Anxiety to Peace

On May 20, 2024   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Philippians 4:6 – 7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Today I’m just taking you along on a journey with me. I hope you don’t mind. This verse is where I’m living since my wrist injury. I have needed God’s peace, and this verse teaches us how to have it. Prayer, drawing near to the Lord, is the way to the peace of the Lord.

This verse is set up on two poles; one is in anxiety; the other is peace. They are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Today’s verse is intended to show us how to move from anxiety to peace. This peace is God’s peace. It is beyond any kind of peace we know in the natural. God’s peace is being calm and assured even in times and situations when it would seem impossible to be so. The situation around you, the circumstances might seem to call for anxiety and fretting, but in God’s peace you can still have confidence even in the worst of circumstances. Most of us would prefer to live in that kind of peace than in anxiety. Now we know how we can avail ourselves of divine peace. It is through prayer.

Prayer has more functions than just begging God to do something for us. In fact, at its base, the most important thing about prayer is simply communion with God. Prayer is spending time with God and time spent with God is good for the soul. It is healing and comfort, and because of that, it leads our hearts away from anxiety into perfect peace. Most of us do not pray enough. I hope today’s Word will be encouragement to spend more time in prayer. As I said, this isn’t just begging God to do something for us, so let us look at the elements of this kind of prayer.

Today’s verse tells us that there are three parts To this prayer. Part one is simple. It is the petition or more importantly the communion and communication with God. However, the peace of God comes with adding the two other components. The first is supplication. Supplication can best be defined as humility. As we lay our hearts and petitions before God, it is important that we humble ourselves. There are times we can make a demand off of a promise God has given us. This prayer, however, is one of humility. We are to humble ourselves before the Lord as we lay our petition at his feet.

Second, this prayer is to be accompanied by thanksgiving. Thanksgiving puts your heart in a state to receive. When you combine thanksgiving with humility, you’re able to receive the peace of God, the peace which surpasses human understanding.

This is not prayer without confidence, however. God does not require that you bow and kowtow. You may still pray, going into his throne room with confidence even as you enter with humility and thanksgiving. It is our knowledge of Him as a great and wonderful father that gives us confidence to enter into His throne room of grace. Humbly enter in. Lay your petitions at his feet. Give him praise and Thanksgiving for all that He is doing for you and will do for you. Believe confidently that you are about to receive the peace which surpasses understanding. Trade in your anxiety for the peace of God.

Back to Top

Heart Guard

On April 22, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Philippians 4: 6 – 7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I was talking about this verse in the context of healing with my friend Charity who is also a minister (www.glorywaves.org). I exclaimed, “How is this not a health verse?” She responded that of course it is since the majority of our illnesses arise from stress. Stress is a killer and is not how we are supposed to live before God. What we fail to understand is that stress is not an emotion. It is a condition. When we place our bodies under stress, it responds. We are also learning that when we stress ourselves emotionally, whether that just be traffic frustration, getting in a hurry, or really any discomfort or departure from peace, our bodies actually respond. I just was on a call recently where the speaker said that even our cell walls respond to stress as the cells try to protect us.

If you look at this verse again, I think you see the interesting synergy between anxiety and peace. We also need to understand that we are not speaking of clinical anxiety here. This is plain, old, garden variety anxiety. You know that feeling inside of you when you’re running late? It’s that kind of thing and what we are learning is that it is toxic to the body. When we give our anxiety to the Father, He restores us to peace and in that peaceful environment is where our cells get to perform their primary functions.

1 Peter 5: 7 says it so precisely, “Turn all your anxiety over to God because he cares for you.” Father God wants you to cast all your anxiety onto His shoulders because He doesn’t want you to carry those bad feelings and because He knows that they stress your body causing sickness and disease.

However, let’s take this one step further. Throughout this series we have learned that part of our healing is in learning to slow down and hear God speak to us. Okay, when you are under time stress or any other type of stress, you do not hear God as well as when you are in a state of peace. Believe me! I still make this mistake routinely. However, I am learning that when I have lost that peaceful feeling, you know, that kind you get at church when the Holy Spirit is flowing through the sanctuary, when I have lost that good feeling I need to stop whatever I am doing and just take a couple of deep breaths, really deep breaths, the kind that make your abdomen move. Then, in that moment we should redirect our focus. Put our eyes back on Jesus and then ask him to help us with whatever we are working on at the moment. Do that again when you move to the next task. I know for myself that I feel better, am kinder and get more done when I follow this pattern. We are all better, and more effective, when connected to God and we all need the peace which surpasses understanding. It is health to our bones and to our hearts. Give away all your stress to the Father today. Be intentional about abiding in peace. It’s God’s good grace for you.

