Word Count: 824

Contact Jerry Ousley

Look Here Instead

by Jerry Ousley  
5/06/2011 / Christian Living

Have you ever wished that you knew where the last place you'd look to find something you'd lost would be the first place you looked? I have. It seems I hunt and hunt for something I've misplaced and it's always in the last place I look (of course once I find it I stop looking so I'm not certain that it really was in the last place I'd look or not).

Several years ago Ray Stevens wrote the song about "The Streak." For some strange reason it had become a fad in years gone by to strip off all your clothes and going running through a public place completely naked. I never did that because first of all it was improper and not a Christian thing to do, and also because the ugliness of my body running in a public place would have been so repulsive that it would have cleared out whatever public place I was in. In the song the man who had witnessed the streak told his wife, "Don't look Ethel." Of course it was too late; she had already looked. We should all know that if we don't want someone to look at something we shouldn't cry out "Don't look," because when we say that it's the first thing the other person wants to do LOOK.

In Luke 12:29-32 Jesus said, "And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." In essence Jesus was saying, "Look here instead." We have a great tendency to do as the world does. It isn't always necessarily wrong, but if we aren't careful we feel that if we don't we might lack in something we need.

In a very bold statement Jesus told us that instead of looking for what we need like the world does, out of concern, greed, and sometimes panic, we should look to our Father God. After all, He has more wealth than anyone on Planet Earth could ever accumulate. Our wealth here pales to that of God. What we think is ours really isn't ours. In other passages Jesus tells us that the wealth of this world rusts, corrodes, melts, and turns to dust it vanishes away and is only temporary at best. But the wealth of God is such that it lasts forever. He knows what we need and when we are a child of God He will not allow us to lack.

Now our definition of lacking may be a little different from that of God because He sees what we really need and not just what we may want. For instance, at one point in my life I wanted a 1969 Chevelle. He gave me one. I wanted a good wife and He gave me her too. I wanted to pastor a church and He allowed me to do that for nineteen years. I wanted a million dollars, but He said "No." You see, God will allow us some pleasures in life but He also knows what is going to be best for us and so sometimes what we think we lack He knows we don't really need it and it may even bring harm to us.

He also told us to not fear. Sometimes we deny our fear. A man was visiting a country gentleman in the grand state of Tennessee. One day while his visitor was strolling through the woods he met up with a bear that began chasing him. It chased him all the way back to the house but he couldn't stop long enough to get through the door. After three laps through the front yard the country gentleman told him, "Don't be afraid; just stop and star him down," to which his visitor responded, somewhat out of breath as he continued to run, "I'm not afraid, I'm just trying to get out of the bear's way!"

Another bear story tells of a sixteen year old boy who met up with a bear in the woods. As he ran from the beast he prayed, "God help me, help me, and if You can't help me then please don't help that bear!"

We deny our fear and when we do then we hinder ourselves from believing God for what we need. If we could really grasp what Jesus was telling us and know that we can trust God for what we need because He has great pleasure in providing for His children then we just might not lack so much. Sometimes all we've got to do is to stop focusing on how the world does it and look here instead.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! Click here and TRUST JESUS NOW

Read more articles by Jerry Ousley

Like reading Christian Articles? Check out some more options. Read articles in Main Site Articles, Most Read Articles or our highly acclaimed Challenge Articles. Read Great New Release Christian Books for FREE in our Free Reads for Reviews Program. Or enter a keyword for a topic in the search box to search our articles.

Enter comments below. Due to spam, all hyperlinks posted in the comments are now immediately disabled by our system.

Please type the following word below:

Not readable? Change text.

The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

Hire a Christian Writer, Christian Writer Wanted, Christian Writer Needed, Christian Content Needed, Find a Christian Editor, Hire a Christian Editor, Christian Editor, Find a Christian Writer