Creflo Dollar - No More Worries
If you have your Bibles this morning, go with me to the book of Matthew chapter 6, Matthew chapter 6 and verse 25. Let's look at it in the New Living Translation. Matthew chapter 6 and verse 25. And let's talk about how to become free from worry, how to defeat worry. Everybody in here will always have a temptation to worry about something. Sometimes that happens right before you go to bed, and something will come to your attention and try to rob you out of your rest and rob you out of your sleep.
So, we all will have a potential to worry all the time. I'm not trying to say to you that that potential is going to no longer be a part of your life, but how you confront that potential, how you confront the temptation to worry, and to carry it, and to allow it to become a burden in your life is entirely different for the Christian who knows his God, amen?
So, Matthew chapter 6 verse 25 says, and I'll read out of the NLT if you can put that on the screen, so we can all see it. He said, "That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life". Man, isn't that the truth? "Not to worry about everyday life, whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear". I mean, we're too blessed to be stressed, seriously. It's like some of the stuff that we're stressing over, if you would go to other countries, they don't have nowhere near that opportunity to have the things you have. He says, "Whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food and your body, and more than clothes"?
Look at what we've reduced life to. And it's more than that. It's more than food, it's more than clothing, it's more than drink. We've got to make sure we kind of redefine life. We can get caught up in all of these things that people call life, but I like to define life as, you know, I believe life is a sum total of who you spend it with. That's why what happens when somebody dies in your life, it seems like a piece of you left. That's kind of the truth. It's a sum total of who you spend it with.
Life is so much more than the stuff and the things, and if you can get them, praise God for them, but you can't allow those outside things to, you know, define life for you. It's relationship, it's your relationship vertically with God, and then your relationship horizontally with the people that you spend time with. My life is a sum total of who I spend time with. And that's so, so very important. And somebody says, "Well, now, I know where the worrying come from. I'm spending too much time with Frank". Well, baby, who is Frank? "My husband". No, man, but life is more than those things.
And look at verse 26, Matthew 6:26, we're gonna read all the way down until I say stop. He says, now, he says I wanna show you something. "Look at the birds". He says I wanna teach you a lesson, and I wanna use the birds. "Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them". Wow, they're dependent on the heavenly Father. "And aren't you far more valuable to him than the birds", amen? Look at verse 27: "Can all your worries add a single moment to your life"? Twenty-eight: "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".
Now, you know, yesterday we were in New York getting ready for service, and it felt like 113 degrees. And I wasn't trying to wear nothing I had in the closet. So, I went to Target and got me a short-sleeved shirt. I'm not worrying about what somebody will think about that short-sleeved shirt, why? I found me a pair of... what kind of material that was? It was linen, linen breeze. The shirt was a short-sleeved shirt, I mean, we hooked stuff together, and I know some people who just, "Well, I just ain't going to church then". Really, is it that big of a deal?
That's one of the reasons why we're trying to dress differently, so it will be okay that you come to church any way you can come to church. Y'all know there was a time when I wouldn't come to church without my three-piece suit on, but now there are some times I'll walk right out the house with whatever I got on and preach. Has that become a big concern? And now, it's no longer clothing, now you're concerned about your eyelashes, now you're concerned about your weave, your unit, now you got so much to be concerned about. Do these shoes go with that one? How this make me look? Do I need newer Spanx, because these don't seem like they're squeezing me in like it used to? It's just so much. And how do we allow God to get caught up into all of that?
Now, ladies, don't you get mad, I'm feeling something coming from the congregation. He says those lilies don't work or make their clothing. Look at the next verse, 29: "Yet Solomon, in all of his glory, was not dressed as beautiful as they are". God took care of them. Look at this, "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"?
Now, this is not talking about the size of your faith, but why is it that your faith in God doesn't last long? Why is it so small? You know how you have a burst of energy? Why was it a burst of energy instead of, you know, lasting a while? Why is it that your faith is so short? For the most part, why is it that we can come to church and have faith, and as soon as we leave and something happens, it's gone? Why is it so little? Thirty-one: "So, don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat?' or, 'What will we drink?', or 'What will we wear?'"
