Bible study this week with Pastor Paul J. Bern will be part 2 of Luke chapter 12

The Folly of Wealth and Worrying

[Luke chapter 12, verses 13-34]

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Last week when we concluded our study of part 1 of Luke chapter 12, Jesus had just finished stating that when any of his followers are brought before the ruling authorities for their faith, the Holy Spirit will prompt them what to say and how to say it. Since Jesus' ministry was still ongoing at this time, he was prophesying about the early 1^st century church and the persecution they would endure. As you can see from reading the text, the apostles and the others all around them did not understand what Jesus meant because he was talking about the future. But just then, an unidentified man speaks up and makes a request to our Lord and Savior, and we'll begin our study right there beginning at verse thirteen.

“Someone in the crowd said to him, 'Teacher, tell my brother to divide my inheritance with me.' Jesus replied, 'Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?' Then he said to them, 'Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions.' And he told them this parable: 'The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'what should I do? I have no place to store my crops.' Then he said, 'This is what I'll do; I'll tear down my old barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, 'You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself'? This is how it will be for anyone who stores up things for himself, but is not rich toward God.'” (Luke 12, verses 13-21)

Jesus had nothing to do with earthly matters such as civil disputes like the one mentioned in verses 13-15, and our Lord and Kinsman Redeemer wasn't the least bit shy about letting anybody know about it. Jesus called the man's request exactly what it was – greed! He then used that as a teaching moment when he said to them all, “'Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions.'” Notice how our Lord didn't care about whether he offended the man or not. The truth, no matter how painful it can sometimes seem to us, reigns paramount when Jesus takes charge. And why shouldn't he take charge? He's the Son of the living God, so calling out evil in any of its forms is not only his job, it's his calling too! His teaching subject here is greed and materialistic people, and why they're both morally wrong. He then cites an example of what he means.

The “Parable of the Rich Fool”, as the Bible calls it, is a lesson on establishing proper priorities in our lives. Notice the parable Jesus told the apostles and the crowd around them, and how the wealthy old fool's perfect human logic was his Spiritual undoing. As Jesus relates this little story of his, a certain farmer who had had a large bumper crop had been blessed with so much he didn't know what to do with it all. So he makes a wrong choice by building bigger barns, assuming he will have a long and prosperous life thanks to his success. He does things his way without bothering to consult the Lord in prayer about it as he should have. This farmer should have sold off as much of the excess as he could and given a generous portion to the poor and needy before storing the remainder. Instead, he thought of only himself, and he then dies in his sleep on the very night his new barns are completed. How pathetic! This, my dear readers, is the folly of being materialistic for one thing, and it also shows how making assumptions can back fire on anybody in the worst possible way, and always at the worst possible moment, when it comes to our relationship with God through Christ!

“But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself'? This is how it will be for anyone who stores up things for himself, but is not rich toward God.” Death often comes without warning, very suddenly. It is therefore imperative that we live our lives as if each day will be our last. Reject materialism! Despise the pursuit of wealth and goods for their own sake, and call out those who love these things! Make a stand against greed in all its forms and those who promote it as if greed were some kind of virtue. You know; like large multinational corporations and governments? Place your faith only in the blood of Jesus, which was shed on a cross for you and I. It's the only thing that lasts, and it's the only thing that doesn't get left behind when we die. Even when the blood of Jesus is all we have, the blood of Jesus is all we need. And now let's move on to the 2^nd part of our study, beginning at verse 22.

“Jesus then said to his disciples, 'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what will you wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very thing, why do you worry about the rest? Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, oh you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you as well.” Luke 12, verses 22-31)

“....do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what will you wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.” Does this mean it's a sin to worry? While a certain level of concern for our safety and well being is normal, Jesus was talking about those who worry excessively or compulsively about money and material goods, not to mention investments and debts of all kinds. If any of those who have a lot of investments, for example, worries constantly about them or spends their days stressing out over a bunch of money that we will leave behind when we die anyway, then all their worrying is pointless, to put it simply. “Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very thing, why do you worry about the rest?” There's more to our lives than our money, our houses and everything in them, or our cars and other possessions, not to mention our careers. Our relationship with Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives should always have the highest priority. Everything else comes second, including our careers and our spouses.

“Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, oh you of little faith!” Quit worrying about your clothes, especially concerning whether they are in style or not! If you need clothes but can't afford them, try buying at least some of them from thrift stores. If that offends anyone, they have too much pride and those individuals need to correct that, whomever they may be. Pride gets in the way of our relationship with Christ, and if pride is in the way then our faith has become compromised. It won't cost us our salvation unless pride gets completely out of hand, but our walk with Jesus throughout out lives will be more distant and Spiritually diminished. Who wants that!

“And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after such things, and your father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you as well.” Quit worrying about all that stuff, it's a waste of time! If we all had sufficient faith, we would already know that our needs will be provided for in advance. It's not our job to know exactly how this will take place, so stop worrying about that, we can't control it anyway! You can be absolutely sure about this – the Lord God Almighty will supply all your needs, and his timing is always perfect! But this does not necessarily mean we will get everything we ask for, but if our requests and prayers are in line with God's will for our lives, we will receive all we need. Not always everything we want, mind you, but we will get all our needs met, and that includes the state of our stomachs as well as the state of our wardrobes. And now let's have a look at the last part of our study, starting at verse 32.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to bring you the Kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and where no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, your heart will be also.” Luke 12, verses 32-34)

“Seek His kingdom,” Jesus had just said, followed by an encouragement, since seeking God directly was unheard of until our Lord and Savior came along. 'Don't be afraid to approach God', Jesus was telling them, 'because he will be happier to see you than you can possibly imagine'. But what did Jesus mean by “little flock”? Was he comparing the crowd around him to farm animals? Not at all! This was a reference to the 23^rd Psalm (“he leads me to green pastures, besides still waters”, and, “his rod and his staff comfort me”), but he apparently left its interpretation up to his apostles and the crowd of listeners and followers who were gathered around him. But then he said something whose interpretation is abundantly clear. “Sell your possessions and give to the poor.” Of course, today we have charities large and small that will gladly take our donations, but this was not the case in Jesus' time. Unneeded items were either given away to someone the owner knew or they were thrown out. The whole idea of giving to complete strangers was not all that popular up until the time of Christ. Today, with so many people in serious economic distress, all of us need to step up our efforts to care for those less fortunate than ourselves.

“Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and where no moth destroys.” If anyone wants to store up treasure for themselves, stash it all in heaven where no one can get to it. Don't worry about that, either – God lives there, and there's a multitude of angels guarding all that treasure that people like ourselves have been storing and will continue to store up for the rest of our lives and all eternity. As before, none of us has any reason to be fearful about our stuff, our homes or apartments and everything in them, or about transportation or even whether you own a car or not (personally, I don't own one). God is still seated on his throne, and he's not going anywhere – forever!! Moreover, Jesus is there waiting for us, for all who call upon his name, and the only time he will leave that place is when he comes to take us home – all of us who worship him in Spirit and in Truth. So let's anticipate this day, which is coming soon, and which will arrive at an unexpected time. Therefore let's make ourselves ready to be received by Him. At that moment is when we'll all know it was worth the wait! And next week we'll move on to part 3 of Luke chapter 12.

The Video Mainstream News Absolutey Does NOT Want You to See!!

Getting Rid of Worry, Stress, and Anger

Why Worrying Is A Complete Waste of Time

by Rev. Paul J. Bern

For this week's commentary I want to write about Matthew chapter six, and with good reason. I have been noticing for some time now that there is much speculation on many alternative media websites, as well as social media (particularly You Tube) about the end of the world, the “rapture” of the church, and the timing and commencement of World War Three. There are also many other related things being discussed, such as the so-called “New World Order”, which is actually the coming of the Antichrist prophesied about in the books of Revelation, Daniel and Zechariah, among others. We all have a choice – we can either waste time worrying and growing more frustrated waiting for things to get better, or we can take a proactive approach and take charge of the situation and fix it ourselves – God willing, of course. We can either sit around and serve time waiting for things to improve, or we can make the time available serve us. Life has taught me that chilling out and hoping things get better is little more than a cop-out because it's tantamount to taking the easy way out. Anybody can do that, but being lazy and idle, or feeling defeated, will only make our situations worse. The current state of affairs of the US middle and working classes is only one example of many that applies here.

