Series: Worry

• Worry and anxiety is the direct result of a fruitless search for life’s answers out of your human mind.
• If you face a new problem, then the answer is going to have to come from the Lord.
• When you are searching for the answer in your mind by going over and over the problem to look for the solution, you only cause yourself more anxiety and frustration.
• Worry is a direct result of believing the wrong thing.
• What you do during a time of pressure is really determined before you get to that time of pressure.

A huge key in life is to not wait until pressure comes to get ready for the pressure. You must get ready ahead of time.

You must make a plan on how you will respond to life’s challenges with your faith.

Faith is not pretending the battle will not take place.

1. You always fall back on the right things you have been doing all along; especially what you have been doing in the little things.

• • Prepare for the trial in advance.

When you are under pressure, you never rise to the occasion; you fall back to the level of your preparation.

2. You keep doing what you have always known to do, and it will put you in a place where if you need something new, it will be made available to you.

When that happens, you can use it and not have to go back to the old thing.

Philippians 4:6 NKJV
(6) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

The Bible does not teach us to have a “happy-go-lucky” attitude towards life where we are not realistic and pretend that life is not happening to us.

Nor does it teach us to believe that everything comes at the will of God and passes through His hands and we should not resist certain things that happen in life.

There are going to be things that we will encounter in life that are clearly not God’s will for us and we should resist them.

Philippians 4:6 NKJV
(6) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

We are wired and created to fix things. Your mind works to come up with solutions to fix things. Anything that threatens us, annoys us, or bothers us, we want to fix it to keep it from happening again.

Once we have gone through some type of difficulty, we don’t want to experience that again, so we try to fix whatever caused the difficulty.

We do have situations that arise in life that we do not have the ability to fix. They are bigger than we are, tougher than we are, and beyond our control. Your mind is wired to find answers and solutions and will race to try and find them and this leads to worry.

However, Paul is telling us in this verse NOT to worry.

God never leaves us in a vacuum. With every “don’t” there will always be an alternative “do.”

Paul tells us not to worry but he also tells us to pray about everything.

The Bible does not tell us to “believe in the power of prayer.” The Bible does teach us to believe in the power of God and His promises to us.

Just because you pray does not mean you will receive an answer. There are loads of people that pray and do not receive an answer because they pray wrong.

If all you do in prayer is “get everything off your chest” to God and “pour your heart out to Him,” then you may feel a little better because you have unloaded but that does not mean that you will receive help from Heaven.

The Bible teaches us that Jesus is aware of how you feel in your particular situation because He has encountered all of those feelings before.

Hebrews 4:15 NKJV
(15) For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 4:15 AMPC
(15) For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.

You don’t have to sell Jesus on how bad you are hurting.

Here is the difference between God and us: He feels what you feel but His not moved to action by His feelings or your feelings. If He was, then He would not be fair in His dealings with man because we could figure out how to appeal to His emotions to get the amount of help that we need.

Sympathy is not what you need. You need an answer and help!

The Bible teaches us to make our requests known to God.

Philippians 4:6 NKJV
(6) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

Mark 10:46-52 NKJV
(46) Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.
(47) And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
(48) Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
(49) So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.”
(50) And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.
(51) So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.”
(52) Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

Notice Jesus asked him what he wanted. Wasn’t it obvious what Bartimaeus needed? Jesus wanted the man to answer with his request to the Lord. He does not ask how bad life has been as a blind man.

Don’t just describe the problem to the Lord but pray the answer to your problem.

Acts 4:23-31 NKJV
(23) And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.
(24) So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,
(25) who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘WHY DID THE NATIONS RAGE, AND THE PEOPLE PLOT VAIN THINGS?
(26) THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.’
(27) “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
(28) to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.
(29) Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,
(30) by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”
(31) And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

You must develop a working knowledge of God’s Word so that you know what God’s will is for your life.

1 John 5:14-15 NKJV</strong
(14) Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
(15) And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Philippians 4:6 NKJV
(6) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

He goes on to say, “…with thanksgiving…” Pray your prayer, making your request to Him and then give Him thanks for the answer.