Sometimes you just gotta just kind of pull it in, like, "Dude, why am I complaining? I am too blessed to be complaining and worrying about this. It's gonna be alright". Because you can allow the circumstances around you to just kind of impact your life and how you're thinking. You gotta learn how to be happy. Sometimes you gotta get up and say, "Lord, show me how to live today, show me how".
Some of y'all get up with the same worry that you went to sleep on, and you wake up, and you continue in it, and you gotta let it go. There's too much living to do to be worried about something that's so insignificant to where your life is concerned. You need Jesus, so you can inhale and exhale, amen? But some stuff, you just need to be, "You know what? It'll be alright. It'll be alright". Alright, this is the driest chicken I've ever seen, but you know what? You know, man, I got $20, I can go and get me some chicken. It's not that big of a deal. You understand what I'm saying?
Watch this, "So, don't worry about these things, saying, 'What we shall eat?' or, 'What should we drink, or eat, or wear?'" Thirty-two, I love this, "These things dominate", here it is, it dominates the thoughts of unbelievers. "But your heavenly Father already knows all of your needs". Unbelievers are dominated with these things. My prayer is that it not become a part of your life as a believer. He says your Father already knows all your needs, thank you. Thirty-three, so, what do I do first? Let's seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, "And he will give you everything you need".
Now, I'll say it like this. Know that Jesus has already made you righteous, and pursue Jesus, pursue Jesus. Now, it's important that as Christian people that we know the difference between real belief and when we're just saying something out of our mouth, and it hasn't happened yet. How do you authenticate when you really believe God? I mean, when you really believe in God.
Let me show you something here. Go to Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 3. Now, worry is fear-based. Worry is based in fear. There's something I'm afraid of. I'm anxious about something, not too sure about something. It's fear-based, what's the motivation behind your worry? What are you afraid of? What's the motivation behind your worry? What is it that you're doubting? What is the motivation behind your worry?
Alright, now this is so important. Look at the first line here, Hebrews 4:3, let's read it out loud together, ready? Read, "For we which have believed", stop right there. We who believe enter into the rest. So, you in rest is going to authenticate your belief. Because if you say you believe, then you ought to be at rest. Remember how we defined rest. Rest is not defined as inactivity, rest not from work, but rest in work. In other words, you do what you do, but you're not stressing while you're doing it.
Now, y'all know I got to explain that, because, you know, some of us, when I mention the word "rest", and you ain't got no job, and I'm like, "Why are you at home"? "Well, Pastor Dollar said we should rest". Now, I don't mean rest from work, I mean rest in work. In other words, when you do what you're doing, but you're not worried or stressed out while you're doing what you do, you are resting in work. It's not resting in inactivity, it's resting with a peace and a confidence that you know that you know that all is well. When you are at rest, your rest authenticates your belief. I believe, therefore, I'm at rest.
You can tell somebody who really believes, they're at rest. They're at rest. The doctor told them, "Well, you have some incurable disease", and you get in the Word, and you find out the finished works of Jesus, and you believe you're already the healed, well, praise God, you're at rest. And you're not working to try to get something that's already been given to you. You're working for one reason only, ladies and gentlemen, you are working to stay at rest. Because when you stay at rest, that's when you're gonna see God's best. And if you want God to work for you, you're gonna have to stay at rest, because while you're resting, he's working. But if you start working instead of resting, then he's gonna rest and let you work.
How many of you know you need God working for you, amen? You know, this whole deal around work, let me show you something in John 6 verse 28 and 29 in the New Living Translation. John 6 verse 28 and 29, you know, we're always somehow thinking, "I need to work in order to get God to do something. I need to work in order to get healed. I need to work in order to be delivered". And I agree with you, but now we need to find out what the work is.
