Worry Not
Posted By Miss Jocelyn Tzahala on March 27, 2010 | Category: I Follow Yeshua HaMashyiach, In The Life Of A Country Girl, Shabbat Shalom Praise, The Scriptures
22`The eye is the lamp of the body.’ So if you have a `good eye’ [that is, if you are generous] your whole body will be full of light;
23 but if you have an `evil eye’ [if you are stingy] your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 No one can be slave to two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can’t be a slave to both God and money.
25 “Therefore, I tell you, don’t worry about your life — what you will eat or drink; or about your body — what you will wear.
Matthew 6
This passage has been constantly on my mind for the past eight-months as I have been purging anything I didn’t need (don’t mistake this for ‘can’t use). I’ve never been an extensive sort of person. I hate having to spend money on myself. I would rather spend it on others. I always had a small wardrobe due to the fact that I could never find any decent clothes and wouldn’t wear anything that I was remotely uncomfortable in as far as being uncovered, too tight, etc. I am definitely not a pack-rat, but still considering this passage I am continually challenged in owning only what I need and even in that we are told not to worry.
We live so extensively today, and even the poorest of Americans today have comfortable living space, vehicles, cable, and internet. We are not in want, we just want. While we may be out of a job or get a very low pay for a large family we never get anywhere near to the brink of starvation. We don’t even know what that word even really entails.
Every time there is something NEW it seems to be all I hear about from bloggers and how they have to have it… itouches, ipads, movies, conferences, holidays, vacations, toys, Wii, televisions series, such-and-such-restaurant, date-night… These same people who whine they are too poor to pay their bills are the same people who get fast food several times a week or are never home, spending money some way or another. Unfortunately the bottom line is you have money to pay for what you want.
Each money Gleaning The Harvest enables believers to care for the widows and orphans in their distress as we are commanded to do {Exodus 22:22, James 1:27}, and slowly, each month, funds are given, but there is not an overflow of giving from believers . I cannot even begin to tell you how this, so simple a task, grieves my heart. We are too worried about “me, me, me, me, me, me”
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.
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but we give our tithe every week… to the church building. “Thus by your tradition you make null and void the word of God!” {Matthew 15} If you’re going to comment on this remark, listen to this short audio Tithing Re-Examined beforehand on why people tithe to the church today, the history.
You have led a life of luxury and self-indulgence here on earth – in a time of slaughter, you have gone on eating to your heart’s content.
James 5:1-10
For many living as the Messiah and his disciples did, from day to day, on the generosity of others and completely trusting in the Father for funds is considered a career…. We call them “missionaries”. What we don’t realize is that ALL Believers are called to literally take up their execution stakes (ie: their life) and follow after the Messiah in this way (That is anyone who claims the Name of the Messiah). We aren’t supposed to worry about what we will eat, what clothes we will wear, what we will drink, how we will take care of ourselves.
When deciding what I should keep or not I think of when the situation in Acts 4 where the believers there sold their land and houses and brought the profits to the talmidim (disciples) to distribute among them according to their needs. That was how they lived – only owning and having what they needed. They were free of worldly obligation, ready and willing to take the Salvation of the Messiah, Yeshua all over the present world. All through the years Paul was ministering in the Name of Yeshua this is how he lived. He relied on the Father to provide through the people. When people worried about him he replied with “as far as I am concerned, I have learned to be content regardless of circumstances” knowing who held him in the palm of his hands {Philippians 4:11}. We have to learn to be content regardless of circumstances.
26 Look at the birds flying about! They neither plant nor harvest, nor do they gather food into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they are?
27 Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his life?
28 “And why be anxious about clothing? Think about the fields of wild irises, and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread, 29 yet I tell you that not even Shlomo in all his glory was clothed as beautifully as one of these.
30 If this is how God clothes grass in the field — which is here today and gone tomorrow, thrown in an oven — won’t he much more clothe you? What little trust you have!
Matthew 6
Our Father has promised to take care of us. Just as the Messiah said the Father cares for the birds, he cares for the flowers, he cares for the grass, and how much more valuable are we in the eyes of the Father than any of these? We are made in his likeness {Genesis 1:26}. We are engraved on the palm of his hand {Isaiah 49:16}. We are his children and he is our Father {Exodus 6:7}.
