Do Not Fear Little Flock…

Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?

"And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

"Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.—Luke 12:22-34

There is a besetting sin for each of us to think on in Luke 12. (fear, greed, worry, and worldliness). The Spirit as I read this morning brought the worried, divided heart to my attention.

To worry…as the word is translated…is to be “pulled apart.”  I feel that way often and I hate it more and more.  This hating it is a good thing because it reminds me to center (or “re-center”as it were) my heart on Christ and place my trust wholly in Him.  

Father…Help me to seek You first…to focus the eyes of my heart on You and Your overwhelming, incomprehensible, never-stopping love that indwells and surrounds me. Unite my heart to fear You and You alone. You are my treasure…may my heart find its rest in the heavenly places in Jesus Christ, Your Son. 

Teach me Your way, O LORD;

I will walk in Your truth;

Unite my heart to fear Your name.

I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,

And I will glorify Your name forevermore.

For great is Your mercy toward me,

And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.—Psalm 86:11-13

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.--Ephesians 3:19

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.—Romans 8:5-6

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?—Romans 8:31-32

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me, and know my anxieties;

And see if there is any wicked way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.—Psalm 139:23-24