Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Casting Cares

Mini V's Bible Study Series
Bible Verse Study of 1 Peter 5:6,7
Updated 5-23-07

“Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, 7Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully” 1 Peter 5:6,7(Amplified)

One of the hardest things for some people to do is humble themselves. There seems to be here a tremendous balance issue between people who won’t do it at all and people who take it too far. Often people look at showing modesty of any kind as some kind of a process to developed to degrade themselves. On the other side of the excessiveness are those who get so down on themselves they take it beyond simply being humble into an area of low self-worth. It never was God’s intention for us to carry it to that extreme; He doesn’t require us to think badly of ourselves just less of us and more of others and Jesus. God’s the one who wants to exalt us in due time.

It may be odd but there are people that don’t know how to humble themselves, how is it done?_________________________________


Who are we told to humble ourselves to?__________________________


Why is this so difficult for some people to do? ______________________


Do you find it difficult to humble yourself? ________________________


In what conditions is it the hardest to humble yourself? ____________


Does God have conditions attached to condition of being humble? _____


If not, they why do we put conditions on it? _____________________


What is the lie that Satan generally likes to use regarding being humble? _____________________________________________________


In a world of rush, rush, hurry, hurry we live our lives as if due time in based on our time and that generally means now not later, at our convenience. We even go so far as to name what we feel is “due time” for others as we seek revenge or punishment on those we feel have it coming to them within the time period we pre-pick.

What is your idea of “due time” ______________________________

What is God’s idea of “due time” ______________________________

Often the hunger for the attention received when someone exalts, praises, or honors us leads us down wrong paths that never can do what God can in this area. We make the error of thinking we need it to live off of it as some type of daily requirement when indeed its something that we can hold off on as we wait for that "due time" that God has picked for us.

In some translations they use the phrase “lifts you up” instead of exalt, what does this mean for us?
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What does it take to cast our anxieties or cares upon the Lord?
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Does God give us a list of which anxieties we can throw at Him? _______ Then why do we seem to be so selective ourselves when He isn’t?
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Our biggest problem with this area is the fact that we pick and choose what we want to share with the Lord. We hold back the parts we want to handle ourselves figuring we know what is best. Saving the big stuff for God, We treat God as if He has some limit or quota to fill and then that's it.

In the King James Bible it uses the word “care” instead of anxiety, the Amplified states it this way, “Casting the whole of your care (all you anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns once and for all) on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.” Wow, that seems to be a long ways away from just our “anxieties.

Make a list of the cares, worries, burdens, anxieties that you have or still need to give to the Lord;
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What makes us good at casting but terrible about leaving it where we placed it in the hands of God? _____________________________________________________
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What fishermen’s tips could you give to others who are just starting on the best way to cast and leave it where you put it?
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Did this fishermen’s tip come from a “guide to better fishing manual” or did you learn it from the school of hard-knocks? ___________________

Is God to be treated merely as a sounding board to bounce our cares, worries, and anxieties off of? ___________ Do some people treat Him that way? __________ What does this verse say is the reason He told us we can give over our cares to Him? ____________


We must be honest with ourselves as we look at the fact that a great deal of our anxieties we bring upon ourselves by making more out of something than we should. By not trusting the Lord with the little stuff in our lives, waiting for them to become to big to handle before turning them over to the Lord. Being guilty of holding parts of ourselves back instead of turning our whole mind, soul, heart, and strength over to the Lord.

To care for others, to have others or God care for us is a wonderful feeling. Unfortunately its another area in God’s word that the world or unbelievers and often immature believers seem to distort and tear apart its true meaning. Have you ever heard someone use the phrase, “Well if God really cared, why did this happen, or why didn’t that happen?” ____What can we say to those who are confused in this area? _____________________________________
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Have you ever in your worse moment thought that God didn’t care about you that you were just lost in a crowd of people, that because of circumstances in life it was obvious to you that He didn’t care? ________What got you out of that moment and back to the truth?
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As we mature in our Christian walk our response time of getting back to the truth should be getting quicker and quicker. What was your biggest gap getting back to God’s truth in your thinking or behavior, a week, a month, a year, an hour? _____________________ Has it improved over the years? __________________________

What encouragement can we give to those who don’t see any improvement in sight?
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Satan would like us to think that God doesn’t care about us. He’s good at heading us down the path of feeling down on God and ourselves. To avoid this dangerous area created by the lies of Satan it’s important that we know whom we are in Christ and hang on to it. Holding tightly during the storms he stirs up in our hearts and minds as he tries to tell us, “God doesn’t care about you, look around at the evidence.” Yes, we need to look around at the facts, and data and proof and we will see that God does care about us. List the things that you would name as evidence that He cares about you: ______________________________________
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If you had a hard time listing some evidence as Satan may have your view temporarily blocked, read for yourselves proof of God’s love for us out of His word. Read the following scriptures and write out briefly the evidence that He cares:

Psalm 66:20 ________________________________________
Luke 6:37 __________________________________________
John 3:16__________________________________________
Acts 5:31 __________________________________________
Romans 5:6 _________________________________________
Romans 5:8 _________________________________________
Galatians 3:29________________________________________
Ephesians 1:5 ________________________________________
Ephesians 1:7 ________________________________________
James 2:5 __________________________________________
1 John 1:9 __________________________________________

List some scriptures of your own that shows you how much He cares:
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When we read these verses we need to make note of the part that we have to play in the procedure. Actions words such as believing, being in Christ, loving Him, confessing, forgiving others so God will forgive us, and so much more stand out in every scripture. We would like to think we can dump our cares on the Lord for Him to straighten out and walk away with no effort on our part but it doesn't work that way. As the scriptures tell us, “faith without works is dead.” Praise the Lord we don’t have to work our way into heaven in order to be saved but that doesn’t excuse us from doing the things we need to be doing and the part we play in our daily Christian walk in obedience to God's word.

As much as we would like to think that God’s love or care is unconditional that is not the truth. We have our roles or duties to fulfill; our responsibilities. God’s love is unconditional, He does love us all and it’s a wonderful thing that we don’t have to clean up our act first in order to come to Him. Like a parent of a prodigal child He cares for us but expects us to grow in Him as we mature. Moving on to solid food instead of remaining on the milk, or the simple basics of the concept of Christ. We can’t pick and choose what we want to believe out of the Bible. We can’t add or take away from what is said in it. We can’t declare ignorance as our excuse. God cares and so should we.

“Cast your burden on the Lord (releasing the weight of it) and He will sustain you; He will never allow the (consistently) righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail).” Psalm 55:22 (Amplified Bible) What a wonderful thing it is to be able to release the weight of the burdens that life puts on us. There's no better place to unload and reload with the things that will equip us to stand up against our number one enemy, the devil himself.

Closing Thought: As you go through your list of anxieties, cares, and worries daily practice casting them upon the Lord not as a pitcher throwing a hard ball in the final ending but as a friend to a friend. Never allow the doubts of Satan to enter your heart as we have been given a place to leave our cares, a shoulder to cry on, a friend who is listening and willing to receive all that we place at His feet. Don't be foolish by trying to hold on to the things in life that weigh us down, trap us, and takes away from the joy in the Lord that we should be experiencing as we live the abundant life He would have us live. Life to the fullest, not one full of strife, anxieties, worries, but full of Christ and the things He has to offer. Cast your concerns to the one who cares, Jesus Christ and leave them there.

Copyright 2007 by Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

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