John P. Kee wrote this song some years ago, entitled "Wave it Away". The first verse starts as follows; "I'm not worried about tomorrow, nor the trials it may bring. For by faith I am the victor I can conquer anything. I cast my cares at your feet, and Lord you comfort me; and by faith I pray that you wave your troubles away." Let me start out by saying this song here is my favorite gospel song of all time. Just saying the words to myself has gotten me through a whole lot of trials and tribulations. So John if you ever get the chance to read this blog, "Thank You from the bottom of my heart, you probably will never know what this song means to me, but thank you anyway." Now on to our discussion.

Let me start out by saying that we worry about things we have no business worrying about. Then secondly if we really think; what in our lives is there really to worry about. If we worry about our electric bill; will that bill get paid? "I think not". If we worry about our mortgages or our car notes; will those notes get paid? "I think not". So if we realize that worrying never gets our bills paid, if we realize that worrying never gets our problems solved, then why are we worrying? In the bible Matthew chapter six; the Lord is telling us not to worry. We've read these passages of scriptures many of times, yet we still find something in our lives to worry about. And when we worry, it's always about the smallest things.

The next time you find yourself worrying about something; get down on your knees(if able) and bow your head and close your eyes. At that exact moment, I want you to give up your problems and your cares to God. Tell God your problems, talk to him about your worries and fears. After all God is your father. Do not be afraid to talk to God about anything you might have going on in your life. God made us a promise in his word; that he would never leave us nor forsake us. If we are going through some trials in our life; God is promising us that he will be there; so why then do we worry? When something trying comes up, why is the bible not the first book we pick up? Why isn't God the first one we call on? Stop running to your mother, stop running to your father, and even stop running to your Pastor; make God the first one you run to. Your pastor can only help you so much, your mother and father can only help you so much, but God; God can totally bring you out of your situation. I mean try God, and see where he takes you. I did; and that is the reason I am able to write to you today.

There were times in my life when I felt I could take no more. I've been broke, unemployed and could not see a way out of my storm. I mean everywhere I turned it was as if people knew my situation and were just constantly poking at me. For the life of me, I could not understand it. I had tried so hard to be right, to live right, and things would still happen to me. I began to allow worry to creep into my life, and everytime I turned around I was worried about something. You see when you allow worry to creep into your life, you slowly allow it to control your life. Then once worry settles, it starts to affect every part of you. And we really are not aware of the effect that being worried is having on our well-being.

Everytime you find yourself worrying about something, whenever you find yourself stressing about something; take a look at where you are in life. Begin to examine your emotions, and your reactions to those emotions. At times we get a little stressed out when we allow ourselves to worry so much. Health problems begin to arise, and we wonder constantly about their beginnings. A lot of stress and health problems come from us placing so much worry and care into situations that we have no business worrying about in the first place. Try giving all your worries and cares to God just once, and remember when you give it up to God, leave the problems with him. Do not take your problems away from that conversation you just had with God. God promises to take all your cares and worries so that we can go on with our lives. Believe in the power of God, do not neglect it.

In closing; I know from personal experience that sometimes issues may arise, and at first view, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. But let me tell you what; I tried God, I called on Jesus' name. I placed my worries and my cares at the feet of the almighty, and when I arose I felt anew. God had taken those heavy weights from around my shoulders, and he allowed me to walk away without them. I know if he did it for me, I believe he can do the same for you. Proverbs chapter three verses five through six states: 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Read Matthew Chapter six verses twenty-five through thirty-four, and remember whenever worry begins to settle in, go to God and let him "wave it away"!


Remember God first and the world last,

Bryan E. Patton

One of the topics I discuss in my book, is that of how we treat our brothers and sisters in need. Think with me for a second, will you? You are driving along the highway, trying to get home from a hard day at work. Exiting the freeway, you pull up to the stoplight; anticipating your entry into your house, when someone walks up to your window holding out an old fast-food cup begging for change. **PAUSE** At that moment, what is your first true reaction? Were you naturally startled, because you were not expecting them? Or were you actually expecting someone to be there, because someone is always there at this time of day? What was your reaction, was it anger, because you are tired of people out here day in and day out, begging for change; while you are out there working? Or was it just pure concern, because you know at any given time that person begging for change could be you?

Deuteronomy 15:11 reads; "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land". Wow! what a statement; "there will always be poor people in the land". Do you realize something here? If there will always be poor people in the land, and one day the ones we call needy and poor get blessed enough to find their footing; whom do you think will be first in line to take their place? Now don't take what I say as an excuse not to help our needy brothers and sisters, for the second part of the scripture has something else to say. "Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land". Here God is commanding us(not requesting) to give freely to our brothers and sisters in need. So many of us today(me included), have excuses on why we can't give(or donate) to the poor and needy. "This is my last until I get paid next week", or what about the excuse "I am not giving him anything when all he'll do is buy some alcohol or drugs with the money". While you are reading this, you are probably thinking of even more excuses that you yourself have used. But know this; when you give to the poor, you give to God; but when you withhold from the poor, you also withhold from God.

How hard is it anyway to give freely to the poor? Everyday we give something to somebody, whether it be "I hope you have a good day", to someone whose day is not going so well. Or maybe a sympathy note to somebody that just lost a loved one. That person who is having a bad day, and that person who just lost the loved one are all needy people, and yet we want to give to them freely. But when it comes to giving freely to someone who is financially in need, we want to withhold. They might all be at different degrees or stages of neediness, but being in need is being in need, and when it comes to giving to someone in need, God is telling us to act accordingly. And when you give freely to one person in need, but not to the other; you are showing favoritism. In James Chapter 2 verses 8-10: they speak against favoritism; 8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. After reading this scripture, I hope we(me included), all can learn to show less favoritism towards our brothers and sisters in need.

One final part to our discussion before I let you go. When we are ready to give freely to the needy, let us watch ourselves on how we give to the needy and also on our purpose for giving in the first place. Matthew chapter 6 verses 1-4 are as follows: 1"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Here the scripture says it all. We should be giving, not because we want God to bless us with something in return, or because we want the people we associate with to know what we do, but we should give from our hearts, knowing that it's the right thing to do. You see when we can give freely from our hearts; without expecting our bills to paid, or expect God to give us that new car or house we have been dreaming of. When we can do this; when we can give a dollar and really mean it when we say God bless you, then God will take care of us. I believe it, and I hope you do too.

Always make sure you heart is full of love, because when it is, giving freely from it; will always be easy.


Remember God first and the world last,
Bryan E. Patton
**Next Week: Worrying**