Freedom from “Hurried Living” Lifestyle
The Word was designed by the Holy Spirit to open our eyes and give us the knowledge and understanding needed for whatever situation we find ourselves in. Here are some wonderful scriptures that can help us to find freedom from a “hurried living” lifestyle. Meditate on whatever words speak to your spirit and chew on them throughout the day, asking the Lord to show you how they apply to your life:
2 Peter 1:2 – When we are in communion with the Lord, the knowledge He imparts to us gives us a peace that seems unnatural to those who don’t have the benefit of God’s perspective. God’s knowledge, which comes primarily through His Word (2 Pet. 1:4), gives us this type of peace.
Luke 10:38-42 – Mary had a heart to really know God deeply, and Jesus commended her for that (Luke 10:42). Mary was also a true worshiper of Jesus, as can be seen in John 12:3. There is nothing wrong with serving, as Martha was doing. It’s commendable. But it’s not more important than worshiping Jesus and receiving from Him. This is all about priorities. We all have necessary things that occupy our time, but we have to maintain worshiping Jesus and receiving from Him as our highest priority. Those who don’t put Jesus first are stressed out. Those who worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth have cast their cares on the Lord (1 Pet. 5:7). True worship is the antidote to worry and care.
Hebrews 4:2b – God’s Word never fails. It is eternal, and not one promise will fall to the ground. But for it to work for us, we have to believe it. God’s Word has all power, but all that power will not be released until we believe it. God is waiting on us to believe.
Hebrews 4:11 – Why labor to rest? It takes effort to rest in the finished work of the Lord. Our human natures want to do something to be worthy of the Lord’s blessings. But the truth is that we can never deserve the goodness of the Lord. We have to cease from trusting in our own works and rest in what Jesus has freely provided by grace. That takes effort. It will be the hardest thing you’ve ever done to quit relating to God on the basis of your own works and start trusting totally in what Jesus did for you.
John 15:5 – If we would see ourselves as worthless as a detached branch without Jesus, we would make the time to abide in Him. Abiding in the Lord demands intimacy that cannot be achieved without time spent alone with Him. But we must also learn to be in communion with the Lord during our daily activities. And we need to bring every thought under the control and into subjection to the mind of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). It’s interesting to note that these verses parallel Psalms 91:1, where the Lord promises divine blessing and intervention to those who DWELL in the secret place of the Almighty. As a branch cannot just abide in the vine for fifteen minutes at a time, so we can’t think a fifteen-minute devotional is the same as abiding in the vine. We can’t just visit the Lord. We have to dwell in His presence. We need to recognize our total dependence on Him while not forgetting that we can do all things through Him (Phil. 4:13).
John 6:1-14 – The Lord will bless what we set our hands to do (Deut. 28:8; 1 Kings 17:12-16; 2 Kings 4:2-7, and 42-44). Seek God’s direction for something to set out hands to and then trust Him to bless it (Deut. 28:8) and multiply the results of our work. He will! He will bless it so that you will have more than enough! Many people have missed their miracles because they never took that first step of faith and used what they had.
Isaiah 55:12a – The benefits of our salvation are so great that even creation will rejoice with us. Hallelujah!
John 14:27 – Jesus gave us His peace as a gift. Therefore, we don’t have to have our hearts troubled, regardless of what happens. Our peace isn’t human or natural. It’s Jesus’s divine peace! Notice that it’s our responsibility not to let our hearts be troubled. It’s God’s peace that empowers us, but that peace and power are under our authority.
2 Cor. 6:2b – One of the ways we keep from receiving the grace of God in vain (2 Cor. 6:1) is to seize the moment. We can’t put off seeking the Lord for a more convenient time (Acts 24:25). It will never come.
Proverbs 4:23 – Christians have new spirits (2 Cor. 5:17) that are supposed to dominate the soul, which includes the emotions, will, and thoughts. The born-again spirit has the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16) and knows all things (1 John 2:20). It is always believing God and is exactly as Christ is (1 John 4:17). The victory in our Christian lives comes when we believe with all our heart (Acts 8:37). As Christians, our born-again spirits are always believing, so we have to get our souls, or our minds and emotions, in agreement with our spirits. The Message translated this verse as “Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts.” The Living Bible says, “Above all else, guard your affections. For they influence everything else in your life.” Don’t let your heart be troubled (John 14:1).
Matthew 6:11 – Notice that Jesus didn’t instruct us to pray for a year’s supply of bread. The Jews, whom God miraculously sustained for forty years in the wilderness by giving them angels’ food (Ps. 78:24-25) to eat, had to gather the manna every day. They could not gather more than one day’s supply at a time (except before the Sabbath) or it would rot (Ex. 16:19-21). The Lord desires for the just to live by faith (Gal. 3:11); that is, to make it a lifestyle, not just a once-in-a-while occurrence.