It is hard to give up what you desire. It is hard to let go of your dreams. It is hard to be an Avraham. However, when the Father says “get up and go” we have to be ready, willing, and able to do so. We have to be fully relying on Yah Elohim for everything – food, drink, clothes, and housing. It is the pagans who set their hearts on these things, and when we worry our focus will not be fully directed on seeking first the Kingdom and the Father’s Righteousness.
In all my life I’ve never gone hungry. I’ve never been cold. I’ve never not had a place to rest my head. My Father has always taken care of me, and because I love him I want to please and obey him by following his Torah and walk in the steps of his Son, Yeshua the Messiah. I want nothing to stand between me and my Father. I want all things in my life to esteem him.
31 “So don’t be anxious, asking, `What will we eat?,’ `What will we drink?’ or `How will we be clothed?’
32 For it is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all.
33 But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 Don’t worry about tomorrow — tomorrow will worry about itself! Today has enough tsuris [troubles] already!
Matthew 6
As I continue to ponder ways I can offer myself up as a living sacrifice, acceptable unto him, as we are admonished in Romans 12 to do I want to HalleluYAH (Praise the great I AM) for how he has cared for me thus far and how he promises to care for him always. I want my life to be a testament of the Father’s love for his children, and I want my life to be a testament of a devoted, ever faithful follower of the Most High.
Resting in Him… Shabbat Shalom.
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23 Responses to “Worry Not”
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Thank you for visiting my site! I hope that it has encouraged and challenged you in someway. Please be aware that my blog is not intended for any debatable purposes (honestly!!), though that's not to say admonishment (via the Scriptures in context) is not welcome. This is simply just a place for me to share what YHVH-God is convicting me of and showing me in my walk with Him. Please read "You're Judgmental" before commenting if the thought strikes you.
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Shalom, welcome to A Pondering Heart. I hope you will be challenged by what you read here and it will cause you to search deeper and deeper into the Word of YAH. My name is Jocelyn Tzahala. I'm 19, Woman, Believer. I'm passionate and straight forward... take that into consideration. I am a young woman, living in Latin America, seeking to be 'set apart as YHVH is set-apart". I want my faith to resemble that Avraham because in him YHVH found a man who would trust in him with everything and act upon his Word. My hope is that my life may be a sweet fragrance unto YHVH the MOST HIGH! HalleluYAH! Read more
Excellent post! Over the course of the last few years I too have been purging. It is amazing the “junk” we collect. I am not into having the latest “new” thing on the market, but must admit that sometimes I have bought stuff that I don’t need. And regardless if it is second hand or not, if I don’t need it, what is the point?
Thank you for the beautiful reminder that all is left up to HIM.
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HalleluYah ! Again a very nice post, not for you self esteem of your glory but for HIS. Really, like brother Leonard Ravenhill said once, “Entertainement is the devil substitute for joy”. And as it is written in Galatians 6:14, everything in our life, even each single breath or sip of water, is to let us rejoice in the perfect sacrifice of Christ. Not in a piece of metal that we have to change every month called ” Ipod” for the sake of being seen…
The love of money really makes you love gifts above the giver. Let’s abominate, together, the prosperity gospel and desire YESHUA, his glory, his magnificience above everything !
Blessings !
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Shabbat Shalom!
I listened to the audio clip you linked to. It was very interesting. I pay a “tithe” to my church, 10% of our income, but we do it out of thankfulness for what God has provided. It’s not a sense of obligation or legalism. I firmly believe that nothing in the Christian life should be done out of obligation or legalism, that it should all be an outpouring of love to God and our neighbors. This is what Christ was referring to in Matthew 15.
I’m curious about how you interpreted Matthew 6:
22`The eye is the lamp of the body.’ So if you have a `good eye’ [that is, if you are generous] your whole body will be full of light;
23 but if you have an `evil eye’ [if you are stingy] your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
I’ve never heard the good eye being referred to as generous, or the evil eye as stingy. Could you elaborate?
Have a wonderful Sabbath!
Cassandra
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Miss Jocelyn Tzahala's Reply:
March 27th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Shabbat Shalom! Thanks for leaving a comment! The interpretation of being generous or being stingy in reference to the good or evil eye is not mine. This is a Hebrew idiom, and is still an expression used today. The same idiom is also found in Proverbs: “A generous man (Literally, “A good eye”) will be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.” (Proverbs 22:9) Though we don’t know it because lack of understanding Yeshua’s culture those he was speaking to when he spoke these words absolutely did.
