Before I get started I would like to make it clear that I am not speaking for any group nor anyone else for that matter but am simply attempting to put forth what I believe the Lord has revealed to me and hopefully continuing to reveal to me. Please do as scripture exhorts and prove (test) all things but I implore you that your test be kept strictly with what scripture says and not according to what other men say or have said or what any tradition says. Please see Acts 17:10-12, 1 Thessalonians 5:21 and 1 John 4:1. – Tom
The phrase “take no thought” is only found five times in the King James Version. Below are those references (bold emphasis added):
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? (Matthew 6:25)
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (Matthew 6:31)
But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. (Matthew 10:19)
But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. (Mark 13:11)
And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. (Luke 12:22)
The phrase “take no thought” comes from two Greek words. The two words “take thought” mean “to be anxious about, be careful”. The word “no” is a “primary particle of a primary negation” or in other words it means “no”. The believer is to take no thought, not be anxious, not be careful on these subjects that are mentioned.
Looking at our first reference verse in context with a few after it, this is what they say:
Therefore I say unto you, do not be anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto his stature? (Matthew 6:25-27) [bold emphasis added]
In these verses above there are two instances where the words “take thought” are mentioned. In both they are the same Greek word. Because of that I took the liberty to replace the words “take thought” with a form of “be anxious”. Meditate on this for a little bit. Jesus says, “do not be anxious for your life”, “do not be anxious with what ye shall eat”, “do not be anxious with what ye shall drink”, “do not be anxious about your body”, and “do not be anxious what ye shall put on.” These words should bring comfort and peace to a child of grace!
This is so very contrary to modern so-called Christendom. Modern so-called “christians” are extremely anxious about many things. One of the big concerns is with how they look and how they present themselves. They have to be on the cutting edge of fashion or else they feel no one will listen to them or take them serious. They spend hours on end at the gym – not for the health aspect but simply for the looks aspect. They emulate their pastors and leaders in dress and talk to a pathetic point. In these so-called “churches” the pastors always seem to wear a certain type of skinny jeans and tight short sleeve shirts and their followers follow suit. The leaders not only dress like the preachers do but they also attempt to preach in the same style. With this they only prove they have no clue what true Godly righteousness is.
All five of these verses quoted above are commanding the believer to NOT be anxious about life, food, drink, cover, and what shall be said. Think how extremely freeing this is to the believer. In essence Jesus is saying “Stop worrying, I will take care of you no matter the circumstance!”
We see in the Old Testament where God sent the raven to feed Elijah who had no food to eat.
And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. (I Kings 17:4-6)
After the brook dried up the Lord then sent Elijah to a widow (starting in verse 9) who, as he arrived, was preparing to serve up her last meal for her and her son and then she knew she was going to die of starvation because she had no more food. When Elijah arrived his first words to her was “fetch me some water” and she turned and without question she started to go get some water for him. Before she got the water he then said to her “bring me a morsel of bread”. She didn’t argue but explained to him what she had and what she was doing. Her comments did not cause Elijah any concern and he says “Fear not…” He then tells her to do as she was planning but bring him the first serving and then serve herself and her son. He further explains that the “barrel of meal” will not waste away. Or in other words it will not go empty. She again did it without question and she found out that Elijah was telling the truth.
So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah. (I Kings 17:10-16)
We’ve also got the example of the Hebrews wandering in the wilderness for forty years. Not only did God provide water through the rock (Jesus) but He also provided the Manna daily. And we also can’t forget that their clothes did not wear out nor did their shoes. Nothing is impossible with God!!
We can’t forget the two exceptional examples of not being anxious for one’s life from the book of Daniel. First off we have the three Jews
There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. (Daniel 3:12)
They refused to worship the golden image which in turn majorly ticked off the King. In his rage he called for them to be brought to him. He then personally questioned them and their answer was:
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. (Daniel 3:16-18)
They fully believed that God was able to save them from the furnace but if He chose not to, they were made willing to pay the price of their life to do what was right in not bowing down in worship to this idol – the golden image.
Then we have Daniel himself who refused a direct edict from the king. He was made willing to continue to do what he knew was right despite the consequences. Because of this he was brought before the king and still refused so he was thrown into the den of hungry lions. Did they devour him? NO! the Lord in His providence kept him alive through the night and he was brought out of the lions den unharmed in the morning.
Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day. Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.
Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. (Daniel 6:4-23)
In the book of Acts we have an excellent example of God providing the words to speak. Peter and other disciples were out proclaiming the good news of Jesus when they were taken into custody and thrown in jail. They stayed the night in jail (for no reason) and the next day many of the leaders joined together as a group and confronted the men. They asked them “By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?” Peter stands up and boldly proclaims the truth as it was given him by the Holy Ghost.