Worrying about being under-employed or unemployed, or of being caught in the ongoing economic vise of falling wages and rising prices while temporarily being unable to do anything about it, isn't going to solve anything for anybody. But I can truly say without hesitation that I can definitely empathize with those who are going through this economic calamity we're all experiencing. Having been there once myself, I know what it's like to be unable to find work despite being very qualified and experienced, even to the point of becoming homeless. The ultimate outcome for me was retiring early and going on disability, which I resisted at first until it finally became my only choice. It was an ordeal that I wouldn't wish for anyone to go through, even my worst enemy. Did I worry while all that was happening to me? Of course I was! But God used that very thing to teach me patience as well as new ways to prioritize my life and the things within it. And, it turned out that it was a lesson I needed to learn. God didn't allow me to go through a period of homelessness in my life to punish me. He did it to strengthen me, to build me up, and to make me a better person, and I'm glad He did!

There are many dramatic and sensational things on the Internet currently – the possible collapse of the dollar, the criminalizing of homelessness, rampant joblessness, the Occupy and 99% Movements of which I am proud to be a part, and the daily reminders that the Middle East situation as it currently stands could explode into all-out war at any moment. Then there is the more far-out stuff people worry about, such as claims of space alien contact, or the wild speculation about the planet “Nibiru” (which, while it appears to exist, is currently somewhere between Neptune and Pluto. In a worst case scenario it's more than 250 million miles away from earth, or halfway to Jupiter, at its closest approach!), and let's not forget the insistence that the world was going to end on December 21^st, 2012, while we're at it! Then again, there are millions of good people out there who have real stuff to be greatly concerned about, such as being unable to find suitable work – or any work at all – or who may be facing the loss of a vehicle and a home, or the breakup of a family, as a result of long-term unemployment. 

 

If people waste time worrying about this and all other things over which we have little control, is it any wonder that so many people take anti-depressants and mood-stabilizing drugs? Is it any wonder that 100,000 people per year die from accidental drug overdoses? Is it any wonder that substance abuse of all kinds runs rampant? Is it any wonder that 35,000 people per year die from drunk driving accidents in the United States alone? It's time for us all to pause for a moment and take a deep breath and then slowly exhale. See? That's not so bad. Now let's all take the next step together, and put all this into perspective from Jesus' point of view, which is the only one that really counts. I can sum it up in 6 little words. Worrying is a waste of time. It's just a colossal waste. This sounds simple enough, but it can be hard to do in the world in which we live today. It is easy to get stressed out by all the things going on around us. The cure for all this can be found in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 6, verses 25 through 34.

“Therefore 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? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or stow away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 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, oh you of little faith? So do not worry, saying 'what shall we eat', or 'what shall we drink', or 'what shall we wear'? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”. 

 

There is plenty to worry about in life, and all to varying degrees. We take a chance every time we drive a car, or even when we simply step out of our homes. The chances of being in a traffic accident are much higher then, say, being in a plane crash or struck and killed by a meteorite falling from the sky. Worry is based on fear of the unknown. It is one of the most basic human emotions. But worry and stress can be brought under control by using the methods that Jesus taught from the scripture I quoted above. “Therefore 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?” The message Jesus was giving us here is that we need to prioritize correctly and understand what is most important. We can stop worrying when we start getting what is most important in its correct order in life. Jesus is putting first things first. Life is more important than food. Better to be alive and hungry than to be dead. Jesus goes on from there: ”Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” To call this 'Spiritual common sense' would be a major understatement.