This is the prayer of faith. It is not the prayer of magic. This is because there is time between the prayer and when the answer arrives.

There is a confidence that arises in your heart the more that you give thanks for the answer.

Philippians 4:7 NKJV
(7) and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

The more you give thanks for the answer, the peace of God will become a guard over your heart and mind.

In this story we see two principles that will help us to overcome worry and anxiety in our lives and show us where the answer comes from:

2 Chronicles 20:1-11 NKJV
(1) It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat.
(2) Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar” (which is En Gedi).
(3) And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
(4) So Judah gathered together to ask help from the LORD; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
(5) Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,
(6) and said: “O LORD God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?
(7) Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?
(8) And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying,
(9) ‘If disaster comes upon us–sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine–we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’
(10) And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir–whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them–
(11) here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit.

1. Recall the promises of God’s Word, place your focus on them and pray over them.

2 Chronicles 20:12-13 NKJV
(12) O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

Notice he did not just leave his statement at, “We don’t know what to do.” He ended it with, “…but our eyes are upon you.”

(13) Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the LORD.

2. You must get peace in your mind so that you can get the answer you are seeking from God.

The peace comes when you begin by saying, “My mind does not have the answer but my God and His promises do have the answer.” If you don’t have peace first, the answer or solution does not come and it comes from your spirit.

2 Chronicles 20:14-25 NKJV
(14) Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.
(15) And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
(16) Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel.
(17) You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you.”
(18) And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the LORD, worshiping the LORD.
(19) Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with voices loud and high.
(20) So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”
(21) And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the LORD, For His mercy endures forever.”
(22) Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.
(23) For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
(24) So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.
(25) When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much.

There is always a way! There is always a solution!

God has a thousand answers or solutions to every problem we face. All you and I need is one.

• The spirit of man is where God lives in you and this is where He speaks to you.
• The spirit of man is the place from which answers from the Lord come. It is the place where He reveals His solutions to us.
• Worry and anxiety is the direct result of a fruitless search for life’s answers out of your human mind.
• If there is an answer that you need, and your mind has never known the answer, then you will never be able to recall or get that answer from your mind.
• If you face a new problem, then the answer is going to have to come from the Lord.
• When you are searching for the answer in your mind by going over and over the problem to look for the solution, you only cause yourself more anxiety and frustration.
• Worry is a direct result of believing the wrong thing.
• When you forget the Word that you have heard and don’t do it, you fall into a misbelief and believe the wrong things.
• As a result of believing the wrong thing, you will be filled with worry and anxiety.
• The disciples were fooled by their own physical senses which told them something different than what Jesus had said.
• Before you ever receive a manifestation from God, you must first receive and believe His Word.

Jesus convinced them with the Word, not the manifestation.

• Worry is a direct result of wrong belief.
• We believe the wrong things because of wrong thinking.
• We have wrong thinking because we have been receiving the wrong information.
• We have to incorporate God’s information into our thinking to change our believing and eliminate worry.

James 1:21 KJV (21) Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

James is telling us that we do not need new roots. We got new roots when we accepted Christ. Our branches are part of the tree and are a picture of your mind. It is up to us to take off the bad branches one by one and begin to replace them with God’s branches so that we can begin to produce the right believing. God’s branches are not native to us but can be grafted into us.

We learn to take God’s Word and replace our old way of thinking and believing into God’s way of thinking.

We start out like a green apple tree but over time we are changed and now we are a green apple tree that is producing red apples on all the branches. Now our roots have not only been changed but all of the branches have been changed too.

If we are worried and anxious it is because we are believing the wrong thing. What we have to do is go to the Word of God and begin to change our thinking and engraft His promises into our thinking and thus change our believing and wipe out worry for good.

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When you have a leak in a tire that is a slow leak because of a nail or something, the pressure does not cause the leak or hole in the tire; it is only revealed when the pressure is applied.

