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Worry is a failure to understand God’s priority, [Luke 12] verses 22 and 23. “He said to His disciples, ‘For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life as to what you shall eat nor for your body as to what you shall put on, for life is more than food and the body more than clothing.’”

Now here’s the point: God didn’t create you just to survive. God didn’t create you just to have you eat and wear clothes so that you can make it. God did not create you to fulfill some physical goal, or objective, or purpose or design.

Your life is far more than eating. Your life is far more than clothing. You must understand the divine priority…if you belong to God and you are in His Kingdom, He has a plan and a purpose for your life. That’s the reason you live. And as long as God has a plan for your life, He will feed you and clothe you until the plan is complete. So what is there to worry about?

There is really no place for worry and no place for fear, and no place for anxiety if you understand that the priority with God is far more than just surviving, it’s far more than making it through the winter, it’s far more than getting at least one or two meals a day, far more than that.

God’s purpose in giving you life, God’s purpose in giving you a body is not material, it’s not physical, and it’s not earthly, it is immaterial, spiritual and heavenly. We were made for His glory.

We were made to serve His glory, to serve His purpose, to honor Him, to bring attention to Him, to proclaim the gospel, to live out Christ and the power of the Spirit in the world. And as long as that’s the divine priority…for us, He will sustain us to the end of His purpose.

~John MacArthur in “Anxiety-Free Living, Part 2“

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God’s continuing presence is a shield against overwhelming temptation. Any time Satan wants to get to a believer, he has to go through God. First Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able endure it.”

God is present personally and individually with every believer to defend him against temptation he can’t handle.

That God is present everywhere ought to motivate us to obey Him more carefully. When we sin, whether it is a sin of thought or a sin of words or a sin of actions, it is done in the presence of God. Psalm 90 is a prayer of Moses, and in verse 8, Moses acknowledges the implications of God’s omnipresence with regard to our sin: “You have placed our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of your presence.”

In other words, when we sin, it is as if we ascended beyond the clouds, came into the throne room of God, walked up to the foot of the throne of God and committed the sin right before His face. That is a sobering thought.

~John MacArthur in Worship: The Ultimate Priority

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Is it true that God is love to me as a Christian? And does the love of God mean all that has been said? If so, certain questions arise.

Why do I ever grumble and show discontent and resentment at the circumstances in which God has placed me?

Why am I ever distrustful, fearful, or depressed?

Why do I ever allow myself to grow cool, formal and halfhearted in the service of the God who loves me so?

Why do I ever allow my loyalties to be divided, so that God has not all my heart?

John wrote that “God is love” in order to make an ethical point, “Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 Jn 4:11). Could an observer learn from the quality and degree of love that I show to others–my wife? my husband? my family? my neighbors? people at church? people at work? –anything at all about the greatness of God’s love to me?

Meditate upon these things. Examine yourself.

~J.I. Packer in Knowing God

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Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity. —Hebrews 2:14 

When we are hurting, if there is one thing that eases our pain or grief, it is this: We want someone to understand. We want somebody to really identify with us, to have some idea of what we’re enduring. 

It is certainly like that for me. I hate feeling alone and alienated in those dark times when my paralysis seems overwhelming. On my really rough days, it helps to remember what the Bible tells us about Jesus identifying with us in our sufferings. It says that He was tested and tried in every way like us. That helps!

When it comes to suffering, the Lord Jesus has gone ahead of us, and has intimate, experiential, first-hand knowledge of the pain, the weight, the frustration, and the struggle. He appreciates. He understands. He connects. 

But it works both ways! Not only does Christ identify with us in our suffering, we identify with Him in His suffering. He identifies with us, and we identify with Him. He appreciates all that it means to be human, and we appreciate all that His divine grace supplies. Through suffering, He participates in our humanity; through suffering, we participate in His divinity. 

