Positive Christian Motivation

Achieving Peace Through Faith and Presence - Christian Motivation

Make God's word your ultimate source of daily motivation as you tune in to this impactful episode filled with motivational messages, empowering life advice, inspiring teachings, and stories. Enjoy this remarkable blend of spiritual insights and empowering inspiration that motivates you to become the best version of yourself and nourishes your spiritual connection with God.

Duration:: 17m
Broadcast on:: 15 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

An official message from Medicare. A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs. You may be able to save too. With Medicare's Extra Help Program, my premium is zero and my out of pocket costs are low. Who should apply? Single people making less than $23,000 a year or a married couple who make less than $31,000 a year. Even if you don't think you qualify, it pays to find out. Go to ssa.gov/extrahelp paid for by the US Department of Health and Human Services. At Highland, we're all about celebrating little wins and little ways to innovate digital processes. There's no customer pain point too small for us to help with. Maybe that's why more than half of the Fortune 100 looks to Highland to connect their content and data, improve processes, and turn little efficiencies into big wins for their customers and clients. Highland, Intelligent Content Solutions for Innovators Everywhere at Highland.com. Listen to what Peter says. Give all your worries and cares to God. Why? Because he cares about you. Here's the thing. We got to give it to God. Peter gives a very simple prescription for how to overcome anxiety. It's just one word that Peter gives us. Right there in the text. He says, "Cast." Cast all your anxiety. All the things that are pulling at you, all the things that are pulling you apart, all the pressures, all the strains, all the worries, and cast them off. Peter uses a word that's only used one other time in the New Testament. It's actually used by Dr. Luke. In chapter 19, the disciples are sent to go get a cult for Jesus to write on the day that we would come to know as Palm Sunday. And look at what happens. Luke chapter 19 verse 35 says this. "They brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the cult, they set Jesus on it." I only mention this because I think it gives us such an incredible visual. They took their coats and they threw them on the cult or they cast them on the cult. It's the perfect picture for the one instruction we are given to deal with our worries, our anxieties, and our uncertainties. Take the things that are pulling you apart and cast them on Jesus. The scripture says, "Cast all your anxieties on Him." One antidote for anxiety is you have to give it to God. You can't go around carrying everything, trying to figure it all out, living in tomorrow, wondering how it's going to work out. What if my health doesn't improve? What if my company has layoffs? This family member did me wrong. I've got to fix that. You're weighing yourself down, carrying things you were never meant to carry. That's why you can feel worn out and not able to sleep at night. Do yourself a favor and start casting those anxieties. They're going to come, but if you're going to stay in peace, you have to get good at turning them over to God. The word "cast" is an action word. When you're fishing, you cast the rod. It's not a complacent underhand. Let me just toss it out there. No, you forcefully swing your arm and aggressively flick your wrist. There's action and energy. In the same way, anxiety is not going to just fall off of you. Worry is not going to go away on its own. You can't just sit back and hope that things will change. You have to do some casting. When thoughts come, what's going to happen with your children? What if your business doesn't make it? What if you can't pay your bills? The enemy would love for you to worry about things that are never going to happen. He'd love for you to miss the beauty of this day because you're so anxious about tomorrow. Don't fall into that trap. God has not failed you in the past, and he's not going to fail you now. The mark of spiritual maturity is not the ability to carry greater or more circumstances or responsibility. The mark of spiritual maturity is the willingness to cast all of those things back on Jesus. Transfer the weight and responsibility to him, and he will lift you up. Cast it on Jesus. When you cast your circumstances on him, you are making a transfer of trust. You're saying, "I'm not going to wear this weight anymore. I'm going to let Jesus wear it." The most powerful attacks are not physical, but mental. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand, and we're working to do it responsibly. Our next-gen, tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90% compared to our older designs. Working to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable, and ever cleaner. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's Energy in Progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. An official message from Medicare. A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs. You may be able to save, too. With Medicare's extra help program, my premium is zero, and my out-of-pocket costs are low. Who should apply? Single people making less than $23,000 a year, or married couples who make less than $31,000 a year. Even if you don't think you qualify, it pays to find out. Go to ssa.gov/extrahelp paid for by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. What's next? At Moss Adams, that question inspires us to help people and their businesses strategically define and claim their future. As one of America's leading accounting, consulting, and wealth management firms, our collaborative approach creates solutions for your unique business needs. We leverage industry-focused insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance. Uncover opportunity and move upward at MossAtoms.com. That's why the enemy works overtime in the mind. Anxiety, fear, worry. When anxiety attacks, often we call our friends, call our neighbor, call our parents. That's all fine, but you need to make sure you call on the name of the Lord. Call on the God who created you. Call on the God who brings dead things back to life. Call on the God who is more powerful than any force that's trying to stop you. Paul said in Philippians 4, "Be anxious for nothing." That's a bold statement. You mean we can not be anxious over the uncertainty in our future? That seems too good to be true. He goes on to tell us how it can happen. He said, "But in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be known unto God." Paul was saying, "When anxiety attacks, don't try to do it on your own. Go to God in prayer. Ask Him for His health." And nothing should you worry and everything you should pray. Too often we do the opposite. Little things should cause you to pray, not worry. Big things could cause you to pray, not worry. Paul didn't say that your concerns aren't legitimate. They're real. It's not denying they exist. Paul said, "Go ahead and make the list." Acknowledge all of it. Everything that worries you and siphons off your joy. Make the list. Then change the heading on the list. Because they're all things God can handle. You've had a tough week or trouble at home. If you're nervous about Word, your marriage is struggling. If you're unsure about the future, let's pray. Every time we worry, we should see that as an invitation from God telling us, "All right, it's time to pray." You're consumed about worry. That's my invitation for you to come into my presence and let's just talk about this. Author Tony Evans lays out this principle. He says, "The more you worry, the less you pray, the