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Crossroads Community Church Happy Labor Day! Last week's notes were a response to Pastor Don's teaching on the effects worry has on our daily lives, here are the brief notes of his teaching, enjoy! What a lovely morning, one to delight in as we gathered to worship the Son of God. Pastor Don greeted us with a warm smile, shared announcements and prayer requests. We pray for those in our midst who are suffering with different health issues interfering with regular daily activities, we pray for God's healing hand to hold them up and restore them in Jesus name. Pastor Don gave an inspired message; “Do we find it difficult to let go of worry?” Here are loving words from Jesus himself, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27. Most of us think peace is simply the absence of conflict, as followers of Jesus we should believe it is much more. Peace with Jesus is having confidence that God cares for us and will always be there to help us in our hour of need. Life is full of unexpected situations that can cause anyone to worry but worry should be turned into prayer, when we wallow in worry as life progresses it becomes crippling anxiety ruled by fear. Instead when we feel worry sprouting it's ugly head it should be an indicator to quickly turn to God in prayer, (Philippians 4:6, Matthew 6:27). When we give in to worry we show our lack of trust in God which may be a result of not putting Him first. He has our every need at heart and is more than able to provide for them, (Matthew 6:31-33). When Jesus and His mother were guests at a wedding in Cana, they ran out of wine, it could have been food too and He would have still provided what was needed, all that was required of the servants was trust and obedience; when we do our part of trusting and obeying even during difficult unexplainable times. Worry and anxiety are detrimental to our health, not only in medical statistics even God knows; (Proverbs 12:25). Worry doesn't empty our tomorrow of sorrow; it empties us of today's strength. Worries of tomorrow only rob us of today's joy and peace. It also tarnishes our witness for Jesus. How can we claim to trust and believe in Jesus if we give in to fear, worry and anxiety? When we truly trust in Him it will make a difference in the way we approach life and others will be attracted to the peace we exhibit, that doesn't mean we will not face difficult times, it means that we have the calm assurance that his love and power will get us through it all, (Joshua 1:5). We have peace for we rely on His ever present power in us to work things out, (Ephesians 3:20). In today's world news causes us to worry because events are presented in a negative manner. Bad things draw more attention than the good, for example the weather; we always see the predictions and aftermaths of disastrous weather activity, rarely do they linger on the sun shiny days. Another cause of stress for most people is busyness, we never seem to have enough time to do all that we set out to do therefore man has created a plethora of gadgets in hopes to enable us to achieve more in the short 24 hours a day we are all equally given, but does it really relieve stress and worry? Unfortunately the opposite seems to occur, we experience burnouts either because we are now much too busy or we are striving to get more gadgets, what an ever ending cycle, have you stopped to take a breath yet? The saddest side effect of busyness is it impedes our healthy growing relationship with God. So we need to re-prioritize but how? Put God first, realize that He is our all in all, as the infamous Psalm 23 says, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. Jesus tells us again and again to not worry, to trust in Him and not to fear when fearful things come, we can choose to trust in Jesus and live at peace, (Matthew 6:34). What can make a big difference is keeping our focus on our God given purpose, this will help us prioritize well and make healthier choices that will affect our spiritual, emotional and physical health. Our most important and common purpose is to love God and glorify Him, (Matthew 22:37-38). When we allow ourselves to get too busy our family relationships definitely suffer and worse yet our relationship with God seems to be the first to slide,(1 Timothy 5:8). When we choose to Keep God at the centre of our lives, everything else will fall back into balance. Beloved many aspects of our lives deserve our attention and dedication, and they deserve to be planned and well balanced, in which order do you think the following aspects of your life fall into right now; God, Family, Church, serving others, work, pleasure and Sabbath? Won't you spend time in prayer and examine your life this week? Ask God in which aspect you may need to shift your time to receive his peace and joy, He is faithful to help and guide, Proverbs 3:5, 6. Asherey Shalom! To read more visit http://www.shelburnecrossroadschurch.ca |
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Post date: 2013-09-05 22:59:36 Post date GMT: 2013-09-06 02:59:36 Post modified date: 2013-09-13 13:12:40 Post modified date GMT: 2013-09-13 17:12:40 |
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