Supernatural Deliverance

I was in a season where I knew I was in the midst of spiritual warfare.  All through out my life, I'd have server mood swings, where I typically shut down and go into a passive aggressive jerk mode.  This instance, I actually got confronted and lashed out verbally to express my frustration.  The reaction was concerning to me and I knew that I needed deliverance from these mental, bipolar strongholds of  and demonic oppression.

I prayed to God about it and he told me that I would need to fast for 5 days for the level of deliverance that I needed.  I know, from scripture, that certain types of deliverance can only be achieved through fasting and praying.  Disappointed with my actions and the inconsistency of my walk, I suspended my YouTube channel, because I don't believe in ministering if you are not walking by the Spirit.  I made a video about it and a friend forwarded my video to Phillip Blair who has been graced with an anointing for deliverance.

Phillip was brave and friendly enough to reach out to me and see if I wanted to have a deliverance session.  We are several states away, so it'd have to be over Skype.  Desperate, humbled, and broken, I immediately accepted.  I had faith that God would deliver me and went into the session with anticipation and faith.  Faith is critical because everything is done by faith.  Before Jesus performed miracles, it was the persons faith that qualified Him to perform the miracles.  Jesus even abstained from miracles and left a town because of their lack of faith.

I had been Facebook friends with Phillip before shutting down my Facebook page, but we never interacted.  I had seen a few of his videos where he was giving messages of encouragement and others were he administered deliverance.  Some of his videos were very...let's say, action packed.  Because of my personality type, which I'd describe as chill and laid back, I wasn't really expecting any real physical reactions to the session.  I was expecting to just pray, command the demons to leave, and to just believe by faith that they were gone.  Well, surprise surprise.

As mentioned, I was fasting and on day 4 of 5 of a water fast.  My flesh was ripe for deliverance at this point and I was feeling optimistic and faithful about the experience.  Phillip was very personable and made a very supernatural experience as casual as possible.  He got some background and explained some of the basics of the spiritual realm like soul ties, demonic oppression, generational curses, etc.  I had done a fair amount of research on these topics previously since I realized that some of my behavior was being influenced by demonic oppression.  I had attempted to perform self deliverance earlier in the year.  This made this part seamless.

Next, Phillip said that he was going to pray and look me in my eyes during the deliverance process in order to speak to me.  The eyes are the window to the soul, so this is a very critical aspect of the process.  When he told me that he was going to look in my eyes, I felt an immediate uncomfortably about it.  It was like a nervousness or fear that was occurring in my body.  I knew that this was not me, but the reaction of the demons that were lying dormant within my body.  After praying, Phillip started the actual deliverance process.  The demons can be stubborn, so a lot of this process is repetitious.  I'll be explaining the things he said in one instance for the sake of typing, but know that it is a patient process.  The entire session lasted from about 7pm to 12:30am, over Skype.

He started by looking in my eyes and commanding the demon to identify itself.  I wasn't going to fake or force the process, so I just sat there, although I did hear a name, "Jason."  I didn't say "Jason" because it didn't make sense to me and I thought that maybe my flesh or intellect was producing a name.  Phillip asked me if I heard anything and I told him, "Jason."  He explained that sometimes demons will give a false name to throw off, but that they can still be expelled by the name they identify by.  He asked the demon Jason how he got in me and I heard "sex," so I said that aloud. He asked several times if Jason had any legal right to be in me.  Eventually, I felt my head slowing shaking, "no."  Then he commanded it to flee in the name of Jesus. 

I began to feel my face twitching.  Phillip began pounding on the scripture.  He used Hebrews 4:12 - "For the word of god is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  Also, Isaiah 61:1 "The Spirit of the LORD GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;" The more he pounded these scriptures into the demon, the more I began to manifest.  Ultimately, the demon eventually turned my neck up and to the left and I felt a very tangible presence exiting out through my mouth.  When it was finally pressured out through the word of God, I felt a very tangible "release" as it left me.  It was quite amazing and surreal.

