These words of Jesus touch my soul: “Be not therefore anxious, saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or how shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek” (Matthew 6:31-32).
Jesus is warning about the heathen tendency to worry. He tells us that worry – over our job, our family, our future, our survival – is a heathen’s way of living. It is the attitude of those who have no heavenly Father. They do not know God as he desires to be known: as a caring, providing, loving Father in heaven. To all who believe, it is not enough to know God only as the Almighty, the Creator, the Lord of all. He also wants us to know him as our heavenly Father. “For your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things” (verse 32).
“Take therefore no thought for tomorrow” (verse 34). With these plain words, Jesus commands us: “Do not give a thought, a single worry, to what might or might not happen tomorrow. You can’t change anything. And you can’t help anything by worrying. When you do, you’re only doing as the heathen do.”
Jesus then says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (verse 33). In other words, we are to go on loving Jesus. We are to move on, casting all our cares on him. And we are to rest in his faithfulness. Our heavenly Father will see to it that we are supplied with all the essential things of life.
I wonder if the angels are baffled by all the worry and anxiousness of those who claim to trust in the Lord. To those celestial beings, it must seem insulting to God that we worry as if we had no caring Father in heaven. What perplexing questions the angels must ask among themselves:
“Do they not believe the One who loves them? Did he not tell them he knows about all their needs? Do they not know the Father sends us to take charge of them in times of danger? Do they not believe that he who feeds the birds, the fish, the whole animal kingdom will feed and clothe them? How can they fret and worry when they know God possesses all power, all wealth, and can supply the needs of all creation? How can they accuse their heavenly Father of neglect, as if he isn’t true to his Word?”
The birds sing, while we complain and speak of fear and anxiety. The lilies of the field stand tall in their glory, while we wilt and bend before the smallest wind of adversity. The following poem puts it succinctly:
The very birds reprove thee with all their happy song;
the very flowers teach thee that fretting is a wrong.
“Cheer up,” the sparrow chirpeth. “Thy Father feedeth me;
think how much he careth, oh lovely child, for thee.”
“Fear not,” the flowers whisper; “since thus he hath arrayed
the buttercup and daisy. How canst thou be afraid?”
Then don’t you trouble, till trouble troubles you.
You’ll only double trouble, and trouble others too.
You most definitely have a heavenly Father. Trust in him!
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David Wilkerson (1931 – 2011)
Founder of Times Square Church in New York City with over 100 different languages spoken in the congregation. Wilkerson wrote many powerful books such as: The Vision and Cross and the Switchblade. His ministry was prophetic as God called him to be a watchman to the Church in North America. He gave clear messages on repentance to the Church.Wilkerson also founded Teen Challenge where there are hundreds of centres for Christ-centered drug recovery and addiction recovery. He also organized and spoke at pastors gatherings in many countries where he gave prophetic strong messages to encourage pastors and leaders.
Recommends these books by David Wilkerson:
The Vision and Beyond, Prophecies Fulfilled and Still to Come by David Wilkerson
Knowing God by Name: Names of God That Bring Hope and Healing by David Wilkerson
God's Plan to Protect His People in the Coming Depression by David Wilkerson
David Wilkerson is an American Christian evangelist, most well-known for his book The Cross and the Switchblade. He is also the founder of Times Square Church in New York, an interdenominational church.
Wilkerson is well-known for these early years of his ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. He co-authored a book about his work with the New York drug addicts, The Cross and the Switchblade, which became a best-seller, selling over 50 million copies in over thirty languages since it was published in 1963. The book was included among the 100 most important Christian books of the 20th century.
For over four decades, Wilkerson's ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. He has authored over 30 books.
David Wilkerson is the founder and president of World Challenge, Inc., a nonprofit organization incorporated on September 22, 1971. Reverend Wilkerson, the author of over thirty inspirational books, is perhaps best known for his early days of ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. His story is told in The Cross and the Switchblade, a book he co-authored which became a best-seller. (The story has been read by over 50 million people in some thirty languages and 150 countries since 1963. In 1969, a motion picture of the same title was released.)
For over four decades, Reverend Wilkerson's evangelistic ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. Throughout that time a distinctive characteristic of his work has been his direct efforts to reach the neediest members of the population with help for both body and soul. Even now, the almost 70 year-old minister often goes out alone or sometimes with an assistant to walk through the streets of New York City, along Broadway and Eighth Avenue or down 42nd Street and nearby "Crack Alley" on 41st Street. His mission is always to seek out the lost, the disoriented, and the addicted , to tell them of the power of the risen Christ to set them free.
David Wilkerson, born in Hammond, Indiana on May 19, 1931, was married in 1953 to Gwen Carosso. The Wilkersons' two sons are ministers, and their two daughters are married to ministers. They have 11 grandchildren. The Wilkersons served small pastorates in Scottsdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, until Reverend Wilkerson saw a photograph in Life magazine of several New York City teenagers charged with murder. Moved with compassion he was drawn to the city in February 1959. It was at that time he began his street ministry to what one writer called "desperate, bewildered, addicted, often violent youth.