I remember a song we sang when I was young: Why worry when you can pray? Well, it’s a good question, isn’t it? Why do we worry when Jesus has clearly told us not to worry? Worrying is truly worthless!

We’ve looked at three reasons we should not worry from Matthew 6. They are:

• Because of who we are. We are more valuable than birds.
• Because it never does any good.
• Because it’s a bad testimony.

Now we’re looking at three ways to stop worrying. We can stop worrying when we think about how our Heavenly Father takes care of us. I want to emphasize again our problem with worrying is in our thoughts. Worrying takes place in your mind, and in 2 Corinthians 10:5 we read we are to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

The battle is in your mind, and you stop worrying when you change your thought patterns. I’ve written a whole book on this topic—Think About What You Think About—because I believe most of our problems begin with wrong thinking. It’s certainly true in my life; as soon as I allow my thoughts to get out of control, to think about things I should not be thinking about, that’s when worrying moves in and I become a worrywart, as we say!

Philippians 4:8 says we are to think about what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. When you’re worrying, it is often not true, certainly not noble, never admirable or excellent or praiseworthy. We need to stop worrying. And you do that by replacing wrong thoughts with right ones.

When you find yourself in worry mode, stop and intentionally change your thoughts, replacing those worrying thoughts with how your Heavenly Father has promised to take care of you, to never leave you or forsake how, and how he loves you and cherishes you. It may only last for a few minutes before you start worrying again, but if you simply keep replacing wrong thoughts with right ones, soon you will build spiritual muscle. You’ll discover you’re not worrying nearly as much as you used to.

Please remember: Worrying is a useless and worthless activity. And you have the power, through Jesus Christ, to be rid of it.

My dictionary defines worry as “to feel uneasy or anxious; fret; torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts.” Did you ever realize when you worry, you are inflicting torment on yourself? Worry is self-inflicted suffering, and it never produces anything good.

We’ve looked at three reasons Jesus gave for not worrying: First, because of who you are as a child of God. Second, because it never does any good, and third, because it is a poor testimony to those around you who observe you worrying. Now, we’ll see how we can stop worrying.

Worry is a function of your mind, your thoughts. In order to stop worrying, you have to change your thought patterns. And in order to change your thought patterns, you have to replace wrong thoughts with right thoughts. Here is the thought that can stop you from worrying:

1. You have a heavenly Father who is taking care of you.

Jesus said in Matthew 6 our Heavenly Father knows what we need and will provide for our needs when we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. Now, this may cause you to ask some questions, like why doesn’t God answer all my prayers if he is taking care of me? That’s what we expect a father to do, right? I think of my own father, and I am certain if he could meet any need I had, he would, and he often did.

It often seems like our earthly father is more predictable than our Heavenly Father. Most earthly fathers can be counted on to do anything they can for their children. Yet often our Heavenly Father doesn’t come through for us the way we think he should, or the way we want him to. Does he love us less than our earthly father? Why doesn’t he act like my earthly father would?

Well, it’s quite simple. He has a different agenda for us than our earthly fathers. He has an eternal agenda, and his purpose is to conform us to the image of Jesus Christ. This daily transformation often comes through unexpected—and unwanted—ways.

Spurgeon, a great preacher of the 19th Century, wrote: “O blessed acts of sorrow that cut a pathway to our God by chopping down the tall trees of human comfort.” Even when you’re in the midst of difficulty and you don’t see how God is taking care of you, you should not worry, because he is working everything out for your good.

In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28).

 

What is it right now you are worrying about? I’m reminding you—and me—of how useless and worthless it is to worry, as Jesus clearly told us in Matthew 6. Whatever you are worrying about at this moment is a total waste of time.

Jesus gave us three reasons not to worry. First, we should not worry because of who we are—we are far more valuable than the birds, and God takes care of the birds. As believers in Jesus Christ, we are protected by our Heavenly Father, and he provides for our needs. Nothing happens to us outside of his permissive will, and he is totally in control of our days. And because of who we are, we should not worry.

