Here we are. We have a promise from God, to keep us supplied with what we need, even in the worst of situations like famine.
With all this situation of job loses, and misery after misery with lock-downs and all the restrictions from governments around the world, because of Covid 19, many people everywhere, including Christians, have lost their jobs, their homes or their incomes, and many feel like they are living in a time of famine. But, yet the Word of God says, that even in a time of famine, God will keep alive those who serve him, and follow him. We can not get a better promise than that! Do not try to calculate, how or from where, your will get your provision, if you need food, jobs or clothing, because, very often, or I would say, most of the time, you will not be able to figure it out anyway, but even if you can not, God can, and he will figure it out for you, just as he has promised. Psalm 33:19, really shows that God cares about what is going on around the world, even in a time of famine, or Corona-virus pandemic, to provide and care for those who love him. That is his promise, and his promises will never fail, just as God himself, can not and will never fail, in what he does or says! God has never asked of us, or expected of us, to figure out, how he does things, but has asked and commanded us, to believe him, and what he has said in his Word. God himself has promised in the Bible, that the Word he sends on earth, will never fail, but will accomplish what he sends it for! And it will! All that God requires, is for us to trust him, and believe what he has said and promised. He knows that we do not understand, why certain things happen, and that we often do not see how, or do not understand, from where our provision for food, jobs, or other things will come from. And that is fine with him. All that he wants is that we trust him, because he is trustworthy. Our faith in God, is often like a blind faith, without explanations about why should we believe, or how things from God, will happen. We can not understand many things that God does anyway, and I believe, that even if God would explain to us many of the things he does, we will not be able to understand them anyway. And he knows that! We tend to believe, mainly what we can explain, and especially when we can explain why something happens, or will happen. But with our faith in God, we believe what he says, not because we can explain why God does something, but because of his character, and because of the miracles he has already done before, like miracles of provision, healing or other miracles, either in our life, or in the life of other people. And first of all, we believe, because of the trustworthiness of the Bible, the very Word of God, which has proved itself to be true, through the history of mankind. Even in famine, and in time of Covid 19 pandemic, God still feeds the birds. Think about it! We tend to think, that the birds feed themselves, because they fly all they long, searching for food here and there. But, Jesus himself said, that it is God who feeds the birds! The birds may be searching all day and night for food, but unless God provides for them, their search would be in vain. Would he not feed us, who are called his beloved children, and are the body of Christ? Jesus takes care, of his own body.
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If you are a Christian, then you must be absolutely sure, that God wants, has promised, and will supply all your needs! That is the truth, and that truth is a fact. That is not a wish from God for you, but is his promise to you personally!
God is interested in your needs, but is not interested in greed! Your needs attract his attention, but if you have greed, his intention is to remove it, from your and my life. In the book of Acts, chapter 14, and verses 16-18, the Bible says, that God cared for all those unbelievers in the past, to provide them with all their need, and fill their hearts with joy, despite the fact that people have been ignoring him in the past. In fact it says, that God has provided those people mentioned, with plenty of food. You see that! That is addressed to non believers, in Acts 14:16-18, and not to Christians. And now, you and me, we are Christians, and that means, we are children of God, and we belong to God's family, and are his treasured possession, just as the Bible says. God cared for non believers, to provide them with plenty of food, and not only that, but to fill their hearts with joy too. Maybe you are asking yourself, how come? Well, that is the common grace of God, for humanity. How much more, your needs will be supplied by God, and all that he requires, is that you trust him, that he will. He will supply your needs, just because you need some basic things in life like food, clothing, house, employment, and he is concerned for your needs. He does not ever forget your needs, because he created those needs in your life, when he created you. He created us to be with needs. Notice that it says that God provided people with plenty of food, in Acts 14:17, and it does not say that people provided themselves with plenty of food. That is vital, because it makes us realise, that God is our source of everything, including our food, and not we, as we sometimes think. We may think that because we have a nice job, which provides us with plenty of money, therefore, that is why we have plenty of food. No, we should not forget that God is our source and he provides us with food, just as Acts 14:17 says. He is our provider, that is why Jesus said, that we should not worry about what we shall eat, or what we shall drink. Why did he say that? Because he has always our needs in mind. He knows what we need, before we ask him. Is there a way, to stop lack of money, jobs, cars, houses, or whatever you need, in your life?
