The Heart of God
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October 04, 2015 |
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 "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things" (Matthew 6:31-33).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
God earnestly hopes that His loving children will live in peace without any worries or concerns. He does not only know our needs but fulfills them. Now let's look into what we should do to understand His heart and live in peace.
1. The heart of God wants us to be distanced from poverty, diseases, and disasters
It is not easy to have no worries or concerns in one's life. It's because, since the fall of Adam, the land was cursed, and life itself became lives of suffering (Genesis 3:17-18).
Furthermore, since the land was cursed, many harmful germs and viruses came into existence. People had to live in fear of sicknesses. Moreover, people came to live in constant fear of natural disasters or accidents.
Poverty, disease, and disasters are the three most prominent subjects of worries and concerns. Even though you are very cautious, they arrive unwelcomed and unwanted. Many people not only suffer from sicknesses caused by germs or viruses, but also from 'infirmities'.
The biblical sense of 'infirmity' is a state where you cannot conduct normal physical activities because one or more parts of the body is paralyzed or degenerated. Matthew 8:17 differentiates between diseases and such infirmities saying, "This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: 'He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.'"
Disease in itself is painful, but the family members would also suffer mental pains, and it poses significant financial restrains. You cannot work if you are sick, and it might cause you to incur large hospital bills. Of course, it is still fortunate if you can cure your sickness even at a great price. If you get an incurable or terminal disease, you have to live as a sick person for the rest of your life or you have to die soon.
There are also disasters that come to us without prior notice. For example, it is difficult to avoid such natural disasters as typhoons, earthquakes, tidal waves or traffic accidents caused by other drivers. Recently there have been many airplane crashes, ship-sinkings, or accidents involving buses or subways that cause a lot of casualties.
As explained, poverty, disease, and disasters are the main cause of people's worries. But you believers in God and the Lord are different from worldly people. You can live a life free of any concerns or worries.
2. The keys to being able to live a life free of worries and anxiety with faith are:
1) Believing in God's Word and obeying it.
If you just obey the two most basic commandments, namely, keeping the Lord's Day holy and giving the whole tithe, it frees you from most of poverty, diseases, and disasters.
The least bit of evidence that can prove you are one of God's children is that you keep the Lord's Day holy and give whole tithe. If you just show the least bit of faith, you don't have to worry about poverty, diseases, and disasters. How great God's love is!
Those of you who have believed the Word of God and obeyed it must have experienced that poverty went away within a couple of years. For example, in business even the difficult things sort themselves out, and you get more orders from customers. Also, you don't have to waste money since you have nothing stolen nor are you swindled, you don't get diseases, and you don't face disasters.
Since I was a new believer, I believed the words in the Bible and practiced them. Even when I had such a great debt and struggled to pay just the interest, I always gave more than enough in tithes. As a result, I have been so blessed that I can confidently say I give the greatest amount of tithe and help the needy the most among all pastors in the world (Malachi 3:10).
Since I met the Lord and came to live by the Word, I have never been to any hospital or taken any medicine. I've never faced any disasters either. The same goes for my family as well.
If you just keep the Lord's Day holy and give the whole tithe, then God drives away poverty from you and protects you from disease and disasters. But sometimes, some people get a disease or face a disaster even though they keep these two commandments. Then, there must be a reason for it. There is no way God will not bless or not protect you if you obey His Word.
If He doesn't, it's because you are going opposite to the way of the will of God. For example, in case of serious disease like cancer, in many cases they or their family members committed sins leading to death.
Of course, there are other cases where such diseases are allowed by God in a special providence. More details concerning this are explained in the book or the sermon God the Healer.
Sometimes people face hardships such as bankruptcy of their business or getting fired. If you search for spiritual reasons, in many cases they committed evident works of flesh that deprive of salvation (Galatians 5:19-21). In such a case, even though you keep the Lord's Day or give tithes, God cannot protect you. Therefore, they must repent thoroughly and turn from those sins completely.
Thus, you have to repent thoroughly and turn back completely. Because God is love, He always wants to bless His children and keep them.
2) Seeking first God's kingdom and His righteousness.
Some people keep the Lord's Day holy and give whole tithe, and they don't even commit grave sins, but they still live in worries and concerns. It's because their growth of faith is at a standstill. Namely, their faith is not maturing to the level of faith in which they are able to seek first God's kingdom and His righteousness.
If little children have grown up to become young adults, and yet only ask their parents to give to them and not give back anything to their parents, it means they are still little children. In the same way, if you have been a believer for a significant length of time and if you still seek only physical things, it is a shame.
Jesus is saying to such people, "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things." And then He says, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." He promised that, if we do so, God would add all these things, so we would lack nothing (Matthew 6:31-33).
I have believed in this promise since I was a new believer, so I tried all my best to devote myself for the kingdom of God and to help the believers in need. As a result of such faith, I am still number 1 in the offerings. But I earnestly hope that soon somebody will overtake me.
Also, it's been a long time since I worried or prayed about my family members or physical needs. When I first gave my heart, mind, and soul, money, and time for the kingdom of God and for the souls, He filled all my needs, even for my family members. He protected them and raised my children. He did not only give financial blessings but also protected me from diseases and disasters.
If you seek God's kingdom and righteousness first with such spiritual faith, God will give you overflowing blessings in everything.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if you believe the Word, obey it, and practice it, you can at least live a peaceful life free of worries and concerns about poverty, diseases, and disasters (Exodus 15:26).
I urge you to lay down all the worldly worries and concerns before the Lord, and to strive to live by the Word of God. In doing so, I pray in the name of the Lord, that you will take hold of New Jerusalem by force and possess the greatest peace and happiness.
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