Back to Top

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

On March 1, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 41:10

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am you God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

This doesn’t, at first blush, look like a healing verse. And, sure, you could, and should, be using it for any number of situations. However, is there any situation, which causes us to look anxiously around us more than a problem with our health? That is when God says, “I am right here with you. You don’t need to look around.”

Receiving a diagnosis that there is something amiss in your body is always a bit off putting. You feel rocked back onto your heels even if your faith is still in place. And, if we’re being honest, there is a moment, no matter how brief, when your heart feels the sting. Even if you are not facing a life and death matter, having a health situation or an injury troubles your heart. So, here we are, at the feet of God, asking Him how we confront the issues that attempt to create anxiety within us.

You know, I am quite fond of giving you tools, and today’s verse is a strong one. Here is what I want you to do. Stop reading this for a moment and re-read today’s verse. Read it aloud, even multiple times if you want. I’ll wait . . ..

Do you hear something when you read this? I hope you were able to read it aloud. And, if you read it aloud several times you may have noticed that your voice became stronger each time you read it. That is what this verse gives you. I wrote above that it is a strong tool, but I wanted to write “powerful” because I believe it is. I figured, though, that if I said it was powerful, you would think I was embellishing. However, when I read this verse, I feel strengthened inside of me. It’s like my spirit just rises up to take on whatever the world throws our way. Can you not hear the voice of God in this passage? Oh my, He is speaking right to us saying, “Don’t be afraid. Don’t worry. I am your God. I am with you, and I am going to help you.”

How is this not a verse for healing? God told us early on that He was our healer. Then we get to this verse and hear Him saying, “Don’t look anxiously around you because I am here. I am your healer.” Anxiety is a thief. It steals your calm, and it actually compromises health. God is showing us how we can retain a healthy body by giving Him all our anxiety and worry.

Do not fear. Yahweh is God. Do not let fear and anxiety steal from you. Remember who your God is and that He is with you. He is upholding you with the might of His right arm.

Back to Top

Anxiety Free

On September 14, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Philippians 4:6

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

This is a familiar verse but one that is so very important that I am happy to have us look at it routinely. Any time we feel anxiety, it is a clear sign that we need to stop and counsel with the Father. We should not live with that anxiety. We must find our way back to peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Because we are in him, we should be in peace. That makes sense, right? So, how do we live in peace continually? How do we rid ourselves of anxiety, especially in these very anxious times?

I usually look at this verse in its conjunctive construction. In other words, there are two related thoughts joined together by the word “but.” Now, we know the word “but” signifies contrast. So, the ideas are related but more like antonyms than synonyms. Add the word “rather” and that becomes clearer. Or, “Instead of being anxious, through prayer, supplication and thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. This shows the contrasting behavior which is called for by this verse. The verse isn’t just about feelings or emotions. It shows a behavioral pattern. Instead of being anxious, DO this. When you do feel anxious, DO this.

The great revelation of this verse shows that it is by praying about everything, submitting to God in confidence, and giving thanks that we both cure and avoid anxiety. When one constantly takes their thoughts and concerns to the Father, there is less opportunity to anxiety to grip the heart. Father, instills us with confident assurance as we commune with Him. We just need to get much better at chatting with Him. And, I use the word “chat” to indicate the informality that can benefit us all. I am not trying to suggest that formal prayer does not have its place, only that if we are going to be in constant communion with our Father, then we must develop a daily voice. When the verse says, “in everything” it means that we pray at all times, pray without ceasing. In order to do that, you must learn to communicate with the Father in a normal way.

One will see that when we are in routine, daily communication with the Father of our hearts, then, of course, anxiety must flee. How can one be with the Father, truly with the Father, and at the same time anxious? So, we have come full circle. When anxiety does strike, we know that is a sign that we need to run into the Father’s presence. Subsequently, when we are in the Father’s presence there is peace. Life intervenes and the world brings trouble to our doorstep but pursue the Father and His peace relentlessly. Let the peace of the Lord be your habitation.

Back to Top

Who Cares?

On April 21, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   1 Comment

1 Peter 5: 7

Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.

Whenever I ask our Father what message He wants to give to His people, His answer is always the same, “Tell My people I love them.” That is the Father’s heart and that is the message He is sending today through this devotional. If you read no further, just hear, “Your Father, Yahweh, loves you!” Today the message of His love comes in the form of His care for you. There are two things I want to discuss about this verse. First, it’s just about His love. Second, I want to discuss anxiety for a moment.