In the same way, we often think that pressure is what makes us do the things that we do when we are under intense pressure. This is like thinking that the pressure is what causes the leak or the hole.

When people are under pressure and make bad decisions and do things that they should not do, it is only because there is a flaw or weakness that was there all along.

Anxiety creates tremendous pressure and in this many people end up making bad decisions during these times of intense pressure. The pressure only reveals the weakness.

1 Samuel 13:1-2 NKJV (1) Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, (2) Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man to his tent.

In Saul’s reign as king, we see the first thing that comes is honor and privilege.

1 Samuel 13:5-6 NKJV (5) Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven. (6) When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits.

With all privilege there will come some pressure. This is true of marriage, a promotion, etc.

What you do during a time of pressure is really determined before you get to that time of pressure.

A huge key in life is to not wait until pressure comes to get ready for the pressure. You must get ready ahead of time.

You must make a plan on how you will respond to life’s challenges with your faith.

Faith is not pretending the battle will not take place.

If you wait until you are in the battle, it is too late.

1 Samuel 13:7-9 NKJV (7) And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. (8) Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. (9) So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering.

When pressure comes against you, the mission and purpose of that pressure is to push you into crossing a boundary or a line and make a bad decision.

Saul was already in trouble because there was a hole in the fabric of his character that gets revealed by the pressure.

On the surface it looks like Saul did a good thing but he did not. He crossed a major border set for him by God.

1 Samuel 10:8 NKJV (8) You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you should do.”

Saul was a king called to lead the people and rule over them in government but one of things he was not called to do was be a priest for the people before God and should not have offered sacrifices. That was Samuel’s job. By doing this, he creates huge problems for himself and the nation.

1 Samuel 13:10-12 NKJV (10) Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. (11) And Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, (12) then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the LORD.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”

When we cross boundaries, we create a world of problems for ourselves.

For example, if you have a neighbor child that does not behave, you cannot take it upon yourself and spank that child unless you want to go to jail. When your neighbor is not loving his wife properly, that does not mean that you can cross that border and go over there and take care of it instead her husband.

God gives us borders and boundaries to operate in life to give us order, protection, and blessing.

If we really think about the restrictions that God gives us, they pale in comparison to the other things that we get to enjoy. God’s restrictions are relatively small by comparison to what we can do and the restrictions are designed to keep you from getting hurt.

When people cave into pressure and cross boundaries, it could be largely because they did not prepare ahead of time for what they are currently facing.

Saul did not have a plan and when the pressure comes, he decides to cross a boundary that he should not have crossed.

We do the same thing. When pressure comes, because we have not prepared, we cross boundaries.

Let’s contrast this story by looking at a time that someone faced pressure the right way.

How do I deal with pressure and keep from crossing borders and making a mess of things?

1 Samuel 17:40 NKJV (40) Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.

David is under a tremendous amount of pressure and all eyes are on him at this moment. We see in this one verse what to do when the pressure is on.

David does what he has been doing all along.

1. You always fall back on the right things you have been doing all along; especially what you have been doing in the little things.

• • Prepare for the trial in advance.

When you are under pressure, you never rise to the occasion; you fall back to the level of your preparation.

A Navy Seal once said, “Under pressure, you don’t rise to the occasion. You sink to the level of your training.” One of the marks of high intensity training that the SEALS use, is constant repetition. Doing the same thing over and over until it does not require conscious mental activity to accomplish it. (Brushing your teeth, etc.)

1 Timothy 4:8 AMP For physical training is of some value (useful for a little), but godliness (spiritual training) is useful and of value in everything and in every way, for it holds promise for the present life and also for the life which is to come.

When the heat comes, you will do what you have prepared to do.

It is what we do in the low stress period that gets us ready for the high stress time.

1 Samuel 17:38-39 NKJV (38) So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. (39) David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.

The boundary crosser said, “Try something new or do something that you have never done before…”

David was ready to fight against Goliath because he had been fighting anything that came against his father’s sheep. He had been practicing what he needed to do.

When David gets under pressure, he just simply reverts to what already knows to do.

