Two
weeks ago, we launched a brand new series called: “Life Apps”.
The basic
premise behind this series is that there is an application, a program, or tool
for every part of our life.
If
you want to know how to install that new Jacuzzi in your house, you will have
to look at the specifications to make sure it will fit in your house.
Just
about everything in life has an application. When we say, “there’s an app for that”, it’s
because there is an app for that.
So
it is with our walk with God. God has several applications for our life.
But to get the
most out of God’s applications—or any other application for that matter—we’ve
got to do what we are being asked to do, because “application makes all the difference”
You
see, it isn’t enough just to know about something;
·
It isn’t enough just to own that diet book;
·
It isn’t enough just to have a gym membership;
·
It isn’t enough just to come to church each and
every Sunday.
To
get the most out of life—physical and spiritual life—we must put it to use,
because application
makes all the difference."
James,
the brother of Jesus, says: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive
yourselves.” (James 1:22a, NIV)
James
is telling the followers of Jesus, the people who call themselves Christians,
that listening isn’t enough.
Listening to a
sermon isn’t good enough. Coming to church isn’t good enough. Believing that
you’ve got some things to change isn’t good enough.
Don’t
deceive yourselves into thinking that you’re ok just because you hear the word of
God.
James
is telling those of us who are followers of Jesus, to not just hear the word of
God, but: “Do
what it says.” (James 1:22b, NIV)
We
are to do what the Word says, because “application makes all the difference.”
If
the truth be told, it’s at this point that the wheels fall off the cart
completely.
Most
of us have no problem hearing about something we ought to do.
Most
of us have no problem bringing to mind other people who need to change what
they do.
But
most of us fail to understand that we are the ones who need to change; we are
the ones who need to apply God’s truth to our lives.
James
is telling the followers of Jesus that if we are only listening to the word of
God, and not doing what it tells us to do, we are deceiving ourselves.
We’ve got to do
more than just hear the word of God; we must apply the word of God, because “application
makes all the difference.”
“If you look
carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says
and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.”
(James 1:25, NLT2)
The
prize is found, not in the listening, but in the doing.
Followers
of Jesus Christ are to do more than hear the word of God; followers of Jesus Christ
are to apply the word of God.
For
the next few weeks, we are going to be looking at specific applications that
God wants us to apply to our lives.
But we need to do more than just hear
about these applications. God wants us to apply these applications to our
everyday life, because “application makes all the difference.”
Andy
Stanley recently said: “Speak from your weaknesses and you’ll never run out of
material” (twitter)
So,
I would like to talk to you about a subject that is very near and dear to my
heart. It seems that I have a PhD in this subject.
I admit to you
that I have a problem: I suffer from worry. (Hi! I’m Pastor Nick, and I’m a
worry-a-holic)
ILLUSTRATION- Worry is one of the things
that I do well. Sometimes I do it very well.
I
worry about anything and everything. I worry about my job—am I doing it well
enough?
I worry about
some, many, most… ok, all of you. And some of you give me good reasons to worry…
I
worry about my kids. I worry about what they do in public. I worry about what I
do in public. I worry about the clothes I wear.
I
worry about my messages: are they clear enough? Will people see their need for
Jesus as I’m speaking?
I’m
worried about my upcoming test at the Moncton hospital.
(You would worry too, if you knew that you would enter a room that’s as
cold as a meat locker, lie down on what feels like a cement slab, and have a
camera shoved in places that camera’s aren’t supposed to go…)
I
do not discriminate about what I worry about… I worry about everything.
But
I don’t think I’m alone.
Some of you
worry a lot more than I do. (Is that possible?)
Some of you are
worried about your kids; others of you are worried about the stock market;
still others are worried that the end of the world will happen at the end of
this year…
Some
of us worry about anything and everything, but here’s the question to ponder
today: “does our worrying
do us any good?”
Does my
worrying, does your worrying, does it get us anywhere?
The
obvious answer is YES!!! Our worry gets us: upset, frustrated, dazed and
confused, and it most certainly adds to our problems.
In
his book “how to win over worry” John
Edmund Haggai says that: “Worry has been cited for a swarm of sicknesses:
heart-trouble, high blood pressure, rheumatism, ulcers, colds, thyroid
malfunction, arthritis, migraine headaches, blindness and a host of other
stomach disorders.” (Lucado,
2007, 50)
Max
Lucado says that: “Worry is to joy what a Hoover vacuum cleaner is to dirt: might
as well attach your heart to a happiness-sucker and flip the switch”
(ibid)
Worrying
isn’t helping me--worrying isn’t helping you-- at all. It’s actually taking
away from our lives.