1 Peter 2:6 – This is citing a quotation from Isaiah 28:16. Notice that in Isaiah’s prophecy, it says “he that believeth shall not make haste,” while this verse says “shall not be confounded.” There is no contradiction here but rather a commentary. Isaiah 28:16 is stressing that those who believe on the coming Messiah would be secure. They would never have to flee from an enemy. Likewise, this New Testament passage is saying the same thing. When we believe on Jesus, we will never be shamed or disgraced. This same Old Testament verse was cited in Romans 9:33 and 10:11, where it was translated as “shall not be ashamed.”
Isaiah 28:16 – The stone being spoken of is our Lord Jesus Christ. Making haste, which is spoken of here, is talking about not being in fear, being put to shame, or being defeated.
Matthew 12:35 – People who do good things have good hearts. People who do evil things have evil hearts. We are on the outside the way we think on the inside, in our hearts (Prov. 23:7). People can be hypocrites and lie, but they can’t do it consistently. If we watch and listen to people long enough, we can read their hearts. Dominant actions always reveal the heart.
Revelations 12:12b – Casting the devil and his angels out of heaven is reason for the heavens to rejoice but cause for the inhabitants of the earth to mourn. This shows Satan was causing problems even in heaven.
Matthew 24:6-7 – How can we avoid the stress that comes from a troubled heart? The answer to this lies in the fact that we know God has ultimate control over the affairs of people (Ex. 9:16; Ps. 75:6-7; Prov. 16:9, 21:1; Jer. 10:23; Rom. 9:15-24, and 13:1), and He has assured us of His complete, final conquest and the manner in which it will happen. The earth will not be destroyed by some “madman” or in a conquest of war. The Lord will destroy this present earth with a fervent heat (2 Pet. 3:7 and 10), create a new heaven and earth (Rev. 21:1), and right all the wrongs as He judges the world (Rev. 20:11-15). Those of us who believe these promises of God can laugh with the Lord (Ps. 2:4) at all the heathens who rise up against Him.
Luke 21:28 – This is amazing. The Lord had just described such calamities as the sun and moon going dark and the stars falling from heaven. The seas would be in turmoil. Yet He was telling us to keep our heads up high and be encouraged. The only way this can happen is if people believe there is more than what they can see with their eyes (see my note at Mark 6:41). Those who believe in the spiritual realm and the truths God’s Word reveal will see all these natural disasters differently than those who only see with their eyes. Believers will see the culmination of this corrupt existence and the beginning of God’s kingdom.
Hebrews 4:3 – God created everything so perfectly that there was nothing else to do. He created the animals and all plants and grass with the ability to procreate. Therefore, He doesn’t have to create more animals or plants each day to replace the ones that died. He built the ability to reproduce into every living thing. He has never done more creating in the natural realm. He’s resting in what has already been done. Adam and Eve were created at the very end of the six days of creation. That’s because everything wasn’t ready for them before that time. If they had been created first, they would have had to tread water for two days until the dry land appeared. There wouldn’t have been sunshine, and therefore the earth would have been cold. There wouldn’t have been any food to eat. But they were created last, at the very end of creation, and then moved immediately into the Lord’s rest. They didn’t have to plant the trees and wait seven years for them to bear fruit. The trees were already there with fruit on them. The climate was just right. Everything was perfect for them. They just rested in what was already done.
That’s the way it is in the new birth. Jesus has already purchased salvation and all its benefits for us. It’s already done. We don’t have to pray and ask God to heal us or prosper us. It’s already a done deal. We just need to rest in what has already been provided. There is a place we can reach where we aren’t striving to get God to bless us but are resting by faith in what has already been done. That is the Sabbath rest that is being spoken of in this chapter.
Colossians 2:6 – This is a simple principle that would stop a lot of error in the body of Christ if it were observed. We received Christ totally by putting faith in God’s grace (Eph. 2:8). We didn’t offer the Lord any holiness on our part, but came “just as I am, without one plea” (“Just as I Am” by Charlotte Elliott). We hadn’t been fasting, paying our tithes, reading the Word, or praying an hour each day, yet we received the greatest miracle of all–the new birth (John 3:3). But amazingly, after receiving Christ by faith, many fall back into the trap of thinking that after salvation, they have to earn God’s blessings by works. That is not walking in the same way that they received Christ. If they started by grace, they should continue by grace.