A second reason Jesus tells us not to worry is that it just simply does no good whatsoever. Jesus said, who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Worrying is totally worthless. It never produces any good results, but instead it causes us to lose our peace, to lose our joy, to waste our energy. Do you know how much energy it takes to worry? You are spending lots of emotional and mental energy when you’re in worry mode—and has it ever done you one bit of good? No, of course not. Worrying is worthless! That’s a really good reason for any sensible person to refuse to worry.

Then Jesus gives us another strong reason not to worry.

For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them (Matthew 6:32).

All these things Jesus refers to include what you eat, what you drink, and what you wear. Jesus told his disciples that those who are not believers are always worrying about these things.

Isn’t it true most people around you are worrying? Just think about the conversations you have with people, particularly people who are not yet believers in Jesus Christ. You’ll observe they are worrying a lot. If those of us who are disciples of Jesus Christ worry just like everyone else, what kind of testimony is that?

If you are a real worrier, you can be sure people know it because you talk about it, it shows on your face and body language, and it’s not particularly attractive. Do an honest assessment of yourself: Are you prone to worry too much? According to Jesus, any worry is too much. He told us not to worry so when you do, you are disobeying him, right? Worrying is evidence you’re not trusting Jesus in that particular situation. And it’s not a good testimony for the difference Jesus makes in our lives.

What is the most useless and unproductive thing most of us do very often? I would say the most worthless thing we do is worry! And yet, I ask you, how many days go by you don’t worry about something? It just seems to be the place our thoughts go to when we experience any level of uncertainty or fear or lack of control.

Jesus fully understood our propensity to worry, and he addressed it strongly in his Sermon on the Mount. From Matthew 6 we read:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these…So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For…your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:25-34).

In this sermon Jesus gave us three reasons not to worry.

1. First, if you are a born-again Christian, you should not worry because of who you are! Jesus said God takes care of little birds, and even though they are not capable of taking care of their need for food, he provides food for them. And Jesus asks, “Are you not more valuable than they?”

Are you more valuable to God than little birds? Surely the knowledge of how much God loves you, how deeply he cares for you should cause you to stop worrying. After all, our Heavenly Father is sovereign over everything and everyone in your life; he is always in control, and because you are his child, he has pledged to take care of your needs. That’s the first reason you should not worry—because you are a child of God, and he never leaves you or forsakes you.

I often think of the famous quote from Charlie Brown, “I love mankind; it’s people I can’t stand.” It’s the everyday little annoying habits of the people we associate with that can be more tiresome, more frustrating than more significant issues, don’t you think? Of course, we’re not quite so aware of our own little annoying bad habits that others may find troublesome, but no doubt we all have them. So, I want to explore with you some of these little annoyances which can become obstacles in good relationships.

Annoying Habit Number One:

You work with a person who makes daily calls to his or her mate or partner, and since you work in an open setting, you can’t help but hear the conversation. Depending on how they are getting along on any particular day, you may hear a nasty conversation with anger and accusations, or you may hear what sounds like sweet murmurings of baby talk.

Obviously, if you hold a supervisory position over this person, it should be addressed directly with clear instructions—those kinds of conversations should be on personal time rather than on company time. However, if you are not this person’s manager, you may be able to bring this to your coworker’s attention in such a way they will see the benefit of changing that annoying habit.

Proverbs 17:27 says: The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered. Your words would need to be carefully chosen, delivered kindly, and done with the right motivation.

For example, you might find the right moment—a private moment—to say something like, “You probably are not aware that your conversations with your mate can be heard by other people. I thought I’d let you know because, I know if it were me, I wouldn’t want others to listen in to my personal conversations. You might want to reserve those calls for times when you’re alone.”

There’s a lesson for all of us to learn in this: Use our working time to work, not to rob our employer of the time which we are paid to work with elongated personal conversations, whether they’re overheard by others or not.

As Christians in the workplace, these little annoying habits can do damage to our testimony for Jesus Christ, so we should make sure we’re not guilty of these.

