Give your cares to Jesus!

Give your cares to Jesus.
- Pastor Ashish Mathews

I Peter 5:7
casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Lets look at this verse in the Amplified version, Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.

Jesus is your Lord and He has commanded you to give him all your cares, worries, anxieties and concerns. Be obedient and do exactly what he says. Refuse to carry it any longer. Turn it over to Him and refuse to take it back. Refuse to touch it again. Refuse to give words to it. Refuse to pay any attention to it. When you are tempted to worry, boldly declare, "I have given all my cares, anxieties, worries and concerns to Jesus and He is taking care right now, I refuse to worry and I refuse to take it back from His hands. I choose to celebrate because Jesus is my caretaker and therefore all things are working together for my good and the best is yet to come. Thank you Lord Jesus"  Once you give your cares to Jesus, refuse to take it back. Worry is expensive because it causes stress, health problems, chaos in relationships, unhealthy habits and eventually leads to wrong decisions. Notice, Jesus didn't command us to manage worry, He said give it to me, I can handle all of it. He is Love and everything He says is for our benefit because He cares for us and love us deeply. Believe that He loves you and cares for you!

Friend, we live in a planet where worrying has become as natural as breathing. They say its common and its sensible to do so. No wonder, there has been a tremendous increase in the stress level, health problems, unhealthy habits, broken relationships and so on in our world. But, you are from another planet called heaven. You are a citizen of heaven. We don't worry, we don't manage worry, we give it all to our King, Jesus and He takes care of it. We acknowledge and celebrate the fact that our Lord has all our cares and He is working on it and its all turning out for our good.

"Because Jesus is my caretaker, I refuse to carry any worry and cares, I give it all to Jesus. Thank you Lord you are dealing with it and its working for my good. I am carefree and I enjoy my life with the Lord Jesus."

Give thanks!

Psalms 136:1
Oh, give thanks to the Lord , for He  is good! For His mercy endures forever.

God is good and His mercy endures forever. No matter what mistakes you have made in life and no matter how many times you have missed the mark, always remember God is good and His mercy endures forever.

The psalmist says give thanks to the Lord. Give thanks. Give your heart to the Lord and let him know that you are grateful for who He is and for what He does. To give thanks to God is God's will for us in Christ Jesus. Cultivate a lifestyle of thanksgiving. Once you wake up, thank Him. Before you eat, thank Him. Before the church service starts, thank Him. Before you drive, thank Him. Before you sleep, thank Him. When you fellowship with other believers, take a moment and thank Him. Look for ways to consistently thank God for He is good and His mercy and endures forever. Thanksgiving is our lifestyle and dominates our language.

Friend, when you realise all that Jesus has done and is doing for you, you can't help but thank Him. Thanksgiving is a response to the goodness of God and to the ever enduring mercy of God. Thanksgiving positions you to receive and experience more of His goodness and His mercy. Refuse to complain, refuse to grumble, refuse to be mad, be glad and thank the Lord for all things work together the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpos. Thanks be to God, who always gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ and always causes us to triumph in Christ. Give thanks and give it lavishly for He is worthy.

Switch on the light!

Psalms 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

The word of God is light. The entrance of God's word gives light. God has given us His word to teach us, to reprove us, to correct us and to instruct us in righteousness so that we may be equipped for every good work.

Your ignorance is Satan's strength. The more ignorant you are of the light of God's word, the more power Satan has over you. But the day you get the word and believe it, light comes and when you act on it, darkness flees, confusion flees. Satan is the king of darkness and He works hard to keep you from the word of the living God so that you will remain in darkness all the days of your life. When light comes, darkness flees. You see, all around the world, think about people who have absolutely no idea why they are alive, where they have come from, where they are going, what they are supposed to do here and what is right and wrong, meaning who decides what's right and what's wrong? Absolutely no clue. Just living life and following the latest trend. We don't have to live like this in darkness and confusion because we have the light, we have God's word. Everything we need to know about our origin, our destination, our purpose, our work, our life and morality is in the word of the living God. You see, His word is lamp to our feets and light to our paths.

Friend, when light comes, direction comes, understanding comes, wisdom comes, right decisions can be made. God's objective in giving you His word is to help you be supernaturally successful and prosperous. His word will make you wise. His word will expose the deception of the enemy and his people. His word will help you avoid the traps laid by the enemy and help you go higher and higher. His word will take you from glory to glory into everlasting glory. Switch on the light and Stay in the light!

Chosen, called by birth!

Galatians 1:15
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace,

Did you know that even before you were conceived in your mother's womb, you were chosen by God and called to do a specific work that He planned for you to do.

