience those feelings, but all those feelings are is an indicator that you have experienced a lie. You’ve reacted to the suggestion that you are a failure and do not belong to Christ. Say thank you to the feeling for letting you know, tell the lie to begone, and practice the truth that you are a child of God – always!

“And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
– Matthew 28:20

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
– Romans 8:38-39

How do you practice the truth? Refuse to act like a failure. Instead act like someone who is accepted and loved by God because that was His unswerving choice. He knows you inside and out, including your shortcomings and failings, and He still does not change His choice. Instead He deliberately continues to work in you – without blaming or condemnation. Act loved – because you are.

Neither Be Of Anxious Mind

June 17, 2017 by Settled in the Truth

“And seek you not what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, neither be of anxious mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knows that you have need of these things.”
– Luke 12:29-30

From our very first moments of consciousness in this world we are trained in the awareness of our needs. As infants we cry because we are cold, hungry, or feeling separated. That is a very strong history of thinking processes that are a part of who we are in this world.

As we grow, we are taught the necessity of the things we need by rote and by example – even the urgency of that need – and we apply that mind set instinctively. Most every need comes with that sense of urgency and even panic until it is met. Then Jesus comes along and tells us not to do that!??

Many, many struggle with the attempt to overcome their ingrained way of thinking – to remain calm and just trust. And often condemnation and self-recrimination are the results as that instinctive worry still appears. Again – many, many struggle with this! You are not the only one, and you are not failing when this happens. Jesus knows what our minds are trained into because He was also a man, born and trained into this world. He, of course, did not conduct Himself with that sense of urgency. Why?

Most every need comes with that sense of urgency and even panic until it is met.

Until it is met. As a man Jesus would have experienced the instinctive reaction to worry. The 40 days in the wilderness would have been a huge opportunity for those thoughts because He was without shelter or food, among wild animals, and likely not aware of how long He would be there – at least it’s not indicated He knew how long in Scripture. He did not have the anxious mind because He knew His needs were met. He had settled in the truth that His Father would not abandon Him, and would meet His needs regardless of what it may seem like. And the Spirit of God within Him confirmed that so Jesus had no conflict in His mind with the thoughts of His Father.

We have that also. The Spirit of God dwells in us to guide our thoughts, and an anxious mind is only one that is in conflict with the thoughts of our Father. When we settle in the truth that our needs are met in Him we are empowered to have peace rather than worry.

“And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”
– Philippians 4:19

We do not have to struggle in our own strength to not worry. We only need to settle with ourselves that our needs are met. Choose to believe that deliberately and the power of God’s Spirit will support that act of faith. Practice it until it is what you do – instinctively.

So what does it look like to not worry? How do we practice it? When our need is met we stop thinking about it and move on to other things. When worry tries to make a place in a need settle it that the need is met – and move on to other things.

God will never abandon you. God will meet your needs.

“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
– Matthew 7:11

Let God provide in His time and in His way because He knows how much is involved, and He knows your limits, and He does not fail. Trust Him. Don’t waste time worrying over it. Settle it in the truth.