Red Letters: Suffocating Worry - Pastor Josiah Elias

“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14 (NIV) Joel Munoz encouraged us all through this verse to live holy lives so that we can see God. The Lord wants us to see Him and to experience Him directly. In order to directly experience Him, we need to separate ourselves from the world and the focus to be self centered. “There are no shortcuts to holiness” Joel stated. Instead of just having His hand, let’s have all of Him through changing our desires from worldliness to holiness.

FC’s mission is to culture like Christ, and our vision is Jesus. Last week Pastor Josiah warned the hypocrites to stop leading double lives and instead to walk a life of sincere faith. The Pharisees balked at His accusation. This week in our Red Letter series, we are taught from Luke 12 where Jesus again focuses on eternal issues. “Then he said,’Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.’” Luke 12:15 (NLT)

Jesus warned people against greed. And illustrated it through he story of a rich man who had so much that he decided to tear down his old barns to build bigger ones for his crops like wheat and other goods. “Then I’ll sit back and say to myself,’My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!’” Luke 12:19 (NLT) The Lord’s response was swift and fatal, for the rich man died that night. “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” Luke 12:21 (NLT) That is

the crux of the issue. We need to choose between worldly wealth and a rich relationship with the Lord. That is not to say that we neglect working and saving prudently for family and your needs.

However, when the focus is solely on material wealth, the problem has an eternal consequence.

In America, we are very rich in comparison to the rest of the world. “The simple fact that you have access to safe drinking water is a blessing that over 2 billion people on the planet don’t have,” stated Pastor Josiah. That fact puts our finances in perspective. So often we struggle with first world issues.

God is severing the choke hold that material wealth and gathering have on us and is encouraging us to live with an eternity in mind. Let us release the need to get, buy, and have so that our authentic relationship with Jesus can thrive. I am typing this point out and thinking of my compulsion to spend money at a sale. May sales not be more important to me than serving Him with my whole heart, mind, soul, and spirit and to love my neighbor as myself.

“Then turning to his disciples, Jesus said, ’That is why I tell you

not to worry about everyday life-whether you have enough food

to eat or enough clothes to wear. For life is more than food, and

your body more than clothing.” Luke 12:22-23 (NLT)

Jesus spoke to His disciples about what was truly important, and we get to learn from His words to them. It is so easy to worry about how we look and others’ impression of us, but is that the main issue? What does the Lord think of you? What did He do for you? He gave His only Son so that you could have eternal life. After accepting the Lord as your Savior, you are the daughter or son of the King. Hallelujah!

On the other hand, satan has a different tactic. “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10 (NKJV) The abundant life-what does it look like? Is it fancier cars, bigger houses, more toys? Or is abundant life peace, strength, discernment from the Lord?

Jesus pointed His disciples to the ravens.”They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are more valuable to him than any birds.” Luke 12:24 (NLT)

“Raven-Grk. korax-(Root Word)-korennymi-Sate, to satisfy, to satiate. Full, gorged.” The Lord used the ravens as an example of creatures whom the Lord feeds in contrast to the value of the disciples. Even further, Pastor Josiah cited the example of Elijah starving and the ravens bringing bread and meat for Elijah. He also drank from the nearby brook. 1 Kings 17:5-6 The Lord provided because Elijah trusted Him.

Jesus explored the situation more as He asked,

”Does worry add anything to your life? Can it add one more

year, or even one day? So if worrying adds nothing, but actually

subtracts from your life, why would you worry about God’s care

of you?” Luke 12:25-26 (TPT)

“Worry-Grk. Merimnao-to be anxious, troubled with cares.” When a challenging situation occurs, you can almost feel the weight of it on your chest or heart. The worry weighs you down.

Sometimes you worry so much that you cannot sleep or even move. If that is your natural reaction to challenge or hardship, then worry can prevent you from seeking His peace and strength. A favorite weapon of the enemy is worry. Worry attacks trust. Worry blocks us from believing and seeking Him. We must stop putting more energy into worrying and getting worked up into a frenzy.

The Paramount Point is We must stop putting more faith in what the devil is doing, than what God is doing! The psalmist said,

“I am standing in absolute stillness, silent before the one I love,

waiting as long as it takes for him to rescue me.

Only God is my Savior, and he will not fail me.

For he along is my safe place.

His wraparound presence always protects me as

my champion defender.

There’s no risk of failure with God!

So why let worry paralyze me,

even when troubles multiply around me?

God’s glory is all around me!

His wraparound presence is all I need,

for the Lord is my Savior, my hero, and my life-giving strength.”

Psalm 62:5-7 (TPT)

What an antidote to worry-standing in stillness waiting for the Lord’s rescue. The psalmist praised, worshiped and honored the Lord even in a stressful time. He kept his eyes on the Lord and let the Lord deal with the circumstances. That is how I want to respond to react to difficult situations.

Sometimes the Lord allows His followers to experience stress to motivate them to more forward.

Think of the Israelites running from the Egyptians and facing the Red Sea. It was not a peaceful scene because they were trapped. They either had to continue forward or face the raging, Egyptian soldiers. The Egyptians were an oppressive enemy, but God… Moses obediently pointed his staff toward the Red Sea, and it split open. The Israelites walked on dry land. When the Israelites completed crossing, the waves returned, and the Egyptian soldiers drowned! My

natural reaction would have been to WORRY! My supernatural reaction would have been to trust. I want to trust the Lord and not let worry capture or immobilize me.

The Lord reminded the disciples to consider the lilies that do not work for their beauty. They are even more beautiful than Solomon in his finery. “And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?” Luke 12:27-28 (NLT) Worry chokes faith. Faith suffocates worry! We can be agents of faith. Are you allowing yourself to be an agent of faith? We’re faith people; act like it. “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Luke 12:34 (NLT) On whatever you focus, spend your time, effort and money, that is what you treasure. Do you treasure the One who treasures you?

May we treasure Him and reflect Him so we can be light in this dark and troubled world.

Calendar:

7/25/25-5:00-8:30 Activity Center-Women’s Ministry-Desperate for Jesus conference-No registration is necessary.

7/31/25-8/1/25 Jesus Image Conference

8/15/25-6:00 pm LB and Young Adults potluck, worship, and sharing of Britnee Lacuesta

9/19/25-6:00 LB potluck and Meet to Swap with proceeds going to Young Adults and FC Youth

10/17-LB potluck, worship and speaker

11/20-Thursday 12-2 LB sponsored FC and FCLA staff luncheon

12/12-LB potluck and caroling at homes

Submitted by

Larry and Annette Linthicum