When I Forget God’s Goodness

When I Forget God’s Goodness

Dr. Rick Mandl - February 7, 2021

When I'm Worried About My Needs

Sermon Manuscript: Living In The Goodness Of God Message 2- When I’m Worried About My Needs
Sermon preached by Dr. Rick Mandl, Eagle Rock Baptist Church, February 6 & 7, 2021

 

 

Hey E.R.B.C. family. Great to be with you as we continue our new teaching series based on Psalm 23 called “Living In The Goodness Of God.” Today looking at what it means to be Living In The Goodness of God When I’m Worried About My Needs.

 

Today we’re just focusing on the first verse of the Psalm . . Psalm 23:1 which says . . . “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” One of the things that we ought to be reminded of as we look at this verse is that . . . It’s Okay To Want. We all have wants.

 

Those of you who voted in the election this past November. . . . I’m guessing that you the reason that you voted the way you voted was because you wanted your candidate to win. We want the economy to survive. We want this pandemic to be over We want things to get back to normal. Wants are not bad things . . .

 

There are some world religions in which in their goals, are to teach people to deny their needs and their desires and to try to get to a place where they have no wants. The Bible doesn't do that. Read through the creation story and you’ll discover that man was created with wants, and needs even before sin entered into the world. Even when the world was perfect. God created us in such a way that we needed food.

 

God didn't have to create us that way. But He did. We needed purpose. We needed relationship, right? Think of the statement that God made following his work of creation when he said. . . “It is not good for man to be alone.” What is that if it’s not a want or a need?

 

What we need to understand is that . . . Paradise was not a place without Wants And Needs. Let me repeat that . . . Paradise was not a place without wants or needs. What paradise was . . . Paradise was a place where our Wants And Needs are met in a Relationship with God.

 

This really is the key to understanding Psalm 23. And this is the difference between someone who knows the Lord as their Shepherd, and someone who does not.  Jesus, in His sermon on the Mount, talked about that relationship, that we as God’s children have with Him as our Loving Father and He said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life - whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?” (Matthew 6:25-26). “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are” (Matthew 6:27-29).

 

“And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’” “These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (Matthew 6:32-3).

 

Jesus challenged those who heard him speak - - - to think about the way they were acting when they begin to worry about things like food and clothing and daily necessities.mHe said, “I get why unbelievers would be worried about these things. I get why these things would dominate their thoughts.” And notice also, that he didn’t say, “Your heavenly Father knows you don't really need those things." He said, “When it comes to the important stuff, He knows you need it, and it's okay to want it.

 

If you don't have a job right now, if you don't have food or clothes, if your family is going COVID CRAZY from being cooped up inside for so long… if our country is divided and full of hatred… The difference between believers and non-believers is not that those things don’t concern us. The difference is that we know who the shepherd is.

 

Jesus, in verse 33 says, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and your heavenly father will give you everything you need.” If you were to sum up this section of Jesus teaching on worry in a single sentence, you could say . . . The key to meeting your Needs isn’t found in Pursuing your Needs, but in Pursuing God. Let me say that again . . . The key to meeting your Needs isn’t found in Pursuing your Needs, but in Pursuing God. Why? Because God is good . . . All the time . . . And all the time . . . God is good.. .

 

Three Truths About The Goodness Of God... Number one . . . God is the SOURCE of EVERYTHING I need. When it comes to your needs, you don’t need to look anywhere else. You don't have to look to Wall Street. You don't have to look to the government. You don't have to look to your spouse or your individual retirement account or your social security or your job. God is the source of everything I need to live.

 

Now, the key thing to understand here is that if you're going to look to something for your security. . . You need to look to something that can never be taken from you. Because if your security is tied to something that can be taken from you, then you're not secure. Think about it . . . You can lose your HEALTH. You can lose your JOB. You can lose your GOOD LOOKS. Some of you already have. You can lose your FAMILY. You can lose your LIFE. You can lose your MIND. You can lose ALL OF THOSE THINGS. That’s why the key to real security is to put your hope in something that cannot be taken from you and that is your RELATIONSHIP TO GOD. Nobody can take that away from you.

 

Psalm 23:1, the first verse of this psalm says, "The Lord is my shepherd," And then it says . . . “I shall not want.” If you were with us last week you’ll remember that we said that it’s not exactly a compliment when the Bible likens us to sheep. Sheep are incredibly defenseless animals. They have a lot of natural predators. They're not fast. They can't run. They don't have claws. They don't have teeth with sharp incisors that can bite. On top of that, they're not very smart animals. They're not very intelligent. They fall off cliffs and they get lost. . . In order to survive they really need a defender. They need a shepherd. Left on its own, a sheep's probably going to get eaten.

 

What does a shepherd do? A shepherd FEEDS, LEADS, and MEETS NEEDS. That's what a shepherd does. A shepherd leads, feeds, and meets needs. God says, "I will be your shepherd. I will feed you, I will lead you, and I will meet your needs." Now, your needs are various. Sometimes you need protection. Sometimes you need comfort. Sometimes you need encouragement. Sometimes you need a little discipline. Sometimes you need direction. As we go through this Psalm we’ll look at how God does those things for us. So First, God is the source of everything I need to live.

