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Dr. Tony Evans: Don't tell me you love Jesus and you is worried as your non-Christian neighbor about how you gonna make it.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans talks about why we still experience anxiety when God promises us peace.

Dr. Tony Evans: The reason why we stay worried as a lifestyle is that first things aren't first. Priorities are out of order.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans says the fact that we're worried can be a bigger problem than whatever we're worried about. Let's join him as he explains.

Dr. Tony Evans: Today, I want to talk to you about another kind of freedom, one that we all need. I need it, you need it, and that's freedom from anxiety. Freedom from anxiety or, to use the more popular term, freedom from worry. And there's plenty to worry about. Some people are worried about the financial situation. That could be their job, their bills, paying the rent, things that have to do with material and financial responsibility, and you are worried.

Others are worried about health issues. We worry about terrorism. You can worry about what people think, and you can be controlled by the impressions and impact of others. In Matthew chapter six, Jesus wants to tell you something. Verse 25, the first line: "For this reason, I say to you, do not worry." Verse 31: "Do not worry." Verse 34: "So do not worry."

Three times in this passage, Jesus wants to tell those who are gathered in our service today: stop it. If Jesus commands you to stop something and you keep doing it, it's a sin. Therefore, it's a sin to worry. That raises the first question, and that is: what is worry? Some of us try to make it seem better. We say, "I'm not worried, I'm just concerned."

The Greek word used here for worry was a word used for the unthreading of a garment, so that there was a detachment occurring because the threads of the garment were coming out. It meant to be detached or unraveled. You are worrying when your circumstances are unraveling you. To worry meant to be controlled by the circumstance so that they dictated to you your well-being.

How is that different than concern? The fundamental difference from legitimate concern and illegitimate concern or anxiety or worry is the issue of what's in control. Concern, you're in control of it. Worry, it's in control of you. Worry tells you whether you're going to sleep tonight or not. Worry tells you whether you're going to have a migraine headache or not. Worry dictates to you whether you're going to stay mad and angry or not.

When Jesus was with Martha and Mary and Martha was getting all upstaged, she got upset with Jesus, she got upset with Mary. Jesus said, "You are worried about too many things." Worry is controlling your attitude right now. When it's controlling you, the circumstances are negatively controlling you, that's worry. Legitimate concern is when you are controlling it. The issue is what's in control. When it comes to worry, Jesus said: don't do it.

Having established this, Jesus then says, "If you are prone to worry, verse 26, look at the birds of the air. Become a birdwatcher if you're prone to worry." Because He says if you really pay attention to birds, you will discover something: they do not sow nor reap nor gather in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Could it be that the bird knows something the child of God doesn't?

He says your Heavenly Father feeds them. In other words, birds get up assuming something. Daddy got today covered. Somewhere out there, there is a worm with my name on it. So He says study the birds. He goes on, "And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow. They do not toil, they don't spin. Yet I say that even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these."

Father God has trained Mother Nature to naturally take care of itself. In other words, the provision is built into the process. The level of your worry reveals the size of your faith. Okay, God has got it already built in. The systems are already working. The birds can testify. What does God want me to do? Because I'm tired of worry. I'm tired of worry.

Verse 31: "Do not worry then, saying: what will we eat, or what will we drink, or what will we wear for clothing?" Don't speak worry into your life. Once you start asking that question, you're speaking the problem back to you. You're telling yourself there's something to worry about because: how am I going to make it, how am I going to make it, how am I going to make it?

What am I supposed to do? He says, "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, for your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." If you are a worrier, you're no better than a pagan. The word Gentile refers to unbelievers, pagans, the heathen. Don't talk about you love Jesus and you is worried as your coworker about being laid off.

Don't tell me you love Jesus and you is worried as your non-Christian neighbor about how you're going to make it. But your Heavenly Father knows you have need of these things, the necessities of life. Here's our problem: we have confused the necessities of life with the extras of life. We have confused what God promises to me and what we want Him to do.

We have transferred needs into wants and then get mad at God because He's not meeting our needs that really are not the needs, they are the wants. We become like the Gentiles and we seek it, which means we go break our necks, we work overtime, we're doing 10 jobs, we can't come to church because we're too tired from working six days or we got to work seven days.

We become like the heathen, breaking our necks for stuff God said I would take care of if you had them in the right priority. You don't give me a chance to take care of them because you won't operate by my order. We're living from hand to mouth, week to week, trying to exist because we have inverted needs into wants.

"But seek first the kingdom and His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Key word: first. The reason why we stay worried as a lifestyle is that first things aren't first. Priorities are out of order. When spiritual priorities are out of order, don't expect to see God come through.

