By Felix Ngunjiri Gichuri

Do not be Anxious About Your Life

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” (Matt 6:25-32 [ESV2011]).

The above Bible text quotes verbatim the wise words of our Lord Jesus Christ speaking to thousands if not millions of human beings all over the world who are anxious about their lives, worrying themselves about what they shall eat, what they shall drink or what they shall wear.

God is the Source of All our Supplies

God is comforting us that He is the source of all our supplies. God is very clear on how He provides us with our daily needs. God promises us that He shall “supply all our needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19 [KJV]). God the Father in heaven is the Supplier or Source while His Son is the Provider. He will meet all of our needs according to all His riches in glory land if only we ask Him in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He does not say that He shall supply all our needs from His riches, His stores, or from His granaries. He says that He shall supply all our needs according to His riches, according to how vast the abundance of His riches are. He is promising all who ask anything from Him in the name of His Son Jesus Christ (whom they believe into) that all that He has is available to us. That all He has is ours if only we ask Him whatever we want in the name of His Dear Son Jesus Christ. Christ is telling us that “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you (by my Father)” (John 15:7 [KJV])

God has promised to give us all His all, withholding nothing from us. He loves us so much that “He gave his only begotten Son to come down to earth to take away our sins by being made sins on our behalf so that He would die our death and buy us back (redeem) unto the Kingdom of Our Beloved Father who dwells in heaven above so that we be heirs in His Kingdom.

God Chose Us and Loved Us Before He Created the Heavens and the Earth

It was out of love that He created us so that we share the love He had with His Son before the foundation of the world. God chose us before He founded the world. Such revelation should prompt us to “Bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will” (Ephesians 1:3-5 Berean Study Bible). The Bible says that “[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, . . .” (2 Tim 1:8-10)

Just take a moment and think about it. This means that even before this world was created, God already knew us. We were already chosen and predestined by him to be His children here on earth. The Bible says that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, and God said, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5 KJV). God’s plan was that the man He was to create would be predestined to be a prophet and a servant of God even before he is born. But the devil enticed the first man and seduced him and Adam chose to obey the devil and disobey God, getting due reward for his sins: death, a penalty that has been passed on to all generations. Because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, sin has been an “inheritance” for all of their descendants. Romans 5:12 tells us that, through Adam, sin entered the world and so death was passed on to all men because all have sinned. This passed-on sin is known as inherited sin. Just as we inherit physical characteristics from our parents, we inherit our sinful nature from Adam.

 Before God Created the Heavens and the Earth, Him and His Son were Living in Perfect Love Full of Glory.

When Jesus was praying to the Father, He told Him “Father, I will that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which you have given me: for you loved me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24 [KJV]). The One Who was loved before the foundation of the world speaks to the One Who loved Him then, and addresses Him as Father. Jesus prayed to the Father that “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:4-5). The truth is that there were and are two divine Beings who existed “in the beginning.” John calls one of them “God” and the other “the Word”—although “the Word was God” also. God and the Son were actually existing before this age in form of the Word before time existed. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him (the Word because the Bible says that God created the heavens and the earth with the Word: For God said, Let there be and there was); and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:1-4 [KJV])

Because God is Love, Him and the Son Decided to Share that Love With the Man they Would Create.

God and the Word, both uncreated, existed in eternity in a loving, unified relationship. Between them was complete unity of purpose. God being the Supreme being and ruler of all has always been on the throne and uses His Son to perform His orders: creating the heavens and the earth, coming down to earth to become sin on our behalf so that He would redeem us back to the Father as His children and that He is the one ordained by God to judge the living and the dead. Such words as harmony, unity, love, cooperation, concern, care and mutually benefiting applied to these two Beings in this realm of prehistory outside of and before time as we know it. This is the glorious state within which they existed—spirit, uncreated, with splendor, majesty and eternal life inherent within themselves. This is the essence of the existence that God and the Word shared. To put it in one word, it is love that was their seamless bond. “God is love,” we are told in 1 John 4:8 and 1 John 4:16. Love is who and what They are and share in a glorious spirit existence apart from us. Because God is love, Him and the Son decided to share that love with others. They decided to create man in their image so that they would share the love they had with the man they would create and “God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness …” (Genesis 1:26)

Before God created us, He prepared the Kingdom of Heaven so that the people He was to create would be blessed to occupy the Kingdom. Jesus Christ said that the Kingdom of Heaven was created for believers before the foundation of the world. “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” (Matt 25:34 [KJV])

God Planned to Bring His Kingdom to us Down Here on Earth

You can imagine all there is in the Kingdom of Heaven being made available to you if only you ask Him in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ told His disciples and by extension is now telling us that “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you” (John 16:23 [KJV]). God has given us (those who believe in Him) a blank cheque to ask Him whatever is in heaven that we need and we shall be given. We belong to the royal family that is domiciled in heaven. The riches promised to us cannot be eaten by moth, nor by rust or be stolen. They are heavenly and eternal. All that generosity from the Father in heaven is courtesy of the great love He has for those who believe in Him through His Son Jesus Christ. “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” (Eph 2:4-8 [KJV])

“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:” (Col 1:27 [KJV]). Why then are we worried about petty things like food, clothing and shelter when God is telling us that He wants us to live anxiety free lives sitting together in heavenly places here on earth in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God Tells Us not to Worry but to Seek First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness

So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them (Matthew 6:31-32). Pagans are the godless religion seekers who are motivated by the base drives of human needs for food, water, clothing and shelter. Jesus is telling us even now to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things that we desire will be given to us as well. “Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things that you desire shall be added unto you” (Matt 6:33 [KJV]).

