What is Supposed to Accompany Salvation? Heb. 6:9-20

“Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”

Hebrews 6:9–12

1. Confidence in the Promises of God

“When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.”
Hebrews 6:13–15

Context: The promise of inheritance and the ‘sacrifice’ of Isaac

“The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second timeand said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.””
Genesis 22:15–18

People swear on what is greater than themselves. "I swear on my mother's grave." Think of the childhood rhyme: "Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye." In the Quran, Allah swears by the moon, the night and the dawn (74:32-34), by the planets (81:15), by charging horses (100:1), by the fig and olive trees, and by Mount Sinai (95:1-2) and by the Quran itself (50:1). But the God of the Bible knows that there is nothing more important to God than God himself.

“Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie... ”
Hebrews 6:16–18a 

"...a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time..."
Titus 1:2 

God does not and cannot lie therefore we can trust the Bible.

Here's a video of "Standing on the Promises" sung a cappella

Here it is again with a Country twang!

2. Security in a place of refuge

"…we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged."
Heb. 6:18b.   

Context: The cities of refuge in the Old Testament

Num. 35:6a     “Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee...  10b ...‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,  11 select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee.  12 They will be places of refuge from the avenger, so that a person accused of murder may not die before he stands trial before the assembly.  13 These six towns you give will be your cities of refuge.
22     “ ‘But if without hostility someone suddenly shoves another or throws something at him unintentionally 23 or, without seeing him, drops a stone on him that could kill him, and he dies, then since he was not his enemy and he did not intend to harm him,  24 the assembly must judge between him and the avenger of blood according to these regulations.  25 The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled. He must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
26     “ ‘But if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he has fled 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the city, the avenger of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder.  28 The accused must stay in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest may he return to his own property. 

In the Old Testament, ancient Israel didn't have courts or prisons. Justice was normally administered by the family and friends of the victim. At that time the death penalty was legal, but in the case of someone accidentally killing someone else (what we may 'manslaughter'), the person who killed could find safety from the victim's family in one of the six 'cities of refuge.'

We are all born guilty and on the run from God, and God has a just case against us. After all, Rom. 6:23  "the wages of sin is death..."  We all need to flee to our only certain place of refuge and "take hold of the hope offered"to us in the Gospel. We not only find refuge in the Gospel, with the death of our High Priest Jesus Christ, (See Numb 35:28), we are set free! 

3. Blessed Assurance

"…we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged."
Heb. 6:18b.   

With the both the promises of God and the reality of Christ we have one of the richest treasures of the Christian faith: Assurance that God loves us, has forgiven us and will receive us into heaven. What greater encouragement can there be than this?

Here's a video of the hymn "Blessed Assurance."

4. An anchor for the soul

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 6:19–20

Jesus is our safety in the storms of life. Unlike our feelings, His promises never change. Ships in the sea are at the mercy of the wind, the tides and the currents within the sea. If their engines don't work or if their masts or sails break, they will drift away, and may even be smashed on the rocks. With an anchor they could make a firm connection to the solid sea floor. So long as the anchor and the sea floor are connected, the ship cannot move. It is safe. That is our hope in Christ. Keep the connection!

Here's a video of "Will your anchor hold?"

Here's a video of "Will your anchor hold?" done in a more contemporary worship style:

Here's a video of a Reggae version!

Keep On Growing

1. Baby food is essential for babies, but inadequate for grown ups

Heb. 5:11  We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.  12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!  13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. 

2. Christian baby food: The start of a healthy diet

Heb. 6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,  2 instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.  3 And God permitting, we will do so.

a. The basics of turning away from what does't work, believing in what does

“repentance from acts that lead to death” literally, “repentance from dead works,” (ESV) which primarily means, in this Jewish context, turning away from the dead works of the Law and any doomed attempt at trying to save yourself. In other words, they had to turn away from personal sin itself, which works death, just as John the Baptist and then Jesus had called for (cf. Matthew 3:2; Mark 1:4, 15; Luke 3:8). These Jewish converts the writer of Hebrews had consciously turn away from their old way of life, just like us.

b. The basics of the Gospel, of baptism, the Holy Spirit and of service

The translation “baptisms” ought to be rendered “washings”, as in Mark 7:4, 8, Heb. 9:10. The Hebrew Christians continued to use the traditional Jewish cleansing rites, as well as the Old Testament customs of laying on of hands, to teach the deeper, ultimate significance of Christian baptism and laying on of hands—namely, the baptism of the Holy Spirit (cf. Matthew 3:11; Acts 1:5; 1 Cor. 12:13) and also commissioning and empowering for Christian service (cf. Acts 13:1–3). In other  words, they were taught the basics about the meaning of Baptism, how it pointed us towards the need for our souls to be cleansed by the blood of Christ, and how it also pointed us toward the need to be empowered and equipped by the  Holy Spirit.