That is why we should trust God in everything in life, both big and small.

We get under pressure and we look for something exotic and something we have never done before.

God is going to lead you back to something that you are familiar with.

God led Moses and children of Israel right back to Moses’ back yard where he had lived for forty years.

1 Samuel 17:43 NKJV (43) So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

After David hits the giant with the stone and knocks him out. In other words, the stone took David as far as it could be then he had to draw on something on new to cut the giant’s head off. From that moment forward, he never went back to using a sling and a stone. He always fought with a sword.

2. You keep doing what you have always known to do and it will put you in a place where if you need something new, it will be made available to you.

When that happens, you can use it and not have to go back to the old thing.

God leads us one step and a stage at time. You get there by following what is familiar.

Finding an answer in a time of anxiety and pressure is not hard.

You just do what brought you the victory last time. Keep doing the Word and standing in faith. Don’t cross a boundary because of pressure and keep doing what you have been doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 NKJV (23) Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 4:12 NKJV (12) For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT (17) This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

1 John 4:15 NLT (15) All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.

The spirit of man is the eternal part of you. It is the part of us that makes contact with God.

The spirit of man is where God lives in you and this is where He speaks to you.

Proverbs 4:23 NKJV (23) Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

Issues of life = resources of life; the outflow of life

Guard your heart – same as building a wall around a well

Proverbs 4:23 NLT (23) Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

Proverbs 4:23 ERV (23) Above all, be careful what you think because your thoughts control your life.

Proverbs 20:27 NIV (27) The human spirit is the lamp of the LORD that sheds light on one’s inmost being.

The spirit of man is the place from which answers from the Lord come. It is the place where He reveals His solutions to us.

Worry and anxiety is the direct result of a fruitless search for life’s answers out of your human mind.

Your mind is a wonderful tool, but your mind can only give out what you put into it. If you do not put the information into your mind, you cannot ever retrieve that information.

Your mind does not always do a perfect job of giving you back everything you put into it. It can sometimes give back what you put in it in a way that is a little bit inaccurate. Studied in school but still did not make a 100.

If there is an answer that you need, and your mind has never known the answer, then you will never be able to recall or get that answer from your mind.

There are just some things that your mind does not have.

Proverbs 16:1 NLT (1) We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer.

If you face a new problem, then the answer is going to have to come from the Lord.

When you are searching for the answer in your mind by going over and over the problem to look for the solution, you only cause yourself more anxiety and frustration.

Don’t follow every thought that pops into your mind and every “rabbit trail” they can produce.

Chasing after all these thoughts is where confusion comes from.

Confusion = lack of clarity or distinction, perplexity or bewilderment.

1 Corinthians 14:33 NKJV (33) For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

Another Reason For Worry:

Luke 24:1-4 NKJV (1) Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. (2) But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. (3) Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. (4) And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.

The Scripture says that they were very much perplexed or troubled or worried. They are worried because they are believing the wrong thing.

Worry is a direct result of believing the wrong thing.

They believed incorrectly that Jesus was dead.

They were the last ones to see the dead body of Jesus. They saw his bloodied, beaten and mutilated body and were there when it was placed in the tomb then they had to sit on that for 24 hours because of the Sabbath. In their minds they are expecting to come back and see what they had seen before.

The angels began the process of bringing them out of their worried and anxious state.

Luke 24:5-8 NKJV (5) Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? (6) He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, (7) saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ” (8) And they remembered His words.

Luke 18:31-34 NKJV (31) Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. (32) For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. (33) They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” (34) But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.

Jesus talked about this so much that even His enemies were aware of it because they stationed guards at His tomb so that the disciples could not steal the body to prove Jesus’ statements. But His own disciples forgot it. It never really registered to them what He was saying.

When you forget the Word that you have heard and don’t do it, you fall into a misbelief and believe the wrong things.

As a result of believing the wrong thing, you will be filled with worry and anxiety.

Luke 18:33 NKJV (33) They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”

Not one disciple was waiting at the tomb on that morning but it did not keep Him from rising from the dead.

