Day 4 - Week 41 - 1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your cares on Him, because He cares for you."

You know what small word I often overlook in this verse that is so very important?   ALL. 

Casting ALL my cares on Him...nothing is too big, and nothing is too small.  The big things that bear down on us we often turn to God for help with (usually after we've given up and spent much time worrying about), but the small things we very often handle on our own, taking a little pride in our ability to resolve and to not "bother God."

When you are in true relationship with someone, there is nothing that we hold back.  You share all of your thoughts, cares, and concerns.   And that is what God desires from us, but not only sharing for the sake of sharing, but also casting our cares and concerns on Him, moving them off of us, onto Him.  And not some, not just the big ones, but ALL of them.  He will take all of them, we don't have to relieve Him of any of His promises to us.

When we live lives of that kind of dependency on God, then we should exhibit lives that are also much less worrisome (actually worry free!) and free from the anxieties that come when we try to work everything out on our own. God is so much more capable of working everything out, and working it out so that all (there's that important word again!) things work together for our good.  Also, He takes into consideration all of the other people whose lives may be affected---we don't have that ability and many times our best thought out plans for us, end up causing other people troubles that we never saw coming.

So many reasons to not depend on our limited problem-solving capabilities and to rather "cast" all of our cares onto the One who has unlimited vision and ability. 

Nothing too big, nothing too small...everything moved out from under our control into the hands of Him who loves us so. 

Day 2 - Week 41 - 1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your cares upon Him, because He cares about you."

He cares about me!

To know that God, Creator of the universe, Lord over all, cares about me, one individual of the billions of lives that are and have been on this earth (and in all actuality, not that important of an individual in the whole worldly scheme of things!), is just mind boggling to me.  He knows me, He sees me, and He cares about me.  Again, the song, "His Eye is on the Sparrow" pops in my head as a comforting refrain, reminding me of my Father's love and concern for one of His children.

Robert J. Morgan uses CAST as an acronym to help us understand just how we are supposed to place our cares on God.  It's a good tool and I'll share it with you...

C = Commit yourself and your situation into the Lord's hands.  He is our all in all.  He is all sufficient for all needs and in all circumstances.  All our burdens were nailed to His cross, and all our cares disappeared nto the mouth of His vacant tomb.

A = Ask God for His wisdom, strength, and guidance.  Learn to make things a matter of prayer instead of a bird's nest of anxious care.

S = Surrender your situation to God's will.  Give Him permission to resolve it whenever and however seems best to Him, according to His wisdom.

T = Trust Him.  Begin acting as if all these things were going to work together for good.  Adopt an attitude of hope and rest n the assurance that He reigns.

Morgan closes his thoughts (as I will this morning) with this beautiful quote from Paul Gerhardt, a Lutheran minister and hymn writer in Germany in the 1600s:

Commit whatever grieves thee into the gracious hands of Him Who never leaves thee, Who Heav'n and earth commands.  Who points the clouds their courses, Whom winds and waves obey.  He will direct they footsteps and find for thee a way.

Isn't it reassuring to know that people of faith have continued throughout the centuries...and that we pass the torch of faith on to those coming after us! 

Day 1 - Week 41 - Making our way toward 50!

When we were vacationing in New Hampshire one summer, we took a cog railway up to the peak of Mount Washington, the highest summit on the east coast.  While on the train, we could see hikers making their way up the mountain and were told they were not just hiking the mountain, but were finishing up their trek of the Appalachian Trail, which they had started in Georgia!  They would continue onward to where the Trail terminates at Baxter Peak, Katahdin, Maine, for a total of 2,175 miles! Can you imagine the tenacity it must take to start and continue on such an adventure?  Well this morning that's the parallel that came to my mind as I thought about our adventure...we're taking quite a hike, aren't we?  And if we started in Georgia, heading to Maine, we're now somewhere in Virginia!  Now is not the time to give up...we want to make it to our destination, Baxter Peak!  Or, in our case, Verse 100!!  But along the way, we've got beautiful things to see, don't we?

