I'm writing this here, because I thought it was a good way to get my thoughts out in a non-stressful way. And if you have any thoughts, comments, suggestions for me, I welcome them.
I don't think that I'm done yet, with this, but anything else I write will be more than mush at this point. :) I hope it blesses you, wherever you are in your walk with Christ.
The scripture that is supposed to be my jumping off point is Matthew 10:29. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father." Great verse. It's one of the nuggets of peace and comfort that Jesus gives to his disciples in the middle of a somewhat scary message about being persecuted and arrested when they are doing the will of the Father. That whole passage hits home. So here is a good chunk of it.
Matt. 10:17-42
17 "Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
21"Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24 "A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!
26 "So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 Wheat I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30 And even the very hairs of your heard are all numbered. 31 So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
34 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law 36 a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'
37 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find. it.
40 "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. 41 Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."
So my thoughts are kind of scattered right now, thinking about this passage and then thinking about the topic and wondering where do I head here. and where does the Lord want me go with this message. and I think about how I have one Sunday a year to share my thoughts on Scripture with the whole congregation and how I need to use my time with them wisely, and then I think some more about how many messages I've listened to over the last 27 years of my life and I can remember about 2 of them, and really I just remember what I got out of them, not the actually sermon itself, so it doesn't matter really what I say on this ONE occasion, so long as it is God's word, and how I need to take myself out of the equation, because I honestly think about myself too often.
I guess one of the things that stands out to me, in the line of thinking about mattering, is that God WANTS us to be out and about His business. And if I were someone who entrusted things or jobs to those who were mine to be in charge of, I'd really have to think that they were worth entrusting a job to. Isn't that what we run into when we apply for a job? The people hiring us have to think that we are capable of doing or learning the job we're applying for. Well, what Jesus is telling his disciples is to head out and DO - don't worry about the things that don't matter so much, like food and clothing. That stuff is just that, "stuff". I know you need it, and you'll be provided for. Oh, and by the way, when crappy stuff happens to you, don't worry about that either, cause the right words will come out of your mouth straight from the Father's Spirit. I realize that you don't know just how detail oriented I AM, but to give you a hint; remember that sale on sparrows for sacrifice? Two for a penny? Uh-huh, that's the one, well, not even those sparrows lives go unnoticed by me. Not one escapes my attention, and many are sacrificed because there are a lot of poor people that need cleansing. Don't you worry, sweetheart, you are worth more than MANY sparrows.
It's amazing how many times The Lord tells us to not be afraid in His word. I believe it's something like 356 times. And the word tells us about how much God loves us, and how He is a jealous God. How can we even think once that we DON'T matter to God?!?
So here is the answer to that: SIN. The evil one is always trying to cast doubt and fear into our lives. I think that is why we see 'faith in God' constantly doing battle with 'fear of everything & anything.' Think about it. We're afraid of all kinds of sinking ships, like losing jobs, always being alone, being inadequate & under-qualified, being abused, taking risks, the list is endless. Heck, we can be afraid of the smallest of smalls - like spiders or moths. We're even afraid of good things, because maybe they'll hurt us, like falling in love, telling someone the truth, doing the right thing at work regardless of the outcome. God's word - Jesus Christ - tells us to NOT BE AFRAID of those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. It's important to acknowledge that the things we are afraid of can and will happen. But, God is not blind to your situation -no- He is in the midst of it. Providing you with words to speak, wisdom to flee a bad situation, giving you courage to stand firm because of what He has done for you. God did not provide a way of salvation through Jesus Christ to leave us abandoned when we need His presence and strength the most. That's illogical. If I believed that when I'm in the worst of situations God wouldn't be with me, I wouldn't be a Christian.
We can read in the 23rd psalm that 'even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me;'
We are living in hard economic times, but I want to encourage you to not despair. And if you are despairing of your current situation - cry out to God about it. Cling to your Bible that much more. Let the Lord whisper in your ear His truths about His love and concern for you and your family. I promise you that if you ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you, He will. He'll do it through His word, He'll do it when you are shopping at Wal-Mart or Dillon's or driving home from work, He'll speak through an unsuspecting co-worker or neighbor, He'll bring some Scripture to mind that you learned as a child. There's nothing else like hearing the Lord speak into your life. Sometimes what He reveals is something about yourself you need to change with His help, other times He asks us to move in faith to pray with someone who needs it more than us, and sometimes it comes in words of love and comfort and peace, telling us once more, "don't be afraid, I'm with you every moment."