So why do we struggle so to escape our suffering? Why do we look so desperately for release? I suppose this is why I’m not earnestly seeking to be healed and raised up out of this wheelchair. I see this trial of mine as a window into the heart of Jesus. Suffering is a connecting point between my Savior and me. And when I see His great love on the cross, it gives me courage to take up my cross and follow Him.  

~Joni Eareckson Tada in “The Price of Identifying,” October 11 Daily Devotional

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We may be tempted to verbally attack an unpleasant person in order to show that we are right. But even though she may indeed be much in the wrong, we are called to remember that being right is not the most important thing. As Christians, being loving is the most important thing. God cares that we have a holy heart and reflect his character in this world.

One day, the Righteous Judge will reveal to us the truth—for he is Truth. Every wrong will be righted. Between now and that day, God’s grace enables us to focus less on defending ourselves or our position and more on testifying to God’s mercy and greatness.

Being treated rudely is stressful. Often we do not know why God allows tension in our relationships. But one day it will all become clear and what will have mattered is this: Did we love God? Did we love others? Did we focus on being right, or did we walk in mercy, grace, and love?

~Tara Klena Barthel and Judy Dabler in Peacemaking Women

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There is no doubt that the Devil despises Godward praise. We have some reason to believe that at one time, before pride caused him to lose his position, he may have been one of the “worship leaders” in heaven and therefore is particularly repulsed and repelled when God’s people praise Him with singing and musical instruments. 

When I talk with a woman who is struggling with chronic discouragement or depression, I often ask two questions: (1) Are you memorizing Scripture? and (2) Are you singing to the Lord?

I’m not suggesting that these are magic “pills” that will make every emotional struggle go away, but I have found these two means of grace to be extremely effective at recalibrating my heart and restoring inner peace.

I have often experienced fresh springs of God’s grace as I have exercised faith in singing to Him in praise and thanksgiving…Occasionally I am crying so hard I can scarcely get the words out. But as I sing to the Lord, my heart and mind are re-tethered to His goodness and love, and invariably, the cloud begins to lift. In fact, I sing until the cloud lifts.

~Nancy Leigh DeMoss in Choosing Gratitude

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“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances…” Philippians 4:11 

Will I ever be happy again? It’s all I could think of after I got out of the hospital and wheeled through the front door of my home. Doorways were too narrow and sinks were too high. I sat at the dining room table, my knees hitting the edge. A plate of food was placed in front of me, but my hands remained limp in my lap. Someone else—at least for the first few months—fed me. I felt confined and trapped. 

My confinement forced me to look at another captive. The apostle Paul had seen the inside of more than one small room from which there was no escape. For over two years, he was shifted from “pillar to post” until finally he arrived in Rome where he remained under house arrest. When Paul wrote to thank the church in Philippi for their concern, he reassured them with the words of today’s verse.

Paul became my example in my own “prison;” I learned—and am still learning—the secret of being content. The apostle writes about this secret in Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Contentment in confinement has an internal quietness of heart that gladly submits to God in all circumstances. 

~Joni Eareckson Tada in “Confined Contentment,” October 3 Daily Devotional

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Discipline toward holiness begins with the Word of God. Paul said, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). The last item he mentions is training or discipline in doing righteousness. This is what the Scriptures will do for us if we use them.

Jay Adams says, “It is by willing, prayerful and persistent obedience to the requirements of the Scriptures that godly patterns are developed and come to be a part of us.”

We read in Scripture, “You were taught…to put off your old self…to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). Where are we taught these things? Only in the Word of God.

Discipline toward holiness begins then with the Scriptures—with a disciplined plan for regular intake of the Scriptures and a disciplined plan for applying them to our daily lives.

~Jerry Bridges in The Pursuit of Holiness

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Someone has said that, “To most people, the greatest persons in the universe are themselves. Their lives are made up of endless variations on the word me.”

Our instinctive reaction to life is self-centered: How does this affect me? Will this make me happy? Why did this happen to me? It’s not enough to be the center of our own universe. We also want to be the center of everyone else’s universe—including God’s.