Just as we would do if we were taking that hike, let's rest a little while and look back at the pictures we've already taken along the way....

The Gift of Prayer (3)

Hebrews 4:16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

1 John 5:14   Now this is the confidence we have before Him, whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

1 John 5:15   And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.

The Gift of Assurance (10)

1 John 5:11 And this is the testimony:  God has given us eternal life and that life is in His Son.

1 John 5:12-13  The one who has the Son has life.  The one who doesn't have the Son of God, does not have life.  I say these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal life.

John 14:1  Your heart must not be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me.

John 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansion, if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.

John 14:3  And if I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you unto Myself, so that where I am, you may be also.

John 14:6  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.  I do not give as the world gives.  Your heart must not be troubled or afraid.

Isaiah 26:3-4  You will keep in perfect peace the mind that is dependent on You, for it is trusting in You.  Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed . (KJV)

Isaiah 53:6  We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquities of us all.

Praise and Thanksgiving (4)

1 Peter 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  According to His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Psalm 100:4  Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.  Give thanks to Him and praise His name. 

Psalm 100:5  For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Revelation 4:11  You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.


Promises of God (10)
Matthew 6:33  But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (ESV)
Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.
Jeremiah 29:11  "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
1 Corinthians 10:13   No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity.  God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.
1 John 1:7  But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:9   If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Proverbs 3:-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  (NIV)
1 Corinthians 10:13   No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity.  God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.
Psalm 55:22   Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will support you.  He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

Again, I am finding it hard to let go of this past week's verse to embrace another.  But just as if we were on that Trail, we have to move forward, leaving one beautiful spot to see what is on down the Trail. 

And this week, the hike around the next bend is not going to disappoint...I can just see us making a turn and a new vista presenting itself and our mouths dropping open and saying, "This is even prettier than where we were before!"  For this week's verse is very similar to Psalm 55:22, but it adds a tenderness that I just love to hear from God's Word....

1 Peter 5:7  Casting all your care upon Him, because He cares about you.

A very simple verse, a very common verse, but oh what an absolutely beautiful verse.  The reassurance that we serve a God who tenderly and compassionately cares about His children!  Lovely, isn't it?  Sit on the trail bench with me and let's just soak in the view!

P.S.  As a resident of West Texas, I am proud of the beauty of our area as well...it is not the lush landscape of the eastern states where the Appalachian Trail winds, but it certainly displays the majesty and diversity of God's handiwork in a magnificent way.  This link is to a beautiful video of our area that I hope you will enjoy watching! 

http://vimeo.com/22132017

Day 7 - Week 40 - Psalm 55:22 "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will support you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken."

Please forgive me for missing a few days this week...it has been a busy week and combine that with some computer "issues" (as in wanting to throw a laptop through the window because it has become sooooo s-l-o-w!) and I have just been a little lax in my daily routines.   Seems with the winter evenings I am not quite so prone to stay up as late, and then I find myself blogging in the morning.   I know some of you are earlier risers than I, and then I feel guilty that you have checked the blog for a new entry and nothing is there for you!  Just keep checking in...I'll get my morning routine more firmly established and maybe Christmas will bring a new laptop for my lap!

When I awoke this morning and recited this week's verse in my head and meditated on it, again the question came to me, "If the Lord will not allow the righteous to be shaken, why I have so often shook?"  Do you feel that way as well?  When I have these questions, it drives me to look at the verse closer, look at word meanings, commentaries and other verses to gain some insight.

First, who is the verse saying are "the righteous"?  The original Hebrew word used in this verse is "tsaddiyq" and carries these meanings:
just, lawful, righteous 
just, right (in one's cause)
just, righteous (in conduct and character)
right, correct, lawful
righteous (as justified and vindicated by God)

I don't know about you, but I am very grateful for that last definition!  For I know that on my own, I can claim no righteousness.

