Tag Archives: giving it to God

December 27, 2023 · 6:30 AM

Experiencing God’s Peace

What are the things you worry most about? It could be your finances, your future, your job or relationships. Worry and anxiety are usually caused by things, real or imagined, that pose a risk to the future we’ve imagined. How we respond to worry matters. Some people get in a loop with their thoughts replaying out the worst case scenario in their mind. Some carry the weight of it in the back somewhere causing it to knot up. Others carry the worry in the stomach to the point they get ulcers. However you carry it, worry is something that all of us have to deal with. It robs us of our peace, our sleep, our strength and our present. It’s hard to be in the moment when your mind is worried about the future.

In Matthew 8:18-22 a religious teacher offered to follow Jesus. That’s when Jesus reminded him that to follow him meant an uncertain future that may not include a place to lay his head at night. Then Jesus asked someone else to follow Him, but that person was worried about their inheritance and wanted to bury their father first. Jesus didn’t want anything to stand between a person and following him. He then got into a boat with the disciples and a storm arose quickly. Jesus was asleep in the boat in perfect peace, but the disciples were worried. The momentary storm took their eyes off of where Jesus was leading them so they called out to Him. He asked them why were they afraid and worried about the storm. He then rebuked it and there was a great calm.

Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (NLT). When we’re worried, we should let those worries direct us to Jesus instead of our fear. When we give it to Him and also have a heart of thanksgiving for everything He’s done, we will experience God’s peace. Either He is in control of our future or we are. If I assume control, worry sets in. If I’ve placed it in His hands, then His grace and strength will be sufficient for whatever I face. Trusting Him with our future is the only way to experience a peace that will guard our heart and mind.

Photo by Tim Bogdanov on Unsplash

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November 17, 2023 · 5:40 AM

Giving Things Up

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to give things up? How many items are there in your closet that you’ll never wear? What do you have stored in your garage and / or attic? We tend to hold onto things rather than to give them up. Why? Because they hold value to us in some way. If we could receive less clutter, more space, possibly even money. There’s always an exchange when we give things up. The same is true in the spiritual realm. God asks us to give up things in exchange for what He has for us. He only gives good things, so why wouldn’t you give up what He asks? Seek Him today to see what He’s asking you to give up. What you will get in return will be greater.

Here are some Bible verses on giving things up.

1. Though He scoffs at the scoffers and scorns the scorners, Yet He gives His grace [His undeserved favor] to the humble [those who give up self-importance].

Proverbs 3:34 AMP

2. Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts.

Ezekiel 18:31 GNT

3. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.”

Matthew 16:24 NLT

4. Therefore, thus says the Lord [to Jeremiah], “If you repent [and give up this mistaken attitude of despair and self-pity], then I will restore you [to a state of inner peace] So that you may stand before Me [as My obedient representative]; And if you separate the precious from the worthless [examining yourself and cleansing your heart from unwarranted doubt concerning My faithfulness], You will become My spokesman. Let the people turn to you [and learn to value My values]— But you, you must not turn to them [with regard for their idolatry and wickedness].”

Jeremiah 15:19 AMP

5. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

Matthew 10:39 NLT

Photo by Billy Pasco on Unsplash

Releasing Stress

The unofficial motto of Generation X is, “If it is to be, it’s up to me.” We were the first generation to be latch key kids meaning both parents worked. We became self sufficient and took on responsibilities at an early age. We tend to look at situations and jump in if no one else is. We see a job that needs to be done, and we do it. We often take pride in doing things ourselves and in making things happen. That line of thinking extends to when we are stressed or worried too. We try to handle it ourselves because we’ve learned to do everything else alone.

In 1 Peter 5, the author writes about how God resists the proud. Then in verse 7 he writes, “Pour out all your worries and stress upon him and leave them there, for he always tenderly cares for you” (TPT). I was a little confused as I looked for a transition between the two statements and couldn’t find one. That’s when I realized that pride is usually what keeps us from giving our worries, our cares and our stresses to the Lord. We feel like we don’t need any help because we can do it. When we think we don’t need God’s help, that’s a bad thing. When we think we can do it on our own, that’s pride and God resists the proud.

God’s desire is that we live balanced lives. In order to do that, we have to be humble enough to hand things off to Him and leave them with Him. Many of us tell Him about our stresses, but we pick them back up after our prayer and carry them with us. That’s not good for our mind, our body or our spirit. We must trust God enough that we hand off our problems to Him, and we must be willing to not pick them back up. God cares for you enough that He doesn’t want you weighed down by worry or slowed by stress. He’s willing to take those things off of our hands and give us His burden which is light. We just have to be humble enough to make the trade.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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