Don’t worry, be happy!

That doesn’t mean be blissfully ignorant, however.

We need to keep the faith, and we need to use our brains.

There are a lot of people out there intentionally trying to get others to worry.

There are a lot of people out there intentionally and knowingly pushing false narratives and pushing fake news in an effort to cause worry and anxiety in our lives.

Jesus talked about worry and anxiety more than a few times, and he reminds us of how much God loves us, and how He can give us peace.

Whether you’re a Christian or not, Jesus’ words are worth our consideration.

Matthew 6:25-27 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious 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?  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”

Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. “

Luke 21:14-15, 18-19 “But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict….  But not a hair of your head will perish. Stand firm, and you will win life.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Others have had some wise words regarding worry and anxiety as well.

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength. – Corrie Ten Boom

“A hundredload of worry will not pay an ounce of debt.” – George Herbert

“Worry, like a rocking chair, will give you something to do, but it won’t get you anywhere.” – Vance Havner

So Jesus is saying He’ll help us with the worrying part…, but it’s up to us to be smart…, think for ourselves…, find the truth…, and see things for what they are and not what we’re told they are by people that may not have our best interests at heart.

The other day I ran across Bishop T.D. Jakes addressing this exact topic while I was flipping through the channels.

I was impressed by his message, and it was the inspiration for this blog actually.

“I came to tell you this mornin’ the devil is after your mind. He’s after your mind, brother. He’s after your mind, and let me tell ya somethin’: That’s why the car broke down. That’s why the roof started leakin’. That’s why they threatened your job. Let me tell ya somethin’: The devil don’t drive, and he don’t wanna go to work, so he doesn’t need your car, and he’s not after your job. He’s just usin’ that stuff to go after your mind ‘cause your mind is your power.”

If you acknowledge that evil exists…, that “”he” the Devil, the enemy, Satan, exists…, then you have to ask yourself, “Who and what is Satan using on the earth to help him deceive us?

Think about it.

Who is propagating lies and deception on Satan’s behalf?

 

“He don’t want your kids. Sometime, you don’t want ‘em! You know the devil don’t want your kids. He’s just usin’ what you care about to drive you crazy because he’s after your mind so that you will lose your power. Your mind is your power. Your power is your mind.”

“So Jesus says, ‘Take no thought.’ I’m goin’ to go deeper. Can I go deeper? So when he said, ‘Take no thought,’ I was uncomfortable with it because I didn’t really wanna preach it, and I thought, you know, because I’m really tryin’ to get us to think, and he says, ‘Take no thought,’ and I had to really look into it to understand that he’s not telling us to be mindless. You know what I think? He’s actually tellin’ us not to be distracted. Do you not know, you can be so into the possibilities of what could happen tomorrow, that you miss the pleasures of today? You could be so engrossed trying fend off what could happen that you don’t embrace what is happenin’?

“Worry is a computer that keeps buffering. Worry is when you keep thinkin’ the same thing over and over and over again without resolution. He’s sayin’, ‘Do not buffer, do not buffer, do not buffer.’”

Amen, Bishop Jakes…, Amen.

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