What does it mean when he says work? Let's read it in the King James and then the New Living Translation, because we still have this attitude, "I just can't believe I can receive something the way you're talking about. You're talking about just believing God, I mean, I got to do something", and that's your biggest problem, and that's where a lot of your worrying comes in, because you're having to trust what you do to make this happen. And then, you gotta ask the question, "Am I doing enough to make this happen"? And then you're performing to try to make some stuff happen. Look what he says here. "Then said they unto him, 'What shall we do that we might work the works of God?'" They were seeing a lot of powerful things happening, and they wanted to know what do we need to do, so we can see God working like this in our lives?
And look what he said in verse 29, he said, John 6:29, here's the work I want you to do. He said, "Jesus answered and said unto them, 'This is the work of God,'" pay attention to this, ladies and gentlemen. "This is the work of God", what is the work of God? "That you believe on him who he has sent". So, when we talk about work from a New Testament perspective, he says this is the work of God. This is the work of God. It's not you working to try to get healed. It's not you working, watch this. It's not you working to try to get peace, it's believing on the one that he sent.
Look at this in the New Living Translation now. In verse 28 he says, "They replied, 'We want to perform God's works, too. What should we do?'" Listen to this in verse 29, he said, "Jesus told them, 'This is the only work God wants from you, believe in the one he has sent.'" This is the only work that God wants from you, boy, that's powerful. This is the only work that God wants for you. So, while you're going around trying to figure out how all of this stuff you're doing is gonna translate into rewards from God, don't forget what he said. The only work I want you doing is believing in the one that I sent to you. Man, that's powerful.
So, I sit back, and I say, "You know what, God? I believe in Jesus Christ. I see my healing through Jesus Christ". And, you know, some people think, "Well, that ain't nothing". See, to authenticate that belief is gonna be now also showing you the work to stay in rest. If I say I believe and he said this is the work I want you to do, I want you to believe. This is the work I want you to do, I want you to believe. This is the work I want you to do, I want you to believe. Well, it's not belief if you hadn't found yourself in a place of rest. That is the authentication of your belief, rest, and he says in Hebrews 4, "Labor to enter into the rest".
Pull that Scripture up, guys. Labor not to get rich, labor not to get healed, labor to enter into the rest, because if you are in the rest, then what's finished is gonna show up in your life. Are you understanding what I'm saying? If you're in the rest, then what is finished is gonna show up in your life. Look at this, Hebrews 4:3, let's read down a little bit and then I'll get going here today. Labor to enter into the rest. Don't labor to try to get something from God that he's already given you, labor to rest and showing the authentic belief that you have.
You know, the number-one fear that Satan wants to put on Christian people who are believing like this, he wants you to be afraid that what he promised you won't come to pass. So, when you read the Scripture, and you see it's the finished works of Jesus, then the enemy's coming to your mind and say, "What if that's not true? What if that doesn't come to pass"? That's the number-one fear of the devil. The number-one fear of the devil towards Christian people is to be afraid that what God promised won't happen.
So, worry is fear-based. Worry is fear-based. It comes as a result of you saying, "Well, you know, I wanna believe, but I really don't believe", and you can tell it, because you're not at rest. You can tell it, because you hadn't entered into that rest. You can tell it, because you're worried, you're still stressed out, you're still trying to work to try to make this thing happen, and we've not learned how to enter into that rest. There still remaineth a rest, and we're not entering into that rest. And when you hadn't entered into the rest, you're demonstrating. That is the proof, that's proof that you don't believe.
Look at this, verse 4, Hebrews 4 and 4, let's read on down. He says, "For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, and God did rest the seventh day from all his works". Now, this is an illustration of the sabbath. Jesus is now the sabbath in the New Testament, and we rest in Jesus, amen? But he's trying to show you that on the seventh day, God ceased from his works, he ceased from his labor. Now, watch this, verse 5, he says, "And in this place again, if they shall enter into my rest", verse 6, "Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached enter not in".