There is, if you consider what the Word of God says. God has promised to supply all our needs, according to his riches, in Christ Jesus. There are many passages in the Bible, which clearly show, that God does want to supply, all our needs, just as he did supply, all Adam and Eve needed, from the very beginning, when he created them. The question is never if God wants to supply all our needs, but if we want to believe, that he does. God has already done, what we need, to make sure, that we have all that we need. But, there is one thing, he would not do. And that is, to force his provision of what we need, to us. Yes, he cares and provides for us, if we ask him or not, but somehow, he wants us to ask him, for what we need. That is why Jesus said, that we should ask, because if we do, we will receive. Why does God, wants us to ask him, for what we need? Why he just does not give it to us, without us having to ask him for that? Because by our asking God for what we need, we display, our dependant on him, and our faith in him, as our provider. When we ask, we express our faith, that he will provide. We show to him, that we believe we are dependant on him, to supply our needs. In Mark 8:2, 3, Jesus gives us the assurance, that if we chose to walk with him, follow him in our daily life, listen to him, spend time with him, he has taken all our needs, into consideration. Although he did not supply the needs of those people spending their time with him, at the very first day, he did after a few day, just because he did not them to go home hungry, and collapse on the way from hunger. But the main reason he wanted to supply all their needs for food, was, because the were with him, and they left all their jobs, family, houses, and other things they were doing, in order to be with Jesus, listen to him, and do what he tells them to do. They were first seeking the Kingdom of God, instead of seeking first, what they will eat or drink, if they went with Jesus in a remote place, without any food. Do you see that? They did not have food with them, and were hungry, after spending a few days with Jesus. That shows, that from the very start, they chose to go and be with Jesus in remote places, even without having what to eat or drink. They knew they will be hungry soon, but yet, they chose the Kingdom of God first, by going with Jesus, spending time with him, and listening to him, even if that meant for them, to leave their homes, their jobs, their families, and hobbies, and other staff they were going daily, in order to be with Jesus. The were looking to satisfy their spiritual hunger, even if that meant, on the expense, of being physically hungry, for a few days. That is one of the main reasons, why Jesus wanted to feed them, and provide for them, even if meant, to do it in a miraculous way, as recorded, in Mark 8:6. Seek you first the Kingdom of God. This will happen to you, if you do similar things, to what all those thousands of hungry people did, when they spend their time with Jesus, even on the expense, of losing weight, being without food, in a remote place. How many times in the Bible, it is very clear, that God really wants to supply all our needs! He never guaranteed that he will supply all our greed, but guaranteed that he will supply all our need!
