Don't Worry!

“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” – Matthew 6:27 

I heard a story about a husband who got fed up with his wife’s constant worrying. Finally, one day he asked her, “Why are you always worrying when it doesn't do ANY good?” She quickly yelled back, “Oh, yes, it does do some good! Ninety percent of the things I worry about never happen!”

Well, the wife is absolutely correct that 90 percent of the stuff we worry about never happens. But her worry didn’t do a darned thing to stop bad stuff from coming her way, did it?

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes it clear he doesn’t want us to worry. In fact, he tells us so five times in Matthew 6:25-34: “Do not worry about your life” (v. 25). “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (v. 27). “Why do you worry about clothes?” (v. 28). “Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or “What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’” (v. 31). “Do not worry about tomorrow” (v. 34). So, Jesus doesn’t want us to worry. But why not?

Well, just before He shifts to the topic of worry, Jesus was talking about money, telling us, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (v. 24). Keep that in mind as you read verse 25: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” In other words, “If you’ve chosen to serve God instead of serving money, and you’ve chosen to love God instead of loving all the stuff in your house, and you’ve chosen to be devoted to God instead of being devoted to your stomach, I tell you, do not worry about these other things.” Life in the kingdom of heaven is infinitely more important than food. And our bodies in the kingdom of heaven are infinitely more important than clothes.

Jesus calls us to take our eyes off all the stuff around us and reorient ourselves to God. And if we are reoriented to God, there is no place in our lives for worrying about food, water, clothes or even tomorrow’s utility bills. In verses 26-30, Jesus points out how well God takes care of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. After all, you’ve never seen an undernourished bird, have you? And have you ever had a weed growing through a crack in your driveway that’s greener than the grass on your lawn? Or seen wildflowers that look better than the flowers in your garden? Why is that? It’s because God is a better gardener than you are. (He’s definitely a better gardener than I am.) So, if God does such a marvelous job clothing a weed or a flower or a wild blade of grass, Jesus asks in verse 30, “Will He not much more clothe you”—and don’t miss the last five words of this verse—“O you of little faith?”

What is Jesus saying? He’s saying that worry demonstrates a lack of faith in God. Therefore, worry is actually a sin! Worry demonstrate a lack of trust God’s LOVE, because it implies that God doesn’t really care about my needs. Worry shows lack of faith in God’s WISDOM, because it implies that God doesn’t know what He’s doing. Worry demonstrates lack of trust in God’s POWER, because worry implies that God isn’t able to provide for my needs. It’s a sin to distrust God’s love, wisdom and power—and that’s exactly what you’re doing when you worry. So Jesus turns to us in verses 28-30 and says, “Trust God, and don’t worry!”

As Jesus says in verse 33: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” if your priorities are straight—if you are heart’s affections and your thoughts are focused on God and His kingdom work, God will supply all of your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. If you’re serving Him, God will meet every need you have—guaranteed.

A recently licensed pilot was flying his private plane on a really cloudy day. He was low on fuel, and he was approaching the airport landing strip … but he couldn’t see it. And he didn’t trust his instrument panel. When the air traffic controller started to guide him through the landing process, the pilot began to panic. Then a stern voice came over the radio: “You just obey instructions. We’ll take care of the obstructions.”

You may worry because the refrigerator is almost empty … or your kids are going to need new shoes next month … or that you won’t have enough money next week to pay for what you need next month. But Jesus turns to you and says sternly, “You just obey my instructions. I’ll take care of the obstructions. And here are my instructions: Seek first the Father’s kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Pray For Your City

“Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” - Jeremiah 29:7 

About a month ago, my family and I adopted a sweet little Welsh Corgi puppy named Finley. In this turbulent year, he’s been a breath of fresh air. For many of us, 2020 has been one of the hardest years of our lives. And honestly, some of us have been freaking out. But Finley doesn’t have a care in the world. Finley’s not worried about COVID. He’s not worried about paying the bills or keeping food on the table. And he won’t be any more stressed out on November 3rd than he’ll be on November 2nd. He doesn’t CARE who wins the Presidential election. He’s oblivious to all of it. At times I’ve found myself thinking, “It would be kind of nice to be Finley.”

Wouldn’t it be great to be oblivious to all of the problems and stressors in our world today? Of course it would. But you know what? God has something even better planned for you and me: Peace and prosperity without needing to be oblivious.

In Jeremiah 29, the people of Judah had been exiled to Babylon where, basically, they were prisoners of war. It was the hardest thing they’d ever endured, they felt as if God had abandoned them. But through Jeremiah, God gave His people a fresh perspective on their captivity. They felt their situation was hopeless, because they had taken their eyes off of God and were instead focusing on their problems. All they could think about was how to get out of Dodge as quickly as possible.

