Read Online The 3 Essentials: All You Need for Success in Life by Casey Treat - Free Book Online

can be doing something and not even catch yourself until the Holy Spirit has to give you a little poke? I guess I thought I was just thinking about the issues, but the truth is that I was fully engaged in worrying. I took a break from my stress and began to think on the rest of the scripture the Holy Spirit was bringing to me:
Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? . . . Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:25, 31-34)

    As I meditated on these words of Jesus, I was reminded that worrying is a choice. The fact that Jesus told us three times in a matter of a few verses, “Do not worry,” means it is possible for us not to worry. We can make a decision to do something different. That night, I made a shift in my thinking (aka worrying) and refocused my thoughts to God’s Word: Thank you, Father. You meet all my needs, and you take care of every part of this ministry. My steps are ordered by the Lord, and I am not going to worry about these things anymore. I trust in You and know You are making everything to work out perfectly. And what do you know? The next thing I remember is my alarm going off in the morning.
    I use myself as an example but think we all can relate. There are so many issues and potential problems every single day we can be concerned about, and it is very easy to find ourselves worrying instead of focusing our hearts to trust in God. Sometimes we will even buy into the lie that we cannot help it—“If I don’t worry about this, who will?” But the truth is we can help it, and we can make a choice to meditate on the scriptures and the promises of God instead of our problems, our fears, and our doubts. When we choose to do this, then we will build our confidence in God, and our trust in Him will grow.
    On the other hand, when we choose to spend our time worrying, we are building our confidence in the enemy. Worry focuses on what Satan is attempting to do in our lives and in the world, and when we are imagining all the bad things that can go wrong with our marriages, our kids, our money, our health, our work, then we are giving him power in our lives. We are building our confidence in Satan instead of in God, and very soon our worry will prove to us that Satan is more powerful in our lives than the Word of God.
    Worry is faith in the devil. Meditating on the promises of God’s Word is trust in God. Whatever is occupying our minds and our brain space—fears and doubts, or promises and faith—is determining who we are trusting: God or the enemy. Do not worry! Jesus said it, so we can do it. Do not worry, and instead, trust in God with all your heart.

You Have More Inside of You Than You Think
    When my kids played sports, there were various seasons when I would have the opportunity to help coach their teams. I would tell the players that whatever intensity the other team brought, whether on defense or offense, they would have to match that level of intensity to position themselves to win the game. No matter what the situations were, they would need to face the other team with the same energy that team was bringing them. It wasn’t long before I realized this strategy to win in sports is the same one we need to win in life. As Christians, if we want to see success in every circumstance of life, we are going to have to get up every day and match the intensity of the world with the same measure of faith, trust, and confidence in