About not worrying (and about rejoicing)- the true way God means

[Breadandsalt]

ABOUT NOT WORRYING

Thinking about how the bible says we shouldn´t worry- "Be anxious for nothing"

Then there is the responsibility part of it- we are to be responsible.

SO WHERE IS THE BORDER...???

I just don´t get it. But I guess it could be a journey. Not as with for example smoking, where you (in some cases...) either smoke or don´t...from one day to another.
On the other hand I´m not sure it´s a journey. I had an experience one time. One morning I just got a "knowing" in my heart that it was a sin to worry (at least for me, then...some small worries, a little bit of this and that). I was at a bible school at the time, and in the morning somebody went up to the mike that was not planned (that never happened otherwise) and asked if he could say something- and said that he felt that God wanted to say that it´s a sin to worry. That has of course stuck with me. That´s many, many years ago now I am ashamed to say! ;/ In -97 or -98. And i still haven´t figured it out... So I think, if it is a sin, it should be possible to repent of.
But no matter how much I want to, I just don´t know what to replace those worrying thoughts with.
But I guess that as I come closer to God/get more true knowledge/revelation about who he is, the more I will be able to trust him.
As for about fear...there is some kind of danger in what we fear. The answers to why we shouldn´t fear is "for I am with you". But for me, it´s not enough- I have tried that, and things have went bad. So either was it ok with God that things went bad, or wrong or that people were hurt...or there is something more to it, and that´s what I am eager to find out!!! Because then there obviously is the little "but you have to do your part, of course"- thing to it, which pretty much everybody seem to agree on. (BTW I do believe in all kinds of miracles...just an example- angels were seen help people from fallen buildings after some US hurricane a couple of years ago, and so on...the list is endless).
Reading Joyce Meyer´s Be Anxious For Nothing hasn´t helped much,btw, other in boosting a general faith in God´s willingness to help.

ABOUT JOY

I got the words "be happy" a lot lately. Being the thinking type of person I am, I wondered how... ;) Should I make sure to have a lot of fun like any person, everyday, by doing things I enjoy and eat my favourite food and just enjoy life? or was this a call to get the inner joy that being in the Kingdom can give? Didn´t want to make a mistake there... :) Just want to share quickly what I sensed one day after having asked the same question several times about what joy is, the kind of joy that God meant (at least for me) in this.
The answer that I clearly got (and what I not had expected) was this: "Joy is the opposite of depression".

Please let me know what you think about my questions of worries...(and joy)... God Bless You! :-)

 

[Born_Again]

Well, I have struggled with worry (anxiety) as well. I have found the best way to overcome it is to meditate on it. What I mean is, when I start to worry I go off somewhere by myself and pray for the Lord to give me strength to overcome it. I ask that He takes the worry from me and bless me and give me strength. If there are thoughts that are causing it, I ask him to take these thoughts from my mind and remove the worry from my heart. It takes about 20 minutes or so, but usually that works for me. The important thing to remember is that God will not let you fall. He lets us go through trials to build us, to make us stronger. He has it! Give him all control and He will bring you out better than you went in. I feel it has to do with how strong your faith is. If you truly trust the Lord, then you have nothing to fear. Remember what God told Joshua after Moses died. [SIZE=11pt] “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” [/SIZE]

 

[HammerStone]

I see you using happiness and joy interchangeably.

The two are different things. We've collapsed the two in on one another, but happiness generally refers to a situational emotion - e.g. happy to see someone you've not seen in a while - while being joyful means that you take a longer term positive state or even outlook. Think about it like when we sing Christmas hymns or songs about Jesus, we talk about joy because the arrival of Jesus meant happiness for the moment, but joy for eternity.

Interestingly enough, James and the other apostles who wrote the New Testament frequently referred to joy even in trials:

James 1:2 ESV
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

In other words, you cannot feel happy about trials. However, you can still retain a greater joy in trials, even when you are going through the emotions of sadness. The ultimate outlook of joy overcomes the momentary affliction, even when it does not feel quite so temporary.

The Bible talks at length about this beyond what little I've shared here, but this is the first step to answering your question. Also remember that part of walking in Christ is the process of sanctification. Sanctification involves a number of moments of "already, but not yet" as our hearts are fashioned and united with Jesus. Part of sanctification is living in the constant tension that this will bring about. Worrying and joy are just one of those tensions we encounter.

