Wednesday: Worry 3

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom."

Salvation Wednesday, Salvation Wednesday, Give your heart to Jesus and be saved. Salvation Wednesday, Salvation Wednesday, Give your heart to Jesus and be saved. When you're working for the Lord and loving everyone, you will be rewarded for that labor, when you're working for the Lord and loving everyone, you'll be in heaven some sweet day... Oh, Salvation Wednesday, Salvation Wednesday, go working for the Lord today... (Hey, it might be the start to a song.)

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, I get so excited when I think about Salvation and when I think about it during the week it seems to me to be even better... I mean we go to church expecting to hear about salvation. (If you are not hearing that in your church, RUN.) Yes, we go expecting to hear about salvation, but I think during the week we just must get that shot of salvation. A few good shots of salvation during the week is much better than the shots some people get after work. And I never heard of some getting arrested for "DUJ" they might for DUI but not for "DUJ". So go ahead and drive "Under the influence of Jesus". He will keep you safe, not get you into trouble... AMEN.

Prayers today for the unsaved and for God to use us to help bring in the lost. Please, brothers and sisters, go to work for Jesus. Don't put it off any longer. Please also keep praying for those on our daily prayer list.

Worry 3: Luke 12: 32 - "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom." 33 "Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys." (NIV)

This week we have been talking about worrying and how we should not worry but give the things that you are worrying about over to our Lord. I am preaching on this subject this Sunday and I have asked those coming to church to write down what they worry about on paper and on Sunday when we pray for Jesus to take our worries away, I am going to collect the papers and shred them. I want to show people that like a shredder can cut up the paper, God can take our worries and cast them away.

Yesterday I asked if you know what causes most people to worry. Well here is my opinion what causes most people to worry... "SIN". Think about it brothers and sisters, really think about it. If we would live 100% by "The Word"- remember Jesus is The Word. You do remember that right? Ok, a little review right now! From the book of John.

John 1: 1 - In the beginning was The Word, and The Word was with God and The Word was God. He was God in the beginning. John 1: 12 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (NIV)

Ok, if we read The Word, and we follow the teachings of Jesus and we do it all the time... hey, no worries. Or would we still worry and have reason to worry? Not according to the Bible, for we are to be casting those worries to the Lord. Again, in my opinion, I think our sins cause us the most worries. Let's look at a few examples... and let's, well let's line them up with the commandments of the Lord. Let's look at the very first commandment... No, don't go to the ten commandments as we know them. Let us go to the story of Adam and Eve. Do you remember how the Lord told them not to eat from that one tree, and when they did not follow that command, DO NOT EAT FROM THAT TREE... they worried about what they did to the point they tried to hide from God in the garden because they were naked. So when we sin, we worry, and do we worry about the Lord finding out about the sin? Brothers and sisters, the Lord sees all of our moves, which includes our sins. When we pray for God to forgive our sins, do we need to name them? Thank God He remembers our sins for we or at least I have sinned so much in my younger days I forgot what all they were.

Let's move on... When we sin against God by cheating on our income tax... oh gosh is that really a sin... Listen, do all the deductions you can do, for we are to give to Caesar what is due him, but we do not need to give him more. But when we lie on those tax forms we are sinning and now don't we really worry about an audit from the IRS? Heck, even if we did not cheat, we would worry about that.

Maybe some people do not worry enough about the sins. One person told me they were a rough Christian. I said what is a rough Christian? Their answer was "one who curses and misuses the name of the Lord." No, that is a big sin and should be one to worry about till we cast it to the Lord and then we should never, ever misuse His name again. What about one who robs the bank? Do you think that person does not worry and worry each time someone knocks on the door, being afraid it might be the police? As a child I stole a friend's baseball glove, and until the day came that my daddy found out I worried about it and what was going to happen. I even gave the glove back, but I had already put my name on it. I not only had to give the ball glove back, I got a spanking, got grounded, and had to buy the other kid a new glove out of my paper route money. Only after repaying the debt of that sin did the worry go away. Think about it, things you might have done wrong. Did they not cause you great worry? Look, if you have one of those things hanging now, let's give them to the Lord. And if they are things that broke man's law, you really do need to make it right if you can. If in the past you robbed the bank, you need to fess it up. You know where I am coming from. If you did something, and listen to me here real close, if you did something way back in your past that will harm others by bringing it up, confess it to God and let it go. You do not want to do more damage to others.Ddo you follow me on that one? I hope so.

If we live each day for Jesus, and obey His rules and laws, we will not have the worry of sin on our minds. Let's right now, cast those past sins to God. Let us put our worries away for today and then let us pray for salvation for us and for others... let's go.

Dear Father in Heaven, here they are this morning, all of them, I am holding none back... all my worries that have been caused by my sins are coming at You right now. Forgive me of those sins and block them out of my mind. Also I want to give my other worries to You today, my worries about my family, about their lives and how they live. Lord, help me live within my means and not have the worry of bills hanging over my head. Lord, I need You to help carry those worries to I get myself in order. Lord, I pray today for a seat at Your feet in Heaven when my time is up on earth. I do love You, Jesus, and I believe in the Bible and all that is in it, including Your death on the cross and Your being risen from the dead. Now Lord, put me to work in Your fields of Harvest. In Jesus name I say thanks for taking my worries, and I pray also in the Name of Jesus, the one who gave me freedom from my sins... AMEN.

Go forth now sharing your blessings. And for you from Lebanon and Lancaster area... we will be singing this coming Saturday at Cedar Haven in Lebanon at 2.00 PM. You are welcome... love ya, dan.