The question is never if God will supply what we need or not, but will we believe that he will? That is the question which always remains there, for all born again children of God, to answer for themselves. When we read Matthew chapter 7, we can very clearly see, how Jesus talks about God meeting our needs, and he even compares our fatherhood and the relationships of earthly father, to that of our heavenly Father and us. How can we as his children still ask, and wonder, if God will supply all we need, when we read Matthew 7, and see clearly, what Jesus said, that God will give us good things, when we ask him for them! Yes God knows that we need food, clothing, jobs, money, houses, and other things, but he still wants us to ask him for him to give them to us. Now, in Matthew chapter 7 and verses 9, 10, 11, Jesus talks about those evil fathers, or bad fathers, who although they are are evil in their character, still have some love for their children, and still want to grant the desires of their children, for gifts, and all sorts of other good things. Them being evil, can not stop them to display the little amount of good left in them, and the love they have for their children, by giving them good things. You would not expect to receive very much good, from an evil person, that is why Jesus used the bad characters, to compare, to the immense and unlimited goodness of God, which he has for us. The evil nature of those so called evil by Jesus fathers, still can not stop them to display their good fatherhood, to their children. Now, what about our heavenly Father, who is good, and there is nothing evil in him? Although the evil characters of the bad earthly fathers, could interfere and somehow limit their little goodness in them, for giving nice things to their children, with our heavenly Father, that is entirely different. Our God and Father, who loves us dearly, and who has limitless goodness for us, because he is good, just can not stop wanting to give us good gifts, and good things, when we ask him for them. There is nothing in our God and Father, which can or will cause him to stop, wanting to give us nice things! Jesus said in Matthew 7:11, that our heavenly Father, will give us good gifts, when we ask him, much more, than any earthly evil father could give, to their own children. The question is, how much more? And I believe, the answer is, without limit! Why should God have a limit, of how many good gifts he wants to give us. I believe, that God our heavenly Father, wants to give us good gifts, much more that we can handle to have, use, and have fun with. Is there are limit of all the good things, our Father in heaven, our God, wants to do in our lives? And if there is why? But I do not believe that there is a limit, because I am sure he finds that difficult to put any limit on the good things, he wants to give us or do for us. Let me ask you a question. How many good things, you think, God gave to Adam and Eve, when he put them in Paradise, after he created them? I believe there was plenty of nice things, which God created in Paradise, for Adam and Eve. I am sure, they could never be bored, or have enough, with living in Paradise. There surely, were many nice things in Paradise for Adam and Eve, to have fun, and be able to say "We really live in a Paradise!" That is how our heavenly Father God, want us to be like, because of everything he has done for us in Christ, even if we do not live in Paradise anymore! But we must not forget, that we can never miss Paradise in heaven, but will also be in it for eternity. God has warned us, not to worry about what we shall eat, or what we shall drink! You do not need to worry anymore, how you will get money for what you need, be it food, clothes, rent, cars, and other things! The fact that Jesus said that you should not worry about how you will get what you need, shows, that God is really concerned about your needs being met! But what is worrying about your needs being met? Well, it is the constant thinking, reasoning and calculating in your mind, of how and from where is the best place for you, to find what you need. It is all based on logic, and not on faith. Faith does not calculate, reason, or estimate! It just trusts and believes the truth, and the Word of God is truth. It all comes down to how much we believe that what God has said in his Word, about our needs being met, is true. If we really believe what God has said and promised in his Word about our needs being met, then we just can not worry, and calculate anymore, but will only believe. Believe and worry, are like a plus+ and minus-. They can not co-exist and dialogue between themselves. Believe is trusting without explanation, based on the Person who we believe and what He has said in his Word, and worry is totally logical, analytical calculation, and estimation of facts, circumstances, and other people's opinion, about our situation or need. God loves to be trusted, believed, and obeyed, but he never asked us to understand him, or what and how he does things! The more you know God on a deeper level, the easier it is for you to trust and believe him, and what he has said. And the more you know God, the easier it is to figure out, that you just can not understand him, or comprehend him, but yet, you still trust him and obey him, because you have a better knowledge of him. Believing and trusting God, comes more on a heart level, but reasoning and worrying comes more on the level of your mind, on a more logical level. But you should never forget, that it is your hear or spirit that is born again, and where the Holy Spirit resides first of all, and not your mind. In Matthew 6:11, it shows clearly, that you pray for your daily needs, you should ask just for what you need for today. Not, asking for a whole week ahead of provision, or a whole month. No, just ask for what you need today. But why only for today? Well, it is easier if you are going to worry about your needs being met, to worry just for today, just for one day of what you need, than to worry about a week or a month of supply ahead. If you start worrying about from where you will get what you need for one month ahead, you will become a burn out Christian. You will be loaded with stress, and stressful thoughts, thinks and worrying for a whole month ahead. You will crack, and you brain cells will certainly work overtime and be overloaded, and eventually give up and 'burn'. No, do not do that, just if you are going to pray and worry about your needs, pray and ask just for today, because Jesus said, that it is enough of trouble for today, that is why you should not worry about tomorrow - Matthew 6:34. Do you want to terminate and eliminate the lack of what you need in you life, the way God intended it to be? Then read on, because there are sure ways from God, of how to stop living in not enough of all you need, be it finances, car, jobs, food, clothes and other necessary things in life!
