God exists in the past, the present, and the future. We however, only exist in the present. But how is this the basis of our whole walk in Christ? And how does this revelation open the door to more consistent walk with Christ?
We all remember a time where we were on fire for God, and the desires of the flesh seemed so distant. When we fasted longer than we've ever fasted, prayed longer than we ever prayed, and gave God praise louder than we've ever praised. The worst part is when we look back and realize we don't live like that anymore, and we think to ourselves, "Have I lost my fire?". Or maybe you haven't even had a time like that in your life and are wondering how to even get there.
Jesus gives us the answer to our problem in Matthew 6. Below I break down the points Jesus tells us not to worry about:
Don't think about your life
Don't think about what you'll wear
Don't think about what you'll eat
Don't think about tomorrow
Now ask yourself, how often do you think about the things above? Once a day, twice a day? All it takes is allowing one thought into your mind that revolves around these 4 things to derail the progress you've made in Christ. The common denominator in all these things is, the flesh.
The flesh wants to have it's "life planned out"
The flesh brings vanity placing importance on how you look.
The flesh introduces gluttony to care about what you'll eat.
The flesh wants to be in control to have tomorrow planned out.
The flesh wants to control, but God says give up that control to Him. The idea of control has always been in your imagination, you were never in control and you never will be. So if you live in a realty outside of what's real, you're in a delusion, a fantasy, a figment of your imagination. This could be why you've either never been on fire for God, or have lost your fire for Him. When you think about your life and where it's going you leave the reality of Christ that says Jesus is in control, and you then enter in a delusion that says you're in control. Why would God bless you for disobeying him and chasing a delusion?
The rest of the 3 points Jesus talks about are all similar, God clearly tells you what not to do. Do not seek the desires of the flesh. Shouldn't that be enough of a reason to not do it, because God said don't do it? God is telling you not to worry about anything because He is in control, that makes things a lot more simple huh? The future of your career, don't worry about it. The chances of your whole family getting sick, don't worry about it. The car making it to work without dying, don't worry about it. And if you believed in the power of prayer, you'd pray about it and not worry about it.
All these extra worries add unnecessary burdens you were never designed to take on. So what do you do? How do you actually not think about this stuff? Simple, 2 Corinthians 10:5 "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ". As thoughts both new and old enter into your mind you must ask yourself, "Is this in line with God's will?". Another form of this question is, "Is this thought in line with the Bible?", this is why we MUST read the word of God every day. When you know what NOT to let in your mind, you then free up space for what SHOULD be in your mind.
If you randomly had thoughts of watching porn, you'd pretty quickly shut those thoughts down right? You need to treat every thought that is against the word of God like thoughts that are as perverse as thoughts of watching porn. The devil loves to play on the fence, "Oh it's not that bad to just think about the future of your career. It's good to know where I'll be in the next few years." when in fact it's those thoughts that kill off the ministry God has for you. When you live in disobedience, even at such a seemingly "small" level, you distance yourself from God. You have your whole career path all planned out but didn't give room for God to move. You know nothing of the future, so you immediately forfeit all of what God has planned for you when you make up your own plans. This is a very small example and the implications are massive.
Romans 8:6 "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.". So there is a clear choice, be focused on the Holy Spirit and receive life and peace. Or be focused on the flesh and fall away from God and receive the eternal death. Jesus is clearly telling us to only think about today. When you wake up and only think about today, your mind then has the stamina to go farther for God. I always tell myself, "today is for the Lord and I will dedicate it to Him.". God's blessed you and me with another moment to live, another moment to share Jesus Christ, another opportunity to present ourselves as a living sacrifice. Living a life of sacrifice is a mountain of a commitment, but when you take it day by day, each step doesn't seem too bad. Focus on what you're doing for God TODAY and EVERYDAY will get you farther down the narrow road.
I pray this blesses you on your walk and I hope we all get closer to Jesus Christ each day!