Tags
anxiety, darkness, eyes of the heart, fear, following Jesus, freedom, Jesus Christ, light, psychology, spiritual power, the new self
When the Sun comes up… (Photo taken from http://villanova.bandcamp.com/album/the-rise-and-shine)
Is it possible to live without anxieties in this world? Is it possible to never worry about anything that might frighten us from the outside or from the inside of our hearts? And if so – HOW???
Regarding the married vs. single issue, the apostle Paul expressed his wish for the Corinthians to live in such a freed condition by saying,
“I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. ” (1 Cor 7:32-34 ESV)
Aha!! It seems there is a detrimental sort of anxiety which is directly related to this-worldly things and springs from a divided mind [divided between two realms – the seen and the unseen, that is] and a sound kind of anxiety that is characterized by a single-minded focus on Christ alone, which is merely searching for ways to please Him.
Looking a bit closer to our anxieties, we see that children often cannot yet clearly label their fears, yet what is common to all of them is that they fear the darkness of the night. They need some nightlight that chases the darkness away so that they feel securer and can eventually sleep all the better than if they were forced to sleep in a completely dark room.
Actually, it is the same for us as spiritual beings. The darkness inside us and outside us causes our anxieties. These things we do not know nor understand, those things that went wrong in our lives which could happen again and again, and the insecurity of future wedded to our own helplessness as to what we call fate – all of it put together can turn our whole life into hell on earth.
Some years ago a Christian friend told me frankly that she felt very blessed in her life, more than ever before as to her family and worldly riches, so that she would be grateful to God, though…..were there not that nagging fear of losing it all at once. I thought about it for a while and could not help but agree. However, I began to ask myself and later God how to solve that problem which is common to all people.
Shortly afterwards, as I was in great distress, I was reading Proverbs beginning with Chapter 1. I read it verse by verse until the last of them really hit home. OUCH and YEAH! There was the solution.
“For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” (Prv 1:32-33 ESV) – [Emphasis added]
(1) Dwelling secure
(2) Being at ease and
(3) No dread of disaster, too
WOW!!! What a heavenly condition that must be! 🙄
In these Scriptures we can hear the voice of wisdom to who we should listen. What? Is Wisdom a person?? Yes, indeed, there is only ONE who became “Wisdom incarnated” for us and our wonderful God wants us to
“[…] reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Col 2:2-3 ESV)
Full assurance knows no doubt. And where there are no doubts, there is no anxiety. That means, if we only fear what is dark and unknown to us, then such a condition must be a completely enlightened state without any darkness. Jesus said,
“The light of the body is the eye: therefore when your eye is single, your whole body also is full of light; but when your eye is evil, your body also is full of darkness.” (Lk 11:34 AKJV)
This verse speaks of our spiritual eye, i.e. the eyes of the heart, which in its natural (read original) state is solely focused on God as we can read about in Genesis 1 before the Fall of Man. As soon as man turned away from God, spiritual blindness made him stumble through the darkness of his own mind, not knowing where he came from, nor where to go to. But our sweet Lord promised,
“I AM THE LIVING GOD, The Light of the world. Whoever follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall find the light of life.” (Jn 8:12 Aramaic Bible in Plain English)
Finally, focused on Jesus Christ and living IN Him, all anxieties come to an end…
Entering the Promised Land 
yes Sue you are so right on–when we are focused on Christ there will be no anxiety–the only problem I have is remaining focused–you know like when im at work–im so focused on my job Im not really focused on him–so thanks for the reminder.
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You’re right, Kenneth!
Our only problem is the question of how to remain focused. But I think that our Lord knows our weakness and inability to stay focused on Him so that He finally draws us closer and closer to Himself like a huge electromagnet attracts iron filings. And suddenly, lo and behold, we cannot help but staying focused because of His great LOVE we may share. The only thing we need before we can reach such a blissful state is our personal Pentecost. We need the spiritual FIRE that accompanied the apostle Peter’s sermon back then. Since indeed, a few verses after that sermon, we read in the Bible,
“And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” (Acts 2:46-47 KJV)
“…singleness of heart, praising God…” – That was clearly a direct consequence of Heaven’s Fire that had come down on these so blessed believers. Just as the growth of the church was caused by God’s power alone. I believe we’d urgently need His power, too. Which power? The real Gospel, that is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16 ESV).
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Kenneth, thanks for your honesty in this matter. I hope you don’t mind me addressing your concern here. When I was in the work-a-day world I was best off when I just did my job and did not focus on trying to really “make it” in this world through work and climbing the ladder of success. That extra required to “excel” and get promoted as I sought the thing of this world system, sucked me dry. I had nothing left for God or my family. Just do a good job and keep focused on Jesus who is in you, knowing that He is there as our wisdom and knowledge we need even to do the work of our hands. Seeking His Father’s kingdom first even at work is possible. It is all about where our heart is.
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Yes, Susanne, all we need is Christ! Not the things of this world. I can assure you that those who are His will be stripped of everything that they cling to other than HIM. He does this because He loves us! We do ourselves damage in the eternal sense when we put our hopes in anything that is of this fallen world and this age we are in. What Jesus said in the sermon on the mount covers everything you have written about here.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound [single- no double vision], your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.” (Matthew 6:19-34 RSVA)
Serving worldly gain, what we can store up here on earth and worrying about how to protect it, is serving Mammon. It is a false god. When we who are Christ’s do so, we are double minded and have double vision and our eye is NOT single and our bodies are not filled with the Light of Christ. Anxiety over the things of this world puts out the Light of Christ in us. BUT He promised us that if we would seek FIRST the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness that all the things we need for this life in this earth would be taken care of. He not only provided Jesus to take care of all our spiritual needs from His riches in glory, but He also provides for the needs of our bodies so we can keep body and soul together and continue to pursue and serve in His Father’s kingdom. Anxiety only poisons our hearts and draws us away from the rest that is our as we abide in Him and HIS love.