The apostle Paul understood that God doesn’t exist for us but that we exist for Him. We need to be reminded of these words from Colossians: “All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together…that in everything he might be preeminent” (1:16-18).

If you’re tempted to think, “me, me, me” today, would you shift your focus
to Him?

~Nancy Leigh DeMoss in “Me, Me, Me”

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I remember years ago when Dr. John MacArthur began a sermon with the simple question, “Where do we begin discipline? Well, we were all expecting to hear something deep and profound, but Dr. MacArthur simply said,“Begin discipline by… cleaning your room!”

Sounds kind of silly at first but, is it possible that—in all the pursuit of the disciplined life—we focus our eyes on larger-than-life goals? We take on three jobs at church. We get up at 4:00 AM every morning for devotions.

Now, all of these are worthy, but we may be overlooking the more immediate and obvious things. After all, Luke chapter 16 says that “if you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones.”

Let’s be faithful in the “little” things—holding back our tongue, being on time to appointments, cleaning our messy rooms. That’s where discipline begins.

~Joni Eareckson Tada in “Where Discipline Begins“

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If you have been blessed with children, you know that gratitude—like most every other character trait—doesn’t come naturally for them. But few things are more remarkable (and unusual) in children today than when they’re known for their thankful, contented spirit. It is a quality worth every ounce of effort we make to instill it in them.

And while teaching and instruction have their place in growing gratitude in our kids, the best teacher of all (of course) is our example. Do your children hear you thank your husband when he tackles a home repair job or gets the car lubed?

Do they hear you express gratitude to the Lord and to others for both little and big things throughout the day? Do you tell them how grateful you are for their dad, for your church and your pastor, for their teachers, for the house the Lord has provided for your family, for good health, and for God’s abundant blessings to your family?

Conversely, do they hear you grumble when your husband delays dinner by needing to see one extra client or when you get a flat tire or the sun doesn’t come out for a week?

Gratitude joins many other important virtues that are more effectively caught than taught. How contagious are you, especially at home?

~Nancy Leigh DeMoss in Choosing Gratitude

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Green-Eyed Girls

“For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh
and behaving only in a human way?”

1 Corinthians 3:3

Christian women should be the sweetest people on the planet. But you know as well as I do that the sad truth is…

We’re not!

In fact, oftentimes, we’re downright nasty toward each other. Catty is the term my mom used to describe the behavior I have in mind—cold, unkind, gossiping, subtly insulting, competitive, cliquish. 

Identifying The Reason for the Claws

Although I wish I could say I’ve only observed such undesirable behavior in others, I’m ashamed to admit that I’m capable of batting my claws with the best of them (figuratively speaking, of course). When I examine my motives to understand why I’m prone to view my sisters in Christ as competitors instead of as companions in my walk with the Lord, what I often find is that my green eyes are to blame. 

In other words, I’m jealous—I want what they have, and I want it so badly that I’ll allow myself to sin against them in response.

Are you prone to act like a Green-Eyed Girl as well? Here’s a quiz to help you discover the answer…

She’s getting married and you’re not. Do you:

A. Go to the wedding

B. Sit home watching romantic chick-flicks

She’s having a baby, but you can’t get pregnant. Will you:

A. Offer to help decorate for her baby shower

B. Trash the invitation and make sure you’re busy that day

She gets asked to lead the Ladies Bible Study instead of you. Do you:

A. Offer to lend some of your Bible study resources to help her prepare

B. Let others know how surprised you are that she would be chosen

Her home always appears immaculate. When you visit, do you:

A. Ask her to share her housekeeping tips

B. Search diligently for any flaws you can find

Her seemingly perfect children finally melt down in public. Do you:

A. Feel compassion for her

B. Secretly rejoice inside that you were there to see it

She looks beautiful, as always. Do you:

A. Compliment her on her taste in clothing

B. Zip your lip; you’re sure she already has a big head

Everything she cooks tastes delicious. Do you:

A. Ask if she’d mind sharing recipes to help you improve your cooking

B. Vow that she’ll never set foot in your house for a meal

Her husband often brings her flowers, just because. You see them and:

A. Feel happy to think that she is so well loved

B. Imagine that he were your husband instead

So how’d you do? Do you have more in common with the Gracious Woman reflected in choice A or the Green-Eyed Girl of option B?