c. The basics of the life to come: Resurrection and Judgement

The Jewish Chrisitans were given instruction regarding “the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment” (Hebrews 6:2), which are also found in the Old Testament (for resurrection cf. Job 19:23–27; Daniel 12:1–3; for judgment cf. Genesis 18:25; Isaiah 33:22; Daniel 7). Jesus’ resurrection guarantees our resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20) Jesus is the judge—“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10).

3. The danger of a bad diet

Heb. 6:4  It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,  5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,  6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.  8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

Can we loose our salvation?

There are three ways this passage has been understood.

Hypothetical: A sort of empty threat.

Actual: People really can lose their salvation

Apparent: They were never real Christians to begin with.

Although some of these Jewish converts have been “enlightened” and “shared” and “tasted” the things of God, they were no different from the Israelits in the wilderness who fell away and died in unbelief. Despite the fact that they had placed blood on their doorposts, eaten the Passover lamb, miraculously crossed the Red Sea, observed the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, tasted the miraculous waters at Marah, daily ate manna, and heard the voice of God at Sinai. But their hearts were hardened in unbelief, and they fell away from the living God.

Matthew 13:20  “The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.”

1 John 2:19  “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.”

Keep on Believing

Lyrics: Lucy Milward Booth, Mildred Duff

Music: Lucy Milward Booth

When you feel weakest, dangers surround,

Subtle temptations, troubles abound,

Nothing seems hopeful, nothing seems glad.

All is despairing ; oftentimes sad.

Refrain:

Keep on believing, Jesus is near.

Keep on believing, there’s nothing to fear ;

Keep on believing, this is the way :

Faith in the night as well as the day.

If all were easy, if all were bright.

Where would the cross be ? where would the fight ?

But in the hardness God gives to you

Chances of proving that you are true.

God is your wisdom, God is your might ;

God’s ever near you, guiding the right ;

He understands you, knows all you need ;

Trusting in Him you’ll surely succeed.

Let us press on, then ; never despair !

Live above feeling, victory’s there ;

Jesus can keep us so near to Him,

That nevermore our faith shall grow dim.

The Difference Christ's Resurrection Makes To Us

1. Healing for the past

a. Healing through being forgiven by God

Col. 2:13-14   “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,  having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”

We have a clean record. 

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

b. Healing by forgiving others

Eph. 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Luke 23:34 “Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

Christ makes His power available to us so that we can forgive. 

2. Strength for today

Strength through Christ

Romans 6:8 “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”

Col. 3:3 “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”

Our unity with Christ makes all that He has available to us.

Strength through a new identity

1 Corinthians 1:30 “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”

In other words, we are no longer failures. God has declared us righteous, holy and redeemed, because we are in Christ. 

Strength through adversity

Philippians 4:11–13 “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

Where else are you going to find contentment through all of life's trials, outside of Christ?

3. Hope for tomorrow

Freedom from fear of death

Hebrews 2:14–15 “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

 Everyone faces death, and death will last forever, but because of Christ's resurrection, we can boast with Paul:

1 Corinthians 15:55–57  “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Knowledge that God will sustain you through the trials of life

Knowledge that God has something much better in store for you

1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  According to his great mercy,  he has caused us to be born again to a living hope  through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  to  an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and  unfading,  kept in heaven for you,  who by God’s power are being guarded  through faith for a salvation  ready to be revealed in the last time.”

We are being guarded by God's power, so God will enable us to endure.

We are promised  "an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and  unfading,  kept in heaven for " us. Nothing and no one can take that away from us and we will be with Christ forever. 

Because Jesus Rose Again From The Dead...