Luke 24:9-12 NKJV (9) Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. (10) It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. (11) And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. (12) But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.

They are in doubt because they do not remember what Jesus said nor do they believe what the women told them.

Luke 24:13-26 NKJV (13) Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. (14) And they talked together of all these things which had happened. (15) So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. (16) But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. (17) And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?” (18) Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?” (19) And He said to them, “What things?” So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, (20) and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. (21) But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. (22) Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. (23) When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. (24) And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.” (25) Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! (26) Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?”

Jesus does not speak any Word that is not divinely chosen by God. He called them “fools” but He was not insulting. He was simply saying to them, “You have been fooled.”

The disciples were fooled by their own physical senses which told them something different than what Jesus had said.

They believed He was dead because that is what their senses told them.

Luke 24:27-32 NKJV (27) And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (28) Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. (29) But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them. (30) Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. (31) Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. (32) And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”

Jesus manifested Himself to them, but the manifestation came after the teaching of the Scriptures. Instead of just showing the scars, He takes them through the Word of God and shows it to them from the Word. Only after that is He manifested.

Before you ever receive a manifestation from God, you must first receive and believe His Word.

He convinced them with the Word, not the manifestation.

• Worry is a direct result of wrong belief.
• We believe the wrong things because of wrong thinking.
• We have wrong thinking because we have been receiving the wrong information.
• We have to incorporate God’s information into our thinking to change our believing and eliminate worry.

James 1:21 KJV (21) Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

James is telling us that we do not need new roots. We got new roots when we accepted Christ. Our branches are part of the tree and are a picture of your mind. It is up to us to take off the bad branches one by one and begin to replace them with God’s branches so that we can begin to produce the right believing. God’s branches are not native to us but can be grafted into us.

We learn to take God’s Word and replace our old way of thinking and believing into God’s way of thinking.

We start out like a green apple tree but over time we are changed and now we are a green apple tree that is producing red apples on all the branches. Now our roots have not only been changed but all of the branches have been changed too.

If we are worried and anxious it is because we are believing the wrong thing. What we have to do is go to the Word of God and begin to change our thinking and engraft His promises into our thinking and thus change our believing and wipe out worry for good.

Matthew 6:25-34 NKJV “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? (26) Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (27) Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? (28) “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; (29) and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (30) Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? (31) “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ (32) For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. (33) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (34) Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6:25-27 TPT “This is why I tell you to never be worried about your life, for all that you need will be provided, such as food, water, clothing—everything your body needs. Isn’t there more to your life than a meal? Isn’t your body more than clothing? (26) “Look at all the birds—do you think they worry about their existence? They don’t plant or reap or store up food, yet your heavenly Father provides them each with food. Aren’t you much more valuable to your Father than they? (27) So, which one of you by worrying could add anything to your life?

Jesus uses the example of the little birds possibly sparrows.

These little birds are some of the lowest form of animal life.

Birds cannot save for the future. Birds cannot sow and reap and yet God takes care of them.

God takes care of and has a plan of provision for the lowest form of the animal world.

If we, as humans, are so far superior to the birds, then surely God will take care of us.

Matthew 6:28-30 TPT “And why would you worry about your clothing? Look at all the beautiful flowers of the field. They don’t work or toil, (29) and yet not even Solomon in all his splendor was robed in beauty more than one of these! (30) So if God has clothed the meadow with hay, which is here for such a short time and then dried up and burned, won’t he provide for you the clothes you need—even though you live with such little faith?

He then goes to talk about the lilies of the field. They do not toil nor do they spin. This is a reference to the tasks of men and women of the day.

Grass that has a limited life-cycle.

Jesus is saying to us, “Don’t let worry take over your mind…”

Notice Jesus did not just say don’t do this and not give us the equipment to not do it.

Matthew 6:31-34 TPT “So then, forsake your worries! Why would you say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ (32) For that is what the unbelievers chase after. Doesn’t your heavenly Father already know the things your bodies require? (33) “So above all, constantly chase after the realm of God’s kingdom and the righteousness that proceeds from him. Then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly. (34) Refuse to worry about tomorrow, but deal with each challenge that comes your way, one day at a time. Tomorrow will take care of itself.”

