Be Careful With Your What If's.

Transcript

Welcome And Daily Purpose

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Good morning. I am Denny Mack, and you're listening to Starting Right. Every weekday morning, I'm going to be here to share stories of life and hope from God's Word. So grab a cup of coffee, sit back and relax for the next five minutes as I help you start your day by starting right.

Why “What If” Wrecks Our Peace

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It's amazing how two little words can cause so much stress, especially if those two words are what if? Those two words have been the cause of more stress and more sleepless nights, more worry and far more fear than any other two words in the history of the English language. What if I never get better? What if my wife gets sick? What if I get fired? What if something happens to my family? What if, what if, what if? And you can put whatever you want to into that, but we always have the what ifs. And when we allow those what ifs to overcome us, it starts to eat away at us on the inside, especially, it seems, at night.

Sparta’s Bold Reply To Threats

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Back in ancient Greece, there was a city-state that most people have heard about. It was called the city of Sparta. At one point, Philip II, who was the father of Alexander the Great, decided that he wanted to add Sparta into his kingdom. He had already invaded southern Greece, and he decided to give Sparta a chance to surrender peacefully. And so with that in mind, he sent them a couple of messages. The first message, he asked the Spartans if they would prefer him to come as a friend or as a foe. The Spartan's reply was very simply neither. In his second message, Philip decided that maybe being a little bit more menacing might intimidate them and accomplish what he wanted. So he said, You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people, and raise your city to the ground. Again the Spartan leaders simply gave a one-word reply If. You see, the Spartans weren't afraid of Philip the Second, because the Spartans knew that they were some of the best warriors in the ancient world. They were confident in who they were, in what they had, and in their abilities. When the challenge came against them, the if was not even to be contemplated.

Trading Fear For Confidence In God

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What if? There are a lot of things that could follow that for us right now. What if? And if we don't recognize who we are because of who our God is, then we can become afraid and fear that the absolute worst is going to happen around us. But the Spartans had a key. They had confidence. Their confidence was in their abilities. We have the opportunity to have confidence too. Confidence in the abilities and the promises of God, and because of that, we can have confidence that as his children that he will be with us, that he will give to us strength and abilities in our own lives to face whatever is coming against us. I am so glad that nothing is a surprise to God right now. I am so glad that we can trust him in everything we face and in everything we're going through. And I am so glad that he's promised to be our strength and to help us

Promises From Philippians And Hebrews

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with it. In the book of Philippians, chapter one and verse six, it says, Be confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. God has started something inside of you and of me in our lives. He has begun to do a good work in us. He is not going to let any of the what ifs stop him from completing his work in us and what he wants us to do and be. Not only that, he has declared that we are his children, we are his heirs, that we are full of his grace and mercy, that we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. That while we may be weak in ourselves, he has promised that where we are weak he is strong, so we can have our confidence in him. Hebrews chapter four verse sixteen, let us then with confidence draw near the throne of grace. Let us go before God, believing and knowing that He is able and will be with us through it all. So today let's put our confidence in Christ, our confidence in what He has and what He will do and what He has promised. And one of the things He has promised is that He is with us and in us, so that we can face whatever comes against us knowing that He is with us in it all, and we can trust Him in it. And we don't have to worry about the what ifs.

Final Encouragement And Invitation

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Thank you for listening today. And I invite you to join me Monday to Friday right here on Starting Right with Danny Mack.