more you pray, the less you worry." Let me say that again. The more you worry, the less you pray, the more you pray, the less you will worry. You know that you're talking to the creator of all things, the one who is holding all things in his hands. So that I know that when I start bringing my prayers to the Lord, I know he can handle them. He's big enough to handle my stuff, my worries, my doubts. What do I bring to God? Paul says bring everything. Tell him what you're worried about and why it's consuming him. Tell him how it's impacting you. Cry out to him. Give him the depths of your heart. Listen, he can handle your thoughts and emotions. He can handle your issues. He can handle your messiness. You may think that what you're thinking, what you're consumed by is just petty and maybe ridiculous, but to God it's not because it's causing you to worry. God doesn't see your issues as petty. He doesn't see them as ridiculous. He says, "No, no, bring everything to me, and when you bring them, bring them with your whole heart." Now, to pray about everything means we go to God first when we're anxious. And praying about everything tells me this is a daily discipline. It is not a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Jesus taught us to give me today my daily bread. And when you pray about everything, you come, you're thinking changes. God's taking care of me yesterday. I believe he'll take care of me today. You're mindful of how good God has been. Pray about everything and thank God that he got you through. Remember what God has done for you in the past. How has God been faithful to you? How has he come? We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand. And we're working to do it responsibly. Our next-gen, tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90% compared to our older designs. Working to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable, and ever cleaner. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's energy and progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. An official message from Medicare. A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs. Maybe you can save too. With Medicare's extra help program, my premium is zero and my out-of-pocket costs are low. Who should apply? Single people making less than $23,000 a year, or married couples who make less than $31,000 a year. Even if you don't think you qualify, it pays to find out. Go to ssa.gov/extrahelp. Paid for by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. COVID-19 viruses like me change to fool your immune system and make you sick. But updated vaccines help protect you. Stay up to date on COVID-19 and flu vaccinations, sponsored by Champions for Vaccine Education Equity and Progress. I'm through. Remember when he healed you. Remember when he blessed you in unexpected ways. Remember what he's done for others. Start thanking God for everything he has done, and that builds your faith for what he will do. Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, present your request to God. And when you do that, when you replace anxiety and worry with prayer and Thanksgiving, here's the result. The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. And Paul says the peace of God stands guard over our heart and over our mind. Now that doesn't mean an absence of trials on the outside, but what it does mean is a quiet confidence within, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of what's going on with people or things. Jesus is the peace that passes all understanding. And when you have him, you'll have the answer to what you're searching for. So why did Paul say this was peace that passes all understanding? Because it's true. You can be happier with the peace of God in a combat zone than in your comfort zone. You can be happier in a lion's den with a peace of God than in a king's palace. You can be happier in a fiery furnace with the three Hebrew children and the fourth man in that fire than those cowards who are outside bowing down to the image. Many of you today don't have peace in your personal life. You don't have peace of mind. Maybe there's no peace in your marriage or relationships, no peace in your employment or workplace. Peace is precious. An ancient poet who wrote one time, heap upon other men treasures of the world. But give to me the treasure of an untroubled heart. So if we have peace, no matter what else you might lack, life can be a beautiful thing. If you're living at the end of a dirt road in a shack with peace, you've got a good life. But without peace, you can have a palace made out of gold and it's a penitentiary. Peace is valuable and precious. I've discovered when I don't pray and worship, I don't have peace. When my schedule gets busy and my priorities get out of whack, when I put off my time with God for something more pressing or important, my peace level gets low. I may not be worried about anything in particular, I just don't feel peace. When that happens, I return to the place of lasting peace in His presence. I pray until I feel peace, a settledness, an acknowledgment in my heart and mind that He is in control. I pray until I have transferred my anxiety and my worries and my cares to God that's scriptural. 1 Peter 5-7 says, "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." You can have peace in spite of circumstances. Other people won't be able to figure it out. They can't understand it because it transcends understanding. Transcends all understanding means God gives you a peace that's not natural. It's beyond understanding. It is supernatural. It's not normal peace. It's something you can't explain. It's peace in the midst of the storm. It's peace when you're taking the treatment. It's peace when you're going through a breakup. It's peace when you lost your loved one. It's peace when that person did you wrong. People will look at you. Aren't you depressed, worried, anxious? How could you be so happy, so grateful? Just tell them the peace I have didn't come from this world. It's not ordinary. It's peace for my Heavenly Father. It's peace that passes understanding. So, God commands us not to worry because it is so... it's for our own mental, physical, and emotional well-being. Corey Tenboom said, "Worry doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength." You focus on today and live today. You just got this 24 hours today. I would challenge you before you got out of bed in the morning. Just say to yourself, with David, "This is the day the Lord has made. I'm going to rejoice and be glad in it." That's all you got. May I remind you, the Lord is near. Don't be anxious about everything. But in everything, with thanksgiving, you pray. And the peace of God every day will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. An official message from Medicare. A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs. Maybe you can save too. With Medicare's Extra Help Program, my premium is zero and my out-of-pocket costs are low. Who should apply? Single people making less than $23,000 a year, or married couples who make less than $31,000 a year. Even if you don't think you qualify, it pays to find out. Go to ssa.gov/extrahelp. Paid for by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Hey, everyone. It is Ryan Seacrest here, ready to heat up your summer vacation? Get ready. Things are about to get sizzling at Chumba Casino. Your summer getting a whole lot hotter with a special daily login bonus waiting just for you. So sign up now for Reels of Fun and Reels of Prizes right here at Chumba Casino. With yours truly, join me at Chumba Casino.com and dive into a summer of Social Casino Fun. Sponsored by Chumba Casino, no purchase necessary. VGW Group, void where prohibited by law. 18-plus terms and conditions apply.