For the sake of time, I won't go through each instance, but in all, he expelled almost 20 demons.  The bigger or more high ranking the demon, the more work and bigger it was exiting my body.  He expelled Python, Witchcraft + false religion, Leviathan, Jezebel, Ahab, fear, depression, anxiety, pride, insecurity, and several other smaller demons and blocker demons.  Blocker demons are ones that are under a higher demon and may be sent out as a decoy.  I had some really amazing manifestations when big demons like Jezebel left me.  They would turn my neck up and to the left and have my head shaking and my mouth wide open.  My neck was actually hurting midway through the experience because they would all exit in the same manner.

Phil's calm demeanor and explanation throughout the process made a very supernatural and surreal event seem like an exciting and exhilarating experience.  I definitely comprehended in the moment that it was amazing, but I don't think I full appreciated it until the next day as I reflected.  I'm definitely thankful to God for anointing Phillip with the ability to do this very necessary technique.  There are so many believers that are under attack and have no knowledge of the spiritual realm and how it operates and how to get true deliverance.

How To Get To Heaven Pt. 3 - EVIDENCE AND MAINTENANCE

The Key Ingredients to A Healthy Christian Life

Focal Scripture:  Galatians 5:19-23:  "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

In my previous blog, we learned that the church service is like the gym.  In the physical gym, you go there, develop yourself, strengthen your weak areas, and give it all you've got.  The same concept applies to the worship service.  Some may be in need of a break through.  Some may go just because a friend invited them.  Ultimately, the primary reason we should be going to church is to create, develop, or strengthen our relationship with Christ and improve on our weak areas.

So, if we are working out every Sunday, why is it that many church members find themselves in a backslidden state or do not see growth or improvement in their lives?

Well, first off, we should ask ourselves... What gym do you know where you can workout one day a week and expect to be healthy?  Just as we workout several times a week to stay in shape, we must have devotion to God everyday.  First Thessalonians 5:16-17 tells us to, "Rejoice always.  Pray without ceasing" These two instructions both command us to constantly be in fellowship with God.  You have to talk to the Holy Spirit in order to have a rapport with Him.  Also, we have to study the word outside of the worship service.  2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."  You can only get but so much out of a 2-3 hour worship service.  There must be some bible study in between, if one expects to stay in shape.

The second reason is because a person may not be feeding himself the proper spiritual nutrition.  Just like our physical bodies need to intake positive nutrients in order for us to maintain our healthiness, our spirit-man or spirit-woman is the exact same way.  If you leave your church service on fire and ready to turn your life around, but get in the car and turn on "Bandz A Make Her Dance," then you are letting the enemy serenade you back in.  Anyone who is into fitness and nutrition knows that one glazed, hot light Krispy Kreme doughnut can shatter an entire hour-long workout.  What's the point of putting yourself on that spiritual roller coaster?  Many of us fall victim to this and usually don't even realize it, and can't pinpoint why we are not uplifted because of Satan's wooing of our flesh.

The enemy has done a magnificent job of convincing many people that he does not exist, or that he isn't as rampant as he is, or that good is bad and bad is good.  Revelation 12:9 "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world:" As my pastor once said, "I wish people would stop presenting the devil as some ugly, short, black and red creature with horns and a pitch fork.  The devil is beautiful!"  Ezekiel 28: 12-18 confirms this:

"Thus says the Lord GOD, You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz, and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx, and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. On the day that you were created they were prepared. You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created. Until unrighteousness was found in you.”

So now that we know Satan is the beautiful deceiver, the question becomes, how does he use his beauty to reel us in? 

Understand that Satan does not appear like some monster chasing after you.  He's way too cunning for that.  He manifests his beauty by appealing to our flesh.  He's appears in your favorite scandalous TV show that has all types of violence, sex, and cursing.  He appears in your favorite song with hypnotizing ballads that tell you "I may be young, but I'm ready" or that her "[booty] so phat I need a lap dance" or "If a N try to play me, umma blow him off the map ASAP."  The enemy can even appear as that girl with the skin tight dress who's always showing the cleavage, or the badboy guy that you know is bad for you, but you can't resist.  Satan would have it that even the very elect of God would fall to his devices, so he'll stop at nothing.

Whether folks want to acknowledge it or not, your spirit-man needs to be fed goodness and will not be healthy if you are feeding the flesh more than the spirit.  Galatians 5:16-17 "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusted against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."  Walking in the Spirit means partaking in those things that are of God and avoiding those that are not.  The "harmless" evil things can put you in bondage, if you let them.  The old folks would simply say, "if you put garbage in. you get garbage out."

