Always Now

Proverbs 12:25 (World English Bible - emphasis added) Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a kind word makes it glad. There is something about anxiety that changes the way we see the world. It's like a filter. A veil of sorts that drops between you and everything around you. It takes vibrant, colourful, and high definition scenery and turns it into faded sepia tones. No longer the world of the future, but a faded and crinkly version from the distant past. Sounds are muted. Colours are washed out. And everything is distant. It isn't like fear is preventing you from interacting with anything. It is like you are severed from everything. There is a disconnect. Often, there seems like there is nothing you can do. First off, the Lord loves you. If you can't do anything but put on your socks today, He loves that you got your socks on. If you can't do anything but roll over, He loves that you rolled over. He loves you and every single day whether you are victorious, thinking of being victorious, or a lump under the sheets there is something that He loves about you. Never feel bad that you are not winning the battle. The battle you're fighting is not the battle you're supposed to fight. God isn't disappointed with you. He isn't mad at you. He is proud of everything that you manage to do. He is full of joy with you. But it isn't the end of things. Our battle is the choice to abide in Jesus or not. THAT is our battle. Not with depression. Not with anxiety. Not with fear. Not with stress. With our own choices. We either abide in Jesus or we don't abide in Jesus. That's the battle. If we abide in Jesus, we are abiding in the Overcomer. HE can win the other battle. In fact, He wins ALL the battles. Our purpose is not to fight those battles. We're to fight OUR battle. Do we abide in Him or not? Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:4-5). In HIM we have the victory. In HIM we are changed. In HIM we have life. The Word unlocks it all once our decision is made. We decide to abide in Jesus. We don't worry about the socks or the blankets or the bills or the workplace or anything. We decide to put Jesus first. How do we do that? How do we enact that decision? We get into the Word. Jesus is the Word and the Word is Jesus (John 1:14). The Word renews our minds (Romans 12:2). The Word sanctifies us (John 17:17). The Word transforms us into those who have abundant life. The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly (John 10:10). Anxiety steals from us. Why are we opening our doors to it? Why are we letting it in, making it tea, giving it a biscuit, and letting it have the run of the house? Jesus gives abundant life. That's life that is existing or occurring in large amounts, marked by a great plenty of resources, amply supplied, plentiful, copious, bountiful, comfortable, plenteous, cornucopian, liberal, and galore. These are all meanings of abundance. Jesus came so we can have life like that. But don't fall into the trap of things. You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures (James 4:3). Grab hold of that abundant life promise of Jesus. But do NOT think it means stuff and things and stuff. That's another form of bondage. Desperate for things, for money in the bank, for investments, for assets. All that can be part of it, but if that is the point of what you do then you have a problem. The problem is you're placing things above God. Oh, but I love God, you say. Great. Then you won't mind putting God first instead of coveting for things. The Father knows our needs (Matthew 6:8). He'll meet your needs. If you want all the rest, don't want them. Like them. Realize that it would be nice to have them. But be okay with not having them. A good litmus test is this: if you can't give it away it's taking up heart space. If it is going to take up heart space, it is going to displace the Lord. If it is going to displace the Lord, you aren't going to get it from the Lord because it isn't good. If you want it because of greed, it isn't good. If you want it because of jealousy or envy, you're not going to get it because it isn't good. Things that aren't good weigh us down. Weighing us down is a bad thing because when you are weighed down, you can't swim. Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a huge millstone were hung around his neck and that he were sunk in the depths of the sea (Matthew 18:5-6). Why did Jesus use the example of a millstone around the neck? Because the punishment of being forcibly drowned was considered a horrific death. To use it as an example is to show how terrible a thing it was to make a child (physically or spiritually) stumble. This weighing down unto drowning is a terrible, terrible thing. That is what anxiety does. It weighs us down until we think we are drowning. Take a moment and think about your life and everything you have said in it. Have you ever said anything to someone that caused THEM anxiety? Have you ever contributed to their problems? To their worries? Have you ever left them more upset than when you arrived? Did you make them stumble into anxiety? Death and life are in the power of our tongues (Proverbs 18:21). But it isn't always our life and our death that's on the line. When we abide in Jesus, we don't need to worry about OUR anxiety. If we abide in Jesus, we won't need to be concerned we're contributing to anyone else's anxiety either. When we fight our fight and decide to put Jesus first, we walk in the Spirit under the guidance of the Word. It lights our path (Psalm 119:105). Victory becomes ours because victory is His (1 Corinthians 15:57). You know what else becomes ours? His Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). We get to operate in all of those. