{"id":197,"date":"2011-02-27T09:00:01","date_gmt":"2011-02-27T17:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/?p=197"},"modified":"2017-03-29T10:09:03","modified_gmt":"2017-03-29T17:09:03","slug":"heart-re-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/27\/heart-re-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Heart Re-Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matthew 6: 24-34<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was reading through a medical bill that came from my insurance company.\u00a0 Down towards the bottom there was a charge for me receiving what was called Neuromuscular re-education<\/em>.\u00a0 What on earth is that?\u00a0 Did my physical therapist really do that?\u00a0 Maybe he should have asked me first.\u00a0 I\u2019m not so sure I wanted my neuros to be reeducated<\/em>.\u00a0 Well I found out what it was.\u00a0 It actually was something that helped with my back pain. Something simple with a fancy name.\u00a0 \u00a0How about that!\u00a0 Neuro re-education.<\/em><\/p>\n

Well here Jesus was teaching his disciples.\u00a0\u00a0 Once more in the Sermon on the Mount.\u00a0 He came to them as he comes to us today in his Word.\u00a0 Here Jesus looks to do some reeducation.\u00a0\u00a0 But not my nerves and muscles.\u00a0 Rather my heart, my way of thinking and looking at life.\u00a0 \u00a0And even if you or I have been Christians a long time, we need Jesus\u2019 words again and again.<\/p>\n

Something like our cars.\u00a0 We drive them and sooner or later we notice.\u00a0 My car doesn\u2019t go straight.\u00a0 Let go of the steering wheel and it veers one way or the other.\u00a0\u00a0 Not good. So we have to keep bringing it in to straighten the wheels.<\/p>\n

You and I are like that.\u00a0 Not our wheels, but our hearts.\u00a0 Again and again we need Jesus to do some reeducation, some heart realignment.\u00a0 For how easily this world and our own sinful hearts throw us off. \u00a0How easy it is for us to look at what we have as all important.\u00a0 How easy it is to get all caught up with having or not having.\u00a0 So let Jesus\u2019 word speak to your heart.\u00a0 Let it reveal your heart, evict any greed or worries, and settle into a quiet trust in the Lord.<\/strong><\/p>\n

24 <\/sup>\u201cNo one can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money<\/span>. \u00a0A husband and wife take their dog to the park.\u00a0 They let the dog off the leash.\u00a0 One walks behind.\u00a0 The other ahead.\u00a0 Then both call the dog.\u00a0\u00a0 Whose voice does he obey?\u00a0 Who does he run to?\u00a0 He can\u2019t run to both.\u00a0 Only one. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same with God and our money and possessions.\u00a0 If you are devoted to one, you can\u2019t be devoted to the other.\u00a0 If you make one important to you, you make the other unimportant.\u00a0 So Jesus is warning us here.\u00a0 He is challenging us to look into our hearts and see. \u00a0To who or what does my heart belong? \u00a0Am I fooling myself by thinking I can have it both ways.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a \u00a0both\u2026and.\u00a0 It\u2019s an either\u2026 or.\u00a0 You cannot serve both God and Money<\/span>. \u00a0And if it\u2019s money, if that\u2019s the love of your life, \u00a0that love will leave you empty and abandoned.<\/p>\n

Of course someone might say that\u2019s not my problem.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have much of anything.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 disciples were like that.\u00a0 Like so many people today these Galileans lived from day to day on the little they had.<\/p>\n

But the problem is not what someone has in his hand or his garage or bank account. \u00a0The problem occurs \u00a0in our hearts.\u00a0 Where are we looking for life?\u00a0 Where do we place our confidence?<\/p>\n

We may say to ourselves, I\u2019m trusting in the Lord<\/em>.\u00a0 But then something comes along that says something different.\u00a0 Worry<\/strong>.\u00a0 Now don\u2019t misunderstand.\u00a0 We\u2019re not talking about the concern we sometimes have for others.\u00a0 We may even say, I\u2019m worried about my children\u2019s education.\u00a0 I\u2019m worried about the neighborhood you live in.\u00a0 It seems unsafe.\u00a0 But that\u2019s a concern born out of love.<\/p>\n

This worry is born out of something else.\u00a0 A heart that is forgetting or ignoring what it means to call God our Father.\u00a0 You and me sometimes. \u00a0\u00a025 <\/sup>\u201cTherefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?<\/span> Let\u2019s be clear.\u00a0 Jesus is not talking about opening the refrigerator or closet and saying I just can\u2019t decide what to eat or wear.\u00a0 He is talking about worrying that you might not have something to eat or wear.\u00a0 Will I have a place to live when I lose my house?<\/p>\n

Those seem like big things. They are not.\u00a0 We eat to live not live to eat.\u00a0 Life is so much more than what our body needs.\u00a0 Yet we can let those worries consume our hearts when we don\u2019t know where it\u2019s coming from.<\/p>\n

But we do know.\u00a0 We know who it\u2019s coming from.\u00a0 Jesus says: 26 <\/sup>Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.<\/span>?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s kind of interesting the way Jesus talks to us here.\u00a0 He could have just said.\u00a0 Stop worrying.<\/em> Instead he gently schools us.\u00a0 He has us consider how God provides for even the birds. Think about it.\u00a0\u00a0 I like to hang a finch sock full of seeds on a tree out back. They don\u2019t need me to do that.\u00a0 I do it because I enjoy seeing those finches.\u00a0 Whether I hang the thing or not, God richly provides for them.\u00a0 So here\u2019s the question for you when you let your heart well up with worry. \u00a0Jesus asks you. \u00a0Are you not much more valuable than they? <\/span><\/p>\n