Lastly, we must know ourselves.  Philippians 3:3 tells us to "have no confidence in the flesh."  You have to understand your weaknesses.  If you are going to the gym and trying to get in shape, it makes sense to avoid the Cinnabon counter.  Likewise, if you know you have an issue with the females, it makes sense to lay off the twerk videos.  If you know you get a "lil crazay" after one or two drinks like the girl from "Don't be a Menace", it makes sense to steer clear of the bar.  These are things we should be avoiding anyway, but definitely if you know you have a specific weakness.  Even Paul had a thorn that he asked God to remove 3 times and had to live with, so know thine own self.

If we are being real with ourselves, it's unrealistic to expect to go to the next level in Christ and still participate in the things that your old man does.  That's like eating cookies and cake after a Sunday workout and expecting a 6 pack.  You will see no improvement.  Keep fasting.  Keep praying.  We cannot walk this walk without the power of the Holy Spirit.  Sure, it will be challenging to resist those cookies and cake (i.e. sin), but through Christ, we have been given the power and freedom to resist these things.  If you do sample a cookie, confess, repent, and get back focused on the right regiment.  Be encouraged.

Do You Even Lift, Bro?: How the Church is the Spiritual Gym

Focal Scripture:  Matthew 11: 28-29 reads, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
 

I have a friend who tries to encourage me to live a lifestyle of proper fitness, health, and clean eating, and I try to encourage him to a lifestyle of Christianity.  The parallels are always quite interesting to me because he wants to save me on a fleshly level and I want to save him on a spiritual level.  It gets me thinking about how the church reminds me so much of the gym. 

As someone who's always fluctuated between the ranges of "a little chubby" and "pudgy," I am on a never ending quest to lose the elusive 10 pounds and tone up.  I totally understand the concept of how the gym can be intimidating.  You make a decision that you want to be better, look better, and feel better.  You walk in and you see muscle bound individuals who are bench pressing major amounts of iron, straining so hard that the vein is popping out of their forehead, or bending into yoga positions that look like human pretzels, and it makes you reconsider.  You ask yourself, "Man!  I wonder what it took to get where that person is.  Is it even possible for me to get there?  Do I even want to put forth that much effort?  Are these guys legit or are they on steroids?  I haven't been eating right or working out my entire life, so I don't ever see myself getting to this point.  How much work went into this? ...Maybe I'm not cut out for this.  Meh, perhaps I'm alright and happy just where I am.  Maybe this isn't the right time."

The worship service can be the same way.  A non-believer makes a decision to be better, live better, and feel better.  I imagine a non-believer walking in, looking at all of the "super-Christians" dancing, shouting, crying, lifting up holy hands, and running, and then thinking to themselves, "Man! I wonder what it took to get where that person is?  Is it even possible for me to get there?  Are these guys legit or is this all a show?  I haven't been living right my whole life, so I don't ever see myself getting to this point.  How much work went into this?  Maybe I'm not cut out for this.  Meh, perhaps I'm not so bad after all and fine where I am.  Maybe this isn't the right time."

Well, here's the one area where the parallels differ.  Yes, it definitely takes a LOT of work to get a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger (Thank God for Google to spell that man’s name right).  You will have to put forth endless effort, consistency, and will-power to achieve the 6-page abs and bulging biceps.  You will suffer tirelessly lifting tons of iron or running to the point of exhaustion to offset your sedentary, American lifestyle and diet.  You will have to go on a "strict" regiment of knowing exactly what to eat and when to eat it.  There is absolute truth to the saying, "No pain, No gain!"

However, the beauty of Christianity is that there is little effort required.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 11: 28-29 reads, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."  What that means is that all you have to do is surrender your burdens unto Christ and He will carry the load for you.  He's already conquered all of that disgusting, sluggish, sinful fat that has been weighing you down on the cross.  All you have to do is surrender.  There is no real effort required.