But God wanted His people to understand that they were in Babylon because He had PUT them there. And He had put them there for a reason, a reason that was going to take a number of years to carry out .... 70 years, to be exact. So, God tells them in verses 5-6 to “build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too my have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.” While 70 years in Babylon must have sounded like a downer, it was actually a message of true hope, because it was part of God’s master plan. And God’s plan is always the BEST plan for us.

In verse 7, God urges His people to get on board with His plan: “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” It would have been natural for the exiles to feel bitterness and unforgiveness toward the Babylonians, because those are all parts of our old sinful nature. But the Jewish exiles were God’s people, and as such it was high time for them to stop living according to the flesh and start living according to the spirit. And the same goes for you and me.

When we have the Spirit of Jesus Christ living inside us, there is no room in our lives for bitterness, resentment, hatred or unforgiveness. There is no room for blaming everyone else for our problems. Instead of criticizing and blaming those who have made our lives difficult, God calls us to pray for their peace and prosperity. Some of us are harboring bitterness and resentment toward family members who have treated us like crud. Others of us are harboring bitterness and resentment toward political leaders who make decisions that we passionately disagree with. But let me ask you: Are you praying for them?

If you aren’t praying for them, why not? And if you’re praying for them to be arrested, or to get sick and die, that doesn’t count. Those are terrible prayers! God says, “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

You may not be crazy about the city you live in, whether it’s Victorville, Adelanto, Apple Valley, Hesperia or Phelan. But it’s where God put you, so you need to pray for it. If our hometown prospers…we too will prosper. Like many, I’m not too jazzed with California's Governor, Gavin Newsom, right now. I think he should declare all churches as “essential” and let churches in the High Desert get back inside their buildings. But regardless of how frustrated I am with him right now, that doesn’t change God’s command to me to pray for him and to seek his peace and prosperity. Because if Gov. Newsom and California prosper … we too will prosper.

Who ends up in office is important. But how Christians RESPOND to who ends up in office is even MORE important. It is both in our best interest and in God’s best interest that we seek the peace and prosperity of our city, our state, our nation, and the leaders who lead them. If America and its leaders prosper, we too will prosper. So this Tuesday, when new city council members and state and federal leaders are elected, there will be some new leaders you’re not crazy about. Who cares? Whether you like them or not is irrelevant. It doesn’t change God’s command to you to PRAY FOR THEM and seek the peace and prosperity of our city, our state, and our nation. Because if they prosper, you and I will also prosper.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our live outdoor worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on our YouTube channel (Impact Christian Church) or on Facebook.

Know What’s Needed

“You are worried and upset about many things. But only one thing is needed.”

– Luke 10:41-42

One afternoon a man looked out the sliding glass door of his patio and saw his dog trotting across the patio with something in his mouth. When the man went outside to investigate, he saw that Fido had a dead rabbit in his mouth. After the man said “Drop it!” about ten times, the dog finally let go. And when the man got a closer look, his heart sank. He recognized the beloved pet bunny that belonged to the little girl next door.

Well, the man felt he had to do something. He couldn’t bear for the little girl to find out that his dog had chomped her bunny to death. So, the man brought the rabbit inside, took it to the sink and carefully rinsed off all the dirt and dog slobber. Then he pulled out the hair dryer—or should that be “hare dryer”?—and got him all dried off. Finally, he climbed the fence into his neighbor’s backyard, put the dead rabbit back into its hutch and fluffed up the bunny’s fur one more time before closing the cage. 

Later that evening the man heard the little girl screaming in her backyard. He went next door and asked if everything was all right. The girl’s father told him, “Not really! You remember Cassie’s pet bunny? Well, he died a couple of days ago, and we buried him. But some SICKO came into our backyard while we were gone, dug it up and stuck it back inside the rabbit hutch!”

Have you ever done something kind for someone and afterward realized that it wasn’t at all what that person needed? I have, and I bet you have as well—just like Martha in Luke chapter 10.

In the final five verses of this chapter, Jesus and his disciples came to the home of Mary and Martha. Jesus had been doing full-time ministry for around three years, so he was probably tired—physically, emotionally, perhaps even spiritually. Jesus needed some R&R before moving ahead into Jerusalem. As best we can tell, the group popped in unannounced. So, imagine what you might do if 13 men suddenly showed up at your front door and asked if they could spend the day in your home. The Bible tells us, “Mary sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was busy with all the things that had to be done” (Luke 10:39-40). Would you respond more like Martha, who probably burst into a frenzy of cleaning and meal preparation? Or would you respond more like Mary—ignoring the state of the house, but anxious to hear everything that Jesus had to say?

