two days to never worry about…

another step to overcome worry is to live one day at a time.

matthew 6.34 (niv), therefore do not worry about tomorrow. tomorrow will worry about itself.  everyday has enough trouble of its own.   JESUS says don’t open your umbrella before it starts raining.  don’t start worrying before you get there. don’t cross the bridge until you get to it. 

every week there are two days you should never worry about: yesterday and tomorrow.  concentrate on today.  what JESUS is saying is don’t worry about the future until you’ve learned to successfully manage the present.  today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. 

why should i live one day at a time?  two reasons:

1.  in worrying about tomorrow and tomorrow’s problems, i miss today’s blessings.  i’m so caught up in what’s going to happen tomorrow, i can’t enjoy today.

2.  you cannot solve tomorrow’s problems with today’s resources.  GOD has made our lives that we’re to live on a day by day basis.  that doesn’t mean you don’t plan.  you should plan for tomorrow.  JESUS advised it.  you plan for tomorrow, but you have to live in today.  you cannot live in tomorrow.  don’t worry about it because today’s resources are not sufficient for tomorrow’s problems.  GOD gives you just enough grace, just enough power for now. 

remember when they got manna in the old testament?  GOD gave it to them one day at a time.  HE said they couldn’t store it up because HE wanted them to trust HIM on a moment by moment basis.

the bible does not say, “give us this day our weekly bread.”  it says, give us this day our daily bread.  what you need for today will be sufficient for today.  when you get to the problem tomorrow, GOD will give you the power for the problem tomorrow. HE’s not going to give you the power today for tomorrow’s problems.  don’t worry about them.  otherwise, you’re working on a situation that GOD doesn’t give you the power to work on.

it's ok to plan for tomorrow.  GOD wants you to plan.  in proverbs HE shows that HE wants us to plan and set goals, dream dreams, set objectives and move toward them.  but you don’t worry about tomorrow’s problems.  you live one day at a time.

just a thought from the front porch…  

putting a face on the name of GOD…

listen, we as CHRISTians bear HIS name.  and GOD sends us out into the world saying, “go out as i would live.  go out and show some people.  put a face on the name of GOD.” 

i encourage you this next week to remember that at the office.  or at the gym.  or at the coffee shop.  all those places.  remember that when the checker in the checkout line takes ten minutes longer than you think it should have taken.  or remember that when you miss your connecting flight somewhere in the middle of the country and you’re stuck there.  remember that when you’re on business trip alone in a hotel room with your thoughts and a cable tv channel.  remember you represent GOD’s name.  there’s no greater privilege than to represent HIS name. 

some people, some who are not yet believers, would say, “what you’re talking about right now, that’s why i’m not a CHRISTian.  i’ve met some CHRISTians who are supposed to represent GOD’s name and the way i see it they’re not doing a very good job of it.  i don’t want to be one of those kinds of people so i’m going to wait until maybe i’m more perfect, [which is never going to happen] to start to represent GOD’s name in life.”

let me share some things with you. 

first of all when it comes to living out the CHRISTian life you’ll find some people who just blend in with the world.  they’re just like everyone else around them.  there’s no difference.  obviously you’re not representing GOD’s name if you do that.

there are others, who escape from the world.  they get as far away from everything in the world as they can.  the monks are the best illustration of that.  they go way up into the hills and if there is any difference in their life nobody knows it because nobody can see them.

but there’s another kind of CHRISTian, another way to live the CHRISTian life. they take GOD’s name into the real world.  they take the challenge to live out the importance of GOD’s name in the real world.  yes, they struggle sometimes because they’re not perfect any more than anybody can be perfect.  but they’re struggling to grow. 

that’s the kind of life that GOD invites you to.  if you’re not yet a believer those people that you’ve met that are like that, that’s what HE’s inviting you to.  that’s what HE’s calling you to. 

just a thought from the front porch…

just live today!...

so what is the solution to our common mistake in looking into the future of presuming about tomorrow?  so what's the solution?  live one day at a time.

matthew 6.34 (niv) says, so don't be anxious about tomorrow.  GOD will take care of your tomorrow too.  live one day at a time.

live one day at a time, that’s how GOD says to face the future.  the future could be overwhelming but fortunately it comes in bite size pieces, a 24-hour segment of time.

plan for the future but you can only live now.  i can’t live in the future; i can only live today.  plan for the future but take advantage of the present.  life is what happens to us while we’re planning something else.  we’re always planning what’s going to happen in january and miss CHRISTmas. 

today is the good old days you’re going to talk about in 15 years.  enjoy now.  make the most of now.  don’t make the mistake of planning without GOD.  don’t make the mistake of presuming about tomorrow.  i don’t know if i’ve got next week, much less next year.  i shouldn’t just assume it.

spencer johnson, the man who wrote the book the one minute manager wrote another book called the perfect present.  in this book he said the perfect present is literally the prefect present.  the present time.  that’s all i have.  that’s all i have to give to this world.  not next hour or next month but right now.  that’s the gift that GOD has given to me so i ought to use it.  that’s all i have – the present.

just because the future is uncertain and unsure and brief doesn’t mean you get uptight and get paralyzed with panic and worry.  it’s the motivation to trust GOD more.  you put your trust in GOD – that’s how you face the future.  “i don’t know what the future holds, but i know who holds the future.”  that’s what counts.

david said in psalm 35.15 (niv), LORD my days are in YOUr hands.  commitment – that’s what james says.  don't make the mistake of planning without GOD and don’t make the mistake of presuming about tomorrow.  instead, include GOD in your planning and make the most of today.  live one day at a time.

just a thought from the front porch…