In Heaven and In Secret (Matt 6)
Hello Family of God,
Has anyone noticed the blatantly obvious about our society? Here is my observation: Over the last several decades we have systematically kicked God out of every sphere of our society and gone out of our way to declare that there is no creator God to which we are accountable. The world just seemingly sprung into being by some great big explosion, and humans have evolved from some life form and are still evolving into who knows what? We have replaced the truth of God with a lie and have ultimately been handed over to our own beliefs where we rule and reign and are the masters of our own destiny; We set the rules and determine what is right and true…not God. So, when we kicked God out of schools, societies, government and even churches, and created a god in our image, we have basically embraced the title “fool”, for ‘a fool says in his heart there is no God’! And now our society has reaped what it has sown – mental illness on multiple levels. At the top of the mental illness list is a dark plague over our land called ‘anxiety and depression’, especially affecting our young ones who have not been exposed to the one true God but are rather the product of our godless society, where everyone gets to choose their own god according to their own image. Even our image is fluid…boys can be girls, girls can be boys, or we can choose to be both or none at all – friends that is the definition of mental illness, when we can’t even agree that there are only two genders…we have lost our minds! And sadly, the church is embracing the same warped ideologies. A faithful sociologist/psychiatrist who has not been corrupted by social lies will clearly see that the breakdown of the nuclear family (father, mother and children) has a huge impact on the way our society devolves into chaos. Get rid of God, get rid of a “normal” family, and we are left with a mess of young people who have no connection, nor identity, and are desperately looking for the meaning of life, going crazy trying to find their place in this messed up world.
The world is ripe for the truth! It is the responsibility of every follower of Jesus, and every faithful local church to declare the good news available to all who will hear and receive, that there is indeed a God, who is a Father, who is in Heaven, ruler of the universe, who even cares about each one of His prized creation – every single individual human on planet earth. The solution is not to conform to social norms, and repackage the gospel in a palatable way, but to boldly declare the age-old truth that Jesus has come to set the captive free! He has come to restore sanity to a world gone mad, by dealing with the sin problem, which is really a heart problem. He has come to reveal the Father to a world that no longer believes in the necessity of fathers. That’s mercy; that’s grace! What would Jesus preach to our confused generation? The only message He ever preached, the kingdom of God! The audience all sitting on a God-made amphitheatre called a mount, He would preach the way into the kingdom starting with the Beatitudes: those who are broken in spirit, those who mourn over their sin, those who are meek and humbly surrender to God, longing to be made righteous; those who desire mercy, and have pure hearts, and desire peace – to these He would offer salvation and deliverance through His own work of redemption, and a life of obedience to God’s Law (Matthew 5). After preaching to them about turning from sin, He would offer the greatest invitation to have a relationship with Father God who is the all-powerful, all-knowing Lord of creation, in Heaven, reigning and ruling in all power and glory, who holds the world in His hands (That’s what Father in Heaven really means – Matt. 6:1). Yet, this infinitely sovereign God is also a personal Father you can have intimacy with in “the secret place” (Matt. 6:4, 6, 18). He is a true Father who knows your needs and provides; and hears your prayers and responds; and gives what is good to those who ask. He is also the One who will deal with your anxiety issues as you learn to trust Him. He supplies what is needed to the birds and the flowers and will certainly supply His children what they need, because He knows we need them (6:25-34).
What is the cure for mental illness – anxiety and depression? It’s not drugs or psychological therapy, although that may be necessary at the outset. But the real, permanent cure for anxiety is discovering that there is a Heavenly Father, who thinks you are worth more than the birds of the air (6:26). If He clothes the flowers, won’t He clothe you who are more valuable than them (6:30)? Your Father knows what you need and He is willing and able to supply (6:32; 7:11). Jesus, who is also called “Mighty God, Eternal Father”(Isa. 9:6), says “don’t be anxious, don’t worry” (Matt. 6:25, 31). And makes it clear that the cure for anxiety is faith in Father God who supplies all of our needs (Matt. 6:30). Where can you meet the Father? Where can you commune with Him and tell Him your needs? In the secret place; that special place where you and Him can have intimacy.; the place where He can assure you that He loves you, you are His child, and He will supply your every need. The world is busy chasing things, we need to be busy chasing Him (Matt. 6:32-33). He is the source of peace, the world is the source of anxiety and depression. Back to the beginning…the problem of anxiety is a faith issue – that’s what Jesus said (6:30). It’s time to put our trust in a loving Father who rules in Heaven, yet loves us enough to meet us in the secret place.
Will you meet Him there?
"Advancing the Kingdom of God by releasing Spirit-filled followers to serve Jesus in freedom and joy."
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