DO NOT FRET

Text:     Psalms 37:1-8

Thesis:    “Jesus Christ is the author of wholeness.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit we have symmetry, balance and rhythm in  our Christian living.”  Earl Lee

I.  Jesus Christ as Lord empowers us to live in a “cycle of

victorious living.”

A.     Jesus is the author of wholeness ~ not hurried, harried, reckless living.

1.        Jesus as our example, modeled peace and balance.

a.       Jesus was not threatened because John the Baptist had a following.

b.       Jesus was not anxious when they ran out of wine at his families wedding.

c.       Jesus was not frustrated when there was not tax money.

d.       Jesus was not alarmed at the temptation of Satan.

e.       Jesus was not fearful of the wind and waves.

2.      In Genesis 8:22 God reminds Noah of His ability to

keep the earth functioning properly:  “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

B.       The grace of God puts rhythm in our lives.  “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”  (I John 1:7)

What Rhythm!!!

II.  Fret breaks and interrupts the rhythm of God in our lives.

                A.  Fret or worry is the opposite of faith.

“Without faith it is impossible to please God.”  (Hebrews 11:6)

“All our fret and worry is caused by calculating without God.”

Oswald Chambers

B.       There is a difference between fret and tension.

1.        Tension is normal and natural in life.

Fret is defined as the following:

“To eat away, to gnaw, to gall, to vex, to worry, to agitate, to wear away.”

a.       Jesus states in Mark 4:19  “But the worries of the world...come to choke the word.”

C.       The apostle Paul lived in the cycle of victorious living.  He wrote:

§     “Do not be anxious about anything.”  (4:6)

§     “I rejoice greatly in the Lord.” (v10)

§     “I can do everything through him who gives m strength.”(v13)

§     “Rejoice in the Lord always” (v4)

§     “The peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds”

(v7)

§     “My God will meet all your needs” (v19)

§     “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.” (v12)

§     “To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever.” (v20)

(Paul didn’t write these words from a plush hotel...he was in jail.)