Here's the catch.  Even though surrendering requires little effort, it is extremely difficult for most people to do for 3 reasons:

1.  Surrendering requires acknowledgement and conviction that you have been doing something wrong.  I will detail this in a separate blog, but basically, it is difficult for many of us to face the fact that we are nowhere near where we need to be, according to God's word.  Man’s rules of this world convince the average person that s/he is decent and not so bad.  Satan will tell you that your lifestyle is fine because everyone else is doing it.  Unfortunately, he has confused society so much that our 2015 way of thinking is defaulted to perversion.  "I've only slept with a few guys here and there.  I live with my boyfriend and we getting married soon anyway.  It's not like I'm out here with eeevery body."  "Yea, I smoke and drink a lil sum sum to keep my mind right.  It’s hard out here.  I got a few shorties on my line, but it's all good. That's what I'm supposed to do.  They know wassup.  I'm young and you only live once!"  Well, Romans 3:23 tells us otherwise, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"  No matter how much community service you do or dollars you give to the homeless your sin still separates you from God and you need to be reconciled back to God through Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice.  The Holy Spirit will convict you.

2.  Surrendering also requires letting go of the wheel and handing it over to Jesus.  We love love love using the phrase "my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."  Everyone loves the idea of having a savior, but how many of us are comfortable with having someone lord over our lives?  After all, it does feel like our lives, right?  Matthew 16:20-25 "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."  We try so hard to hold onto our lives and be in control instead of surrendering to the will of God. This is usually because we are ego driven and want to be in control or sometimes because we fear the unknown and don't want to hand the steering wheel over.  Jesus cannot fix you if you have your guard up.  Lift your hands and surrender.

3.  Finally, surrendering requires humility.  Newsflash:  We did not create ourselves. We are created beings who were designed to glorify God.  That's it.  We serve an invisible God, so it is difficult to put into perspective the magnitude the Father and acknowledge just how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things.  No matter how good we think we are, we still serve a sovereign God who's Will will be accomplished.  Job 38:4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,"  We are quick to wear the jersey of our favorite football player or submit to the celebrity of Beyonce' or Kanye, but God LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH, for crying out loud.  Even though we serve an invisible God, He's done very visible things, and we have to be humble in order to be in fellowship with God.

In closing, the church is like the gym in many ways, but don't feel like you have to work hard to get where you you need to be.  You simply need to come humbly before Christ with a contrite, sincere heart, and He will fix you and make you brand new.  2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  Don't be ashamed.  There is nothing you can bring to Jesus that he hasn't seen or doesn't already know.  God wants you to come to Him as broken as possible, so He can do a work in your life that only "God" can do.  I'm a living witness

That Disgusting Feeling

Most guys know that feeling; some more than others.  No matter how good your "game" is, you've found yourself in this predicament at least one.  If you're like me and have no game, then you know it all too well.  Today, it happened to me.

I got on the bus en route home from work.  An attractive redbone with dimples got on the bus and sat in front of me in the priority seating.  This is already semi awkward because the normal seats face forward and the priority seats face the center, so I am forced to look at the side of her face the entire bus ride.  So now I am making a conscious effort not to look at her because I don't want to be awkward. (lol) 

Anyhow, naturally, I have to look at her because she's directly in front of me.  Even thought she was cute with a nice shape, she definitely wasn't my type as she was sporting reddish weave and tattoos.  However, I'm still doing an evaluation of her out of boredom and my phone being dead.  I like to play a game with myself seeing if I can guess if a woman is married or not.  So, my guess for this particular woman happened to be a no.  So, I look on her ring finger to see if she is married or not and after getting my answer, that all-to familiar situation presented itself.

In my BC days (before Christ), this situation would have been that I have a fine girl sitting in front of me, so it's my obligation and duty as a black male to at least try to "book" her...because, well, what else is my purpose on earth right?  Anyway, guys know that moment when you have a ripe opportunity to holla, and if u don't act on it, then you leave with that that disgusting feeling. That, shoulda, coulda, woulda...why was I being a punk feeling?  Anyhow, this situation was different.  I got the exact same feeling, except it was for a different reason.

I wanted to talk to this girl, not because I wanted to book her, but because when I looked on her ring finger, she had a tattoo that said "F*** <3"  That's right, something in life has driven this girl to permanently make a commitment on her ring finger to say F love for the rest of her life.  As I saw this, I became really saddened and I just wondered what she had been through for her to make such a horrible commitment.  What type of situations would drive someone to get a tattoo like that?  She had to have been heartbroken inside for life to drive her to write that on herself, permanently.  Immediately, I thought about the fact that Jesus loves her.