God created you with needs, so he is more than concerned to satisfy and provide for those needs, as he has promised in his Word. All thought the Bible, be it Old Testament or New Testament, we can see our God as being the provider of all people have needed in the past. But that is not only for the past, because he has promised to provide for all his children, past, present or future! Our God is not like some politicians, who promise us something, but fail to deliver! No, God does not waste his time and our time, with false hopes, about our needs being provided for! Our God is never limited by our circumstances. He creates something out of nothing, just as he created the heaven and earth by his Word, out of nothing. No mountain of lack, and not enough, is too big for our Father God in heaven, to be removed! There are so many passages in the Bible, which show that God can provide for needs of people, where there is not even any reason to think so. Think about the Israelis who spend 40 years in the wilderness, how God provided for all they needed, even though, they doubted that he can! He provided for thousands of people in the wilderness, without them being able to work for it, or pay for it. He fed them and provided for them, in a place, when logically, not person would think, that you can get your needs met in whatever way. That is in the wilderness. What type of food can you get, for a few thousand people, on a daily basis, in a wilderness? Nothing! Yet God proved to them, that he will provide for them, for 40 years, daily! Not 40 days or months, no, 40 years of daily supply of all they needed, and yet, there were some, who still doubted where their next meal is going to come from. When we read Psalm 37:19, we can see that God has promised that in the time of disaster, you will not wither, and in the time of famine, you will have plenty! Do not try to figure it out, how can you have plenty, in the time of famine! That is not what God wants from you, to try to figure it out, and reason it, or try to explain it. Yes, it does not make sense, that when there is famine around, you will have an abundance of things to enjoy, but God does not care, about our common sense, and he does not depend on it at all, in order to supply what we need. Famine can never produce plenty, but our God can and will, for those who trust and believe in him. All that he is asking of us, is to trust him, and believe that what he said, will be accomplished, regardless of circumstances! God is not a man, that he should lie, and his Word is truth, because Jesus is the Word. Our faith and trust in God pleases him, first of all, not our reasoning. In fact, in the book of Proverbs, God commands us not to rely on our reasoning, but to trust him with all our hearts. His ways are higher than our ways, and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts, so are his way of doing things, and providing miraculously for our needs, when we can not provide for ourselves, because we find ourselves in a time of famine. This Covid 19 has created a lot of famine and lack, in the life of many people globally, but Covid 19 is not strong enough, to stop our God, providing for our needs! It never will be!
We can see in this verse, that God the Father, delights in us, his children! Do you know what it means? It means that he is never away from us, and never leaves us alone! His delight for us, makes him more than a willing, to give us any blessings, either spiritual or physical. He delights in us, he is not angry with us! His anger fell on Jesus on the cross for our sins! Because of his great love and delight for us, he is gladly willing to give us every blessing, spiritual or physical! He wants to give us the good land! He is more than willing to give us good things, like a earthly father would to his children, even more than we are willing to receive from him! Our delights in his blessings, brings him joy and delight, because he is our Father! God rejoices when we rejoice in the blessings he is giving us. He delights in us, and gives us freely everything, because we belong to him, and because we are his children, and he is our Father, and not because of what we do, and how holy lives we live! Yes, he has commanded us to be holy, because he is holy, but our performance and how we live before him, does not determine why and what he gives us! The Scripture is very clear, you will have all needs met by God. There are no ifs and buts if you read Psalm 128:1,2!