My prayer for your is to continue to walk with Christ, and learning to let go. I will advise you to stay away from Meyer, as unfortunately her camp tends to teach that you must first have the joy, and if you don't have the joy, then you just simply don't have enough faith. The impetus is for you to get more faith yourself, when the reality that the Bible speaks to is that we get faith from God. It is a subtle distinction, but one that ends up causing you to feel inadequate. There will be moments of doubt, but God has given us a path through them.

We are inadequate, but God will fill our cup until it runs over. Look to him.

 

[Johnlove]

I see you using happiness and joy interchangeably.

The two are different things. We've collapsed the two in on one another, but happiness generally refers to a situational emotion - e.g. happy to see someone you've not seen in a while - while being joyful means that you take a longer term positive state or even outlook. Think about it like when we sing Christmas hymns or songs about Jesus, we talk about joy because the arrival of Jesus meant happiness for the moment, but joy for eternity.

Interestingly enough, James and the other apostles who wrote the New Testament frequently referred to joy even in trials:

James 1:2 ESV
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

In other words, you cannot feel happy about trials. However, you can still retain a greater joy in trials, even when you are going through the emotions of sadness. The ultimate outlook of joy overcomes the momentary affliction, even when it does not feel quite so temporary.

The Bible talks at length about this beyond what little I've shared here, but this is the first step to answering your question. Also remember that part of walking in Christ is the process of sanctification. Sanctification involves a number of moments of "already, but not yet" as our hearts are fashioned and united with Jesus. Part of sanctification is living in the constant tension that this will bring about. Worrying and joy are just one of those tensions we encounter.

My prayer for your is to continue to walk with Christ, and learning to let go. I will advise you to stay away from Meyer, as unfortunately her camp tends to teach that you must first have the joy, and if you don't have the joy, then you just simply don't have enough faith. The impetus is for you to get more faith yourself, when the reality that the Bible speaks to is that we get faith from God. It is a subtle distinction, but one that ends up causing you to feel inadequate. There will be moments of doubt, but God has given us a path through them.

We are inadequate, but God will fill our cup until it runs over. Look to him.

Amen!
[SIZE=16pt]Jesus told us to pray for his will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=16pt]I pray for God’s will to be my will forever, and ever.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=16pt]Then I accept whatever happens in my life as his will. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=16pt]A long time ago when I lost my job, and had no money. No way to feed my wife, and four children, and I was concerned. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=16pt]Jesus said to me: “--- I am God” Then I was reminded of the time that Jesus was asleep on the boat and it was sinking. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=16pt]If Jesus is with one then there is no need to worry[/SIZE]

 

[Breadandsalt]

Thank you for your input! And please forgive my late reply to you all. Time always flies...but here rae finally some, short, comments...
Born_Again:
That´s great if it works that way for you! To take one worry at a time, go to the Lord with it, ask Him to take care of it...and feel the burden lift...
HammerStone:
Very well written! Thanks for your input.
Johnlove:
Thank you for sharing that. Great encouragement to get such words. I think we differ in our view on what happens when we pray for God´s will to be our will...I don´t think that that automatically happens, and that all that happens after that is God´s will. I think there is a battle for us to fight...We still live in a fallen, dark world...even if the light lives within us and is the strongest.

'''''''''''''''''''''''
I have come to the conclusion that regardless of everything, we are supposed to rejoice "in the Lord" (Php 4:4) - I think of that as in His presence, and because of the great promises we have, and in short everything in the unseen arena that is amazing.
I personally tend to be of the hard-working, analyzing kind of person...not a light-hearted one who flies off to each day´s new adventures ;) so I thought maybe God wants me to also have more of a joyful approach to life in general, in a human way. And maybe that´s what He meant... ) But at least, to have that joy in the spiritual things is really something we all should do, that´s for sure!