Worrying is useless! Stressing out is pointless! There is documented medical evidence that this is so. This is not merely my opinion. Worry raises your heart rate, your respiration and your blood pressure. Stress and worry can give you a heart attack or a stroke. I should know, I was fortunate enough to survive a stroke ten years ago, but I learned my lesson well. I can truthfully say that I am at a point in life where I just don't let things bother me like I did when I was younger. Doing so can only make each of us die a little younger, so why go to such trouble? Worry is a completely negative emotion. Negative emotions produce negative symptoms like anxiety or anger. Anxiety produces all kinds of ailments including physical, emotional/psychiatric and spiritual. Anxiety and worry can make you go crazy. They can literally make you sick. The thing to do instead is to replace all the negativity associated with worry (or anger) and turn it into something positive. There are those who may say, “That's easier said than done”, and they'd be correct. But when we take the anxiety, the worry and the stress in our lives and replace them all with the exhilarating peace of Christ, we come to an understanding that worrying can't change the outcome of anything. The apostle Paul wrote that the peace of Christ was “a peace that surpasses all human understanding” (see Philippians 4:7). Once we occupy ourselves with the task of attaining this Peace – and yes, it is definitely a reachable goal – you will find that the worry and stress you've been suffering from for God-knows-how-long, is suddenly not worth the time it's been taking up. There are simply not enough hours in the day to be bothered with one single minute of worry, stress and anxiety. Instead of making things better, they hold us back.

But what did Jesus say to do instead? “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these other things will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:33). We need to get our priorities straight. God first, above all else. If we're not taking this crucial first step then we are missing the mark. This means letting go of our hatreds, our fears, our anger, and our irrational need for material possessions. Why do we need a bigger house, a newer car or new clothes? Remember what Jesus said: “Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor stow away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Indeed we are, in God's sight! Just knowing this can alleviate a lot of stress and worry, and it turns anger aside. For example, does it scare you to think about what might happen if things in your life were to get completely out of control, even through no fault of your own? Hey, that's normal for a lot of people, and it's nothing to be ashamed of. The key is to learn to let go of our pride and the notion that it's up to us to solve all our own problems, and to let go and let God take charge. He can do so much more than we can anyway, provided we allow Him to work through us instead of trying to do it all ourselves.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”. This is what I call the pure genius of Christ. Worrying is pointless and counterproductive, that's what Jesus is saying. You may not hear much of Jesus being spoken of as a genius, but it's the truth. Jesus wants us to stop worrying about things that don't matter and to focus on the things that do. He wants us to not be anxious or stressed out about things that may be beyond our control. The things that matter the most are the things that matter to God. The things that matter only to us are the things that matter the least to God. Don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Instead of worrying about bad things happening, take whatever steps you need to take to make sure good things happen in their place. That's how we keep in mind that God is in charge. It's all about correct spiritual priorities.

The apostle Paul wrote in Romans chapter eight, “If God is for us, then who can be against us?” This is the ultimate antidote to worry and fear. We really need to stop being so fearful, especially when it is to the point where fear prevents us from becoming all who we are meant to be. Fear can actually prevent us from succeeding and can hold back our development as individuals. That's why replacing worry with the peace of Christ is a crucial first step towards banishing worry from our lives for good. I have simply made up my mind to stop wasting time worrying and to start living well. God has already given each of us the power to do the same. To tap into this power, just follow the example of Christ. To learn how to do that, get a Bible and start reading it. All the answers are right there. (For those readers who don't own and can't afford a Bible, you can download them free of charge, just search “Bible free download”) Knowledge of God, wrote King Solomon in the Book of Proverbs, is the beginning of all wisdom. So if you want to be smarter or if you simply want to enrich yourself, the Bible is the best and only place to start, and reading our Bibles is the cure for worrying.

Worry is a disease that eats us up inside and keeps us from growing. We waste our time worrying about whether something bad is going to happen or not. In 99% of the cases it turns out that what we worried about never occurs anyway. We can all fight worry with anticipation. Follow Christ's example by anticipating the future as a series of opportunities, expecting a positive outcome rather than fearing a negative one. You will be pleasantly surprised at the difference this makes. Besides, anticipating the future in a positive way is so much more fun than sitting around worrying about the opposite. Banish worry from your life today! It's an important first step towards personal growth in Christ. Follow Christ's example and He will guide you, pray for guidance and your prayers will be answered. Keep this in mind in your everyday living and live without worry. It improves your quality of life immeasurably.