Annoying Habit Number Two:

You have a coworker who just can’t ever seem to make it to work on time. Someone who is habitually late is not committing a great offense—this is simply an annoying bad habit.

I find many who are guilty of habitual lateness frequently want to justify it by saying they work late to make up for it, or they have a very long commute—all of which may be true. But the facts are this: If your company has a certain start time, everyone should be there on time consistently. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do.

This is a management issue. If it’s important for people to be on time, management must set the priorities, communicate them clearly, and hold people accountable. There would have to be some kind of negative consequence for the person who will not change theannoying habit.

However, if you’re not this person’s manager, there’s not a whole lot you can do. One thing you don’t want to do is make snide remarks or communicate your annoyance with body language or harsh words. Unfortunately, this happens too often. People don’t confront the real issue and instead display their displeasure in other ineffective and unkind ways.

If a coworker’s habitual lateness is having a direct negative impact on your ability to get your job done, it might be an indication that it needs to be addressed. First, try to kindly explain to the coworker the need you have for them to be on time and see if that works. But remember, unless you’re the manager, you don’t have the authority to demand anything from that person.

Isn’t it interesting how something so small as this annoying habit can so easily turn into a real issue between two people and eventually lead to other, bigger problems. This is because we dwell on these little things, allow them to occupy too much thought time, and develop an attitude pretty quickly.

If you are powerless to either change or address this annoying habit of a coworker, then it’s time to let it go. Colossians 3:13 tells us to: Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Just let it go—it won’t kill you!

Annoying Habit Number Three:

There’s a coworker who tends to gripe and complain a great deal. This can be terribly annoying and, if you’re not careful, they can bring you right down to their level—you’ll find yourself gripping and complaining more than you should.

One negative person can poison the atmosphere where you work. It only takes one. If you happen to work with that one person, you must first learn how to tune them out and not allow their negative talk to infiltrate your own mind. Then remember a person’s attitude is always their choice, and you don’t have the power to change anyone else’s attitude. So, if your coworker chooses to gripe and complain a great deal, your best way to deal with it is to respond in positive ways. Do it nicely and kindly, but firmly. Don’t be afraid to be positive in the presence of a person who is negative.

And of course, pray for that person. Underneath that negative exterior is something else that is causing the problem. You may never know exactly what it is—it could be baggage from childhood. But you can still pray that God will help you to respond with kindness, to have sympathy for that person, and to show them mercy and grace even when you don’t want to.

It is in these small issues of life that we have the greatest opportunity to demonstrate God’s love. Maybe not in words or by quoting Scripture, but simply by remaining joyful and peaceful even when dealing with an annoying negative coworker.

Have you ever thought about your own tendency to be negative? Years ago, I finally began to pay attention to my own negative attitude and realized I was far more negative than I thought I was. I heard myself saying lots of negative junk during any given day, and I began to monitor my own attitude. It’s a very good habit to form—to make sure you haven’t caught the negative disease yourself.

Annoying Habit Number Four:

You work with someone who interrupts you continually—sometimes for work-related issues, sometimes not. But the interruptions are often unnecessary, and they definitely impact your productivity, as well as annoy you.

There’s no doubt that one of our major time wasters is interruptions. Every time we start and stop what we’re doing, we lose time. Therefore, you need to think of creative ways to avoid these interruptions.

First, determine if you’re doing something to encourage the interruptions. For example, when they walk by your desk or office, don’t look up and give eye contact—which can invite a trivial interruption. And if that candy dish on your desk is too inviting, you may need to remove it.

Secondly, for necessary interruptions with work-related questions, it might be helpful to establish a daily time for interaction. You might suggest that the two of you get together first thing each morning to go over the day’s agenda. Frankly, managers can be the worst interrupters, and you could even suggest to your manager that an established daily meeting could save both of you lots of time—just to set the agenda and go over questions for the day.

You may have to become a bit more assertive and simply say to the habitual interrupter, “You know, I just don’t have time to chat right now. Can we talk later?” That’s much nicer than showing annoyance through body language or harsh words.