You are not an accident. You are not a mistake. You are chosen by God and called by Him. The Bible says you are God's masterpiece. There was no like you. There is no one like you and there will not be anyone like you. You are unique. You are God's best. Paul didn't know this and hence he wasted his life, doing things and getting involved in activities that he regretted later. The day he had an encounter with Jesus Christ, it changed his life and it was revealed to him that He was chosen by God while he was still in the womb and called for a specific and glorious work. Paul knew that he was valuable and highly precious to God and therefore he lived honorably and fulfilled his calling the rest of his life.

Friend, Gods choice and calling is not based on how good you are or how bad you are, you see the verse says He chose us while we were still in our mothers womb, before we did anything good or bad. Be conscious that Gods choice and calling is not based on you or your works but it's solely based on His goodness and grace. When we realise this like Paul realised it, we become serious about life and make the necessary changes so we can live in a way that honours God and fulfils his work ordained for us. This is your time. Jesus is Lord.

Ignore your senses!

II Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith, not by sight.

To walk by faith it is required of you to ignore your senses. The world calls the five senses as the 'gateway of knowledge'.

The world receives knowledge from the five senses and they live accordingly. As believers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we live and walk by a higher knowledge. You remember, Jesus asked his disciples, Who do people say that I am? They said some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, some Jeremiah and other prophets. Jesus said Who do you say I am? Peter said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus told Peter, He didn't receive this knowledge from flesh and blood or senses but he received this knowledge from His Father in heaven. There is a higher knowledge and that is the word of the living God. The word of God is the highest knowledge. The word of God is the highest authority. The word of God is the highest truth. We ignore the knowledge of the senses and receive the knowledge of the word, we believe it, we meditate on it, we prophesy it, we confess it and we celebrate it. We live according to the word knowledge.
Friend, Jesus said this knowledge is like a rock and the gates of hell will not prevail against those who build on this knowledge. We ignore the knowledge we receive from our senses, our feelings and our sight, rather we choose the knowledge that comes from heaven, the knowledge that the Holy Spirit gives us that is the knowledge of the word. Choose heavenly knowledge. Choose the word of the living God. Choose God. We walk and live by faith and not by sight.

Keep your joy and be healthy!

Proverbs 17:22
A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.

You are a spirit, you have a soul and you live in a body. The core of your being is your spirit. When the Bible talks about the heart, it's talking about the spirit which is also called the inner man and the hidden man. It talks about your spirit.

Proverbs tells us to guard our hearts with all diligence, for out of it comes the forces of life. The content and quality of our hearts will be the content and quality of our lives because out of our hearts comes the forces of life. Guard your heart! Be very careful about what you deposit in your heart because thats exactly what you will see in your life. This verse says a joyful heart is a good medicine. A joyful heart results in divine health and wholeness. The Bible says the joy of the Lord is your strength. When you make a decision to have a joyful heart, you have chosen to have a strong heart. Don't allow the devil to steal your joy. Remain in the joy of the Lord. Joy is the atmosphere of heaven. A person who carries the joy of the Lord carries heaven with him wherever he goes. He carries the strength of the Lord wherever he goes. A joyful heart affects your soul, your body, your family, your finances and every area of your life.

Friend, I encourage you to stop being mad about everybody and start laughing because Jesus is Lord and the best is yet to come. Laugh because all things work together for the good of those who love God. Laugh because Jesus has defeated Satan and he has no authority over you. Laugh because God will meet all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Choose joy. Cultivate a lifestyle of thanksgiving. Focus on the word and release the joy of the Lord for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Glory to God!

Satan's future !

Revelation 20:10
The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Satan has a terrible future awaiting him. He knows his time is short. Satan is going to be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone and he will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The Scriptures teaches us whatever you sow is what you reap. Every torment that Satan has sown and is sowing, he is going to receive the harvest in abundance. Satan knows his future and this is reason in these last days he's putting in everything he has to deceive more and more people so they can accompany him to the place of torment. Grace does not cancel the principle of sowing and reaping. Rather, grace gives you the ability to sow the right things so you can reap a great harvest. If you have sown the wrong things in the past by thinking, speaking or doing the wrong thing, listen, the day you accepted Christ, the word says you became a new creation, old things has passed away and behold, all things have become new. The blood of Jesus and the mercy of God has wiped out every wrong seed you had sown in the past and has made available his grace to you so you, through his ability can begin to sow the right things and enjoy the abundant and overflowing life he has for you.

Friend, don't be afraid of the devil, when he reminds you of your past, you remind him that you are a new creation in Christ, you have God's mercy, God's grace and that Jesus has suffered and paid for every wrong thing you had done. Remind the devil of his future and laugh. Ha Ha Ha. Your joy makes him mad. He cannot tolerate it. He has a terrible future but you have an awesome future. You are ever increasing and you will be a blessing to many, In Jesus name, Amen.