God cares for you. Indeed, He cares for every single person on this planet. It doesn’t matter if you are black, white, European or Chinese. He loves you. He grieves at every single loss of life. Think of it, He knows, personally, every single person who has died of covid-19. As of this moment, 165,188 people have died from this disease. Now think how you would feel if you knew every one of those people. The reality of how many people have died is overwhelming as it is, but it would be devastating to have that many of your loved ones die before their time.

God cares for you and He loves you like He loves Jesus. You are His joy and delight. He cares about how you may be feeling at this moment. He cares that your heart grieves or that you worry. He is with you as you experience feelings of anxiety and even cabin fever. You have not had a thought or an emotion that He has not shared with you. Moreover, He longs to comfort you.

That brings up this question, “Did God send the corona virus infection into the earth?” The answer is easy, and it is an unequivocal, “No!” How could He since He is the embodiment of love? Why would He? Why would He torment Himself with over 100,000 deaths of those whom He loves? We cannot even fathom how much He loves us. His love for us is deeper than the deepest ocean, higher than the highest mountain peak. It is broader than the entire expanse of space and more intense than the brightest sun. He feels all our pain as if it is His own, because it is. So, no, our beloved Father did not send this catastrophe into the earth. He isn’t judging the earth or the people in it. In fact, the more you read the Bible the more you appreciate not only His love for us but also that He took care of the judgment problem long ago. That is the entire reason He sent Jesus into the earth. He did not send a virus; He sent a savior. That is one of the strongest theological statements I, or anyone else, has ever made. It contains the essence of volumes upon volumes of theology. He is our God and Father. Jesus is our Lord and shepherd. Would it make any sense for our God to slaughter Jesus’ sheep, the sheep for which he is responsible?

Last, I said I wanted to discuss anxiety for a moment. While some folks are enjoying a vacation at home and working on household projects, there are others who are feeling stressed and anxious. As this situation wears on, it is having an emotional impact on many people. We are directed to “cast” our anxiety and stress over to our Father. My friends, Charity Kayembe and Ann Musico have collaborated on an article which will help us do that. In the article, they explain a simple, yet effective, technique which can be used to dissipate stress. It is so easy you can use it every day. Click here to go to the IveyMinistries.org home page where you will find this article on anxiety and stress relief. Click on the picture with the frayed, ready to snap rope.

If you have never forwarded a Word of the Day to anyone, may I suggest that today is the day to change that? The article by Ann and Charity can help in this time of great need, it can even, literally, save someone’s life.

Back to Top

Casting Lessons

On June 11, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 55: 22

Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

This is from yesterday’s psalm. The good news in this verse is too good to pass up. Undoubtedly it puts you in remembrance of 1 Peter 5: 7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you,” (NIV). I love finding these Old Testament passages which are the mirror reflection of New Testament verses which we hold so dear. It is easy to get lulled into the idea that the God of the Old Testament is very different from the New Testament God. We end up cherishing the New Testament as our Bible and all too often neglecting the Old Testament which is great error.

God always cared for us as His own. He always wanted us to give Him our cares and worries. His intent was always to carry our burdens and give us His peace. Remember this psalm was written by David. Here is how it reads in the Passion Translation, “So here’s what I’ve learned through it all: Leave all your cares and anxieties at the feet of the Lord, and measureless grace will strengthen you.” David learned how to give all his care, anxiety and worries to the Lord in exchange for the Lord’s measureless grace. Can you even contain that idea? It’s amazing really. I like that we receive this wisdom from David because he tested the Lord’s ability to save, rescue, and protect. Was anyone as persecuted as David. Even in the throne room he had spears hurled at him, but the Lord always delivered him. David had plenty of worries and lots of anxiety so if he was able to exchange that load and in return receive boundless grace which strengthens, then we ought to be able to do the same thing. We have worries and anxieties but at least we do not have actual spears being thrown at us. So, I feel like if God’s grace was sufficient for David, it should be enough for me too.

Jesus told us to take his yoke upon us because it is light. He will carry our burden, freeing us from anxiety and worry. In fact, it’s wrong of us to worry and fret and may I tell you the entire truth? It is sin. Jesus has himself said not to worry. The Holy Spirit through Peter told us to cast all our care upon the Lord so if we are not doing so, we are sinning. We need to think through these passages and understand this truth. Sometimes we think it is holy to worry or irresponsible not to worry. Both are wrong thoughts. Both are self-righteous exaltations of ourselves as our own Gods. We were never meant to carry the troubles on our shoulders. We have received a direct order from the King, “Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you.” To fail to cast your burden onto Him is to exalt yourself as your own God. This is serious business. Sometimes you just need to ask, “Who is my God? Is it me or Yahweh?” Our behaviors might portray a different answer than the one we wish to live by. Why are you worried? What has you upset? Do as the Passion Translation says for 1 Peter 5: 7, “Pour out all your worries and stress upon him and leave them there, for he always tenderly cares for you.” That’s the right way to live, the way God intended, the way He has commanded.