Obviously, this is not a major issue. It’s just an annoyance. But these little things can start to add up and, before you know it, you have a major issue on your hands. So, think of a positive, pleasant approach to try to change that annoying habit, but don’t let it cause you to respond poorly.

Paul wrote to the Colossians: Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone (Colossians 4:6). In responding to annoying people, make this your objective—to be gracious and kind.

Annoying Habit Number Five:

A coworker is always in crisis mode and frequently asks you to “do them a favor” and bail them out. However, the reason they’re in crisis mode so often is because they procrastinate and put everything off until crunch time. Are you supposed to continue to go the extra mile and “do them a favor,” as they ask?

In Matthew 5, Jesus exhorts us to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile. There’s no question that Christians are supposed to do more than they must. So, on occasion, when your coworker needs an extra pair of hands to get a job done, you should be willing to do that. But I don’t believe Jesus intended for us to go extra mile after extra mile. That would lead us to become enablers, making it possible for others to shirk their own responsibilities, which is neither right for us nor for the other person

So, with that crisis-mode coworker, you might say, “I’ll help you this time, but in the future, you can avoid this last-minute crunch by . . .” and then explain how it can be avoided, making it clear that you won’t be available to help with every crisis they have. Again, these words need to be spoken in love, from an attitude of helpfulness, not annoyance.

So often it’s the way you say things which makes all the difference. You could help this person break a bad habit of procrastination by combining a willingness to help with a little softly given advice. Who knows, they might even listen and learn.

Remember, no one is in your life by accident, not even the annoying coworker. We are called not only to love mankind, but to love the individual who can be annoying!

Presented by Lauren Stibgen

As we think about having integrity at work, there is no greater example to us than our savior, Jesus Christ. Perfect in every way he showed great integrity in his work. In every way, Jesus was true to those around him.

Part of showing integrity is being faithful with your work and to the people who depend on you. What does faithful work look like? Again, let’s think about Jesus. His work was to spread the gospel alongside his disciples. It included healing the sick and blind and providing attentive hope to people who were outcasts in society at the time. He showed up to bring the truth to crowds of people from sunup to sundown. One could never question he had an incredible work ethic.

How do you show up for your employer? What about your colleagues? Something simple like being on time for work or even being on time for a meeting goes a long way. Perhaps you offer to help a colleague struggling to complete a project or having a health struggle. Is it sharing an encouragement to someone who is feeling down? Can you pray with someone who has a hardship? Maybe you stick to a difficult project and see it through when everyone else complains. Like Jesus, can you stand up for the oppressed?

Jesus, God as man was faithful to fulfill his purpose on the cross to take away the sins of the world, and he also asked God for help.

Jesus calls out to God, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

Jesus cried out for help, but he ultimately knew God’s will would be done.

This goes for you too! When you don’t feel like you can endure and be faithful to your work, cry out to Jesus for help!

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)

God is for you. He also established every step of your life beforehand.

Your faithfulness to your work and reflecting Jesus will help others see your integrity.

Presented by Lauren Stibgen

How do you handle reporting results at work? Results can mean different things depending on the job you hold. Whether the results are directly related to the financial wellbeing of your company or not, everything you report on can impact the results of your company. From the number of customer interactions you make a day to balance of a cash drawer, integrity counts!

God wants us to work with integrity. He doesn’t want us to over or under report anything. The story that comes to mind when I think of finances and reporting results is of Ananias and his wife, Sapphira. The early church in the book of Acts was built on the financial donations of its members. People sold their belongings to pool and share all their resources. Ananias and Sapphira seem to have been well off. They had a large plot of land they sold off to contribute.

After the sale Ananias came along and gave money to the disciples and stated it was everything he had from the sale of the land. Well, it wasn’t. He had held back a certain amount and not reported it. Ananias was struck dead. Even more alarming, Sapphira came along a few hours later with her share of the sale and affirmed that they had given all the money. You guessed it, she was struck dead too. It wasn’t that they didn’t give all the money to the church. It is the fact that they did not accurately report their gain to the disciples. While we don’t know for sure from God’s word, it is quite possible they could have given and been honest and still been alive to see the flourishing early church.