Now, notice how you don't enter into the rest. They enter not in because of what? Unbelief, they didn't enter in because of unbelief, unbelief. That's fear-based. You're not resting because you don't believe, that's what he's saying. You've not entered into the confidence and the peace of knowing that it's already done and it's already finished because you just don't believe it. And when you just don't believe it, you're in fear. That's the fear that Satan wants to put on every believer. And when you tolerate fear, you contaminate your faith. And you cannot contaminate your faith walking around in fear.
Do you know fear at the moment you're fearing is not even real? You are afraid of something that's not even real. It's something that showed up in your head, it ain't even real. And then you go panicking, you know what panic is? It's groundless fear, there's no ground to be afraid. You're afraid of something that has not even manifested. You're afraid of something that has not even been done yet. Because the enemy doesn't want you to believe what's already done. He don't want you to believe what's already been manifested, praise God. He wants you to get an unbelief and walk in the fear of something that ain't even real. Think about it for a moment. You're afraid that you might lose your job. You got a job right now, losing your job ain't even real right now. It's just a thought that has come that said to you you're gonna lose your job. Yeah, but God said, no, no, don't believe what God said, look at how they were acting.
Nobody didn't speak to you today, and you are now yielding power to bring to pass something that ain't even real, but fear is the fate of the devil, and if you tolerate fear, you'll contaminate faith, and yield power and resources to bring to pass something that didn't even exist until you started fearing it. And that's what worry is. Worry is negative meditation on the wrong thing. Negative meditation on the wrong thing. Spending so much time and so much resource meditating on the wrong thing. "Oh, but what if something happened to my kids"? "Oh, but what if I lose that"? or, "Oh, but what if I don't get that"? or, "Oh, what if Frank doing something to me"? or, "Oh, where is Suzie and who kissin' on Suzie cheek"? And, "Oh, Lord, have mercy, look at what they said about gold, it's going down and I done bought all this gold, what I'm gonna do with it"? You're in fear.
Part 2
If you have your Bibles, once again let's go to the Book of Matthew chapter 6:25 through 30. I want to continue talking about no more worries. I don't know, for some reason I thought since I preached on it one time that people would stop worrying, and it seems like everybody I bumped into this week has some worries. And you have to understand that the enemy has a purpose for trying to amplify things in your life so that you can start worrying about things because worry can become a blessing blocker. It's not because God will refuse to do anything for you. He's finished it. But a lot of things that we have access to under the covenant of grace has to be received by faith. By faith I got to believe I receive it. Amen.
I said by faith I got to believe I receive it right now regardless of what's going on. Grace is not going to make you have something. That makes sense? "Well, I'm on the grace and no matter what I think God's going to make me have it". No, you got to receive what has already been made available to you. Amen? Grace is your positive response to what Jesus has already done. So how are you responding to what has already been done? How are you responding to the finished works of Jesus Christ? And all worry tries to do is to impact your response to what Christ has already made available. If you understand that, say, "Amen".
All right, let's read this out loud together. Verse 25. Ready? Read. "Therefore I say unto you, 'Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body more than raiment?'" Now, let's look at this in the New Living Translation. Verse 25. I'll read the rest of it in that translation, the New Living Translation. It is not God's will for you to live life out of worry. It is not God's will for you to live life out of stress.
As I was getting ready this morning, the Spirit of God showed me there's a bottom line to worry. I say, "Yes, fear". He says, "No". There's a bottom line to fear, and I saw it. It's condemnation. People ask, "Why are y'all so aggressively preaching the gospel of grace"? Because we're trying to get you out of condemnation because condemnation becomes the base or the foundation for fear, and fear becomes the foundation for stress and worry. And when you can get to that place of stress and worry and not understand it enough to get out of it, then it will cause you to in a sense block out what you believe and you're not believing the way you really think you're believing.
The worst deception you can walk in is self-deception. I don't want you to be deceived in thinking you believe in something when the evidence is not there, all right? Now watch this. He says, "That's why I tell you not to worry about everyday life". Bam. Now, how many of you are not worrying about everyday life? Don't you raise your hands up. No, no, no, no. You might not worry today about, but we've all have had the potential to worry about everyday life.