Thank you my sister, Susanne! You are a blessing!
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Another beautiful reply, Michael! Thumbs up!! Your comments and blogs are always a blessing just as you are a blessing to me, my brother.
You wrote, “I can assure you that those who are His will be stripped of everything that they cling to other than HIM.”
OH YES!!! I know how it feels and IT HURTS, sometimes more – sometimes less, yet it is always painful to be stripped of settled habits of thinking and doing. But finally, we will be set free – completely.
THAT IS THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL! 🙂
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Encouraging words, thanks to all of you. My greatest concern is the salvation of all my family. I have anxiety over my testimony – have I failed to be light and life to them. Yet I know that anxiety is not the answer.
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Pat, I have been pondering for a while on how to calm you as to your particular problem.
You may know that my whole family has not been saved yet. Perhaps it won’t help you when I tell you that I have no doubts in heart (i.e. faith) that all of them will be saved whether they see some light in me or not. Salvation comes from the Lord (Jonah 2:9) who is our SAVIOR. You and I cannot save anyone, nor will our testimony make sense unless God has opened the hearts of those whom He wants to save. If God decided to save them through another believer or not until they lie on their deathbed, then what could we do? It is indeed as “Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.” (Jn 4:44 ESV)
Dear sister, you can be sure that God heard your prayers for your family and that He will answer them in His time, for it is written,
“[…] The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:5-7 ESV)
They will ALL be saved, Pat – I have no doubts regarding your family, either.
May God bless you and yours immensely, my sister,
Much love ❤ ❤ ❤
Susanne
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Yes, Susanne, you are a blessing to me as well. Thank you.
That is the GOOD NEWS — the gospel of the Kingdom — being set free of the pulling of the flesh and of this world and be totally IN Christ and IN our Daddy’s kingdom as the sons and daughters of God!
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AMEN! And you are so welcome, Michael. 🙂
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Thank you for your encouraging faith. I do greatly thank you.
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I love you, Pat! ❤
Feeling with you…your anxiety, that is.
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Very good, Susanne! 🙂 I agree with your comment to Pat, too. I have felt the very same thing in my heart! ❤ ❤ ❤
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Thanks so much for YOUR encouragement, Deborah! Means a lot to me!!! ❤ ❤ ❤
Isn't it good to know that we can understand what others feel because we have been going through the same things?
By the way, your latest post on your blog is very insightful.
If someone wants to read it, see http://atelierdeborah.blogspot.de/2014/09/self-reliance-by-ralph-waldo-emerson.html.
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You’re welcome, Susanne, and thank you.
Yes, it is definitely good being able to relate with each other! 🙂
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You’re so welcome too, Deborah. 🙂
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Hi Susanne
I agree. Actually and oddly, I find my greatest inner joy when struggling a bit with mild depression or anxiety, largely because it is then I determinedly focus on the Lord and his goodness. In the trial he provides, and is, a way of escape.
Thankfully my struggles these days tend to be fewer and shorter. For me the biggest anxiety is generated when the depression (which seems to arise out of the blue) warps my thinking and I begin to see sin in things where there is no sin. My conscience becomes over sensitive and I become over scrupulous. The hard bit is resisting the demand of the over scrupulous conscience by refusing to do what it demands. Part of me thinks the idea my mind has lapsed on to is out of proportion and perspective and I must not give in to it; this creates anxiety, for it seems as if I’m finding a reason to resist what is right. Meanwhile part of me feels I must act on the idea but this too creates anxiety for I feel at the same time it is excessive.
Of course, agonising itself over the issue is stressful. What is necessary is to turn away from it and accept it is disproportionate. But this is easier said than done for a large part of my mind feels I am turning away from truth rather than rejecting distorted thinking.
I find when struggling with depression I want to think in clear black and whites with no room for greys. The ‘nerves’ call for instant obedience to their demands and do not like measured, proportionate thinking.
Depression creates different problems in different people, for me it is almost always disproportionate guilt, either about the past or more often some action in the present about which my conscience is normally free but when depressed my conscience suddenly declares out of bounds and wrong.
Anyway, there it is.
I hope you and your family are well and experience the Lord’s blessing throughout this new year.
God bless.
John
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Hi John,
I can so relate to what you said here,
“Actually and oddly, I find my greatest inner joy when struggling a bit with mild depression or anxiety, largely because it is then I determinedly focus on the Lord and his goodness. In the trial he provides, and is, a way of escape.”
Just today I realized that I do need trials in order to get me focused on God and Christ, again and again. If I am full of joy, instead, and cannot sense any trial anywhere, I am always in great danger of being deceived – by the wrong spirits, so to speak. Those “voices” in our minds that accuse us, try to discourage us, or try to force us to do this and that… although I know it is not God, it is always so difficult to get rid of the confusion they have caused. 😛
The clear black and white thinking is familiar to me as well. Actually, I hate confusion, problems that are seemingly insoluble and unanswered questions!!
I do hope you, Beatrice, and your son are well, too.
Every divine blessing to all of you! ⭐
Susanne
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Thank you very much for the pingback to my blog, Michael! 🙂
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You are always welcome, Susanne. 🐻
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Thank you so much for this.
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You’re very welcome, Fred. 🙂
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