It may be tempting to report you made a few more sales calls than occurred, but this will ultimately show in the results. Anything you think will make you look better in the short run will ultimately come to light. And remember, our God is a God who sees everything—even the things you think are hidden. Keeping the integrity of your reporting is one way you can be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ.

Presented by Lauren Stibgen

A sellout. Have you been one? Or have you experienced this at work? You confided in someone, placed trust in them. Maybe you shared a personal secret, juicy bit of office gossip, or maybe you even asked for help discreetly without someone knowing. Suddenly, everyone seems to know! It is terrible. You are the talk of the office and didn’t even mean to be. A sellout.

Part of integrity is knowing when to mind your words and when to keep confidences at work. Your integrity in this manner can earn you deep trust with colleagues and bosses but if you fail in this, it can have devastating consequences on you or the person you sellout.

Our Lord Jesus had a sellout at work—Judas. Now, Jesus had the advantage of being all knowing and knew Judas was part of the plan for the salvation of the world from sin and death. But he still had someone he worked with every day, trusted with the money, and dined with turn on him—literally to the point of his death on the cross. Judas did it for money. The picture we receive of the betrayal is even worse. Judas kissed Jesus on the cheek to indicate to the soldiers which one was Jesus.

Ultimately, Judas regrets his deep betrayal of Jesus. He tries to give the money back and ultimately takes his own life in terror and grief over what he had done.

Keeping your integrity of faith at work is reliant on you not being like Judas! At work, you won’t sellout someone to the point of death, but you could very well impact how someone is perceived. The Bible warns of the tongue’s power repeatedly.

The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit (Proverbs 15:4).

The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil (Proverbs 15:28).

Remind the people to be subject to the rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to be gentle toward everyone (Titus 3:1-2).

Simply, don’t be a sellout! Keeping your integrity of faith at work is incumbent upon how you choose to keep confidences and lift others up—not tear them down.

Presented by Lauren Stibgen

Are you making work an idol? Idol’s surrounding work can impact the integrity of your faith. What are some of the idols that can crop up?

Remember, an idol is a person or thing other than God that you worship more than God. The most common way work can become an idol is the amount of time you spend working and how it keeps you away from your time with God. Perhaps it is constantly missing small group Bible study because you are working late or not taking quiet time in the morning because you are rushing off to work. Have you worked on Sundays and stayed away from worshiping at church?

What about people we encounter during the course of our business? A boss, an expert, maybe even a colleague. The boss asks a lot of you, and it is taking you away from God. Or you are hanging on the achievements of an expert in your field or a colleague’s great success that leads you to talk more about them than God.

Does the killer of comparison have you working extra hard on your work or your overall image at work? How much energy do you give this?

As followers of Jesus, we are called to worship the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and strength and to give God glory, not man. In the Bible, we can turn to Daniel’s example of the faithful integrity. Daniel worked for King Nebuchadnezzar. He was one of a handful of the Israelites who was deemed smart enough to serve. We notice first Daniel did not accept the name given to him by the king.

He also did not eat of the foods the king gave and only ate fruits and vegetables since the meat was unclean by Old Testament standards. Most notably, Daniel did not bow down to the statue erected of the king. He held the integrity of his faith and did not worship the idols of the king. You can read more about this in Daniel 2-6.

In the workplace we need to be mindful of the idols that may creep in to challenge the integrity of our faith. Again, as professional followers of Jesus, we are sometimes the first introduction to Jesus someone will have! How are you holding this integrity at work?

Presented by Lauren Stibgen

Let’s face it, unless we are working in a faith-based organization, our work can bring us closer to walking in the way of the world than we would like. Not everyone we come into contact with whether a boss, colleague, customer, or vendor will be an example of how we should walk in our work life as Christ followers. And, even if we are working for a faith-based organization or are in ministry, we are not immune to running into sin!