Because Jesus rose again from the dead, we can be sure that:

1. Jesus is who he claimed to be
2. Death has been conquered and we no longer need to fear death
3. We can trust the Bible
4. God fulfils His promises
5. Our own resurrection is guaranteed 
6. We have already been spiritually resurrected with Christ
7. We already share in newness of life with Christ

Because Jesus rose again from the dead, we have power to:

1. Overcome adversity
2. Overcome our sinful habits
3. Live a life that is more grateful and more obedient to God

Living in the Light of the Resurrection

Because Jesus rose again from the dead, we can have:

Freedom from guilt and shame

The Bible tells us that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23). This means that so long as Christ remained dead in that tomb, death continued to have power over Him, because the final penny of the wages of sin had not as yet been paid. By rising again from the dead He conquered the last enemy, death itself and fully paid the wages of sin. When He triumphantly appeared to His disciples and demonstrated that He was alive again, it was the ultimate proof that sin had been fully atoned for, that the ransom had been paid, and that God’s justice had been fully satisfied. Consequently all of God’s children have been reconciled in Him. There is not one sin, not even a fraction of a sin, which Jesus has not fully paid for, which means that we are truly free from all guilt and punishment. Why continue to wallow in the failures of the past and sink into the mud of self-loathing and regrets, when Christ has done all of this for you? Rejoice! The debt has already been paid and you have already been set free!

Intimacy with God

Colossians 3:1–3 says, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Can there be anything more astonishing than this? Can there be anything more intimate or delightful than knowing that your life is already hidden with Christ in God? This is already the legal reality, but we often don’t find delight in it, normally because we have not ‘set our minds on things above.’ How do we do that? Spend time with God in prayer. Read the Bible. Sing God’s praises. Live moment by moment, conscious that all you do is done in the presence of God.

Power to change

Romans 6:4-5 says, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection” The more you realise that you have been justified by a holy God, the less you will be content to merely be saved. Mere salvation, all by itself, won’t be enough because you’ll be so delighted and amazed that this holy God actually wanted to save you, that you will long to become more and more like Christ. Your true delight will be in knowing God, in loving Him, in fearing Him, in being under His control and guidance. Salvation cannot be only a delight in what you’ve been saved from, it has to be in what you have been saved to do as well.The Holy Spirit creates in us a longing for our thoughts, words and deeds to all be done for God’s glory, in delightful agreement with His will. Sin then becomes our enemy. Its cheep pleasures start to look like a con-trick and we long to be delivered from it. In turn this causes us to long for heaven, knowing that they will there behold God’s face in perfect holiness and free from sin for eternity. There we’ll be fully satisfied by thinking and behaving in Christ’s likeness as well as seeing that likeness in Christ Himself. Let this deep longing grow in you and motivate you to become more holy. Nothing other than this will enable you to both grow in joy as well as grow in your sanctification.

Jesus Really Did Physically Rise From the Dead!

Ten Good Reasons to Believe the Easter Story

1. Jesus was the most famous man of his day

Although many people misunderstood Jesus, everyone knew him as a miracle worker who did astonishing things and talked about God. Jesus was so famous that he was mentioned by about a dozen non-Christians in the ancient world. There was no possibility that it was all just a case of mistaken identity.

2. The final trial and verdict was announced in public

At the time Jesus lived, Jerusalem was to Jews like Mecca is to the Muslims, and the greatest annual pilgrimage was at Passover, when Jesus was executed. This means there would have been thousands and thousands of eye-witnesses of Pontius Pilate’s verdict and the crucifixion itself from throughout the Roman Empire, as well as thousands and thousands more from Judea itself.

3. The Romans liked killing and were good at it.

The Roman centurions who were given the task of executing Jesus were professional soldiers who lived in an astonishingly brutal culture. The Romans were only so successful because they were better at killing than their enemies. If these centurions failed to properly execute a convicted criminal they would be executed themselves.

4. The Romans took extra precautions to prevent anyone from stealing the body

The Romans and the Jewish leaders had heard rumours that Jesus claimed that he would rise again from the dead. They had a huge incentive to make sure that this couldn’t happen. If it did, they knew that they would loose control of trying to crush the Jesus movement. They placed a legal seal between the rock and the tomb to prevent anyone tampering with it then they placed a guard of at least four highly trained soldiers who could have easily fought of a couple of fishermen and a tax collector.

5. The Romans and Jewish Leaders didn’t produce the body

The Romans and Jews could have stopped the followers of Jesus in their tracks simply by displaying the body of Jesus in public. In fact, this was what the Romans preferred to do with potential rebels. To there embarrassment, the body couldn’t be found because that Body was alive, well and constantly appearing to hundreds of people.

6. Jesus appeared to a woman before he appeared to anyone else

In the customs and law of the time, a woman’s evidence was less valuable than a man’s. If the resurrection was a fabricated story that the disciples invented, they would not have weakened the plausibility of their lies by saying that women were first to see the resurrected Jesus. The only reason the the historical record says that it was women who first saw Jesus was because the disciples were more concerned about being truthful than being persuasive.

