Greetings Way of Life Family,
"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7
What is our role as Christians in the face of threats, no matter how imminent or remote? Whether it is a virus, natural disaster, war, tragedy or a political conversation with our relatives--as believers, we should not fear in any situation. Much easier said than done, right?
What does Paul even mean when he says to cast all our anxiety on God? I imagine an experienced farm hand grabbing a 60-pound bale of hay and tossing it, seemingly effortlessly, on the back of a trailer. Farmers who have done this many times can make it look MUCH easier than it really is. They know the rhythm, the proper motions, and they have the strength in the right muscles to make baling hay look easy.
This same muscle building needs to happen in the area of casting our cares on Jesus. We will not build those spiritual muscles if we don’t work at it often.
Before getting to the point where he tosses the hay bale on the trailer like sack of potatoes, that same farm hand had to break his share of bales, and drop a few along the way, en route to becoming the solid and consistent worker that he is.
In the same way, casting our cares on Jesus is not as seamless or as clean as it may sound. We have to work the spiritual muscles of trusting and obeying, whether we feel like it or not. There are many tell tale signs that come when you carry your own anxiety and worry. If those signs present themselves in your life, then you can know that the spiritual muscles need toned up.
Praying, fasting, journaling, fellowshipping with other believers, singing praises, memorizing scripture, giving glory to God with adoration and a grateful heart are all ways to help us to cast our anxieties on him. If you struggle with fear, anxiety or worry, I would love to know so that I can pray for you specifically. This is a real, growing and significant struggle for more and more people today. Remember in Christ you are a new creation, there is no condemnation, you are significant, secure and accepted by the one true God of the universe that loves you enough to sacrifice Himself for you individually.
“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” Matthew 6:25-27 NLT
May the peace of God that passes all understanding be in your hearts and minds.
Love ya,
Chris
Greetings,
If we consider prayer a chore rather than a gift, we will spend more time complaining and less time being grateful. Prayer is not a powerless tool or a meaningless exercise in self-centering meditation. It is the most intimate practice that a Christ follower can engage in. It is entering the most Holy place and freely pouring out your heart in gratitude and love, or passionate pain and anger to the only one that knows you completely and still loves you anyway.
It is a difficult thing to estimate how any of us are doing in our prayer lives. As humans, we are notoriously poor self-examiners. Often we are either too hard on ourselves or we give ourselves a lot more credit than we honestly deserve. How dependent are you on the Lord? Are you trusting in the Lord with all your heart or are you leaning on your own understanding? It would be nice to be able to have a gauge to know how we are doing.
I read an article about how a group of African converts to Christianity were earnest and regular in private devotions. Each one reportedly had a separate spot in the thicket where he would pour out his heart to God. Over time the paths to these places became well worn. As a result, if one of these believers began to neglect prayer, it was soon apparent to the others. They would kindly remind the negligent one, "Brother, the grass grows on your path."
Maybe you need someone informing you that there is grass growing on your path. This is where proper accountability and loving, intimate Christian relationships thrive. James 5:16 says, "Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."
I love this passage because there is so much depth of relationship and intimacy. Confession of our sin to each other requires great humility, friendship, trust, transparency and willingness to share our burdens.
Praying for each other shows that there is a dependence, not on our ability to solve the sin issue, but a reliance on the Lord to handle the sin in us. Next there is a hopeful expectation or assurance that praying for each other will bring about overcoming and healing in this sin area because of our humility, transparency and dependence on the Lord.
The passage ends by declaring that the prayer of a righteous person is both powerful and effective. It is the person that understands that our righteousness comes from the Lord and not from us that has powerful and effective prayers.
The beauty of this demonstration of friendship and accountability is that with this level of intimacy, we can tell when the grass is growing on each other's paths.
May the grass never grow on your path!
Love ya,
Chris
Greetings,
Want some shocking news? The culture in the USA has moved beyond the Christian influences of the generations past. What?! You mean to tell me that this culture is post-Christian and does not value or uphold the word of God as a culture? Hopefully, you hear the sarcasm in my writing. Of course we know that this culture has, in general, pushed Christianity aside like a gorilla might push aside a priceless painting to get to a banana. Most of the people born in the 1900’s (that sounds old) remember a culture that was vastly different than our current reality. The direction we are heading as a nation, culturally speaking, looks fairly foreign to us, especially as believers. There are many ways that we can approach this rapidly changing culture. I’ll start off by discussing some of the popular ways Christians have handled the culture war, and then we will look at what I think is the most effective method.
Some Christians choose to hide from the changing culture by making alternatives for popular things that are secular. Imitations of secular things pop up everywhere and they are often poorly produced shadows of a more popular and better funded secular version. Whether it is Godtube instead of Youtube, Pureflix instead of Netflix, Faithbook instead of Facebook… you get the idea. None of these brands are necessarily bad but they are based on the philosophy that Christians should avoid the secular and hide from cultural norms. Here is a funny video that shows the silliness of it all: https://youtu.be/0FRKojjf89Q
Another, perhaps more popular, approach is to simply complain about the culture and reminisce about the “good old days." This is obviously not going to accomplish any positive change in you or the culture.
The there's the extremely popular option of fully embracing the culture. The risk of this approach is that the Christian ends up seeing nothing “morally” wrong with popular cultural philosophies and becomes blinded or desensitized to the beauty and power of Jesus and His call to live with an eternal perspective and they might lose a sense of urgency to reconcile the lost sinner to God. If you choose this approach you could be extremely relatable but lose your Christian witness while you’re at it. Not advisable in the least.
Maybe you are of the mindset that believers should influence the culture and try to bend and change it to conform with scripture. This ideology is valiant, noble and is often built on a great faith. However, it is also a steep uphill battle that has been the effort of many great people throughout history. Some have had success, but most have failed. Culture is a construct built by the masses and moves at a blinding pace. Trying to change the culture is like trying to reign in the will of a huge flock of sparrows.
Let’s not forget the option to ignore the culture and act like nothing is happening. This is the easiest method of dealing with the cultural shift. There is something to be said for doing what you do and not paying attention to the culture around you. The trouble comes when you try to relate with the people that are fully steeped in the culture. This approach can create a canyon nearly impossible to bridge for the unbeliever.
Some people try to adapt or adopt parts of the culture as it moves and utilize the culture to their advantage. Trying to remain relevant and keep their witness. It becomes a balancing act of measuring how to live in the world but not of the world.
Some of these concepts in dealing with the changes in culture are not sinful or bad in and of themselves. However, I think there is a more effective way to deal with any culture that you are in. That methodology is love.
Jesus lived in a unique culture, both very secular and Roman and very religiously Jewish. Even though he was aware of the political and popular cultural issues, He did not try to bend the culture to His will. His movement was built on His compassion for the people and His love for this world. Even while we were lost in sin, his compassion and love lead Him to die for us (Romans 5:8). His methodology of dealing with the culture was not one of influencing systemic changes but influencing heart change within His followers. I am sure His disciples had varying views on how to deal with the culture. Most of them believed that Jesus was going to become a military leader at some point and free Israel from Roman rule. They assumed He was going to influence the culture by instigating a takeover. Instead, Jesus claimed victory over a much more devious adversary in sin and death. He was not interested in planting His flag on government or culture but on the heart of people.
The best way to influence this culture is to love people even when they are unlovely and even when it makes no logical sense. Allow Jesus to plant His flag of victory on your heart everyday being grateful for the amazing things He has done for us even though we didn’t deserve it--no matter what the culture is doing around you.
Love ya,
Chris