Casting

On February 11, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 55: 22

Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain you.

Tuesday we looked at 1 Peter 5: 7 which reads, “casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” Seeing this same idea in the Old Testament brings three thoughts. The first thing which occurs to me is that God has not changed (Malachi 3: 6). The Old Testament God wants to care for us just like the New Testament God does. Secondly, it seems to me that Peter was increasing the understanding of Psalm 55 in his statement. Peter’s ministry was predominantly to Jews. Therefore, his audience would already know Psalm 55 and to cast their burdens onto the Lord.  They would also have known that this is the methodology for receiving God’s sustenance. Peter’s teaching explains why God gave them Psalm 55 in the first place. Peter explains that all of this is because God cares for us. 

Lastly, we can enter this verse through the back door and really wrap Psalm 55 and 1 Peter 5: 7 up in a pretty bow. The backdoor is that God wishes to sustain us. Therefore, He teaches us to cast our care upon Him. In other words, if you want God to sustain you then He has shown us that the way to receive that sustenance is to give Him all of our cares and burdens. Begin with the result and work your way backward to find out what you must do in order to receive that result. Do not stop there, though. The conclusion is that God provides our sustenance and the methodology for receiving it because He cares for us. We get to see His motivation for ever speaking Psalm 55.

For thousands of years now God has been calling us to go to Him to receive our daily bread and every other need met as well. He calls to us because He loves us and wants to take care of us. That is why it is almost sinful for us to “take care”. That is the role God has appointed for Himself. He is the ultimate caregiver, so roll all of your cares over on Him and receive the sustaining grace of His love.

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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 April 1, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 55: 22                NIV


Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.

In all of these thousands of years God has not changed.  He wanted to carry the cares of Adam but Adam wanted to be his own God.  He wanted to bear the burden of the Israelites out in the desert but they would not walk in faith and trust.  In today’s passage the Holy Spirit spoke through David to tell the people of that age to cast all of their care upon the Lord.  God didn’t even stop there.  In 1 Peter 5: 7 God instructs New Testament believers to cast “all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 

God’s desire to care for His kids has never waned.  Since the beginning of time He has been challenging His children to lean on Him and allow Him to carry those cares and worries.  Even in this age He wants to take the worry and concerns from our shoulders.

We are suppose to not only read the Word but also do the Word.  Today’s verse, especially in conjunction with 1 Peter 5: 7, is a good example of what it means to “do the Word”.  We have been given something specific to do, cast all of our care upon the Lord.  Therefore, in order to walk as a disciple of the Lord Jesus we must give him all of our worries and concerns.  To do less is to be in disobedience.  That may sound harsh but it is for your freedom that Jesus came and his purpose was to free us all from bondage.  Every day you should consciously give the Lord every problem and every anxious thought.  Your job is to trust the Lord; all the problems are his.  Don’t take care.  Don’t be careful.  Be carefree in the love of Jesus and His Father.  This is your right and inheritance.  It is also the command of the Lord.  In Jesus’ name, cast all your care.

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