If your reaction would be more like Martha’s, you probably have a task-oriented personality. You are a worker bee with an eye for detail. You don’t just do things; you are determined to do things right. If your reaction would be more like Mary’s, you probably have a people-oriented personality. You work, but when guests come over, you think it’s more important to sit down and spend time with them, rather than serving them. If you’re people-oriented, there’s a good chance that when your guests get hungry, they’ll have to go into the kitchen and fend for themselves. Either that or you’ll make a quick call to Domino’s and have dinner delivered.

Martha loved Jesus. And because she loved him, she ran around frantically trying to clean the house and make him a four-course meal. Her intentions were good. But her priorities were messed up. Jesus didn’t NEED a four-course meal. As Jesus said to Martha in vs. 41-42, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.”

Jesus wasn’t scolding Martha. He wasn’t criticizing Martha. He was lovingly pointing out to her that she was running herself ragged meeting a need that he didn’t even have. Jesus was basically saying, “Sweet Martha, I don’t need a spotless house. Martha, I don’t need a four-course meal. What I most need is just to recharge my batteries and spend some quality time with you and your sister.” If you want to meet someone’s need, first find out what his or her need IS. Although it’s hard to do, we need to push aside our own ideas of how to show kindness to people and take the time to find out what their real needs are. And that determines what shape our kindness will take.

Also, consider these words from Warren Wiersbe, “What we do WITH Christ is far more important than what we do FOR Christ. Few things are as damaging to the Christian life as trying to work for Christ without taking time to commune with Christ.” Often, what is good is the enemy of what is best. Cleaning the house for Jesus was a good thing. Preparing a nice four-course meal for Jesus was a good thing. But Jesus made it very clear to Martha in that spending quality time with him was the best thing.

So, you and I need to ask ourselves an important question: Am I spending so much time doing good things for Jesus that I am neglecting the most important thing: to spend quality time with Jesus?

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church of Victorville and the author of "Holy Huldah! Lessons You Should Never Forget From Bible Characters You've Never Heard Of." Visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com, and join us for our Worship Celebration Sundays at 10 a.m.

The Power of Praise

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

These verses from 1 Thessalonians are three of the shortest in the New Testament. But they hold an important key to unlocking the door of life-changing prayer. Whether our circumstances are good, bad or ugly, God calls us to give thanks. And as we work to strengthen our prayer lives in this new year, I’d like to share three reasons praise is so powerful.

#1: Praise helps us fulfill our destiny. Did you know that God created you to praise Him? It’s true. To quote the wise philosopher Darth Vader, “It is … your destiny.” Praise is one of the main purposes for which you were created. The Bible tells us that creation itself praises God: “The wild animals honor Me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:20a). If even wild animals can honor God in their own wordless way, we have so much more reason to do so! “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

Why did God choose us to be saved, bring us into His holy nation and into His eternal family? There were several reasons, but don’t miss this one: God saved us so that we can truly praise Him in a way that we could never praise Him before we were saved. And so, when we who are followers of Christ withhold our praises from God, we are forsaking one of the main reasons He saved us. Let’s don’t squander this privilege.

#2: Praise is a weapon to break spiritual strongholds outside us. Maybe you’ve never thought of praise as a weapon. But it can be a very powerful one. Look at what happened in Acts 16, when Paul and Silas were praising God in the Philippian jail after being stripped, beaten and fastened into stocks. As they were praying and singing hymns to God, “Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose” (Acts 16:26).

There is power in praise. Spiritual strongholds outside us can be broken through praise and thanks. When everyone in your family is down in the dumps, there is power in praising God. Your praise can transform their doom-and-gloom perspectives. When you have a close encounter with pessimists who can only see the negative in their circumstances, your praise can help them see the silver lining. And when you’re in church, you never know how many people around you may be uplifted, encouraged and even set free by your praise.

#3: Praise is a weapon to break spiritual strongholds inside us. Your praise can not only transform others – it can also transform you. In 2 Chronicles, King Jehoshaphat learned that three enemy nations had merged their armies and were marching toward Jerusalem. This combined army was massive, so when Jehoshaphat found out about it he was terrified. But instead of panicking, he started praising—and called his men to do the same. “After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise Him for the splendor of His holiness as they went out at the head of the army saying: ‘Give thanks to the LORD, for His love endures forever’” (2 Chronicles 6:21). The result? God set ambushes that caused the three armies to turn on each other. When Jehoshaphat and his men arrived at the scene, they found nothing but dead bodies.

