Fighter Verse Songs

Track 25 in Songs Set E – Matthew 7:1-2 Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. (Song includes next week’s scripture in song also. Matthew 7:3-5 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.)

These verses are a stern indictment of our hard hearts.

How often does your heart react with grace or mercy versus judgment?

Practical suggestions this week:

– Let this verse convict you, confess your hardness of heart and pray for a soft heart.

– Imagine judgment pronounced against you for your sin, hold before you Christ’s sacrifice on your behalf.  This will help you to mortify your sin.

– Explain these verses to your children.  This exercise is not easy, but will help you hold onto what a soft heart looks like.

How will you use this verse in your life this week? with your spouse? your children? your family? your neighbors?

Listen here to the Song of the Week

Track 24 in Songs Set E – Matthew 6:33-34 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Song includes last week’s scripture in song also. Matthew 6:31-32 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.)

Are you paying attention? This verse is loaded with faith impacting promises!

“Therefore do not be anxious…But”

What should we do if not be anxious?

But seek first the kingdom of God and *his* righteousness!

Your food, clothing and your life will all be added to you.

“Therefore…” Ok. There it is again. Pay attention!

Since God will add all these things to you, do not be anxious about tomorrow either! How great is that? We do not have to worry about today and immediate needs. Not only that, we can rest knowing that God will provide future grace for every need as well.

Here is what John Piper has to say about future grace.

“What is future grace? It is all that God promises to be for us from this second on. Saving faith means being confident and satisfied in this ever-arriving future grace. This is why saving faith is also sanctifying faith. The power of sin’s promise is broken by the power of a superior satisfaction; namely, faith in future grace. Gratitude for past grace was never meant to empower future obedience. Tomorrow’s crisis demands tomorrow’s grace. And faith that future grace will be there is the victory that overcomes the world.” – John Piper, May 01, 2006 The Purifying Power of Living by Faith in Future Grace

Are you resting in God’s present AND future grace?

Practical suggestions this week:

– Medidate upon God’s promise of future grace through scripture.

– (Again) Seek out God’s promises in the Bible and pray through them. (Click here for a great FREE resource.)

– In your day, make note of times when you worry or dwell on thoughts toward the future. Preach this week’s fighter verse to yourself.

How will you use this verse in your life this week? with your spouse? your children? your family? your neighbors?

Track 24 in Songs Set E – Matthew 6:31-32 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.  (Song includes next week’s scripture in song also. Matthew 6:33-34 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.)

“Therefore…”

Whenever you see this in the Bible, pay attention!

Jesus says something, therefore pay attention to what he says and what he is about to say.

Therefore, take a look at what Jesus said in last week’s bible memory verse.  “If God clothes the grass…will he not much more clothe you…?”  He goes on  “Therefore,  do not be anxious…”

Or, said another way.  Since God clothes the grass, which is not important to God as you are, he will also clothe you much more.  And, meet your every need.

One of the things Jesus is helping us do is to live out the faith he has called us to.

Often, our professed belief in God does not line up with how we live our lives.  Our doctrine does not get applied practically.

Anxiousness is a struggle of faith.

Are you believing God’s promises for you today?

Practical suggestions this week:

– Medidate upon God’s faithfulness with last week’s and this week’s scripture verses.

– Seek out God’s promises in the Bible and pray through them.  (Click here for a great FREE resource.)

– As you begin your day, pick a promise of God to pray through and hold onto each day as you face trials of every kind.

How will you use this verse in your life this week? with your spouse? your children? your family? your neighbors?

Listen here to the Song of the Week

Track 23 in Songs Set E – Matthew 6:30 –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?

This makes you feel pretty ridiculous doesn’t it? God will take care of you.  He takes care of the grass doesn’t He?

I mean, if you are not believing God, the one true God, Lord of the universe, made the earth, made you, sent His only Son to die that you might have forgiveness and life … the God who wants you to turn to Him and receive unbelievable joy…

THAT God…

If you lack the faith to believe in Him when He takes care of grass, well, just how silly is that?

Our God who has done all these things and will do more than you can ask or imagine, he will take care of you. He uses something as insignificant, and fleeting as the grass of the field to show that, in His surpassing power, He will care for you all the more!

Wow! This is big!

It’s not that God takes care of the “big” things I worry about every day…health, food, money, work…or that He cares for us in all the little things…how I speak to my children, will the Vikings win?  what did so and so say about me…

These things are not the point.

The point is God gives you everything you need for faith and godliness.  Everything you need for your ultimate joy.

Are you missing out on God himself?

Practical suggestions this week:

– Consider how you run to other things for your rest.  What are they?

– What are the rocks of life upon which your faith runs aground?  Find those times and pray this verse in faith.

– Decide now what you will do, then do it.

How will you use this verse in your life this week? with your spouse? your children? your family? your neighbors?

Track 22 in Songs Set E – Matthew 6:27-29 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.

This reminds me of another verse.

“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise;” (1 Corinthians 1:27a)

The Lord chose the foolish things in the world to shame the wise. Solomon, the wisest and richest man in the Bible, toiled for all his glory. Yet, his did not compare to the Lord’s glory as shown in the lilies of the field.

Solomon, the builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem.

Solomon, whose glory took your breath away.

“And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her.” (1 Kings 10:4-5)

Consider that the Lord has arrayed the lilies of the field. It is the Lord who provides for your every need.

Practical suggestion this week:

– Consider. Consider how you toil. Consider how you spin. Ponder the rest that the Lord provides.

– Listen to the scripture song of the week when you are stressed and overwhelmed. This song was designed with that in mind. To help you see the folly and feel the foolishness of anxiousness.

– Look for opportunity to speak this verse to others when you perceive their toil, spinning and faithless unrest.

How will you use this verse in your life? with your spouse? your children? your family? your neighbors?

Matthew 6:25-26 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?

How does the Lord communicate with us?  He tells us story and gives us pictures.  One of the many reasons the Lord created birds is so that He may speak to us and say things such as “Look at the 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?”

The Lord values you as He does the lost sheep.  He is like a shepherd who will leave 99 sheep to search for one that is lost.  His love for us includes provision for every need including godliness and faith.  God sent His Son to die for the forgiveness of sins and that you might have life with Him forever.  What did He do for the birds?  The bible makes clear that people  are more important than the birds of the air, or the grass of the field.

Enter into the rest of the Lord, you His child.  He will provide what you need.

Practical suggestion this week:

– Listen to the scripture song of the week with others each day.

– Look for opportunity to, when you see the birds of the air, and speak this verse to others with you.

– When you feel fear, doubt, anxiety in your day, recall this verse and pray through each phrase.

How will you use this verse in your life?  with your spouse?  your children?  your family? your neighbors?