Scripture

 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

~Mark 4:18-19, NKJV

Quote

The “Cares of this world,” produce the wrong frame of mind and distract us from focusing on Christ.

~Oswald Chambers {modified}

You will notice Jesus mentioned three things that choke the word: [1] The cares of this world, [2] The deceitfulness of riches, and [3] The desire for other things; I suppose “Other Things” are things you don’t need but things you want. I feel more guilt about number one than two or three. My goal is not to get rich. I do not even pray for wealth because I am afraid, I couldn’t handle it. The extras {other things} like my John Deere and our new UTV could be a problem but fretting over the cares of this world is my greatest sin {of these three}. Charles Stanley has had a lot to say about that lately in his devotional EVERY DAY IN HIS PRESENCE. We can become so focused on the cares of this world that we lose our focus on Christ. One of my deepest concerns is for my sick friends who are battling cancer. I am also deeply disturbed about our country. Both of these come under the heading of CARES OF THIS WORLD. There will not be any cancer in the world to come; not according to the Bible. I will not be dishonest; all this cancer gets me down. St Jude and Childrens are always filled with sick children and some of them dying. There will be no hospitals or sick children in the world to come so as you can see, these are cares of THIS WORLD.

We have to be careful, the cares of this world can choke our quiet time, our worship, and it can produce an unholy state of mind. If we focus on the cares of this world, we are going to be depressed, dejected, discouraged or worse. If we remain focused on the cares of this world, we can become bitter. Don’t get me wrong, we cannot pretend that the hospitals are empty and that no one has cancer. The name it and claim it theology is not a sound biblical doctrine. You can claim it if God names it but claiming you are well when you are sick will not work. I do believe that Christ can heal all our diseases but for the most part, that healing comes through the resurrection of the body. Yes, eventually in heaven you are alive and well, if you have the faith to live on that plain now, God bless you; that is living by faith. Just remember what Jesus said, “In this world, you will have tribulation, but be of good courage, I have overcome the world.”

Extra

Ads drive me crazy. Commercials have ruined TV. Even the old shows {reruns} have far too many commercials. I switched to radio years ago but now radio is being ruined by commercials. I do listen to Christmas music this time of year in spite of all the commercials and Beautiful 97 is the station I pick up the clearest but they play the same songs over and over and I despise some of them. I hate Feliz Navidad. I don’t have a top ten yet but I have a top three. I also despise GRANDMA GOT RUN OVER BY A REINDEER. June hates the Peanuts Song and I am not a fan either. I don’t like the Hawaiian Christmas song. We are not in Hawaii or Mexico: this is Alabama. Who cares about Dominic the Italian Donkey. I had rather have a root canal than hear the Muppets do the twelve days of Christmas and who in blue blazes is Michael Bubble or Blueblade or something. He tries to sing Bing Crosby songs and he is pitiful. Burl Ives is the only one who can sing HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS and do it justice. Everyone else should leave it alone. Alan Jackson and Brad Paisley do pretty good with Christmas music but some of these other country music rock stars like Taylor Swift need to leave it alone. Celine Dion is a different story.

I hope you have a great THANKSGIVING EVE. See you next Monday.