Provisioned

On March 11, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Mark 6: 7 – 11

And he summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs; and He was giving them authority over the unclean spirits; and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belt; but to wear sandals; and He added “Do not put on two tunics.” And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town.

Jesus sent out his disciples to preach the gospel. He sent them out without worldly goods yet with all they would need in order to fulfill their commission. Apparently, they had means, i.e. gold, silver, etc., otherwise he would not have instructed them to leave those things behind. Jesus provisioned them with the might and power of God. I notice that they still wore their money belts though. Did he expect that they would acquire money along the way?  

Jesus was teaching them a very important lesson while he was still here on the earth to help them if they failed. He was teaching them that the Lord, our God, would provide for them. When God calls you to a task, it is His responsibility to provision you. It is his job to care for all your needs. They were sent to preach the Word of God and minister to the needs of the people in the name of the Lord. That was the sum total of their responsibility. Whatever God calls you to do, put your eyes on that and take them off of your worldly needs. Learn to trust him for your daily needs and spend your energy going about the task He has set you.

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Fulfilled

On January 29, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Corinthians 9: 8         Amplified Bible

And God is able to make all grace [every favor and earthly blessing] come in abundance to you, so that you may always [under all circumstances, regardless of the need] have complete sufficiency in everything [being completely self-sufficient in Him], and have an abundance for every good work and act of charity.

In Luke 6: 38 we see Jesus importuning us to give. We have briefly pondered the question of why Jesus wants us to give.  I gave you a Biblical Principle that you can hang your hat on. Specifically, everything Jesus tells us to do is for our own good (see devotion from Wednesday, January 27, 2016). If you will always begin with this premise, you will arrive at right conclusions. Let me suggest some other reasons why Jesus encourages us to give.  

The first one is so simple and so obvious that it has almost become invisible. Jesus tells us to become habitual givers because he loves us. We have all heard people saying that the preacher on wants to get something from them. I don’t doubt there are preachers who put pressure on us to give for that reason but I innocently believe they are in the minority. Jesus pushes us to teach on giving not because he wants to get something from you. He is trying to bless you. He is trying to give to you but he needs your seed so that he can multiply it. Just look at Jesus’ life on earth. He was always giving away. He continuously blessed the people. He hasn’t changed. He still is trying to bless everyone.

In today’s text, the Apostle Paul provides two additional reasons for why Jesus teaches us to be givers. Those reasons are so that we will always have sufficient resources to meet our needs and so that, from our abundance, we will be able to help meet the needs of others.  

If you look closely, if you peer inside these ideas, you will see the Kingdom of God financial laws at work. Through our giving, we increase. With our increase, we increase others, who then contribute to meeting the needs of others, and on and on. God is in the business of growing. With the obedience of just a few people, He can start a garden growing which truly can spread across the entire earth. Let me just say this plainly – there is power in giving. Do not underestimate this primary tool of the Kingdom. Give and it shall be given unto you, then give again. Your crop will overflow so that you will have an abundance for every good work.

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Food Stores

On January 14, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Malachi 3: 10

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this”, says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”

This is the leading scripture on tithing. There are different ways to give to the Lord, the most basic of which is the tithe. “Tithe” literally means 10%. The first ten percent of our income is given into the house of the Lord for its support. In the old days people actually gave food stuffs. This, then, was how the priests ate. You see that the verse says, “so that there may be food in My house.” Truth be told, this is still how the ministers eat. The tithe supports the ministers as well as supporting the work of the ministry. The theory is that the ministers feed you with what God has given them to sow and you feed them with what God has given you.

Father God is serious about this. He is serious about the blessing that He has appointed for the tithers. You can see this in His promise to open His storehouse for us and in His permission for us to hold His feet to the fire on this promise. He says, “Test me now in this.” That is an amazing statement for Him to make, that we should put God to the test!

So, the tithe is the first ten percent of our income and it is paid into the church for its support. God always has a reward attached to all of our giving and the opened storehouses of heaven are the reward for tithers. In addition, verse 11 says that He, God, “will rebuke the devourer” for our sakes if we are tithers. He protects our crop and all that we own so that the devourer does not diminish it in any way. That is a pretty big benefit by itself.