My entire bus ride was spent trying to decide how I should witness to this girl about the love of  Christ.  She was right in front of me and the opportunity was clear as day.  But all I was thinking about was how she would react.  I mean, with a tattoo that says "F*** Love", you're liable to get any reaction!  I kept thinking about what if she would get loud, what if she would think I'm trying to actually holla at her, what if she would clown me for all this Jesus talk, if if IF IF IF!!  All of these IFs prohibited me from witnessing to this individual who obviously needed to hear the gospel.  I pulled my stop request, got off my stop and murmured "Jesus loves you" under my breath like a sissy.

I left with that feeling.  That disgusting feeling of being a punk, chickening out, and having a prime opportunity pass me by.  As someone who has never had game, I'm used to the feeling, but this time was different because Christians are supposed to be bold.  Proverbs 28:1 tells us, "The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion."  Acts 4:29 says, "And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word."  We have to be light in a dark world and the salt of the earth.  We cannot be ashamed of Jesus in front of man or else He will be ashamed of us before the Father.

Too many times (myself included), Christians see a dying world around us and stay closed mouthed.  This is one reason why the world is in the sad state that it's in now because we are close-mouthed.  We hoard our salvation all to ourselves, while someone is hurting inside, and we just decide to let God work it out.  Well, God needs us to be his witnesses on earth.  According to abcnews.com, over 83% of Americans identify as Christians.  However, our laws do not reflect this; our media doesn't reflect this; and neither does our family structure reflect this.  I believe the culprit is twofold.  1.  Many are not actual Christians and are just "spiritual," believe in "God" and see Christianity as the default religion, or they have not fully submitted to Christ 2. Christians simply do not speak up and exercise boldness.

Let today be the day where we stop having a spirit of fear.  2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.  Let's stop hiding behind the Internet and the four walls of the church and get out in this streets and let people know the saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

For anyone who feels like all hope is lost and like you have nowhere else to turn, I'm letting you know that if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus died and rose again for your sins, then you will be saved.  But you have to fully submit, hand over the keys, let Him take the lead, and adhere to His word and He will turn your life around!

PS:  I wonder if girls have an equivalent of this feeling.  Maybe the inverse, perhaps. Hmm

"Temptation to Worry" Commentary

Scripture: Matthew 6:27-34.

Worrying is something that comes quite naturally to all of us.  As I was listening to this lesson, I started thinking about the things I worry about and received a measure of conviction.  I don't have the space to list all of my worries, but I'll give one example that I think about often, kids.

The idea of raising children in this age is scary to me.  I know that God did not give us a spirit of fear, but I'm relatively worried about bringing a child into a toxic situation.  From school shootings, to gender androgyny, to hyper-sexualized media, to racism, to police shootings, there are constant attacks on the moral fiber of society.  All you have to do is turn on the news and it will make a decent case for one to absolved a would-be child from this cursed land on which we live.

I know my son will face challenges, traps, and distractions as a black male.  I know my daughter will endure heartbreak, peer pressure, and society's standard of beauty.  No one, not even the Christian, is exempt from the hardships of the earth experience.  What makes me even more averse is that the book of prophesy, Revelation, already lets us know that there will be turbulent times and Christians especially will face persecution.  It's almost like I love my kids so much that I would exempt them from earth by not having them in the first place; as bizarre as that may sound.

However, I do acknowledge that worrying is an insult to God's sovereignty and a display of little faith.  It kind of reminds me when you're dating your girlfriend and you have "female friends."  Sometimes, a girlfriend will view these female friends as a threat and will often say, "I trust you, but I don't trust her."  Logically, that is an irrational statement because if the girlfriend truly trusts her boyfriend, then the presence of the female friend is irrelevant.  If her trust of the situation is based on the posture, position, or presence of the female friend then that negates any trust she claims to have with the boyfriend.

It's sort of like that with God.  The enemy has this world system configured to have chaos all around, but if we are trusting God, then it should not matter what the enemy throws at us.  This scripture, Matthew 6:27-34, encourages us not to worry.  Essentially, it's saying that if you are a believer then God's got your back.  He is in control.  The old folks would say, "I may not know what tomorrow holds, but I know Who holds tomorrow."  I'm so thankful to have the sovereign God on my side and I'm thankful that this lesson ministered to me and convicted me not to worry and not to have a spirit of fear.  I'm still not promising kids though.  They're expensive!