Now I want you to get to the point where it can knock on the door but you don't answer it. Amen? And I don't want to get too super out there because, you know, I want to try to stay on the place where I can relate with everybody so to be easy for you to cross over. I don't want to get up here and tell you, "Well, you know, praise the Lord. As the pastor, I don't worry about anything". That's a lie in the link and your breath stink kind of stuff.
You know, there's some times when I allow for worry to come in and I have to catch myself and say, "Wait a minute. Do you believe God"? Okay? And so some of you are, it's Sunday and you're at church and I'm talking about worry, and I'm sure it sounds really awesome for you to be able to say, "Oh, praise the Lord. I don't worry about anything". And I'm worrying about you being a liar right now while you're saying that. And so he says, "That's why I tell you not to worry about everyday life".
How many of you know, everyday life is something, isn't it? Everyday life is pretty interesting, and it's getting very interesting in our country. And it don't take much to cause you to be tempted to worry. Just turn the television on or go to Instagram or Facebook or all other things. And he says, "I tell you don't worry about everyday life".
Now there's a reason why you're not to worry about everyday life, and I'm going to use this phrase throughout this sermon today. It's because God's got you. Turn to two people and say, "God got you. God got you". So I don't have to worry because God's got me. And when worry knocks on the door, you remind yourself, "God's got me". He says, "Whether you have enough food or drink or whether you have enough clothes to wear, isn't life more than food for your body". Is more than clothing, is more than, you know, worrying about what you're going to eat?
Now hold on a minute. Those are pretty hot items: food and clothing and water, what you're going to drink. You know, I understand you come up saying, "Well, the Bible says you don't have to worry about that". Yeah, that's easy when you got food in the cabinet. But when you ain't got no job and you ain't got no food in the cabinet, "You know, I hear what you're saying, don't worry, but, you know, you tell me your testimony about how you didn't have no food and somebody bought food and knocked on the door just in the nick of time. I'm kind of scared because I don't know that many people and they don't know what I'm going through. Nobody might not knock in my door".
So the temptation to worry is real, but God's got your back. Amen. So he said in verse 26, the New Living Translation, he says, "Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them". This is awesome. The heavenly Father has experience of taking care of his creation. And he says, "Aren't you far more valuable to God than the birds are"? The answer there is yes. 27, "Can all your worries add a single moment to your life"? No. 28, "And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work, they don't make their clothing". Amen. "Yet Solomon in all of his glory was not dressed as beautiful as they are". 30, "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"?
Now, he's not talking about the size of your faith. He's talking about why is it that one day you can believe God and the next day you don't believe God. Why is your faith short? It's like having a short burst of energy. Why do you have a short burst of faith? Why is your faith short or little it lasts little? Here I'm about to build your faith up; but the question is, how long will it last before you go back to worrying again and kind of forget about everything you hear here today? Next verse he says, "So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What we will eat? What we will drink? What we will wear?'" Don't worry about these things.
Some people don't come to church because they're worried about what they wear. Now the real issue is you're worried about what people think about what you wear, and that's part of another little foundation of just being so in bondage to people, just so concerned about what the other people have to say about you or think about you and then it leads back into condemnation. Well, maybe it's not enough, you know, and you start looking at what you're wearing.
I just got to be honest with you. I ain't feel like wearing no suit. I've been in a suit all week, and I ain't feel like wearing, I can't say not wearing nothing, but I felt like, I could have closed my eyes and say, "Eeny, meeny, miny moe". I didn't really care. "Oh, but what are they going to think about you about wearing no suit"? I am free from people's opinion. God got me.
Now, if you can't handle a pastor that don't have a robe on every Sunday when you come to church, I'm not the guy for you. I want to be your pastor, but, you know, I don't want to wear a collar every Sunday. I don't want to wear a collar and then when I leave here and go by the store and I got my collar on, people will say, "Father". And I'm like, "I'm not a father". You guys used to do that.
