Give a Care

On February 9, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Peter 5: 6 – 7

Humble yourselves therefore under the might hand of God that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

Do you find it curious that God put a humility directive in the same sentence that He commands us to cast all of our care upon him? I do. As I ponder this, though, it strikes me that perhaps it is not so odd as one might first think. What do you think is the main reason we do not cast our care upon the Lord? Could it be that our own arrogance, our independence prevents us from giving our worries to the Lord? 

Many of us have frequently used the expression, “Take care”. Though I have said it many times myself, I find I have a growing aversion to the expression. First of all, it is unscriptural. It is in direct disobedience to the Word of God. God said to cast all your care onto Him. Give it to Him in other words. So, for us to go around saying, “Take care” is to encourage people to defy the Word of God. Okay, I know we all mean it in a kind way but sooner or later we have to grow enough in the things of the Spirit that we don’t defy God even in well intentioned ways.

Let me give you the big revelation that dropped on me recently. Have you heard the term “caregiver”? Caregivers are people who care for others. They are so selfless and noble. I so admire the people who are gifted in this area. I think so much of the great, and I do mean great, people of Hospice care. Someone asked me where people like them come from and without pausing I said, “They must fall right out of heaven.” I am honored to say I am a care receiver, that I was blessed to be a beneficiary of the kindness of these wonderful people. It gave me a whole new revelation on “take care” though. In fact, it now makes those words choke in my throat. How can I tell someone to take care now after what I have seen of those who devote their lives to caring for others? Now I want to say, “give care.” Let us not be takers. Let us be givers. And I just wonder if this isn’t part of the reason God told us to give our care to him. When we are free of our burdens, then we can give to others.

We have been selfish y’all, I worst of all. We have been arrogant and self-centered. I pray that you will take today’s devotional to heart and meditate on what God would teach us on this point if we could open our hearts to instruction. We were put here to be caregivers. Have no thought for your worries. Give them to God and free your hands to bless others.

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He Cares For You

On June 16, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Peter 5: 6 – 7

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.

We spend a lot of time and attention on verse seven which tells us to cast our anxiety on the Lord, the King James Version says to cast our care. We devote little time and attention, though, to verse six. In that these two verses comprise one sentence it would likely behoove us to read them together on occasion so as to perceive the light which each phrase shines upon the other.

When we read the two verses together it would seem that Peter is revealing that there is a relationship between our humbling ourselves to the master and promotion as well as the cure for anxiety. He who gives his care to the Lord is wise. I wonder, though, if some of us have trouble casting that care over to the Lord because we have failed to recognize Him as Lord over our lives in the deepest part of our being. We have all said those surrender prayers and of course we mean them when we utter them but it is in the trenches of life that quality decisions are truly made. A quality decision is one from which there is no retreat. It is not wishy-washy but rather strong and determined and I find that they empower a person to walk the path elected. They do not, however, come easily. Sooner or later, though, if we are to live the lives that we have longed for we are going to have to make the big decisions. Life can be wonderful and beautiful but it is not free. We must lay aside those things which keep us in the low life and one of the largest burdens that is preventing us from rising to the heights God has determined for us is our own ego. In our heart of hearts have we really relinquished our lives to our Lord as master? Do your hackles arise just thinking of someone being your master? Don’t feel alone if you answer that question honestly and find that submitting yourself completely to another’s lordship is difficult. It is how we have been indoctrinated but we must understand that the training which has elevated ourselves in our eyes is not of God and is not going to promote us. In the beginning it appears to be effective but there is story upon story of people who have risen to a certain level of success only to find ultimate failure.  

Success truly does come from surrender. Honestly, how can we fully cast our care upon the Lord, allowing Him to carry away the anxiety if we have not released ourselves into Him? There is a huge element of trust in this surrender and if we do not fully trust God then we will be unable to give Him our burdens. Therefore, humbling ourselves to the Lord our God is an essential element of casting our care upon Him. We will be unable to do the one if we have not first done the former.

Now, here is the crux of the matter. We may find it difficult if not impossible to completely surrender ourselves to our Lord and Father without first receiving healing. Those things in our past which have made it hard for us to trust people must be healed. Growing in our relationship with our God is a process and it is all interconnected. One cannot just choose the prosperity portion of a relationship with God without it affecting other parts of their lives. Prosperity, healing, well-being, blessing and all the rest are part of a package deal that comes along with a life with God. This is not a la carte ordering. We give God our lives and He gives us a grand, abundant life. He carries our heavy burdens and supplies our needs and wants above and beyond all that we can think of or believe for. 

We have longed for a good life, we greatly desire God to take away our troubles but we must put ourselves fully in His hands. He will not, cannot, usurp your control and will. As long as you are Lord of your life, then He will have to sit in the backseat while you drive. Keep surrendering your heart to the Lord. Every time you find an unsurrendered relationship, give it to the Lord. Each time you find a strong-hold in your life, give it to God. This is a process. We don’t renew our minds just once, but rather we are in a constant state of renewal. That is good news. Let your life go and with it the anxiety. Live free, give your life more fully to God today.

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