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:8-12)
Scripture then says this about how the leaders felt:
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13)
Here we have a man who probably had little to no formal schooling whatsoever in his life and yet the Lord gave him the words to say. Did he meditate through the night on what he might say? Some may say that he would have had to in order to proclaim such truth. But, how would he know that he would even be given the opportunity to say anything? So, I would say no he did not meditate on anything other than the Lord’s grace and love.
Now one might say: “All that’s fine and dandy. But, we don’t see those things today anymore. What good are these truths other than for just good stories?”
Just because that person isn’t hearing about God working, doesn’t mean that God has stopped! We mustn’t forget these verses:
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. (Hebrews 13:8)
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (James 1:17)
If one is given the eyes to see, then you can’t help but see God’s mighty provisions on a regular basis. How many times have you been given the right thing to say to someone who needs a rebuke or say something encouraging to someone who needs some words of comfort? Those words cannot be premeditated or prescribed but they flow from the spirit within.
Please bear with me as I close this with a couple of personal examples. Neither of which are to the magnitude of those scriptural examples above but I believe they still show God’s love and grace towards His children in a magnificent way.
For most of our married life, my wife and I have struggled financially, at least as far as the world is concerned. One day when we were first married we were at a grocery store and my wife had a craving for mixed nuts but we couldn’t afford them so we passed them up. Later that week she went to a baby shower. Normally she prefers not to play the games involved with those showers but this time she did. She actually won one of the games and they gave her a prize for winning. The hostess presented her with two options, both of which were in identical bags and she was to pick which one she wanted. She opened up the one she was given to pick and what was inside brought tears of joy to her eyes. It was a small can of mixed nuts. As she was sharing this with me later she was still crying because she was sure that the Lord had given her those nuts. Not because of anything she had done but simply because of His love and grace!
Another example was when we moved across the country. We moved because we had no fellowship where we were and thought we found a body that was like-minded. Once we got there we started attending the church but that ended up being a major disappointment because basically they were not what they promoted themselves to be! Not only was the church a huge disappointment but the job situation was very trying as well (with my last job I hurt my arm and was on light duty) and we had four children (ages 2 through 13) that we were responsible for. So, three months later we ending up coming back home.
My wife had never driven that far before and in fact she hadn’t had her driver’s license for all that long before we made the trip. On the way there we rented a U-Haul truck and a tow-dolly to tow one of our vehicles. I drove the U-Haul with our second vehicle on the tow-dolly and my wife drove our main vehicle. The Lord granted her the sustenance to drive that distance. And to make it more obvious she was given to drive wonderful! She was behind me all the way and would get over first to give me room to get over when we needed to change lanes. On the way home we also saw the hand of God magnificently working in His providence and protection. We had essentially the same set up in that I was driving the Ryder truck this time and pulling the same vehicle on a tow-dolly behind it and my wife was following me. One night all of the sudden my wife radios me and tells me to stop. She thought she could see that one of the tow-dolly tires had gone flat. Sure enough it had and I was extremely concerned as to what we were going to do. We had no cell phones back then and we were out in the middle of nowhere. Out of nowhere it was given me to think about checking to see if the spare tire in the car we were towing might fit and sure enough it did. After I was able to change it, we got back on the road. Shortly thereafter it started raining like cats and dogs to the point we were having a hard time seeing the road. The timing of all this was impeccable. What I mean is that if my wife hadn’t noticed the flat tire then it would have been extremely unsafe to drive in the heavy rain with a flat. Not to mention that I would have had to change the tire in the middle of a rain storm. We see the Lord’s grace and love in this!
This enabled us to make it to the next town where we found a room in a hotel and spent the night. The first thing we did in the morning was to find a Ryder store there. They only had one tow-dolly left, but what was even more amazing was that the tow-dolly was only there because it was actually on hold for someone that was supposed to have picked it up the day before and didn’t show up. If that person would have showed up then we would have had to wait for another tow-dolly to be shipped there. But, as the Lord had seen fit, it was there waiting for us!
This again got us back on the road but then the truck started having some power issues. So, we pulled over as soon as we could and found an automotive garage to look at it. We found out that it needed a specific oil filter. The garage did not have any of those filters in stock and would have to order one which wouldn’t get there till the next day. We told him to order it and we payed for it. What we didn’t realize at the time was that there “just happened” to be someone in the room where the mechanic was sharing this with us who overheard. He “just happened” to have that exact filter in his truck as a backup and approached us to say that he was willing to give his filter to us and he would get the new one when it came in the next day. This again was so overwhelming to my wife and I because we felt that God’s love, provision and protection was being shown to us in such a mighty way! Nothing! absolutely nothing is outside of God’s providence and control!!
I hope these have been words of encouragement to you!
In hope,
Thomas R. Adams
March 2021
Updated: January 2024
* All scripture references are from the KJV.