BTW I´d like to share one thing that really encouraged me a lot and have made me think differently when I read Paul´s writings. (To be honest...they have seemed a bit...well...don´t know how to say it.... before ;) )
A preacher, Paul Keith Davis of White Dove Ministries, once said he had a vision of heaven (or went there...) (BTW he has seen a whole lot of interesting things. I really recommend his books or webinars to anyone who is interested!!!) Among other things, he saw the apostle Paul coming out from a place close to God (believers seemed somehow to be more close to God in heaven , the more character like Jesus they had) greeting him. Paul was shining with an incredibly white light (and I think Paul Keith reported Paul was fille with joy and peace...well, he should be;) ). And that really gave me a sense of how REAL it was, all that Paul wrote. And that it all REALLY gave him great rewards when he reached eternity. That picture has followed me since and I read those letters with a much bigger interest now than before (I am somewhat ashamed to say ;) )

I don´t have much time to follow this tread even though I started it, but I will check it from time to time, so please be patient in awaiting my reply, if you post a reply!!
God bless you all!

 

[th1b.taylor]

ABOUT NOT WORRYING

Thinking about how the bible says we shouldn´t worry- "Be anxious for nothing"

Then there is the responsibility part of it- we are to be responsible.

SO WHERE IS THE BORDER...???

I just don´t get it. But I guess it could be a journey. Not as with for example smoking, where you (in some cases...) either smoke or don´t...from one day to another.
On the other hand I´m not sure it´s a journey. I had an experience one time. One morning I just got a "knowing" in my heart that it was a sin to worry (at least for me, then...some small worries, a little bit of this and that). I was at a bible school at the time, and in the morning somebody went up to the mike that was not planned (that never happened otherwise) and asked if he could say something- and said that he felt that God wanted to say that it´s a sin to worry. That has of course stuck with me. That´s many, many years ago now I am ashamed to say! ;/ In -97 or -98. And i still haven´t figured it out... So I think, if it is a sin, it should be possible to repent of.
But no matter how much I want to, I just don´t know what to replace those worrying thoughts with.
But I guess that as I come closer to God/get more true knowledge/revelation about who he is, the more I will be able to trust him.
As for about fear...there is some kind of danger in what we fear. The answers to why we shouldn´t fear is "for I am with you". But for me, it´s not enough- I have tried that, and things have went bad. So either was it ok with God that things went bad, or wrong or that people were hurt...or there is something more to it, and that´s what I am eager to find out!!! Because then there obviously is the little "but you have to do your part, of course"- thing to it, which pretty much everybody seem to agree on. (BTW I do believe in all kinds of miracles...just an example- angels were seen help people from fallen buildings after some US hurricane a couple of years ago, and so on...the list is endless).
Reading Joyce Meyer´s Be Anxious For Nothing hasn´t helped much,btw, other in boosting a general faith in God´s willingness to help.

ABOUT JOY

I got the words "be happy" a lot lately. Being the thinking type of person I am, I wondered how... ;) Should I make sure to have a lot of fun like any person, everyday, by doing things I enjoy and eat my favourite food and just enjoy life? or was this a call to get the inner joy that being in the Kingdom can give? Didn´t want to make a mistake there... :) Just want to share quickly what I sensed one day after having asked the same question several times about what joy is, the kind of joy that God meant (at least for me) in this.
The answer that I clearly got (and what I not had expected) was this: "Joy is the opposite of depression".

Please let me know what you think about my questions of worries...(and joy)... God Bless You! :-)

I have long held that we are to read the scriptures in their context and that the context of any verse is contained in the running narative beginning with In the beginning... through the very last Amen of the Revelation of Jesus 22. Holding this view of Hermeneutics we see that God has warned us 365 times not to worry. When God tells us something, it is important we remember it. When God highlights a thing by saying and having it recorded twice, it must become a life standard. When God says and has anything recorded three times there must be an item to be impressed upon god's people forever and here we find that God has warned us to cast our issues upon Him one time for every day of the normal year, three hundred and sixty-five times in His Holy word.

This is not natural for the Natural Man and it is a measure for the Growing Christian Man or woman. Whei was a lost man Isaang C&W Music and the Blues and my constant worry was how did I do? As a Saved Man I sang Gospel Music and my concern was is God glorified by this song? I no longer needed to worry because as I pray I receive the assurance of God if the answer is yes and if there is no peace with performing a number, I do not sing it.

Life is very simple when we obey and complex when we do not. This does not mean we will not have trials, quite the contrary! Job was a Holy Man of God and we do well when we study his life for we also will be tried if God has counted us worthy to be tried. Instead of worrying over the trials, they are reason for joy. When we aried to the point of breaking we can rest in God knowing that our weakness is a spot for God to be glorified.