Getting Rid of the Green-Eyed Monster

Although issues like jealousy, envy, and covetousness can produce complex consequences in our lives (James 3:16; 4:1-3), the solution to overcoming these sins is really quite simple. We need gratitude and we need love.

First, if you’re truly grateful for the undeserved blessings God daily pours out in your life, there will be no space in your heart for jealousy to grow. Gratitude will choke it out.

Second, if you truly love other women like you love yourself, you’ll want their children to behave, their husbands to be loving, their ministries to succeed, and their cooking to taste great. When your concern is for their good, rather than your own, you’ll be free to rejoice when they rejoice (Rom. 12:15) instead of comparing your life to theirs to see how it measures up.

Bearing the Family Resemblance

What will it be, ladies? Green eyes or gratitude and love? The change won’t occur easily or instantaneously, but there’s really only one option for sisters within the family of God.

Let’s begin changing the way we look at one another today.

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Taking for granted all the temporal provisions and spiritual blessings that God has so richly bestowed on us, and so failing to continually give Him thanks, is one of our “acceptable” sins. In fact, far too many Christians wouldn’t think of it as sin.

Yet Paul, in his description of a Spirit-filled person, said we are to “[give] thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). Note the words always and everything. That means our whole lives should be ones of continually giving thanks.

Giving thanks to God for both His temporal and spiritual blessings in our lives is not just a nice thing to do—it is the moral will of God. Failure to give Him the thanks due Him is sin. It may seem like a benign sin to us because it doesn’t harm anyone else. But it is an affront and insult to the One who created us and sustains us every second of our lives.

~Jerry Bridges in Respectable Sins

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Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. -James 4:10

Hit the concordance key on your computer Bible software, type in the word “pride” or “proud,” and watch a zillion verses pop up. All of them detail how the Lord detests haughty eyes, boastful tongues, and hearts bloated by ego. Never was there a character trait more opposite of God. 

In our best moments, we want very much to be like God, to be godly…yet what an invitation to pride! That’s why it always requires humility… 

An old Puritan wrote: “Let me never forget that the heinousness of sin lies not so much in the nature of sin committed, as in the greatness of the person sinned against.”

If we’re looking for humility, we don’t gaze inward to see how greatly we’ve missed the mark. We gaze at the Lord Jesus. We drag ourselves to the cross where our pride is suffocated! “Self” becomes “hid with Christ in God,” and humility is the result. 

Asking the Holy Spirit to roll up His sleeves and deal with pride in your hearts, may involve several things (I speak from experience!). It may include opening yourself to the valid criticism of others, openly confessing your faults, or inviting your spouse or close friend to point out your blind spots. Easy? Never! Rewarding? Always.

~Joni Eareckson Tada in “A Spirit of Humility,” Joni and Friends Daily Devotional, May 27 2012

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Godly character in every area of our lives will show up within the four walls of our homes. We can’t say we love God if we don’t manifest His love to our family members or if we allow bitterness to fester in our hearts toward them.

For the most part, we don’t get to choose our family members, as we do our “friends.” Yet we are called to love and care for those in our families, in spite of their personalities, their idiosyncrasies, or their character flaws. And that’s not always easy!

…Regardless of your family heritage, it’s important to realize that your relatives are not the result of “genetic chance,” but that you have been placed into the family of God’s sovereign choosing for you, and that He wants to use your family—rough edges and all—as a means to sanctify you and conform you into the likeness of His Son.

Embracing that truth will help you cultivate a grateful heart for those who make up your family.

~Nancy Leigh DeMoss in Choosing Gratitude

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