Lois Tvergberg explains more about this here: http://www.egrc.net/articles/Rock/HebrewWords/tov-ayin.html
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This is a wonderful post, Jocelyn :) I am saddened by what I see around me, but I am more saddened by my own selfishness in comparison. I have had a very financially comfortable life, and find myself running for financial security over the security in YHWH. But, now that I am conscious of my responsibility, I either have to do something about it or ignore it. I can no longer plead ignorance. That is something so wonderful about your blog–you don’t force anyone to believe the same as you, but you present the information, shed a light, and then the ball is in their courts. Keep it up!!!
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Thank you for your comment. I like my template, but if you want to change it you can! You made it in the first place! LOVE YOU! :)
Love,
Miss Hannah
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This was really refreshing. And I was struck by your noting that the bad eye/good eye thing related to money. My father in law taught on that some time ago–totally makes this passage make more sense–and I’d never heard anyone else say it until now. :0)
I enjoyed the tithing message. It is a very similar view to my own.
Thanks for sharing!
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Truly a wonderful and truthful post…..
Blessings……
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Thank you for this post. I’m afraid I’ve been having the problem of concentrating on myself and my wants too much lately and I needed this.
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That sermon you linked to was really eye-opening. I have been under the impression that tithing 10% specifically to the church is absolutely Biblical, but in a sense, thinking of it this way led me to be more tight-fisted than I would be if I simply held my money with an open hand and heart, sending it where God leads me. I’ll certainly have to ponder this more and search the scriptures a little more deeply on this issue.
Blessings,
Kate
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Miss Jocelyn Tzahala's Reply:
March 31st, 2010 at 2:02 am
You’re welcome Kate. I am glad you were able to benefit from it and it will draw you deeper and deeper into the Scriptures and how we are to observe them. :)
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Jocelyn, once again you have inspired/challenged me to rethink the way we live in this culture and the way we have traditionally interpreted the Scriptures. I am so thankful for your wonderful posts and pray God’s richest blessings on you!
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Lovely post and very, very true. Thanks a bunch for this :)
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Miss Jocelyn Tzahala's Reply:
March 31st, 2010 at 2:00 am
:) You’re welcome, dear!
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Thanks for sharing this matter!
It’s easy to understand “worry not” in our minds, but the problem is when life pressures come to us and it’s not what we think that controls our behavior, it’s the deep feelings of our heart that captures our minds, no matter what is there, and make us to worry. Rather than just reading the bible, we must have a personal experience of God’s love and provision at a heart level, and that’s the difficult part for most of us.
Blessings!
L
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Miss Jocelyn Tzahala's Reply:
March 31st, 2010 at 2:00 am
Yes, exactly Leandro – you said it!
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Good article. “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure.”, and, “having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting Holiness in the fear of God.” This could include cleansing ourselves from the worldliness pulling us down.
A check into tithing will reveal the tithe was not used for the temple support, but rather, support of the poor, the fatherless, the widow, and the Levite. The thought God does not need a temple made with hands is repeated 4 times. God says it to David, it is repeated by Isaiah, Stephen at his stoning, and Paul.
Look for the connection of giving to others and providing for the poor with “righteousness.” It will thrill your soul. There is a connection between Messiah and Melchizedek and everyone misses it. He is called the king of righteousness. Paul says, “he hath scattered abroad, he hath given to the poor. His “righteousness” remaineth forever.” I suspect Melchizedek was a keeper and comforter of the poor even as Messiah is.
Hope this only helps to enrich your studies.
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YES, especially the “why be anxious about clothing?” It’s very easy to get distracted and pulled down by trying to construct our own temporal image. When we have an eternal mindset, we realize how petty our pretty things are.
Food is another huge thing, too…”their God is their stomach”…
and amein to Romans 12!
<3
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great post and so true.
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I think everyone worries. Sometimes it’s a good thing, like having a bad feeling about doing something, but usually it’s unnecessary. I don’t go to church anymore so I don’t tithe obviously but that’s an interesting concept I wasn’t aware of. I have been lucky in life to never have gone hungry or not had a roof over my head at this point in time. Others are not so lucky and I am aware of that but I don’t have much to send elsewhere, it costs a lot of money to ship stuff other places. I do, however donate clothes and other items that aren’t worn and torn to charity. Clean water, plentiful food, good clothing, many good paying jobs, etc in this country and the majority of us are too blessed for our own good-I do agree.