Bible Study 02.04.15 "Temptation to Worry"

These are my bible study notes.  These are simply my notes from my pastor's teachings and not my original concepts.  I will be writing commentary in a separate entry.

Scripture:  Matthew 6:27-34

Background:

• Matthew 5-7 is Jesus giving His sermon on the Mount.  This lesson is focused specifically on the exegesis of the pericope, Matthew 6:27-34.
• A pericope is a scripture that can stand alone
• Exegete, as a verb, means to deal with a scripture in terms of context, i.e. language of the time, the culture, the setting, etc.  Basically, it is a dissection of scripture in its appropriate form.
• As Jesus is giving this sermon on the mount, he is bringing forth a paradigm shift on living from the inside out.  Previously, in order to live right, one had to fulfill religious requirements like making sacrifices, eating with clean hands, being circumcised, etc.  Conversely, Jesus is teaching that is required is for one to have a pure heart from within.
• The Beatitudes during this sermon are fascinating because Jesus calls those blessed who go through issues.  What makes these people blessed is that they were able to endure their trials with the Holy Spirit within.  
• There was a toy named Mr. Weeble Wobble. You could hit this toy as hard as you could from any direction and he would always end up popping back up.  This is because it was something on the inside of Mr. Weeble Wobble that makes him pop back up and that is how the Holy Spirit works for the believer.  

Point 1:  Worrying has no benefit, however, can have consequence.

• Matthew 6:27: "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature"  This can literally be translated as, "Can worrying add one hour onto your life?"
• Jesus is suggesting that worrying gains you nothing.  Worrying is not able to add any value to your life, nor additional time.
• However, if you do worry, it has the potential to subtract from your life.  e.g. you can worry, which leads to arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), which leads to high blood pressure, which leads to death.

Point 2:  Worrying is sin.

• Matthew 6:28-32:  Jesus references how even the lilies of the field grow perfectly and are more glorious than Solomon.  So, if God clothes the grass like this, wouldn't he do the same for His believers?
• Worry is a sign of little faith.  Anything that erodes our faith stunts our growth
• Sin is simply missing the mark.  We are missing the mark when we worry because it is a disregard of God's sovereignty.

Point 3: Seek God First 

• Matthew 6:32-33: In Verse 32, Jesus mentions how the gentiles chase all of these things that God already provides.  In this text, the word "gentile" means pagan.
• The difference between the pagan, or evildoer, is that the pagan seeks the items of the need directly, as opposed to seeking God whom supplies all of our need.
• A lot of folks mistake that this verse reads need, without an s, indicating that God will provide for every type of need we have
• The believer is encouraged in verse 33 to seek the kingdom of God, and all His righteousness first and all these things shall be added unto you.

Point 4:  Worry is always future

• Verse 34 (almost comically) instructs us not to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will worry about itself.
• We don't worry about the past or the present.  Worrying only exists in the future.  Take one day at a time and don't worry about the future.
• The enemy can only tear down what you can see in your existential view.  God has plans for you that are bigger than what you can see around you.
• When the enemy has exhausted some of his more tangible techniques, he will resort to tempting us to worry, so remember to trust God in all situations and put it in His hands.

Today I Learned:

An example of the important of practicing exegesis of scripture is the verse about "turning the other cheek."  Many people interpret this to mean that if someone hits you, then you are not permitted to hit them back.  According to Dr. Baldwin's teaching, in Jesus' time, the culture was that if you touched something or hit someone with the palm of your hand then you absorbed the filth of what you touched.  Therefore, smacking someone with the back of your hand (or backhanding) was a way to exert dominance or authority over an individual.  If you turn the other cheek, then the striker is forced to either do an unclean act with the left hand (which was not permitted) or to smack with the open hand, which would be viewed as a challenge.  So, Jesus was actually saying that if you turn the other cheek, you are demanding equality.  I Googled this to fill in the blanks, it's called the "Nonviolent Resistance Interpretation" and is one of several interpretations.

Just for fun: Here's the Weebles commercial lol.

When the enemy has exhausted some of his more tangible techniques, he will resort to tempting us to worry, so remember to Trust God in all situations and put it in His hands.  My commentary will be in a separate blog entry.  Be blessed!