The Criteria for avoiding anxiety (2)

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  7and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus".  

                                                                 Philippians 4:6. NKJV

Just read the above scripture and let it settle in your heart. Jesus does not want you to be anxious, not for anything. He wants you to rejoice always. This is the foundation to build on that will help you avoid anxiety. As you can see, this leads to God's peace which is amazing and in turn, this will protect your heart and your mind. The heart can become hurt when we become anxious and this can lead us to think thoughts that are not there. The thoughts can appear very convincing but, the hurt that we have encountered can play tricks on our mind and thought waves. So be careful here.

We talked about the antidote for anxiety yesterday. This was Rejoicing, Prayer, Supplication, Thanksgiving, Being in close touch with Jesus and receiving the peace of God. This really is worth working on. We can become anxious quite easily, and if we are prone to being anxious, we can begin to worry at top speed. Now as I said, it is practically impossible to rejoice when you are anxious but, we need to break though that stumbling block by calling out to Jesus and then, offering a sacrifice of praise as the writer of Hebrews tells us: "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. 13:15. Now the OT believers used to offer animal sacrifices to God. Obviously, as NT Christians, our offering is from the heart. It is a spiritual sacrifice from us to Jesus. As we do this - always, Jesus will answer our requests and move accordingly. As we pray, pouring out our hearts to Him, with thanksgiving, we will begin to receive that peace - the peace that surpasses understanding. We just can't work it out but, we know we need it and can't live without it.

We will all become anxious at times. But we don't have to let it take up residence in our hearts. There's no room anyway because Jesus lives there, don't forget that. Praise and rejoicing are the answer to it all. Praise breaks chains, opens heavily locked doors, releases us from burdens that the devil intended to be there forever. And praise and rejoicing blasts the devil out of any situation. He can't stand it. It gives him a migraine like no other migraines. If you don't want the devil around you, start praising Jesus; start rejoicing and you'll soon find he has disappeared. But be careful, he will come back. This is why Paul says 'Rejoice always'.

SO keep your antidote kit ready for any further attacks and start living life in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is your message from Daily life with Jesus.

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now:

Lord Jesus, I have sinned   

I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen'

Copyright 2024 Grahame Howard.                                

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