He has said that, and it will be done! It is a wonder to figure out, how can some Christians fight against the prosperity of their needs met by God, and have leftovers, when it is very clear in many passages of the Bible, that God is our God of more than enough. Do not we see, that twice when Jesus provided food for thousands of people, as recorded in the Gospels, there were baskets left, full with leftovers. God could provide exactly the amount of food they needed, but instead, on both occasions, he provided them with baskets full with leftovers. What is even more, there is even one occasion in the Gospels recorded, when the disciples forgot to take bread with them, and when Jesus warned them to be careful about the yeast of the Pharisees. In that case, they thought that he is warning them about not having enough bread. But Jesus asked them, if they do not remember the thousands of people he had miraculously fed, and how many baskets of leftovers were there. That is what Jesus asked them. Mark 8:19-21 Why did Jesus ask them that question about the baskets full with leftovers? Because he wanted them to know, that we are with him, there is always a basket provided for us with leftovers. He is not satisfied to provide us with just enough to survive. No, that is why he gave them twice baskets full with leftovers. Are you finding yourself in a need for money to pay your bills, or for food to feed your family? Then do not forget what God has promised particularly for you, in Psalm 128:2, that blessing and prosperity will be yours! That is what God has said! Do we want to believe him, or do we want to believe the empty bank account more? Believing in the empty bank account, will give you worry and no miracle or provision, but believing the Word of God, will fulfil what it has promised! Which one you want to carry on believing? Is the hand of God too short to provide? No, he will for those who want to trust in him. He finds difficult to provide for those who doubt his Word and promises, although he wants to provide. The reason is, that if he continues to provide for the doubting, he will encourage them to continue living in doubt, because they will learn, that he provides even if you doubt. And yes, he does, but that is not what he wants. God wants us to grow in faith and trust in him, and although he will provide what we need, he is unwilling to provide just because we need something. He wants to be trusted and believed, because it surely grieves him, if we doubt what he has promised us in his Word. In the mind of God there is no scarcity or lack for us.
That is why Jesus attracted their attention to the leftovers and the basket full with them, when he fed the thousands of people twice. He is trying to show them, that when they go with him, and listen to him, he is mindful of their needs. Because the thousands of people cared enough to go and follow Jesus, and be with him, listen to him, therefore, he fed them twice, by performing a miracle. All that is needed is to be with Jesus, listen to him, and he will take the few fish and bread that we have, and multiply it for us. Another reason why Jesus was asking the disciples how many baskets with leftovers they had, when he fed the thousands by a miracle, is because he wants to show them that he is the God of leftovers, the God of more than enough. We could be satisfied to have God give us enough each day, just what we need, but God is not satisfied with that, because he wants us to have more than enough, he is the God of leftovers. He wants his children to have more than enough, because there is always an abundance with him. Are you struggling at the moment to get a job? There are so many people now in the world, who need employment, because of the Covid 19 pandemic. Perhaps you have been looking to find a new job for a long time. Be sure of the fact of the promise of God, that he cares for you and will provide you with an employment. But how can you be sure? Well, let us look at Psalm 112. In verse 2 the Word of God says that if you are a Christian, and serve God, you will be blessed. How can you be blessed, if you do not have a job? The two just do not go together. It is all down to what we want to believe more. The circumstances of unemployment we see, and our empty pocket, or the Word of God, and what God says about it. Think about it. God created the whole universe and the earth, and all the gold and diamonds in the earth just by his Word, by what God spoke. He created the universe by his spoken words out of nothing. Now, do not you think, that God will surely provide you with a job by commanding a job to be given to you? He even gave job to Adam and Eve from the very beginning. And now, you are his beloved child. He was willing to give up for you and me, the most precious he ever had, his Son Jesus to suffer a horrible death on the cross, for my and your sins. God the Father did not refuse to let Jesus go on the cross for you and me. And will he be unwilling to give a job to you? No way! He promised to give good gifts to those who ask him. So, do not wonder anymore, if God will provide you with a job, because he will! God said in Psalm 112:3 that wealth and riches will be in your house, if you believe in him and follow him. That wealth and riches surely includes an employment! Why should God want to give you wealth and riches, and not want to give you a job? God wants not just to pay your bills, but for you to have more than enough. That is what he said, that wealth and riches are yours! That is much more than just having a job! He wants you to have more than a salary! God wants you to be rich! Read verse 3 again! That is the opinion of God, not a man. God wants you prosperous! That is God’s own idea, not man’s! Wealth and riches means only one thing, wealth and riches, and there are no ifs, no buts, and all the other stuff, which does not come from heaven. |
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