 

Number two, there is nothing I need that God Can’t Supply There is nothing that I need. There is nothing that you need that God can’t supply. In Philippians chapter 4 and verse 19 the Apostle Paul writes . . . “This same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 The key phrase there is . . . in Christ Jesus He’s talking to those who have that relationship. . . He’s talking to those who can call God their father, because they’ve been adopted as His children when they placed their faith in Christ. He’s talking to those who can say . . . “The Lord is my shepherd . . . . “Because that’s what you need, to be able to say “I shall not want” or “I lack nothing” or “I have all I need.” God’s goodness to you is not based on YOUR goodness, it’s based on GOD’S goodness. You don’t have to be good, for God to be good to you His goodness is based on what Jesus did on the cross.

 

A third truth about God’s Goodness is that . . . . God doesn’t want me WORRYING about ANYTHING. Worry may be the most common sin on the planet. And God tells us that it’s totally unnecessary. In Philippians 4:6 he gives us something better to do than worry, He says . . .  “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.” When it comes to the things that concern us, we’ve got two choices. We can worry or we pray.

 

Somebody once said. . . “If we spent half as much time praying, as we spend worrying, we’d have a lot less to worry about.” God doesn’t want us WORRYING about anything, but instead, praying about EVERYTHING.

 

How do we do that? How Do I Trust God For My Needs instead of worrying about my needs? Let me give you three things you can do . . .

  1. Every Day Ask The Lord To Be My Shepherd. Every day, I ask Jesus to be my shepherd. If I ask him to be my shepherd, then he's going to feed and he's going to lead, he’s going to guide, he’s going to provide. Last week we looked at John chapter 10 where Jesus says . . . "I am the good shepherd." Where he said “I know my own sheep and they know me…. Where he said . . .. “I lay down my life for my sheep." That's what he did for us on the cross. He gave his life for you. If he loved you enough to die for you, he certainly loves you enough to feed, lead, and meet your need. So you can begin each day asking him to do those things for you.

Number two, second but very important,

  1. Give Him First Place In EVERY AREA of my life. If you’re someone who has entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ you've given him first place in your life, you’ve said, "Lord, I want you to be number one," But most likely there are still different parts of your life that are not under his control. It’s like inviting "Jesus, come into your house," And you say to him ….. Lord, You've got access to the bedroom. You've got access to the bathroom. You've got access to the kitchen in my life. But when it comes to that closet over there. . . That’s where I've got all kinds of stuff hidden. That’s not yours, that’s mine! He wants to be in first place in every area of your life.


    Now if you’re wondering how you can go about figuring out what areas are not under his control.
    I’ll give you a clue. Anytime you worry, that is a warning light that that particular area of your life you have not given him first place. Any area of your life where God is not number one, you're going to worry about it. Any area of your life where God's not number one, that's going to be a source of insecurity in your life, Any area of your life that is not under the lordship of Christ, is going to be a constant source of worry and insecurity in your life. If God is not first place in ANY area of your life, you've got everything to be worried about. But very often, even after surrendering our lives to Him, and inviting him to be our Lord. We still have strongholds that we haven’t surrendered. He wants to be your Lord and shepherd over EVERY area.

  1. Trust Him For One Day At A Time. In Matthew chapter 6:34, Jesus said, "So don't worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own." He's saying don't open your umbrella until it starts to rain. Someone said . . . There are two days of every week you should never worry about, yesterday and tomorrow, because you can't do anything about them. When you worry about tomorrow's problems, you miss all the blessings of today. Some of you, you got something coming up in two weeks, or a week, or a month, and it's scaring you to death and you're making it worse because you're ruining every day between now and then by worrying about it. What is that worrying doing? Nothing positive Now I know that the future can often seem very overwhelming. God has graciously divided it up into 24-hour segments so that the future doesn’t come to you all at once. You get it 24 hours at a time. God gives it to you in 24 hour increments.


    I love the way that the Message Translation presents Matthew 6:34. It says . . . "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” Matthew 6:34

      

I don’t know what your future holds. I don’t know what my future holds. But if the Lord is my shepherd, then I do know the one who holds the future. And he invites me to trust Him with that future. Let’s ask Him to help us to do that as we turn to him in prayer. Would you pray with me?

 

Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.

 

 

Scripture References: Psalms 23:1, Psalms 23:1-6, Matthew 6:25-34

From Series: "Living In The Goodness Of God"

We live in a world that so often focuses on what’s missing. But did you know that God invites us to experience his goodnes.

God invites us to live a life without scarcity or lack. In Psalm 23 we find a compelling picture of this kind of life. Join us for our new sermon series, “Living in The Goodness of God,” as we learn how a life of goodness is available to anyone who will allow God to be their Shepherd.

Living in the Goodness of God begins January 30th.

 

How to join:
In-Person during our Outdoor Worship Service on Sundays at 11 am (for details visit: https://www.erockchurch.com/outdoor-worship)

or…

Watch online at www.erockchurch.com/live Live Stream Service Times: Saturday at 5:30pm Sunday at 9am, 11am, 1pm, 6pm Wednesday at 7pm

Sermon Notes

More From "Living In The Goodness Of God"

Powered by Series Engine