I remember back in the day when they had the collars. Chapel Hill harvester used to make these collars, and they had the shirt and the collar. And so I'm going to wear this collar shirt and I think my reason was because I want to make sure I'm not embarrassed of God by letting people know that I'm in ministry. You remember we wore those collars? Just choking and you had to have help, and we go out to eat and have the collars and they thought we were Catholic. "Father". And I'm just in bondage.
We all used to wear those collars. Remember that? Just in bondage and I was like wow, you know. And now sometimes when I put a suit on it, it's been such a long time since I'm having to get used to the suit again. Here's what I'm trying to say. Don't worry about your clothing or what you're going to wear. You're going to worship God. He'll take you if you come here with a sweat suit on. You understand?
So in this church, don't have the pressure of, "Well, I would come to church, but I ain't got nothing to wear". You are a wonderful person. You're just awesome. Just find something and put it on and come to church and learn how to be free from people and learn how to be free from people's opinion. Don't let somebody's opinion bring condemnation over your life. You're coming to worship God. You're not coming for a fashion show. Walking down the aisles is not like walking in modeling. Nobody's paying you attention anyway. Just come on in so that Jesus can minister to your life and it can be better. Start being free from people so you can help people be free.
All right. He says, verse 32, let me get on, I got a lot to talk about. He says, "These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, all these things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all of your needs". So don't let these things dominate your thoughts. Don't let these things dominate your thoughts. Now I want to just kind of freestyle here just for a moment. I want you to see what we're saying.
Go to Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 3, Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 3. So the key to staying away from a worry filled life is to learn how important it is to enter into the rest. Everybody say, "Rest". I define rest not as inactivity. Rest is not inactivity. So when I use the word rest today, I'm not talking about becoming inactive, keeping your pajamas on and not doing nothing. That's not what I'm talking about. When I speak of rest, there's a rest that the Bible talks about that we can enter into a rest where we can rest in work versus resting from work. I'm not talking about resting from work, I'm talking about resting in work. Why? Because Jesus has already finished the work. And so we can rest in what is already done.
So when I use the word "rest", I'm talking about doing what you have to do. You go to work. You know, you got to pay your bills. You do what you have to do, but now you're not worrying about anything. You're not stressing out over it. It's not a big deal. You've taken a chill pill. Turn to your neighbor and say, "Take a chill pill". You know, you can complain if you want to, but it's not going to help out in this area. I mean, take a chill pill. Learn how to do what you have to do, but you're not stressing out. You're holding on to your peace. You're confident about what has already been done. You're resting in work, praise God, instead of resting from work.
And so you end up getting a whole lot more done. Because while you're resting doing what you do, praise God, you got God working on your behalf because you can become more productive in rest than you can in stress. Hallelujah. And so how can I tell if I'm really, really at rest? I guess there are two questions here. How can I tell when I'm really at rest? One, how can I tell when I'm... really believe? Because one will affect the other. Look what he says here in this verse of Scripture. "For we which have believed do enter into rest".
So believe. When you believe what Jesus has done, when you believe the finished works of Jesus Christ, you can enter into a confident, peaceful rest while you do what you have to do. And this is a stressful world we're living in, and we will be more effective when we can rest in what Jesus has done versus being stressed in what everybody else is doing. So he says that the person who believes... so listen to me now. The number one fear that Satan puts on Christian people is the fear that what God promised in his Word won't come to pass.
So if you're a born-again Christian, your concern is going to be, "Is this going to happen? Am I sure that this is going to happen for me"? Remember the guy in the Scripture he says, "I believe God can heal, but will he heal me"? And so what happens is when you really believe, then you will show that you really believe by entering into the rest and coming from the stress. You will leave your work of trying to do it and then you'll do what you do because you trust in what Jesus has already done.
