Pastor Steele’s new book, Refusing the Care,is a great tool for every believer. Pastor Philip really brings to light the importance of recognizing and refusing to accept the care, stress, and anxiety. I am so thrilled with the revelation and insight this book provides. I want to share an excerpt from this book with you. I know you will receive help from this!
Excerpt from Chapter 1 of Refusing the Care
When talking about the ability to refuse the care, we can be very elementary or matter of fact about it by saying, “I am not going to care.” However, we can be saying this and still have a heart full of care. The bottom line is this: If we have faith, we will see it, but if we are carrying care, we will see it too.
We may say that we are not carrying any cares or worries. However, our face may be telling a whole different story. In this way, our confession is betrayed by our lack of faith in what we are confessing.
There was a time in the past when Pastor Michelle and I took a stand to pray and believe God for something. I was on our balcony praying in the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that when you pray in the Holy Spirit, you build up your most holy faith (Jude 1:20). It recharges your (spiritual) batteries. I was praying in tongues and crying out desperately to God.
I heard the Lord speak to me where He speaks to each one of us – in our spirits. God said, “Philip, your face is all scrunched up.” I was praying earnestly! I really thought I was praying in faith!
But the Lord spoke to me and said, “Your actions prove what you are really believing.” The expression on my face and the desperation in my prayer revealed that I was not in faith. I was praying in worry and under the pressure of the problem.
People may say that they do not have a care. But their actions, attitudes, and the way they present themselves will reveal whether or not they actually have cares or worries. It will be the proof as to whether or not they are refusing the care or carrying the care.
Refusing the care is not just refusing to think about something. It is not a denial of something. It is not merely keeping a positive thought. When we study what the Word of God says, we will see that refusing care is vital to our overall spiritual fitness.
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. Luke 21:34
In Luke 21:34, Jesus is dealing with the end times and His second coming. The initial part of verse 34 says, “…take heed to yourselves…” This verse is telling us that the first thing we need to watch is our own reactions when we are confronted with the pressures of life. “TAKE HEED TO YOURSELF.”
Very often, we can quickly point out someone else who has entered into care. However, God says to “take heed to yourselves.” That is to say that we must watch ourselves to prevent our hearts from being overcharged with surfeiting, drunkenness, and the cares of this life so that the day (of Christ’s return) does not come upon us unawares. There are some important truths here of which we need to take notice.
Jesus used the words overcharged and surfeiting. Surfeiting simply means “self-indulgence.” Without getting too involved in the definition of this word, it can include overeating or too much involvement in the pleasures of this world.
There is nothing wrong, for instance, in watching a college football game. Yet, there are people who will waste an entire Saturday watching college football. This can cross over into self-indulgence. The Lord is all about us having fun, but fun has its place, as well as its limits. He warns us to keep ourselves from self-indulgence.
In the same verse, Jesus points to the cares of this life. The Kenneth Wuest Translation of the New Testament says, “…the anxieties pertaining to the affairs of this life…” The Amplified Bible says, “…cares pertaining to [the business of] this life…” Jesus is warning us that if our focus is on the cares or anxieties of this life, the day (pertaining to His second coming) will come on us unawares. If our focus is on the anxieties, anxiousness, cares, or the business of this life, there are things we will miss, and there are things that can come on us when we least expect it.
I was up early one morning meditating on some things when the Lord began talking to me about cares. He said to me, “The entering in of cares requires the letting go of faith.” Any time I enter into care, I have to let go of faith. That’s because faith, according to the Amplified Bible translation, is “The entire dependence of the entire personality on God.” (End of excerpt from Refusing the Care by Pastor Philip Steele)
I want to encourage you to refuse the cares of this life and remain in peace. We are entering into some of the best days of our lives and the Lord wants you to enjoy His very best! Thank you for your partnership! Together we are building people’s faith and framing their world by the Word of God!
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Michelle Steele