You are worried because you're not confident, but you're not confident because first things aren't first. This is one of the great promises in the Bible: seek first, not second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth. If there's a first, there must be a second. His kingdom. In a kingdom, you got a king. A lot of people want God to kill their worry when they won't treat Him like a king.

A king means: I'm in charge. That's why the debts won't go away. That's why the problems won't go away. That's why the transformations won't come culturally, societally, in the family, in the church, or even in our individual lives. He says, "Seek ye first." God hates being second, and He sure enough hates being last. That's not what He wants.

Seek ye first. That's what we don't want. We don't want to address what God requires on the front end. So we give God what's left over on the back end, then get mad at God because God's not answering our prayer. Seek ye first the kingdom of God in your relationships, in your career, whatever it is. Let me be the King first. What I think should be asked first. How I feel about should be addressed first. What I should want you to do should be the question you ask first. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, that means His standard, His will, His way, His word. You will be amazed what you see when I become first, when you stop leaving me to what's left over.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will return in a moment with a look at what God wants to start adding to our lives. First, though, I want to tell you about a powerful set of resources we put together to help you build on what you're hearing about today. It starts with all 12 full-length messages from Tony's current teaching series, "Free At Last," a practical, biblical look at how to leave the past behind and live in the freedom that comes with your identity in Christ.

In these lessons, you'll discover how to break free from cycles of fear, insecurity, guilt, and discouragement, and begin experiencing the kind of spiritual stability God intended for you. Along with the audio series, we'll also include Tony's companion book, "Free At Last." It's a popular and powerful resource that goes hand-in-hand with these messages, helping you understand who you are in Christ and how that truth changes everything.

We'd love to send you both as our thank-you gift when you make a contribution to support the ministry. This is a limited-time opportunity, so visit tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222 for details. I'll have that information for you again after part two of today's lesson, and this.

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It's an opportunity to learn, to connect with other leaders, and to return home with renewed vision for your church and your community. Reset, refresh, and recharge your life and ministry at the Kingdom Leader Summit. Register today at kap2026.com. That's kap2026.com.

Dr. Tony Evans: The Sabbath was established to give one day where you didn't try to earn money. That was the one day a week you couldn't try to earn money. It's called the Sabbath. In the New Testament, it says you can choose whatever day you want to be the Sabbath. It doesn't have to be Saturday. In the Old Testament, it was Saturday. He says but there must be in the rhythm of life, even God didn't skip this, on the seventh day He rested.

He didn't rest because He was tired. He rested because He wasn't going to do anything else. He was finished. In other words, everything else that happened had to happen because of what He had already done the six days. Look at what He says in verse 33, He says, "And all these things will be added to you."

Did you get that? Added to you. In other words, He'll make the hookup. He'll make the connection. He'll add what you're trying to force. He'll add what you're trying to make happen. He'll bring it to you. He'll connect it to you. Many of us are blocking God's hookup, blocking God's addition, and the extra stuff we're doing is creating subtraction.

Now we got bad attitudes, we're mad at people all the time, we're frustrated, we're cussing people out. We're doing all this because, "I just got too much on my mind." You're telling your kids, "Stop worrying me." We can't handle it, but we're doing everything we know to do, and we're doing more of it, and more of it, and more of it, and more of it, and more of it.

God's not adding anything because we're not doing it His way. We're doing it our way and asking Him to bless it. In other words, as though we're the king of the kingdom, and we set the standards. You're driving your car, and you see somebody on the side of the road, hungry. Hungry, please for some money for something to eat. We've all seen that. Most of us have probably from time to time helped somebody.

But everybody with a sign up doesn't mean you ought to do something for them. Because there's always a question that has to be answered: what are you hungry for? If I give you money without knowing what you hungry for, then that may be a bad investment. Because if you're hungry for food, then it ought to be okay if I say let's go to McDonald's.

That ought to be good because that's money, but it's money for food, if you're hungry for food. But if you only use the word hungry and you don't put anything in it, you could be hungry for drugs. I don't want to give you money if that's what you're hungry for because you only told me you're hungry. You gave me a fact, but you didn't tell me the truth.

You just said, "I'm hungry." That's a fact. But I didn't get the truth. I didn't get what you were hungry for. So until I get the rest of the story, I don't know whether to invest in that sign. Because I need to know what we're going to do with what I consider valuable, that is my money. God sees signs every Sunday from Christians coming into the church talking about, "I need Thee, oh I need Thee, every hour I need Thee."

We got the sign in church: "Jesus, I need You." We're waving our hands: "I need You." God is saying: for what? I want the rest of the story here. You just need Me so you can use Me up. You just need Me so I can bless you so you can skip Me. You just need Me so I can do more for you so you can do less for Me. You just need Me.