What answer does Jesus expect?\u00a0 Yes, you are. Some animal lovers would disagree, but you are so much more valuable.\u00a0\u00a0 Start with this world.\u00a0 Our Father in heaven made this world in all it splendor for us. \u00a0He spent six days getting everything ready before he created mankind.\u00a0 But that\u2019s not even the half of it.\u00a0 Look at the cross.\u00a0 That reminds us.\u00a0 You are so valuable that God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all.\u00a0 And what he did for all, he did for you.\u00a0 Jesus took your sin, your guilt and gave his life for you.\u00a0 He suffered your death.\u00a0 He won your forgiveness.\u00a0 Then one day in your life, God came to you in the gospel.\u00a0 You didn\u2019t come to him.\u00a0 He came to you, \u00a0gave you the Holy Spirit and made you his believing child. \u00a0You are THAT valuable to the Lord.<\/p>\n

So why worry?\u00a0 Does it make any sense for one so precious to God?\u00a0\u00a0 And for that matter Jesus reminds us it does us no good. What do we gain?\u00a0\u00a0 27 <\/sup>Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?<\/span> Anyone here succeeded?\u00a0 Of course not, Worry can might even make your life shorter and certainly sadder. Remember that song?\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry be happy. <\/em>How\u2019d it go? In every life we have some trouble, when you worry you make it double. <\/em><\/p>\n

But Jesus is not done with us.\u00a0 He asks us again.\u00a0 For some of us are very accomplished worriers. 28 <\/sup>\u201cAnd why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 <\/sup>Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 <\/sup>If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? <\/span><\/p>\n

Last season we had some beautiful sunflowers growing in our community garden.\u00a0 One was so big and beautiful that I wanted to draw a smiley face on it.\u00a0 Yet God designed them not just for us to admire.\u00a0 Their God-given beauty was designed to attract pollinators like Honey bees.<\/p>\n

Well think about what Jesus teaches us. A \u00a0lily a blade of grass or a sunflower last only a season.\u00a0 But look.\u00a0 Look how God clothes them.\u00a0 So then what about you?\u00a0 You are going to last more than a season.\u00a0 Much more.\u00a0 The gift of God to you is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.\u00a0 So then, Why do you worry.\u00a0 \u00a0Jesus asks and answers doesn\u2019t he.\u00a0 O you<\/span> and me of little faith.<\/span><\/p>\n

31 <\/span><\/sup>So do not worry, saying, \u2018What shall we eat?\u2019 or \u2018What shall we drink?\u2019 or \u2018What shall we wear?\u2019 32 <\/sup>For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. <\/span><\/p>\n

I remember going out to the garage when I was kid.\u00a0 I came out with something I had no business carrying.\u00a0 What are you doing with that?<\/em> my mom or dad asked me.<\/p>\n

What are you doing with worry?\u00a0 It\u2019s not yours.\u00a0 Worries about stuff belong to this unbelieving world.\u00a0 Not you, God\u2019s child.\u00a0 For you belong to the Father who knows you and cares for you.<\/p>\n

And now comes the important part.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve been sort of listening, now the time perk up and pay attention.\u00a0 This is where our hearts belong.\u00a0 Not consumed by what we consume.\u00a0 But this.\u00a0 Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember the sisters Mary and Martha.\u00a0 Jesus came to eat with them.\u00a0 Dear Martha was all worked up and worried about getting supper ready and just right.\u00a0 She overlooked what was most important.\u00a0 What Mary was doing.\u00a0 She was sitting at Jesus\u2019 feet listening to his Word.<\/p>\n

You see, Mary had her priorities straight.\u00a0 She was seeking God\u2019s kingdom and his righteousness.\u00a0 For God\u2019s kingdom is when he comes to our hearts in his Word.\u00a0 It\u2019s when he comes to rule in our hearts not with a clenched fist but with an open hand, a hand once nailed to a cross for us all. That kingdom begins with faith in Christ that covers our sin with his perfect righteousness. It begins with faith that wants to serve, honor and obey our Lord who loves us so.\u00a0 And what will we find. What does our Lord promise us about our basic needs? \u00a0\u00a0Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.<\/span> When we lived in New Mexico the winds would bring all kinds of tumbleweed our way.\u00a0 Left alone they would pile up everywhere.\u00a0 Against the house, the fence, all over.\u00a0 So what did my wife do.\u00a0 One by one she dragged them out into the wind and let them blow away.<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t we do the same with our worries?\u00a0 Drag them out and let God\u2019s Word blow them away.\u00a0 For In Christ, God is your dear Father and you, you are His dear child.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matthew 6: 24-34 I was reading through a medical bill that came from my insurance company.\u00a0 Down towards the bottom there was a charge for me receiving what was called Neuromuscular re-education.\u00a0 What on earth is that?\u00a0 Did my physical therapist really do that?\u00a0 Maybe he should have asked me first.\u00a0 I\u2019m not so sure I wanted my neuros to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":198,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions\/198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}