7. Jesus appeared on numerous occasions to many people after his resurrection.

Jesus drank and ate food with them to demonstrate that he was not merely a ghost. He appeared to sceptics like Thomas, he appeared to groups of people, but inside and outside, at night as well as in broad daylight. He even appeared to over 500 people on at least one occasion. The historical record includes:

1. Mary Magdalene at the tomb (Mark 16.9-11; John 20.11-18) 
2. Peter in Jerusalem at the tomb (Luke 24.34; 1 Cor. 15.5) 
3. Jesus' brother James at the tomb (1 Cor. 15.7)
4. The other women at the tomb (Matthew 28.8-10)
5. Two travellers on the road (Mark 16.12,13; Luke 24.13-34)
6.  Ten disciples behind closed doors (Mark 16.14; Luke 24.35-43; John 20.19-25).
7.  All the disciples, with Thomas, excluding Judas Iscariot in a closed room (John 20.26-31; 1 Cor. 15.5)
8. Seven disciples while fishing (John 21.1-14)
9. Eleven disciples and others in Galilee (Matthew 28.16-20).
10. A crowd of 500 "most of whom are still alive" at the time of Paul writing (1 Cor. 15.6)
11. All the apostles (including the Twelve plus all the other apostles) (1 Cor. 15.7)
12. Jesus appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem (Luke 24.44-49)
13. Those who watched Jesus ascend to heaven (Mark 16.19,20; Luke 24.50-53; Acts 1.3-8)
14. Paul along with others on the road to Damascus (1 Cor. 15.8-9; Gal. 1.13-16; Acts 9.1-8, 22.9,13.30-37; 1 Cor. 15.10-20; Gal. 2.1-10)

8. Something astonishing suddenly happened to the disciples

For most of the last three years of Jesus’ life, His disciples were confused, misunderstanding, unfocused and occasionally cowardly. Yet they suddenly were transformed, into a focused, united and courageous group that would stop at nothing to proclaim to the world that Jesus had risen from the dead. Nearly of them were brutally killed for proclaiming that Jesus rose again from the dead. Why would they all suffer such extreme persecution for something that they all knew to be a lie?

9. The day of worship suddenly changed

After the Resurrection, tens of thousands of Jews suddenly abandoned the centuries old commandments of Moses to celebrate the Sabbath on the last day of the week and began worshipping on the first day of the week the day on which the Lord Jesus conquered death and opened the way for both Jews and non-Jews to come to God.

10. The ancient offering of animal sacrifice suddenly stopped

The Jews of Jesus’ day rigidly believed that God demanded animals be sacrificed if God was to be pleased with them. After the Resurrection, the new Jewish Christians suddenly stopped offering animal sacrifices to God, because they believed that God had already supplied the sacrifice through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

8th Commandment. You Shall Not Steal

Because God owns everything

Outline
1. God owns everything

2. You're a fool if doubt that God owns everything 

3. You'll be blessed if you believe and act as if God owns everything

4. The only things worth having are the only things that will last

1. God owns everything

Psalms 24:1 — "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it."

Leviticus 25:23 — "The land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants."

Haggai 2:8 — " 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the Lord Almighty."

Deuteronomy 8:18 — "Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth."

1 Corinthians 4:2 — "Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful."

2. You're a fool if doubt that God owns everything 

Amos 6:1, 4–7 “Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!… You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches.  You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end.”

In other words they let their false sense of security and prosperity allow them to live lives of ease and luxury. They occupy themselves with music, entertainment and good food, which was what stopped them thinking about the really important things of life.

James 5:1 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you. 

Matt. 6:24     “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

3. You'll be blessed if you believe and act as if God owns everything

Paul knew Christ and knew Him so well that he was willing to give up everything for Him.

1Cor. 4:8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings—and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you! 9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. 10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

Christ warned us about the foolishness of worrying about what God was able to abundantly provide.

Matt. 6:25     “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? 26 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? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Here is the promise of God:

Phil. 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 

Note: Not all our wants, but God shall supply all our needs.

4. The only things worth having are the only things that will last

Remember your priorities.

Matt. 16:26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

Remember what it cost God to save you

2 Corinthians 8:9 — "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich."

Remember generosity

1Tim. 6:17     Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.  19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 

Remember, you can't take it with you and eternity lasts much much longer than your life.

Matt. 6:19  “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Remember your reward

Matthew 25:21 — "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'"