This is the point that Paul was making in Galatians 3:1-3. The same way we receive our forgiveness of sins is the same way we receive healing, deliverance, or whatever we need. Our initial salvation experience didn’t come because of our holiness or goodness (Titus 3:5). We received it by putting faith in Jesus as our Savior (Eph. 2:8). Likewise, we receive everything else in the Christian life the same way. But many times, Christians get saved by faith in God’s grace and then try to earn all of salvation’s benefits by their efforts (Gal. 3:3). That won’t work. We need to return to the simplicity of putting faith in what God has already provided by grace.
Luke 4:19b – In the passage of Scripture that Jesus was reading, it goes on to talk about the vengeance of the Lord being poured out (Isa. 61:2). But Jesus stopped right in the middle of the sentence because His first advent was limited to setting the people free. When He comes again, that will be the day of vengeance on those who rejected His first offer (Rev. 19:11). But now we are living in the church age where the grace of God is reigning supreme. This church age is the Year of Jubilee.
Exodus 17:8-9 – This rod was God’s rod and power in Moses’ hand. Notice that Moses’ rod had now become the rod of God. The same thing was said in Exodus 17:9. Before Moses threw his rod down before the Lord, it would have broken if Moses struck a rock with it. But now that it was the rod of God, it would split a rock in two and have millions of gallons of water come out of it (Ex. 17:6). When we surrender to the Lord, He gives us back what was surrendered, but with one noticeable difference: It now belongs to Him and therefore can do supernatural things. This is the secret to making our lives count (Ex. 4:4).
Psalm 23:5 – We can have a continual feast, even when surrounded by our enemies. God is more than enough. He never gives just enough. He causes our cup to run over (Mark 6:43-44 and 8:8-9).
Matthew 6:25 – Notice the use of the word “therefore.” This is saying the arguments of this verse and the ones following are the results of what he had just said. He was talking about not laying up treasures on earth (Matt. 6:19) but putting all our treasures in heaven (Matt. 6:20) because our hearts will be where our treasures are (Matt. 6:21). If our attention is on money, our hearts become dark. We have to have a single focus upon God (Matt. 6:22-23). We can’t be slaves to money and God at the same time (Matt. 6:24). The carnal mind would say, “Then how can I survive if I’m focused on God instead of meeting my needs?” Jesus pointed us to examples in nature of how God provides for His creation and concluded with the truth that we are much more valuable to God than birds or lilies. Therefore, God will take care of us when we put Him first (Matt. 6:33). The last phrase of this verse makes a very profound statement that most people haven’t come to realize. People’s lives consist of more than food and raiment. The intangible matters of the heart are much more important than the tangible things they need to survive (Prov. 4:23). Yet people’s obsession with carnal things screams that they don’t know this truth.
John 10:10 – The thief mentioned here is specifically speaking of the thieves and robbers of John 10:8 who had claimed to be God’s messengers but weren’t. They were selfish (steal), cruel (kill), and destructive (destroy) in contrast to the true Shepherd who was selfless and kind and laid down His life for the sheep. This verse is still the “acid test” for discerning false messengers of God today as well as the demonic inspiration behind them. The devil steals, kills, and destroys, but God ministers the “ZOE” life.
The Greek word translated “life” here is ZOE, and it means “life in the absolute sense, life as God has it” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary). Everyone who is breathing has life in the sense of physical existence, but only those who receive Jesus can experience life as God intended it to be. Jesus came not only to save people from the torment of eternal hell but also to give them this ZOE life, or God-kind of life, in abundance. The life of God is not awaiting people in heaven but is the present possession of all born-again believers in their spirits (John 5:24 and 1 John 3:14). Believers can release this ZOE life and enjoy it now by losing their natural lives (Matt. 16:24-25, Mark 8:34-37, and Luke 9:23-25) and finding this supernatural life. The way believers lose their lives is to deny any thoughts, emotions, or actions that are contrary to the Word of God, which is life (ZOE in John 6:63). When they line their thoughts, emotions, and actions up with the instructions of God’s Word, then they’ll find this ZOE life manifest in their bodies and souls as well (Matt. 7:14).
Matthew 6:26-28 – Did you read in the paper where thousands of birds were found dead in the streets of your town because they had starved to death? NO, and you never will! God takes responsibility for feeding the birds. They don’t have to practice the laws of sowing and reaping; God just takes care of them. If the Lord does this for birds, how much more will He do this for us? We don’t have to serve money. If we just serve God and do as He leads, the money we need will be there. Notice that the Lord said people are much better than birds. This doesn’t mean people should mistreat birds. Proverbs 12:10 shows that godly people treat animals well. This new morality, though, where people go to great lengths to save endangered animals while killing unborn humans is total hypocrisy.