Acts 4:12, Matthew 6:34

Acts 4:12
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

Wow. What a great way to start off my morning today. I have my hot cider in one hand, my favorite green jacket on, my make up is perfectly matching my outfit, and I am out the door to work. When I get to work at 9, I remember my boss is at a meeting and will be back a little after 9. I log into my computer, get my emails up and running. He's still not here. I send off information to customer service. "Great!", I think to myself, "When my boss gets back, he'll be so excited that I got a few things done to kick start our day!"

Ladies and gentleman, I have been at work for nearly two hours now, and still no word from my boss. So what do I do? I pull out my phone and open up my bible app. And the verse of the day today is Acts 4:12. And boy was that such a great reminder of my faith. See, I don't know about you, but for me, I need these reminders daily. It's so easy to see the world we live in and think "where is God in all of this? Shouldn't I just trust in doing good and being nice to others? That will be pleasing to the world right?" And yes, the world does love when people do good things and are nice. Heck, I love it when people are actually nice to me when I'm at the mall, or buying groceries, or getting my hair done.

But that isn't the way to salvation. We can't trust in other people to save us. We need to trust in the one true King of this world. For me, I love knowing that I have faith in a God who I feel save with. I love knowing that I put my trust in him and I will be saved eternally.

So, after I read this passage and really let that sink in, I think, "Maybe I should look back at some of the other verses of the day from the past few days." And the verse from yesterday was one of my favorite verses.

Matthew 6:34
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

This verse standing on its own is very powerful and beautiful. Kind of reminds me of that famous Bob Marley song...but that's a post for another day.

So, for those of you who know me, or who have read through some/all of my blog, you probably know that I'm a worrier. I struggle with anxiety. And I can worry a LOT about things that really don't matter. I also worry about things that I can't control. And that is ok, because we are humans. We mess up. We have flaws. We have sin. And this verse could probably be one of my favorite verses on its own because of my flaws. I need that reminder daily that tomorrow will worry about itself and that each day has trouble of its own. Why worry about tomorrow when I have things today that need my attention? I can't worry about the what ifs of my life when today I need to focus on doing my job, going to help my mom with a work event, feeding the cat, doing the laundry and dishes, and so on and so on. Each day, we have so many things that we face, and we can't be worrying about the next day's problems!

The thing about Matthew 6:34 is that it is a feel good verse. We are all very good at picking and choosing verses that we like (or want to use against others, which is not right.) and just saying "yup, don't worry about tomorrow it has it's owns problems...". So I just want to give you a sense of what is going on in Matthew 6 before this famous verse.

In my version of the bible on my phone (NIV), verses 25-34 are bunched together under the title "Do Not Worry". So we are on the right path for verse 34. But verse 25 starts with the word "Therefor". I learned a few years ago that if a line is starting with therefor, you should probably see what the few verses are before that that they are referring to! So, Matthew 6:24 says "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

Continuing on into verses 25- 27
"Therefor, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear. Is not  life more than food, the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Thanks for that reality check Jesus. "Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" I think that pretty much hits the nail on the head. Worrying isn't good for your well being and Jesus points out to us that it isn't going to add time to our lives, so why do it?

Verses 28-30 speak of another metaphor of worrying about clothes and the flowers of the field. But verses 31-33  are what really lead us into our "Do not worry about tomorrow" verse. Matthew writes:

"So do not worry, saying 'what shall we eat' or 'What shall we drink' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Now, I'm not bias, but Matthew 6:33 is my all time favorite verse, and is my husband and my life verse, so this post has been coming very easily to me.

How cool is it to know that we may think "But God, I need food." or "But God, I need clothes." and God basically just says "Ok Amanda, I got this.", all because I am seeking his kingdom first. He promises that if we keep our eyes off of the things of this world, and keep focusing and seeking out His ways, that he will give us all things we need and desire (within his will). I just love that promise that as long as I am following Christ and seeking his will in this life, that all my needs will be given to me.

This doesn't mean however that I am to just quit my job, stop paying my student loans, and say "well, I trust God so I'm going to just let him take care of this." I truly believe that working is a gift from God and that he is helping me with things of this world by giving me a job. I trust God 100%, and if he said 'quit your job and follow me" I'd like to think that I would. But God calls us to things and gives us open doors to places that we might not have ever have dreamed of. I never thought that I would be working in an office, but yet God lead me here.

So my friends, I hope you have a worry free day filled with God's love! As I wrap this up, I just want to pray over all of you.

Dear heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the gift of your word and your promises. Help me to continue to follow your words of guidance and to keep helping others follow those words. Lord, you are such a mighty God and I just praise you for taking the worry and anxiety from me that I have struggled with for so long. Help me to continue to be anxiety free and to keep following you. I pray a blessing over all the people reading this from all over the world, that they may know your love for them and that they know your son Jesus died for their sins! Father, we love you, and it's in your name we pray. Amen

God Bless You
Amanda