"TODAY, only today!"

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

   When I read this verse the first thing that comes to mind is that we need not to worry about our provisions, daily troubles, money, ect... But God opened my eyes to something else. See, a few weeks ago at the community group (small group) that I go to, we were talking about not only does this verse mean provisions but it also means everything else that we are facing. One of my many struggles is with weight loss. So what would happen if I applied this rule to that struggle?

  What if I said "TODAY, only today!" to my weight loss? If I had the mind set to say that TODAY I will eat right. TODAY I will only focus on what I need to do today to succeed today, tomorrow will then become today and once again I will say "TODAY, only today.!"  can you imagine how freeing that could be? So I gave this a try. I woke up and said "Today I will only focus on today." and before I knew it Today turned into three days.

   I guess where I'm going with this is that God wants us to only focus on what is at hand and trust Him with the rest. When we keep Him in the mist of our focus and leave the rest to Him time goes by so fast that we don't have the time to worry about what will happen tomorrow. We will forget that this diet or that bill has to be maintained or paid each month and the fear of not sticking to it or being able to pay it goes away.
Trusting God in EVERYTHING that we go through gives us complete peace of mind and freedom from stress which leads to other health issues.

   Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has enough troubles of it's own. Give it to God and rest in today.

Father, THANK YOU so very much for giving us Your knowledge. The knowledge to give all of our daily lives to you. To let you take control of everything so that we have no worries. God please give us Your wisdom to apply that knowledge in every area of our lives. Lord it is a moment by moment struggle for us to give it all to you. But Lord, we know that through you we will have the strength to give our worries to you and rest in your peace. Lord we love you and thank you for loving us first.
In Jesus name, Amen-

The Fear of the Lord

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."
-Proverbs 1:7

"My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." -Proverbs 2:1-5

    These few verses describe to us what it takes to be wise and knowledgeable. But there is so much more to it. The more I search and learn and apply what I learn about God, the more I will understand Him and grow to love Him. The more I love Him and understand Him, the more I fear Him. 

    The word fear in these verses do not mean to be afraid of. It means to have a genuine respect for. To hold in the most high regard. So when we fear God, we are respecting His presence and authority in our lives. 

    If I am completely honest with myself, the sins that I commit every day, I commit because I struggle with fearing God. I often go through life day to day without thinking about my lack of respect for God. I make decisions without Him, I hear His voice and ignore His warnings. We as humans will always sin as long as we are on this earth. Every single day, in every single moment, we must choose to fear and obey God.

  This is the key to a Christians life. If we truly want to change and become as much like Christ as we possibly can, we must Fear the Lord!
            What to do next: Search God's word continually
                                        Learn God's word by heart
                                        Apply God's word to our lives
                                        Grow to live more like Christ
"For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you." -Proverbs 2:10-11

Proverbs is an amazing book. It will change your life in a big way if you will Search, Learn, Apply, and let it Grow you.

Father, Thank you so very much for Your wisdom and knowledge. Thank you for being the kind of God that delights in our growing to love you and know more about you. I praise you for the opportunity to share your word with others. I pray Lord that you will use these words to encourage others to know you better. Lord please help us to continue to search, learn, apply, and grow closer to you every day. In Jesus name. -Amen-