Matthew 6:25-34

Fear obviously produces anxiety, but it also creates chaos in our lives and even affects those around us.

• Fear stifles our thinking and actions. It creates indecisiveness that results in stagnation. I have known talented people who procrastinate indefinitely rather than risk failure. Lost opportunities cause erosion of confidence, and the downward spiral begins.
• Fear hinders us from becoming the people God wants us to be. When we are dominated by negative emotions, we cannot achieve the goals He has in mind for us. A lack of self-confidence stymies our belief in what the Lord can do with our lives.
• Fear can drive people to destructive habits. To numb the pain of overbearing distress and foreboding, some turn to things like drugs and alcohol for artificial relief.
• Fear steals peace and contentment. When we’re always afraid, our life becomes centered on pessimism and gloom.
• Fear creates doubt. God promises us an abundant life, but if we surrender instead to the

What are you afraid of–loss, rejection, poverty, or death? Everybody will face such realities at some point. All you need to know is, God will never reject you. Whether you accept Him is your decision.

The Bible tells us that God will meet all our needs. He feeds the birds of the air and clothes the grass with the splendor of lilies. How much more, then, will He care for us, who are made in His image? Our only concern is to obey the heavenly Father and leave the consequences to Him.

 On her deathbed an American author was said to have asked, “What is the answer?” Then after a long silence, she replied, “What is the question?” Whether you approach truth as something solid and knowable or hold the concept as an illusion, it seems a fitting place to start. What is the question? 

 Questions on our hearts and minds can range from cynical and devious to desperate and heartfelt. We might genuinely seek answers at certain points in our lives, while other times aiming more at testing the answerer. But this is nothing new. 

 Hearing of Solomon’s great fame and of his relation to the name of the LORD, the Queen of Sheba planned a trip to Jerusalem. With her royal entourage and queenly offerings, she brought all of the questions she wanted answered.  Whether she was coming to the king known as the wisest man in the world to test him with riddles and mysteries or coming with the hope of finding wisdom in a world of questions, we do not know. But the ancient account of the meeting in 1 Kings 10:3 reports of the queen’s interrogation and the king’s attempt at answering. “And Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain” (1 Kings 10:3).

 In a world where we aren’t always sure what the questions are, or even that the answers can be something real, their interaction is significant. Whether the queen had questions behind her questions or venom behind her questions, Solomon treated her inquiries as reverently as he treated the queen herself. And the story conveys, “She was overwhelmed”—literally in Hebrew, “there was no more wind in her” (10:5).  The quickening insight of one whose wisdom came from God took her breath away. 

 Most of us are not known for reputations of unflinching wisdom and alluring opulence like King Solomon. And the shower of questions that presently berates Christianity often comes with heated words and intimidating contexts. More often than not it seems that Christians are the ones who are left overwhelmed. And yet the directive of the one they follow remains: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). In a world of loaded questions, it’s a task that easily becomes lost in arrogance or fear, defensiveness or dismissiveness.

 When Solomon first asked God for wisdom, he asked with a knowledge of God’s greatness and an understanding of his desperate need. He was far from perfect, but he seemed to understand that his own answers would fall short. “Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong,” he prayed. “For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” (1 Kings 3:9). A Christian response to the questions on the hearts of the world—whether angry or earnest—grows out of a response to the heart of God. 

 Catching her breath, the queen left Solomon with a picture of a greater kingdom: “Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel” (10:9). The queen saw in Solomon the greatness of his God. She saw that it was his God who put him exactly where he was in life and in wisdom. And she saw in Solomon the evidence of God’s love for his servant and the people he ruled. 

 By God’s Spirit, whether the questions on our hearts and the questions of our world are known or unknown, voiced or unvoiced, we can hold in Christ an answer for the hope that is within us.    

 Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

Morning “I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.” / Song of Solomon 5:8

Such is the language of the believer panting after present fellowship with
Jesus, he is sick for his Lord. Gracious souls are never perfectly at ease
except they are in a state of nearness to Christ; for when they are away from
him they lose their peace. The nearer to him, the nearer to the perfect calm
of heaven; the nearer to him, the fuller the heart is, not only of peace, but
of life, and vigour, and joy, for these all depend on constant intercourse
with Jesus. What the sun is to the day, what the moon is to the night, what
the dew is to the flower, such is Jesus Christ to us. What bread is to the
hungry, clothing to the naked, the shadow of a great rock to the traveller in
a weary land, such is Jesus Christ to us; and, therefore, if we are not
consciously one with him, little marvel if our spirit cries in the words of
the Song, “I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved,
tell him that I am sick of love.” This earnest longing after Jesus has a
blessing attending it: “Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after
righteousness”; and therefore, supremely blessed are they who thirst after the
Righteous One. Blessed is that hunger, since it comes from God: if I may not
have the full-blown blessedness of being filled, I would seek the same
blessedness in its sweet bud-pining in emptiness and eagerness till I am
filled with Christ. If I may not feed on Jesus, it shall be next door to
heaven to hunger and thirst after him. There is a hallowedness about that
hunger, since it sparkles among the beatitudes of our Lord. But the blessing
involves a promise. Such hungry ones “shall be filled” with what they are
desiring. If Christ thus causes us to long after himself, he will certainly
satisfy those longings; and when he does come to us, as come he will, oh, how
sweet it will be!

Evening “The unsearchable riches of Christ.” / Ephesians 3:8

My Master has riches beyond the count of arithmetic, the measurement of
reason, the dream of imagination, or the eloquence of words. They are
unsearchable! You may look, and study, and weigh, but Jesus is a greater
Saviour than you think him to be when your thoughts are at the greatest. My
Lord is more ready to pardon than you to sin, more able to forgive than you to
transgress. My Master is more willing to supply your wants than you are to
confess them. Never tolerate low thoughts of my Lord Jesus. When you put the
crown on his head, you will only crown him with silver when he deserves gold.
My Master has riches of happiness to bestow upon you now. He can make you to
lie down in green pastures, and lead you beside still waters. There is no
music like the music of his pipe, when he is the Shepherd and you are the
sheep, and you lie down at his feet. There is no love like his, neither earth
nor heaven can match it. To know Christ and to be found in him–oh! this is
life, this is joy, this is marrow and fatness, wine on the lees well refined.
My Master does not treat his servants churlishly; he gives to them as a king
giveth to a king; he gives them two heavens–a heaven below in serving him
here, and a heaven above in delighting in him forever. His unsearchable riches
will be best known in eternity. He will give you on the way to heaven all you
need; your place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks, your bread shall
be given you, and your waters shall be sure; but it is there, there, where you
shall hear the song of them that triumph, the shout of them that feast, and
shall have a face-to-face view of the glorious and beloved One. The
unsearchable riches of Christ! This is the tune for the minstrels of earth,
and the song for the harpers of heaven. Lord, teach us more and more of Jesus,
and we will tell out the good news to others.

The unsearchable riches of Christ.  Ephesians 3:8

My Master has riches beyond the calculation of arithmetic, the measurement of reason, the dream of imagination, or the eloquence of words. They are unsearchable! You may look and study and ponder, but Jesus is a greater Savior than you think Him to be even when your thoughts are at their best. My Lord is more ready to pardon than you are to sin, more able to forgive than you are to transgress.

My Master is more willing to supply your needs than you are to confess them. Do not tolerate small thoughts of the Lord Jesus. When you put the crown on His head, you will only crown Him with silver when He deserves gold. My Master has riches of happiness to bestow upon you now. He can make you to lie down in green pastures and lead you beside still waters. There is no music like His music that He, the Shepherd, plays for His sheep as they lie down at His feet. There is no love like His; neither earth nor heaven can match it. To know Christ and to be found in Him is real life and true joy. My Master does not treat His servants meanly; He gives to them the way a king gives to a king. He gives them two heavens—a heaven below in serving Him here, and a heaven above in delighting in Him forever.

His unsearchable riches will be known best in eternity. On the way to heaven He will give you all you need. He will defend you and provide for you en route, but it will be at the end of your journey when you will hear the songs of triumph, the shouts of salvation, and you will have a face-to-face view of the glorious and beloved One. “The unsearchable riches of Christ”! This is the tune for the minstrels of earth and the song for the musicians of heaven. Lord, teach us more and more of Jesus, and we will declare the good news to others.

Family Reading Plan Jeremiah 51  Psalm 30