Here Jesus states God’s number-one priority: Seek first His Kingdom. This is the most important statement made by our Lord Jesus, and it establishes what should be the first priority in our lives. Jesus Christ identifies the Kingdom of Heaven as being more important than food, water, clothing, shelter, and every other basic human need. This declaration by Jesus also suggests that there must be something about the Kingdom of Heaven that all of mankind has missed and misunderstood. If everything we pursue and strive for to live and survive are found in the Kingdom of Heaven, then we have been misguided and perhaps have imposed on ourselves unnecessary hardship, stress and frustration. The word for “kingdom” in this verse is basileia, the Greek  equivalent  of  the  Hebrew  word mamlakah,  translated  in  Genesis  1:26  as  “dominion.”  Both words mean dominion, sovereign, rule, kingdom, reign or royal power.

The Kingdom of God is as Near to Us as Sin Will Permit

Seeking the kingdom of God is searching for the kingdom that was lost in the Garden of Eden when man sinned against God and sin became the separation between man and God. “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-2) Mankind’s failure through disobedience to his Creator resulted in the loss of his dominion over the earth. He lost his kingdom mandate, his gift of divine power. In short, man lost his kingdom. 

God Sent His Begotten Son to Bring the Kingdom of God in Our Midst

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) It is important to note here that when man fell from grace, he lost a kingdom, not a religion. He lost dominion over the earth. Jesus had only one message, one mandate, and one mission—the return of the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. From the very beginning, Jesus made it clear that the principal need of the human race, and the only solution to mankind’s dilemma, was the Kingdom of Heaven. His first public statements reveal this Kingdom priority: From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17) you, in your midst. Jesus’ first announcement was the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven. His solution to the malnourished and bankrupt human spirit was not a religion but the Kingdom of Heaven. In other words, if you are spiritually poor, only the Kingdom of heaven will satisfy and fulfill your hunger. The Kingdom is God’s priority and must become our priority if we are to overcome this world. If you seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, He will not only supply your spiritual needs (like fellowsip with God) but He shall also supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus Our Lord.

The Kingdom of God is Experienced When You Allow Christ the King of kings to be in You

When you have Christ in you, you have hope of inheriting the Kingdom of God here on earth and eternally when we shall be with Him in glory land. What it means to have Christ in you will require that you know the meaning of Christ. The word Christ is a Greek word Christos that is a translation of the Hebrew word Messiah. Translated into English, it means anointed or the Anointed One. It also refers to His anointing. The word anointed actually means to pour on, smear all over or to rub into. The anointing is God’s presence. His essence. It is the thing that makes God be God. The anointing is God on flesh enabling flesh to do those things that are impossible for flesh to do. For instance, flesh cannot heal anyone. Even Jesus’ flesh could not heal anyone because it came from Mary. It was as human as hers. He had to wait until He was anointed with the Holy Spirit for Him to start doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. And Jesus after overcoming temptations of the devil returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee.  In Luke 4:14 [KJV], Jesus confessed that “The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor”. It was God who “anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good, healing all those who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38-40). So Jesus was telling the people of Nazareth that day, ‘God is poured on, smeared all over and rubbed into me’ enabling me to do good and heal all those who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him.”  His perfect, sinless flesh speaking the words of a perfect sinless God caused God’s anointing to be poured upon Him without measure. When God is rubbed in you, you have the power of God in you: His dominion, supplies, divine protection, peace, providence and life everlasting. Jesus is all we need in this world.

Jesus is saying to us, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27, ESV).

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, ESV).

If only we have knowledge of God as our Father in heaven and of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of our lives, He has promised us not only grace and peace but a multiplication of His Grace and His Peace upon our lives here on earth. “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2Pet 1:2-4 [KJV]) .

What else do we need in this world other than grace (God’s favour upon us even when we do not deserve or merit it) and peace in our bodies, soul and mind? Nothing but Jesus, “Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21, ESV).

Jesus is speaking to you right now saying “Here I am! I (Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world eagerly) stand (as your friend) at the door (of your heart) and knock. If anyone hears my voice (the still small voice of the Holy Spirit) and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20, NIV). Here the divine guest becomes Himself the host, for He is the bread of life, and the Giver of the marriage feast. The consummation of this blessed intercommunion shall be at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. “Then I (John) heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride (the Church) has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” (Rev 19:6-9 [ESV2011])

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14, ESV).

AMEN.