And so what happens is, fear says, "I don't believe God's going to do what he promised". Fear says, "Will this really happen"? Fear says, "Can this really happen for me"? And so you have to resolve that issue 'cause that's the number one fear that Satan puts on Christian people, the fear of wondering if this promise is going to come to pass. So the Scripture says, "Now when you believe, you enter into the rest". So when I look at your life and you say, "Oh yes, I believe what Jesus has done for me", but you're stressing, you don't really believe it. You don't really believe it.
The authenticity of your belief will be demonstrated in your rest. Will I find you at rest or will I find you stressed? Go to the doctor, doctor says, "Looks like you have cancer". You said, "I believe I'm healed", but you're stressing out all the time. You're thinking about believing it, but you know, you don't really believe 'cause you haven't entered into the rest. You're believing out of stress, think about that, instead of believing out of rest. Rest will authenticate. It's the authentication that you believe. Say out loud, "I believe the finished works of Jesus". Next step is to enter into the rest, all right?
Now look at Hebrews 4:11. He says, "Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest". So entering into the rest is going to be a labor. You're not working to get healed. Jesus has already healed you. You're working to maintain your belief in the victory of healing. In other words, if Jesus has already healed you, then you know, today you say, "All right, I'm healed and I'm going to rest in that". And then tomorrow, they come up with another bad report, all right?
Now that's a temptation trying to rob you of your rest. So you have to fight to stay at rest. Glory to God. What does that look like? You know, doctor told you a bad report, and you thought it was getting better and actually it was getting worse. And when he told you the report, you say, "No, I believe I'm healed in the name of Jesus. Doc, you do what you do, but I serve a doctor that's never lost a patient. I thank God that I'm healed in Jesus's name. Hallelujah, I'm healed. Hallelujah, I'm". What are you doing? You're laboring to stay at rest. And then, you know, you have peace that'll come and it'll come through, but maybe the next 10 minutes, the same fear might come up and now you go to laboring again. "No, no, no, no, no. I tell you, Jesus has done it and I believe I receive it in Jesus's name", and you're entering into the rest. It may come up another 15 minutes.
See, this is what a picture of laboring. It's like, "Thank you, Jesus". It's worshipping and praising God. "Father, I just give you praise. Oh, Father, I thank you for this". These are things that you're doing to labor to enter into the rest. I'm not laboring to prosper. I'm not laboring to try to get healed. I'm not laboring to try to be delivered. Jesus has prospered me, healed me, and delivered me. I am laboring to stay at rest and peace in what I believe he has done. That's what it looks like, okay?
Now, I think this may be... all right, 1 Peter. Let's go over that real quick. 1 Peter 5 and 7. Look over that. Then I'll be ready to preach, I think. 1 Peter 5 and 7. You are very familiar with this Scripture. He says, "Casting all your care upon him for he cares for you". Now what did he just say? You're just reading what I just read. What did he say? Just interesting enough. I'm not trying to embarrass anybody, but how many of you this past week you were confronted with some cares of life? Okay.
All right, now here's the most important question. How many of you still have those cares? Thank you for being honest. Okay. So humility is a person who will line up in agreement with what God asked, casting all your care on him, okay? Pride goes against what God wants you to do. Okay, can I be very honest? A man that will cast his care on the Lord is a humble man, and the Bible says, "And I'll give him more grace". The guy that doesn't cast his care is a prideful man. And he doesn't get more grace, but grace is still available for him because that's just how God is. But now listen to me very carefully. It makes it real difficult for you to receive from God when you have decided that you're going to do this on your own.
So even though grace has made things available, to not cast your care means, "I don't believe that he can do no more about it than I can so I'm going to keep it". To cast your care means, "I trust and believe God and I'm going to rely confidently on him and lean on him. So I'm through. I'm casting this over on the Lord. Praise God. God, you got it".
And that's really difficult for people to do because it's asking you to trust in the promise that he made to you and sometimes that hard, that's hard. I'm trying to really just stay on the level that we're on this morning. It's difficult to do that sometimes. God is saying, "Cast the care". You're saying "No. I might not be able to do nothing about it, but at least I can just worry". And you think somehow you're making progress by holding on to it and worrying.