Isn’t that awesome? As God’s people sang and praised God their own fears were calmed, their own anxieties were quieted, and their faith was emboldened. As an added bonus, as the people praised God, God’s Spirit was catapulted onto the battlefield, and He won the victory without His own people having to raise a single sword. Without a doubt, praise is a powerful weapon to break strongholds outside us AND to break strongholds inside us. So, whether you’re dealing with internal strongholds of fear, anxiety, anger, lust, jealousy or unforgiveness—whatever it is—praising God for who He is and thanking Him for what He’s done can transform you from the inside out.

Maybe you’re facing some impossible circumstance. You’ve tried EVERYTHING to fix it, and nothing has worked. Well, could it be that the Lord is whispering in your ear: “You haven’t tried everything. You haven’t tried praise. You haven’t praised Me in the midst of your storm. You haven’t thanked Me for your lousy circumstances. You haven’t released your circumstances to Me and trusted Me to handle them. So, start praising Me! Start thanking Me! Start trusting Me! And just watch what I will do.”

Dane Davis is the Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information,

visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com  and join us for worship Sundays at 10 am.

God’s Antidote to Worry

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

– Philippians 4:6

Have you ever lost sleep worrying about something? Of course you have! At some time or another all of us have lost sleep worrying about our health, our marriage, our job, our debt, or any of a hundred different things. And sadly, worry robs us of much more than just sleep. Worry robs us of our health, erodes our faith and, most tragically, strips us of our joy in the Lord. Thankfully, Philippians 4:4-9 reveals God’s antidote to worry.

In Philippians 4:4, the Apostle Paul unveils a bold command that seems impossible to follow: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Consider the implications of this command. When you’ve just left your spouse’s graveside, rejoice in the Lord. When you’ve just received an eviction notice, rejoice in the Lord. When you’ve just been laid off and have no other household income, rejoice in the Lord. This call to rejoice at all times and in all circumstances—be they good, bad or ugly—sounds impossible. But with God…all things are possible.

Yes, when our joy is solidly grounded in our great and awesome God, we truly can rejoice in all circumstances and at all times. You see, God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is just as good in our valleys as He is on our mountaintops. He is just as faithful when we’re sick as when we’re healthy. He’s just as merciful, gracious, loving and strong when our circumstances stink as when they’re all rosy. So, if our joy is firmly grounded in God, we can rejoice no matter what comes our way.

The reason we worry so much is because our minds are consumed with thoughts of stuff instead of being consumed by thoughts of God. Simply put: If you have a small view of God, you will inevitably struggle with a big amount of anxiety and worry. But if you have a big view of God and flood your mind every day with the pure truth from His Word, you will inevitably deal with very little worry. It boils down to this: Big and frequent thoughts of God lead to little worry. But small and infrequent thoughts of God lead to much worry.

And with that in mind, the Apostle Paul reveals God’s three specific antidotes to worry in verses 6-9.

Antidote #1: Right praying. In verse 6, Paul writes, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” When our anxiety starts to rise, our first response should be to turn to God in prayer. And according to Paul, our prayers should contain three parts: prayer, petition and thanksgiving. “Prayer” refers to adoration and worship. When we pray, we should spend some time worshipping God for His holiness, His goodness, His grace, His mercy, His justice and His power. Next, we should “petition” Him for our specific needs. As a loving Father, God loves to meet our needs and answer our prayers. Finally, we should “thank” God for answering our prayers in the past and even for His future answers to our prayer. 

Antidote #2: Right thinking. One of the reasons you and I get so stressed out is because we don’t think right. We are very quick to view the glass as half empty but slow to see it as half full. In verse 8, Paul urges us to flood our thoughts with what is true—not with what is untrue or speculative. Paul asks us to think about what is noble and right, not what is disgraceful and sinful. He instructs us to fill our thoughts with the things of God that are pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. Honestly, when we spend a few moments considering this marvelous list of anxiety-busting thoughts, we’re quickly reminded of how undisciplined and off track our thoughts tend to be.

Antidote #3: Right living. You and I can’t expect to be free of worry if we pray and think right but don’t live right. The pursuit of God’s peace is both inward and outward. Paul writes in verse 9, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” As we worship God with our thoughts, we must worship Him with our deeds. As we thank Him in our prayers, we must also thank Him with our lives. As our thoughts are consumed with God-honoring thoughts that are noble, right, pure and admirable, our decisions must be noble, right, pure and admirable.

Because our great and awesome God loves us, He has graciously supplied us with these three antidotes to worry. The Lord never intended for us to carry the weight of the world’s problems on our shoulders. That’s Jesus’s job, not ours. So, when we realize that our thoughts are being flooded with many worries, it’s time to reach for God’s worry-busting remedies. We must pray right, think right and live right. And God’s peace that surpasses all understanding will come rushing in. 

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. Join us for Good Friday at 6 pm and for Easter Sunday at 7 am or 10 am. Questions? Visit www.fccvv.com .