Jesus
once asked this question: “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew
6:27, NIV)
I’ve
thought about and recited this verse over and over again. Each time, it reminds
me that my worrying—your worrying—is subtracting from our lives.
Our worrying focuses more on us
and on our problems and focuses less on God and on His answers.
You
see—this is what worry does to a person, it focus on the problem, more than on
the answer.
ILLUSTRATION- you know this to be true,
don’t you?
This week, I was having a hard time scheduling something; I was so
focused on one particular event, that I was focusing more on the problem than I
was focusing on the result.
When
I walked away from the problem, the answer arrived not too long afterwards.
Worry
focuses way too much on things that might never happen!
Author and Pastor Craig Groeschel
reminds us that: “Worry, in essence, is the sin of distrusting the promises
and the power of God.”
“It’s choosing
to dwell on, to think about the worst case scenario. It’s faith in the bad
things rather than faith in God.” (Groeschel, 2010, 149-150)
When I worry, I
focus less and less on God and more and more on my situations, many of which
are simply out of my control.
The same is true
for you. When you worry, you focus on the problems, rather than on the Answer,
God Himself.
In Matthew 6:25,
Jesus says: “Do
not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what
you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more
important than clothes?” (NIV)
“The Greek word
Jesus uses for life is psuche
(SUE-kay). It doesn’t just mean your breathing life… it actually means every
aspect of your life….mental, physical, emotional and spiritual.
It means yesterday,
today and future life. Jesus is simply saying don’t worry about anything.” (Ibid)
So, if Jesus is
saying don’t worry about anything, He must have an application to help us with
our worrying, right?
Yes, He does. In
fact, there’s more than one app for that. There’s actually two.
We’ll look at
the second application next week, but in order for us to defeat the sin of
worry, we need an app today, and the app for today, is TRUST.
If we are going
to win the battle against worry, we are going to have to place our trust in
what we have done, and we’re going to have to place our trust in God.
I’m not going
all new age on you, all I’m simply saying is that if we have done all that we
can physically do in any situation--if we’ve done our best--we will trust that
our best is good enough, but we’re also going to have to place our trust in
something—Someone---Higher than us.
The Bible says: “Trust in the LORD
with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways
acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs
3:5-6, NIV)
Trust is the
antithesis of worry. If we are worried about something, about anything, we are
admitting that we don’t trust God.
We can only do
our best, and then we must leave the rest to God.
The Bible says:
“Don’t worry
about anything; instead, pray—we’ll look at this app next week-- about everything.
Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” (Ph.
4:6, NLT2)
If we pray and
trust God, He’ll do something inside of us, something that is unexplainable:
If you trust and
pray, rather than worry: “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything
we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in
Christ Jesus.” (PH. 4:7, NLT2)
ILLUSTRATION- I don’t know about you, but
peace is what I need when I’m worried. I need God to do something about my
heart when I’m worried.
I need God to work inside of me, and as I pray more, I’ll worry less.
God doesn’t want
His children to worry. So how are you doing in the worry department? (Some of
us are doing quite well…) Do you need to worry less and trust more?
Is worry robbing
you of your joy, of your life? Is worry subtracting from your life? Is worry
messing with your mind?
God has an
application for worry and it's called trust.
A trust that
He’s in control of all things, a trust that He’s God of all things.
God doesn’t want
us to worry, He wants us to trust.
Jesus said: “Seek the Kingdom of
God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you
everything you need.
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its
own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:33-34, NLT2)
Max Lucado
reminds us that: “You don’t have wisdom for tomorrow’s problems. But you will
tomorrow.”
“You don’t have
resources for tomorrow’s needs. But you will tomorrow.”
“You don’t have
courage for tomorrow’s challenges. But you will when tomorrow comes.” (Lucado.
2007, 57)
God doesn’t want
His children to worry. God wants His children to trust Him.
Do you need this
application? Do you need to do more than just hear that it’s not good to worry?
Do you need to
apply the Trust app to your life?
James advises us
to not just acknowledge that we need to change, James advises us to change,
because “application
makes all the difference.”
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