We often think of integrity at work as being honest. While this is one way we can reflect integrity, as Christians we are called to a higher standard of the integrity of our faith. If you profess your faith at work, this is especially important- does your walk match the talk or could someone who doesn’t know Jesus question the integrity of your faith?

Temptations that take you farther from the integrity of your faith can come around the corner when we least expect them. Perhaps it is falling into using language that isn’t honoring God. Being around people who use a lot of, well, “choice words” can lead us into using the same. Perhaps it is other behavior like attending happy hour after work instead of heading home.

However, sometimes we are not the problem. In the case of Joseph, he held his integrity while his employer did not. He consistently had to withstand advances from his employer’s wife. After denying her many times and even running away from her, she lied and said Joseph came after her! Joseph’s integrity and her lack thereof, landed him in jail!

In many cases, unwelcomed advances at work are considered harassment and should be reported to a manager or to another authority at work. While you should be afforded protections from this type of unwanted advance at work, sometimes maintaining your integrity can feel very costly. I don’t think any of you would end up in jail, but I won’t make light of what may happen if you hold your integrity and deny someone’s advances at work!

Relational integrity at work can take many forms other than the unwanted advances—or harassment—we see in the story of Joseph. Work can also be a place where the door of infidelity creeps open all too often. According to Forbes, 40% of people have cheated on a partner with a colleague. Proximity, time, late nights in the office and work trips all contribute to this. And the higher someone climbs the ladder, the more likely they are to engage in infidelity.

Stay faithful in your walk with God and guard yourself against temptation.

Presented by Lauren Stibgen Have you ever thought about the integrity of your faith? I would challenge you with the following questions: Is the state of your faith whole and undivided? And, how strong and built up is your faith? What is the level of your integrity? For the sake of our thinking, I want to bring us back to the fairy tale of the three little pigs. Maybe I am dating myself, and I am not sure if younger generations even know of this fable. Three little pigs set off to build their houses to protect themselves from the bad wolf. The wolf, of course, wanted to eat those three little pigs. The first little pig built his house with straw, the second with sticks, and the third pig used bricks. The wolf easily overcame the first two pigs’ homes made of straw and sticks, and they quickly ran to the third pig’s house made of bricks. Which pig’s house had the most integrity? The one of bricks, of course! Of course this is far from a Bible story, but now let’s consider the integrity of our faith. Our big bad wolf- Satan, manifests in the world today in so many ways. Inside and outside our houses, at work, everywhere. In Ephesians 2:1-2, the Word exhorts, As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  Clearly, those who are not of Jesus are controlled in this world by the power of Satan. 1 Peter 5:8-9a reminds us to be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith. The most poignant example of Satan’s desire to tempt us away from God is the temptation of Jesus Christ in the wilderness. The three temptations that are offered to Jesus are bread, safety, and power/fame. Satan tests God/Jesus to make bread from rocks, jump off a pinnacle, and worship him and receive all the kingdoms. Jesus replies in Matthew 4:10b, Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. Satan tried to tempt the untemptable! Who is the wolf? Satan. Where is he? Everywhere in the world. In fact, in 2 Corinthians 4:4 the Word tells us, The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God The world is blinded by Satan. So, what do we do? First, rest assured, Jesus has overcome this world. We can see this in the account of his temptation. He withstood. He has overcome death and Satan. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior have an armor that withstands the eternal condemnation from Satan. This does not mean he will not attack. In fact, we are promised he will. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us to be alert for the devil prowling around to devour. Even Jesus gave us the promise of trouble in John 16:33: I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. Jesus gives us his teaching because he knows we will have trouble. He also reminds us to “take heart because he has overcome the world!” Now, back to those three pigs. I want you to think about yourself—your mind, body and soul—as the house that needs to withstand and weather the attacks of Satan in this world. 1 Corinthians 6:19 reminds us that out bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit within us who we have from God. We are not our own. Mark 3:25 says, And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. You cannot serve both God and this world. What is your faith house made of? Straw, sticks or bricks? What is the integrity of your home. Is it whole and undivided?