For what? What's the rest of the story? Are you talking to a King or are you talking to Santa Claus? He will add to you. God says in Jeremiah, scripture you should read when you're prone to worry, chapter 17, verses seven to eight. God says, "And I will remove your anxiety in a drought." You know what drought means? It means no rain. No rain, no agriculture. No agriculture, no food. No food, you starve.

When it's not raining for a long period of time, you can get scared. You can panic when it hasn't rained for a long period of time. But God says I'll remove your worry in a recession, in a depression. When you don't know where the stuff is coming from, I will calm your mind. Or as it says in Isaiah chapter 26, verses three and four: "I will keep him with a steadfast mind whose mind is stayed upon Me."

When your company, you work for a company you have to travel for them, if your company sends you somewhere, they pay for it. If you go to that same place on your own, you pay for it because you weren't sent. In other words, your company takes responsibility for what it requires of you, if it's a good company.

We want to go on our own, but we want the company to pay. We want to do our own thing, but we want to know why the King won't pick up the tab. Because God is saying: that's not where I sent you. That's not what I want done. That's not how I want it done. That's not when I want it done. That's not My thing. I'm not picking that up.

Now you mad at Me talking about I don't believe You answer prayer. He says, "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Ain't that the truth? Tell the truth and shame the devil. Okay, most of us are being crucified between two thieves: yesterday and tomorrow.

We're being crucified between two thieves. The regrets of yesterday, the uncertainty of tomorrow, and we still got to deal with the trouble of today. He says don't borrow from tomorrow. In other words: this might happen tomorrow, this might happen tomorrow, all these things might happen tomorrow. How am I going to make it tomorrow?

When you withdraw from the bank of tomorrow, you've increased the burden of today. Did you follow that? That means you reached into tomorrow, brought it back to today, so now you got to deal with what you already had on your plate today and what tomorrow just added to that plate. And you got to pay interest on both.

So you've added to yourself a burden you were never meant to have. Listen to me, listen to me. It's okay to plan for tomorrow. The Bible talks about planning. You can plan for tomorrow. What you can't do is get unraveled about tomorrow. You can't worry about tomorrow. Why? Because the only thing God is promising you is enough for today.

Lamentations 3:23, His mercies are new every day. Give us this day our daily bread. God is only guaranteeing you today. So when you start thinking about tomorrow, you've gone further than God has promised. He's only supporting you today. Well, what about tomorrow? He'll meet you there.

Plan, yes. Today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. Today is the tomorrow that you were worried about yesterday, and now you're today. Today has enough trouble of its own. You know if you can't even deal with the stuff in your face today, you're not going to be able to handle that plus tomorrow's stuff today.

Don't worry, tomorrow's stuff will be there when you get there. Because when you get there, tomorrow will be today. He says do not worry about tomorrow. All I'm trying to tell you, look at your neighbor and say: stop it. You can't worry no more. You don't have a right to worry. It's a sin to worry. You've insulted your Father when you worry because you've said to your Father: the birds can trust You, the flowers can trust You, but I can't trust You.

You've insulted God. But if we had a testimony service here today, and if we could invite the children of Israel, the children of Israel would testify. We were in a wilderness, and we didn't know where we were going to get water and where we were going to get food. But God had food in a rock and rained down cornflakes from above.

If the widow of Zarephath was here this morning, she would testify. I was down to my last meal, and me and my son had only one meal left. But when I put God first with Elijah, God took that bread, He took that oil, He multiplied it and gave us enough to retire. If the disciples were here to testify this morning, they could tell you they were with 5,000 men, not counting women and children, and they didn't know how they were going to feed them.

But a little boy with some sardines and crackers gave it to Jesus first and Jesus multiplied it, fed 5,000 women and children and had 12 baskets full left over. If Jesus were here, He could testify from John 6: "I am the bread of life. He that cometh to Me," He says, "will not thirst, and I will give him living water, and I will feed him the bread of life." Somebody ought to bless His name up in here, that God can be trusted even when you don't know how He's going to do it when you put Him first.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans with the most powerful antidote for anxiety, our trust in God. As I mentioned earlier, today's message is part of Tony's "Free At Last" series. For a limited time, we're offering all 12 full-length messages along with his companion book by the same name as our thank-you gift when you make a donation to help us continue this ministry.

These resources are designed to help you move beyond past struggles and step into the freedom that's already yours in Christ. Call us right away at 1-800-800-3222. Our resource center is open 24/7. Or visit tonyevans.org to request the "Free At Last" package deal online. While you're there, be sure to sign up for Tony's free weekly email devotional. Again, that's tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222.

To experience the security of God's blessings, we have to follow God's instructions. Be sure to join us tomorrow as Dr. Evans talks about ways to develop a biblical approach to money management.