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I can be confident in that because the very next verse (24) says Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. Want to know what that means? Keep going through verses 25 & 26: If we live by the Spirit, let's also walk by the Spirit. Let's not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another. First we conquer our flesh in Jesus, by Jesus, and through Jesus. Once we are devoted to letting Him do a work in us, we need to walk that way. We need to walk by the Spirit. Not conceited. Not provoking. Not envying. Building each other up. Using a simple tool. Kindness. Just kindness. Therefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as you also do (1 Thessalonians 5:11). These aren't suggestions. They are extrapolations, further explanations of Jesus' own words: A second likewise is this, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself' (Matthew 22:39). It was a command. Be good to each other. Build each other up. Love. Kindness is wrapped up in that. A kind word can change your day. It can change your life. I've seen dozens of videos showing ordinary people doing simple things. Leaving a note of kindness. Saying a simple thing. Buying their coffee. Simple things that changed everything about them. Their stance. Their face. Their day. Kindness is so easy. Why don't we use it more often? Kindness can turn away wrath (Proverbs 15:1). Kindness benefits everyone, those who use it and those it is used on (Proverbs 11:17). Kindness is one of the ingredients of real love (Romans 2:4). It helps us be sympathetic, compassionate, and humble (1 Peter 3:8). It is woven through every real aspect of the kingdom. It is part of the personality of Yahweh God Almighty. We don't picture Him like that. We either picture a wrathful God or a gentle Jesus who wouldn't hurt a fly. Wrath isn't kind, it's judgment. Someone who wouldn't hurt a fly isn't kind, it's a weakness. When something is wrong, someone right can call it wrong, deal with it knowing it's wrong, and judge it for being so. Gentle people who refuse to be able to hurt anything aren't strong, they're weak. Strength is having the ability to do harm, but choosing not to. Controlling that strength is kindness. Not wielding it when you can, and only when it is right, THAT is strength. What sets God apart? He is justified in doing anything He wants. It is HIS creation. But He didn't come to judge. He CAN but that is NOT why He came. He came to save. If He wasn't interested in saving, He'd have sent angels. They are black and white and ONLY do what the Lord wants. They don't have emotions. They would strike down all disobedience because obedience is what the Lord requires. None of us would survive. Jesus came instead. Not only did Jesus come, but the Father also has kindness. Mercy. He IS mercy and thank Him that He is. Jesus modelled that. He also spoke about the mercy of His Father. Jesus knew times of judgment were coming. The time approaches that the chances are up and the time will have arrived. You know what Jesus said about that time of upheaval? Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened (Matthew 24:22). Out of kindness, the Father shortened the time. Otherwise we'd all perish. Kindness. Coming to save. Planning to save before we had the chance to disobey (Ephesians 1:4, Isaiah 48:13). That is kindness. Jesus always showed us kindness. The Father always showed us kindness. The Spirit always showed us kindness. The same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). The kindness doesn't change. Why do we? We can wipe anxiety away with kindness. We can change a person's whole day with kindness. We can change the world with kindness. If we walked in kindness all the time, everyone would want us around. If everyone wanted us around, we'd have opportunity upon opportunity to share why we are the way we are. Why we're able to be so kind. Why we're able to love the way we love. Why we are the way we are. Isn't that what salt does? You KNOW when it's in food. You KNOW when it's in drinks. You NOTICE salt. You can't avoid knowing it is there. Love it, hate it, like it, avoid it, you KNOW that it is there. We are supposed to be the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). Full of flavour and never losing what it is that makes us noticeable. Kindness. Love. Mercy. Peace. Patience. This cools the hearts of those around us (2 Peter 1:7). It de-escalates situations (2 Timothy 2:24). It helps us to help the distressed and dispirited (Matthew 9:36). It is rich stuff. Truly rich and enables us to not only keep our own hearts clear before the Lord, but help others to do the same (Romans 2:4). Even if none of that was true - although it is - it would be worth it to cultivate kindness simply because the opposite of kindness is the enemy's agenda. Everything that is counter to the enemy is worth doing. But there is no power in it without Jesus. Anyone in the world can be kind, and that kindness is a positive. But if Jesus is in the kindness, it is a heart-healing, world-opening power that nothing can match. Fight anxiety with kindness. Remembering God's kindness to us so that we can every day lay ourselves down before Him in humble brokenness. Able to choose Jesus and put the Lord God Almighty in the front of our lives when we wake up in the morning. To allow HIM to deal with all the negatives by obeying what the Word says and what the Lord says (because they will ALWAYS line up perfectly) and walk in victory in the Lord. Fight anxiety with kindness. Being kind to everyone around us and everyone we come into contact with because God was kind to us first (Job 10:12). Kind to everyone because that compassion of kindness can be a vehicle to bring miracles into their lives (Matthew 20:34). It is so simple, but we struggle with it. We are so fast with a harsh word. But the Lord will let us walk in the goodness of His Spirit, the kindness of His love, and the graciousness of the Kingdom. Not only us, but those who desperately want to know what makes us so loving, so kind, and so different. Those who start to see Jesus in you and Jesus in me. Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Ephesians 4:32. We're made in His image and in His image we are called to walk (Genesis 1:27). We're all drawn to the biggies. Healing. Deliverance. Who doesn't want to witness or be part of healing a major ill? Who doesn't want to see evil spirits cast out? Who doesn't want to see chains broken? What about spiritual experiences? Who doesn't want to see angels? Visit heaven? Feel the wind of the Spirit? See the Shekinah Glory? All that is fun and great and needed. But if we are images of the Lord God, then we should be like the Lord God. Remember that next time someone cuts you off. When someone is taking too much time in line in front of you. When they mess up your order. When they aren't listening to what you say. When they show up late. When they don't say thank you. When they take too long to do the simple thing you asked them to - or never seem to get to it in the first place. Kindness. God is a God of kindness. We are called to treat each other a lot differently than we default to. But kindness is part of the makeup of God. That means it is part of our makeup. If we aren't using it, we aren't modelling Jesus to the world. Remember, God loved you so much He made you like Him. Show it with eagerness to model kindness to the world. It can always use more of it and you'll shine like a beacon in the dark (Matthew 5:14-16). TODAY GOD LOVES THAT I _____________________________.