However, I do have one thing to say that I disagree with. Nothing bad or scriptural, just that the poorest Americans have comfortable living space, vehicles, cable and internet. That’s not exactly true. Living in one of the poorest states in America, I can indeed tell you that I personally know of people who don’t have and certainly couldn’t afford those things. People who live in nothing short of shacks. They have no vehicles. They don’t have a tv, let alone cable. They don’t have electricity, let alone a computer and certainly not internet. I know of children who’s only meals come from getting free/reduced lunch at school and that stuff is far from being nutritious for a growing child, trust me on that. There’s something to be thankful for-being homeschooled you got to avoid having to eat the wonderful school food all us public schooled kids got to eat ; )
Anyway, my point is that I do agree with you, don’t think I’m not.. Some can afford it but chose to feed their drug, smoking, alcohol, etc habit or some other “pleasure” and complain that they can’t afford something important. They can’t pay their bills, their children go to school everyday with an old ripped coat, shoes with soles coming off and empty bellies, but they can afford cigarettes and beer and/or an illegal drug, and eat fast food almost everyday for themselves. I know of cases like this and those people make me physically sick. People often don’t have their priorities straight and my heart breaks for those children.
We don’t realize we are so blessed. I am guilty of this also. The fact that I don’t have glasses, that I’m not blind or deaf, that I can walk, don’t have a disease or serious illness. etc. Simple things we don’t think about are the very things we should be thankful for everyday.
May many blessings come your way,
Shabbat Shalom,
Nelli*
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Miss Jocelyn Tzahala's Reply:
March 31st, 2010 at 11:51 pm
Nelli, my statement about the poorest in America came from this article http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2004/01/Understanding-Poverty-in-America with a complete analysis of the poor class of America. I wasn’t saying there aren’t those who really do have nothing, it’s just not what we think it is. My point was many of who are classified as ‘poor’ really have all the luxuries we want and we forgo helping those who really are in need and those who we are commanded to help. You definitely are right – we don’t realize how blessed we are… we are too busy worrying.
Shabbat Shalom! :)
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Nelli's Reply:
April 1st, 2010 at 1:39 pm
Agreed. I wasn’t arguing, just stating what I’ve seen. There are plenty of people who have enough, more than enough but are seemingly clueless that they have more than they think they do. I mentioned people who have enough, but things they should get aren’t important. Despite the poverty that exists, diseases like Kwashikor, rickets, scurvy and other malnutrition disorders are very rare here thanks to food banks, charities, homeless shelters, free/reduced lunch and food stamps for people in poverty. I wasn’t disagreeing with you, I promise : ) . Just that one statement that’s true in most cases, but certainly not all. Poor Americans have plently. The poorest do struggle but even they fair better often than other places in the world, definitely. On my salary alone, I could be considered at poverty, but I’m certainly not starving or going without any necessity. I have enough. It’s not much but it’s enough.
Sometimes people who are “poor” do help, many others don’t. Some have been there and will tip better and offer more to charities and such. I honestly do try to help where I can. I can’t offer money, but clothing, extra food, I do all the time. I think G-d works on people when they let him to soften their hearts to others in need. It’s not only about us and we need not worry about ourselves if we have basic necessities, we’ll be okay. We should help, absolutely, if for no other reason, just because people need help and because it’s the right thing to do. If only more people understood that.
Shabbat Shalom and have a wonderful day. I hope the weather’s as nice there as it is here!
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Leandro's Reply:
April 1st, 2010 at 4:56 pm
I always say to my American friends that they are so blessed. You Americans don’t fully understand how blessed you are. Though the earth is laid on evil, there are godly things in your culture that don’t exist (or have never existed) in other countries today. Even to my American Christian friends it’s hard to convince them that they live in an easier reality than others do.
If you disagree with that, please take an one-month trip to South America in general, visit São Paulo – Brazil, Rio de Janeiro – Brazil, see the cultural-wide differences, the history itself (most of them come from colonization of exploitation, not by settlement) , and contrast it yourself :)
Blessings!
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