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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Max Lucado
Read between
August 23 - August 25, 2023
Anxiety is a meteor shower of what-ifs.
Anxiety and fear are cousins but not twins. Fear sees a threat. Anxiety imagines one. Fear screams, Get out! Anxiety ponders, What if?
“Do not fret,” wrote the psalmist, “it only causes harm” (Ps. 37:8).
“Be anxious for nothing” (Phil. 4:6).
The presence of anxiety is unavoidable, but the prison of anxiety is optional.
The presence of anxiety is unavoidable, but the prison of anxiety is optional.
“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with… the anxieties of life” (Luke 21:34 NIV). Is your heart weighed down with worry?
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Philippians 4:6–7 is the most highlighted passage.10 Apparently we all could use a word of comfort. God is ready to give it.
Paul’s prescription for anxiety begins with a call to rejoice.
That’s why the most stressed-out people are control freaks. They fail at the quest they most pursue. The more they try to control the world, the more they realize they cannot. Life becomes a cycle of anxiety, failure; anxiety, failure; anxiety, failure. We can’t take control, because control is not ours
Peace is within reach, not for lack of problems, but because of the presence of a sovereign Lord.
God calmed the fears of Isaiah, not by removing the problem, but by revealing his divine power and presence.
Your anxiety decreases as your understanding of your father increases.
Others see the problems of the world and wring their hands. We see the problems of the world and bend our knees.
The LORD’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning;
The mind cannot at the same time be full of God and full of fear.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought. (Jer.
“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17 NIV).
No moment, event, or detail falls outside of his supervision.
He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts. (Ps. 104:14–15 NIV)
“In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28 NIV).
You might question the purpose behind this thread or that. But be assured, God has a pattern. He has a plan. He is not finished, but when he is, the lace will be beautiful.
“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything” (Phil. 4:5–6 NIV).
It envisions an attitude that is fitting to the occasion, levelheaded and tempered.
Others may freak out or run out, but the gentle person is sober minded and clear thinking. Contagiously calm.
“Do not be afraid…. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward” (Gen. 15:1).
“Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1:9 NIV).
“God has left you!” Do not indulge this lie. If you do, your problem will be amplified by a sense of loneliness. It’s one thing to face a challenge, but to face it all alone? Isolation creates a downward cycle of fret. Choose instead to be the person who clutches the presence of God with both hands. “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Ps. 118:6 NIV).
We can calmly take our concerns to God because he is as near as our next breath!
anxiety is needless, because Jesus is near.
Before you lash out in fear, look up in faith.
“be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6).
Prayer is a general devotion; the word includes worship and adoration. Supplication suggests humility. We are the supplicants in the sense that we make no demands; we simply offer humble requests. A request is exactly
specific petition. We tell God exactly what we want.
Peace happens when people pray.
Specific prayer is an opportunity for us to see God at work.
Specific prayer creates a lighter load.
You have reduced the problem into a prayer-sized challenge.
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7 NIV).
Casting is an intentional act to relocate an object. When
As you sense anxiety welling up inside you, cast it in the direction of Christ. Do so specifically and immediately.
Your answer may not come overnight, but it will come. And you will overcome.
“Prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters” (Eph. 6:18 THE MESSAGE).
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6–7).
God’s anxiety therapy includes a large, delightful dollop of gratitude.
Contingent contentment turns us into wounded, worried people.
what you have in Christ is greater than anything you don’t have in life.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27 NIV).
“guards [our] hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).