Matthew 6:33 NKJV But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Matthew 6:33 AMPC But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.

1. Our very first pursuit is to be after the Kingdom of God.

This represents all of the laws of the Kingdom that God has established. These are spiritual laws that if I understand them will provide for me.

We need to understand the difference between spiritual laws and natural laws:

Most of the time natural laws work and respond instantaneously.

Spiritual laws don’t show immediate results or “payback” in the “seen” realm and are delayed.

The Kingdom has within it these spiritual laws that if I will work and cooperate with them, they will work on my behalf; they are designed to help me.

You keep or work a spiritual law by faith.

We need to have just as much confidence in the spiritual law as we do the natural law.

If spiritual laws worked in the natural instantaneously then we would not have to teach the Bible. Everyone would obey simply because they have to.

Why did God set it up this way? He designed spiritual laws to work this way so that we would have to obey them by faith. This is why people will dismiss them and think that they have no impact.

2. Our second pursuit is His righteousness.

Righteousness should never be confused with holiness.

Holiness is a living pure in moral word and conduct.

You live a holy life because you are righteous and not the other way around.

You are holy because you are righteous.

Righteousness is right standing with God and is more about position than anything else.

It is being in a right position with God; a position of being blessed.

If you go through the drive through of McDonalds and pull up 30 feet from the speaker, you can order all day long but you will not get any food because you are out of position.

Jesus put you in the right position with God!

Galatians 3:13 NKJV Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”),

Galatians 3:13 TPT Yet, Christ paid the full price to set us free from the curse of the law. He absorbed it completely as he became a curse in our place. For it is written: “Everyone who is hung upon a tree is doubly cursed.”

Jesus lost His clothes, His health, His possessions, His influence, even His favor with God.

Everything He lost, He lost it so we could gain it.

Galatians 3:14 NKJV that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Galatians 3:14 TPT Jesus, our Messiah, was cursed in our place and in so doing, dissolved the curse from our lives, so that all the blessings of Abraham can be poured out upon even non-Jewish believers. And now God gives us the promise of the wonderful Holy Spirit who lives within us when we believe in him.

Galatians 3:29 NKJV And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:29 TPT And since you’ve been united to Jesus the Messiah, you are now Abraham’s “child” and inherit all the promises of the kingdom realm!

He did not just make us righteous because He knew we would struggle with understanding this, so He put us in a family.

God said, “I am going to put you in a family because there is no bond that is stronger than family.” This is what God chose to do.

He not only forgave us, but He put us in a family.

Galatians 4:4-7 NKJV But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, (5) to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. (6) And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” (7) Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Galatians 4:7 TPT Now we’re no longer living like slaves under the law, but we enjoy being God’s very own sons and daughters! And because we’re his, we can access everything our Father has—for we are heirs of God through Jesus, the Messiah!

We are positionally and relationally in the family of God.

There is no bond stronger than the bond of a family.

If we are the righteousness of God, then why do we end up in bondage and not experiencing God’s best in our lives?

The Bible says that Abraham was rich and blessed. The Bible says that Isaac was rich and blessed. The Bible says that Jacob was rich and blessed. All this was because of the covenant family relationship with God.

But we see some 400 years later, the family of God living in bondage and in slavery.

Here are two questions we need to think about from this story:

What caused the Children of Abraham to not walk in what God had already blessed them with as part of that family?

What caused them to walk and live in a constant state of worry?

They worried because they did not know what theirs as members of God’s family and what God had already blessed them with through Abraham.

They did not know what family they were a part of and what belonged to them.

Matthew 6:33 NKJV But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Jesus is saying to us that we will live in a state of worry because:

We do not understand the Kingdom of God (laws that God has already put in place to provide for us).

We don’t know and understand what our position is in His family because of what Jesus did for us (His righteousness).

John 14:27 NKJV Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.