34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
Some people are tempted to be overcome and _________________ by their worldly possessions in the sense of wanting to hoard them and store them up, amassing them as security against some future calamity. Others spend their lives concerned about them in the sense that they ____________ continually about their scarcity; that they will be in need. But, according to Jesus, it’s the ___________ problem—our focus on worry about money and material possessions instead of ________________ on God. He’s addressing this issue of worry __________________ in this section of the Sermon on the Mount, telling us 3 times in this section of the Sermon on them mount: In verse 25, in verse 31 and lastly in verse 34, our verse today.
It’s as if He knows that we’re going to be such ___________________ in not worrying, and not letting our anxieties get ahold of us sometimes, that even when we know that God will provide for us, and that we’re seeking first the Kingdom of God, then we still need to be _________________ to keep God in His first place in our life, and rebuke worrying whenever it rears its ugly head! Even we are successful at not worrying about God’s provision for the present for a while, then immediately, our fleshly mind is going to say “Yes, but what about tomorrow”? It’s as if our flesh __________ to be concerned about the things of this world, even though it causes us suffering to worry. It’s amazing to me, the lengths we will go to in order to _____________ turning ourselves over to God and giving Him our lives fully!
for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Jesus wants to _______________ from us the burden of worrying about tomorrow, and place that burden in the hands of God—who holds all our tomorrows—who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow. Give Him some room to ________________ those things that you’re worried about between today and tomorrow. Worry is just a well-disguised ________________ to fulfill our personal quest for power over the world around us, control over circumstances, and comfort in our daily lives, instead of turning to God to ______________ us.
Have you ever thought about the fact that _____________is the tomorrow you were worried about yesterday! If we will cast all our cares on Him, because He cares for us, and simply wait on the Lord to solve the problems, then we will find that a great majority of the things that we would tend to worry about will be taken care of by God ________________ they become some insurmountable problem. So we can truly let God have our problems, trust in him, and “let tomorrow _____________ about itself”.
Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said in His model prayer in Matthew 6:11 “give us this day our daily bread” Because God gives us our daily bread, it means that we must ___________________ with Him each day to ask for our daily bread. This day-by-day existence keeps us ___________. As members of God’s family, we have direct access to our Heavenly Father through our Great High Priest, Jesus
Now, in our human nature, we want to ask God for a whole warehouse full of bread—enough to last us a lifetime, so we won’t have to ask again. See Luke 12:15-21. This foolishness is completely in line with human nature, and completely _________of line with what God wants for us. We should all remember the words of Paul to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:17-Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Remember Jesus’ warning in Luke 12:15 to Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” We need to keep asking God to Give us each day our daily bread, instead of just continually ________________ up grain.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, there is always a problem of sin in this world, and the need to earn a living by the sweat of our brow. Life in this world is a __________, because of sin. We are not to spend our time ________________ the grand total of all of the problems, trials and tribulations that may come upon us, today, tomorrow, next week and next year–If we do, it will paralyze and crush us. But Jesus encourages us to live __________ day at a time. Every day has problems. We need to address today’s ____________ of problems.
Most of us spend much of our time worried about the regrets of yesterday, the uncertainty of tomorrow, and spend too little time being _________________ with what God’s doing today! Yesterday and tomorrow are like two thieves who steal our _____________ and our concern. When you spend your time worrying about tomorrow, you withdraw time and energy from the bank of tomorrow, and end up with a ________________ burden today, and tomorrow. You’ve added to yourself a burden that you were never _____________ to carry! We can sometimes barely handle the problems that come to us today, what makes us think that we’re going to be able to handle both today’s problems AND tomorrow’s?
Although it’s o.k. to plan for tomorrow, and be prudent, we must never _____________ in our plans for tomorrow—remember as Christians that it’s God’s plan that counts, not our own. There is nothing in the Scripture which indicates that it is wrong to have a savings account, or to carry insurance. But if I am always thinking about my bank accounts or 401k’s, wondering whether I have saved enough and so on, then that is something which Jesus is ____________________about and condemns.
There are those who say that the Christian should live his life fully but should make no ________________ at all for the future. There are those that say that everything should be done completely by ___________, and by no other means. How is the work of God supposed to be accomplished, if all of the Saints are outside just waiting for manna to fall from Heaven, and not working? They won’t be able to support _______________________, much less the Kingdom of God, and their lack of prudence _________________ their usefulness for the Kingdom. So, what’s the answer? We are to be open to _________________ plan God has. For most people, most of the time, it’s going to be serving, using the gifts that God has given them, in ____________ congregations, while earning a living from their labors. But, at the same time, we must be open to ______________ God wants to do at the time. There are some times, places and situations where we ARE supposed to ________________ only by faith—to walk through by faith. And if God ___________ us to do that, then that’s exactly what we will do.
We can trust in Jesus. In John 6, after he had fed the Five Thousand men, besides women and children, by multiplying 5 little barley loaves and two small fish, and made sure that they had a grassy place to have a picnic in, and the people ate their fill, He then pointed them to the source of their provision. He said 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty. In Hebrews 13:8. The Hebrew Christians were passing through troubles and trials, and the author of that Epistle tells them not to worry, and for this reason: ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.’ He says you need not worry, for what He was yesterday, He is today, and He will be tomorrow. You need not anticipate life; the Christ who takes you through today will be the ___________ Christ tomorrow. He is changeless, everlasting, always the same; so you must not think about tomorrow; think instead about the changeless Christ.
We can trust in God. Lamentations3:22-23 22 The Lord’s acts of mercy indeed do not end, For His compassions do not fail. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. It is the mercy of God that sees what we’re going through and immediately desires to help us. God’s mercies are new every morning—there’s a brand new _____________ for each day of what God knows we need to get us through. They never run out. They never fail to meet the need. They never disappoint. They never, ever fail, because they really are new every morning and available all the time. He is the I AM. The All-becoming One, the One who becomes whatever is needed to fulfill every need and ___________ every blessing. And He can provide for you! When we focus on God first and foremost, then we find that worry simply disappears!