Back to Top

Poured Out

On January 21, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 38: 9 – 10

Lord, all my desire is before You; and my sighing is not hidden from You. My heart throbs, my strength fails me; and the light of my eyes, even that has gone from me.

I am moved by David’s passion and how he lays his heart out before the lord. Is this something we do? Is this something I do?

When I am under stress, I turn into a turtle. I withdraw into my shell and hold everything inside. We all know, at least intellectually, that this is not good, not healthy, and completely non-productive. David had a better system. He poured out his heart to God, his beloved, his father. He emptied himself of every thought without judgment. He just said was he was thinking and what he was feeling without restriction or prejudice.

I know there are many things that we think and feel that we also know are completely invalid. We don’t want to say them because we know they are ludicrous. There is some sense in that but that mature, logical theory does not apply here. When we talk with our Father, we need to feel free to pour ourselves out as David did. You can be as irresponsible as a child and say everything you think, express every emotion you feel. It is His job to pick you up and put your feet back on the right track. We get so busy being grown-up with our stoic faces and stiff back that we functionally shut out our Father and His healing touch. We never let Him rescue us much less touch our broken hearts because we won’t allow ourselves to be completely open to Him. It is as if it is against the rules to let down our guard for even a moment.

We really need to learn that we can run into the shelter of the most high where there is no need for our guard, where we can exhale fully and let ourselves feel the depth and richness of human emotion. God is passionate, you know that right? And we are made in His image. He did not create us to be stiff upper lip, intransigent robots.

God said that David was a man after His own heart. We can meditate on that statement for days, weeks, even years. What was it about David that moved God’s heart? Why is it that we don’t find God saying of David that he stirred His imagination or made Him think? In other words, God reveals that David wasn’t a child of His soul or His mind. I am sure that David and God had great thoughts together. Of course they shared great images from their imagination. Yet when God described David, He reveals him as part of His own heart. David lived in the center of God’s being and I am sure that, to this day, David lives to sing his lovely songs to the Father and they share great joy together. However, when David lived on earth he shared all he thought and all he felt with the love of his heart, his first love, God the Father; Lord and King but Father above all.

Or should I say parent because Yahweh is both Mother and Father. He is One, the One. He is not segregated into Mother and Father but is both. All in all, all in one. He is everything we need. It is just an unfortunate result of language and our humanness that we have gender specific pronouns. Yahweh is as female as male so when you need a trait that we on earth define as feminine have no reservation for that which we need abides in our beloved in richness and fullness. H/she is all the compassion you need and has the answers to every hurt and every problem. We can, therefore, trust in an unhindered fashion. We can, and should, pour out our hearts which are full of fear, frustration, anger, worry, and anxiety. And when we pour it out to our God and Father, then we are no longer full of those negative emotions. We can safely give them to “Him”, and He will give us back the reassurance and confidence we need. The truth of that statement is readily detectable as you read the songs of David.

David’s psalms often begin with expressions of anguish. Sometimes all but the very end is full of the suffering, anger and torment of his situation but always, by the end of the psalm, God has restored him. In the end of every calamitous event is the resurrection of Jesus and the lifting of our own heads.

Here is the morale of the story – God cannot lift our heads if we are stiff necked and proud. It is when we bow our heads that we allow Him to be God. When we pour our guts out on the floor before Him, He can lift us up. Remember, it is in our weakness that we are strong for God teaches us, “My power is strongest when you are weak,” (2 Corinthians 12: 9). The revelation of that statement caused Paul to write, “When I am weak, then I am strong,” (2 Corinthians 12: 10). In other words, we can never put on His strength if we never abandon our own. Ours is just a shadow anyway. It is just a projected image of the true strength which is in our Dad.

God makes a trade with us, taking our misery and giving us His glory. Isaiah 61: 3 foretells this as Jesus’ calling, his ministry, “Giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.” We take our sadness, sorrow and misery, all of our challenges and frustrations to the Father and He trades with us giving us all of His goodness. He freely offers to trade happiness and joy for our sadness and grief.

So, be like David. Pour out your heart to God. Purge yourself of those toxic emotions and receive back joy unspeakable.

Back to Top