• I like to think that I am a just person, but do I truly treat all people fairly? Do I ever let bias or prejudice creep in and affect my outlooks? 
• Is my conduct and character always righteous?  I know there are times when I have caused God to look down on me and say, "Janice, Janice, what are you doing??" 
• I try to be a law-abiding citizen, but does that mean I never speed?  Does it mean that I obey every law all the time?  I know I can't claim that. 

Righteousness, imparted to me by God through His Son Jesus, is mine to claim when I claim Jesus as my Savior from all of my unrighteousness.  Hallelujah!

So then why do I still find myself in moments of "shakiness"?

The word for shaken, or moved as is used in the KJV, is "mowt" and carries with it these various meanings:
to totter, shake, slip
to be shaken, be moved, be overthrown
to dislodge, let fall, drop
to be greatly shaken

In thinking about my life, I think I've tottered, and I've slipped...but maybe in our verse this week, the Psalmist was using the word in the more intense manner, "to be overthrown, to let fall, to be greatly shaken".  And I am convinced, just as Peter states in 1 Peter 1:3-5, that my God will not let me be overthrown, He will not let me be dislodged from His hand, and He certainly will not drop me!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

My faith brings with it God's righteousness, and His shield over me.  I will not be shaken from standing in Him...I may totter, and I may slip, but the more and more that I throw off my burdens from my back onto His, the more sure-footed I will become, having less to bear and walking more confidently down this road of faith toward eternal salvation. 

I can see now that my moments of shakiness are when I am holding on to all of my burdens, trying to hold everything together through my own very limited abilities.  God is true to His Word, He will not allow His righteous people to be even slightly shaken when we hand over to Him the things that are making us shake!

Day 6 - Week 40 - Psalm 55:22 "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will support you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken."

In his commentary on this week's verse, Robert J. Morgan includes this account in his book, "100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart":

John Fletcher is known in history as the godly vicar of Madeley; but in 1755 he grew deeply discouraged.  On Thursday, January 23, he felt so despondent he almost gave up home. "Having continued my supplication till near one in the morning," he told his diary, "I then opened my Bible, and fell on these words. 'Cast thy burden on the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.  He will never suffer the righteous to be moved.' Filled with joy, I fell again on my knees to beg of God that  might always cast my burden upon Him...My hope was now greatly increased."

Have you ever felt like John Fletcher?  Have there been times in your life when it felt like there was not one thing going right and that no one understood you or your life's situation?  Most of us have had a time or two like that, and most of us will probably have some future time when we will be discouraged and disappointed.  But if those times do come to us again, let's pray that we will remember this verse tucked away in Psalm 55:22 that assures us that we don't have to stay in that state of blue...God has promised to us that when we place our burden on Him, He is there to support us...He understands both us and the situation we are finding ourselves as only He can, with totality and in full completeness.  We show not only our trust in God, but also our spiritual wisdom when we cast our burden on the One who has the ability to see every detail of that burden, every ramification of the potential handlings of the burden, and has our best interest as His priority in the determination of the outcome that He will work for our good when we hand over our burden to Him.

When we hand our burden over to God, we allow Him to take that which could have gone terribly wrong in our hands, and turn it into something that will grow us and be used for our ultimate strengthening...causing us to be much less likely to be shaken by troubles in our future.

Everything that is placed in God's hands is in a place of goodness...burdens are turned into blessings.  The only thing we give up is our will, we don't get to decide the outcome.  But when we have the promise of God that He will support us, that He will strengthen us, that seems a very easy thing to relinquish, doesn't it?

As we go through this season of celebration of our Savior's birth, let's abandon the things that burden us and cause us stress and tension and, instead, embrace the simplicity of the birth of a child in a manger...a very simple entry into the world of the most revolutionary figure the world has ever seen.  I am praying for simple ways to share His message during this special time of year when hearts are turned toward the star of Bethlehem.