All Your Need

Carl Walks Closer to the "Falling Down" House by Old Shoe Woman

It seems as though the last several years have been challenging ones for me. But, through every challenge, I have never had to go without.'

Take No Thought

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking though can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin; And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to  morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knowest that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."~Matthew 6: 25-34

Take no thought... It's important to realize what Jesus is saying here. He isn't telling us not to think ahead, he isn't telling us not to plan for the future. The word "thought" in this passage is the Greek word merimnaō which means to be anxious about, or worry. What Jesus is telling us is that God has my back, he's watching over me, he will provide for me, he is my Jehovah Jireh.

Consider the Lilies of the Field

"Worry implies that we don't trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives."

~Frances Chan, Crazy Love

When we walk by faith, there is no place for worry in our lives. Either we service a big God or we don't. Either God can provide for our needs or He can't. It isn't a matter of whether or not He wants to. He's our father. He loves us. Enough said.

The Effect of Worry on Faith

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
  -- Matthew 6:25

What was Jesus saying?  Was he telling us to live our lives without thought? To just go about our days without planning or thinking about what we are doing?  No, the word "thought" in this scripture is the Greek word merimnao which means "to be anxious about".

But Seek Ye First...

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you"

     --Matthew 6:33

Seek Ye First was actually my first thought for a blog title. For various reasons, I went with Walk by Faith instead. But right now, I think it's incredibly important that we make sure we have our priorities straight. God is wonderfully merciful and extravagantly generous, and He's our Father. The truth is, we weren't created to have things. We were created to be in a relationship with our Father.