My advice, then, is to become a tither if you are not. It is just fiscal foolishness not to. In today’s economic climate, you really do need to be connected to God’s storehouse, to His provision. Then you will always know where your next meal ticket will come from. This is how we store up for ourselves, not by hoarding.

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Quail Quandary

On October 5, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Numbers 11: 23

And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.”

Okay, so who knows the end of the story? We all do, don’t we? God’s word carried the day and Moses witnessed miracle upon miracle. I wonder, though, how Moses felt or what he thought when God posed that question to him. Honestly, it makes me a little uncomfortable.

What preceded God’s question was Moses’ doubt. The Lord seems to be calling Moses on his lack of belief. I find myself feeling guilty as I read this because I feel that doubt in my own soul. How many issues have I faced, prayed over and still carried doubt in my heart?

The people of Israel were on their protracted journey to the Promised Land. They complained about the lack of water and God gave them water gushing forth from rocks. They complained about not having bread so He gave them manna from heaven daily. Then, not satisfied with the manna, they complained about not having meat. So, God promised to give them meat enough for a whole month. Moses questioned God about how He was going to feed 600,000 people with meat enough for a month. Today’s verse was God’s response.

The story is fulfilled when God sent enough quail to the Israelites that there was literally quail on all sides of the camp three feet deep. It took the Israelites two days to gather it all.

That is the way I want us all to live with God. I want us to experience His bounty. More importantly, I am sure that God wants us to live in His abundance and in the constant expectation of the miraculous. If we can learn to believe in God’s ability and willingness even against overwhelming odds, we can see these kinds of outlandish miracles in our lives too.

The thing you must know about this story, though, is that Moses shifted out of doubt into belief. When he left God’s presence he went to the people and proclaimed God’s promise. There is our key. We must believe if we are to receive. Practice today believing the Word of God. The Bible is loaded with personal messages to you. Let God fill you up as He did Moses and receive your bounty.

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Abundant Supply

On September 25, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Corinthians 8: 14

At this present time your abundance being a supply for their want, that their abundance also may become a supply for your want, that there may be equality.

This is God’s idea of provision. My idea used to be that I would hoard all of my provision for my needs and wants and you would stockpile all of your earnings and take care of your needs. Wow! How wrong was that? Dad’s idea is that I take care of you and you take care of me. So, how am I doing? 

Paul had a global perspective on this economic system. He could see how it operated across all the new churches and the whole of the territory. Lack in one area need not end in lack for those inhabitants because other regions were not only experiencing abundance but they also shared their abundance. Therefore, there was no lack.

Of course this is exactly what Jesus taught us about how the Kingdom of God operates. He said that if we wanted to understand the Kingdom then we must understand the parable of the seed (Mark 4: 13). We begin with seeds. Now you know that a seed produces far more fruit than one could ever guess from such a small beginning. That is the point though. We sow a few small seeds into the lives of others and then the harvest into their lives and then to ours turns out to be an entire crop. However, if I keep my seed and you keep your seed, guess what; there will be no harvest for either of us. We end up eating our seed and there is no growth in our portfolios.

Man, this is the simplest of all parables and it is the one by which Jesus said we would understand all parables. None the less, it is one that seems to elude modern Christians. We need to get a revelation. When we all plant our seeds, then there is a bountiful harvest which we all get to participate in. Why do we not use Dad’s economic model? I think we fail because of fear. Yes, there are perhaps some people who are just stingy but I believe the bigger reason is that people are just afraid. They think they won’t reap even if they sow. Therefore, they hang on to their little seed with a tight fist. Maybe they think that others won’t do their part, so that the sowing will be all one sided. My answer to that is that at the very least if we do our part we will be in obedience. Secondly, perhaps, just maybe, Dad will come through for us. He is the one who makes seed grow. He is the master of the harvest. Verse 15 says, “He who gathered little had no lack.” God’s system works. That is why both Paul and Jesus taught it. I don’t think either of them was trying to lead us astray.

Here is the bottom line – everything in God’s Kingdom functions through the operation of seed. Until we grasp this most basic of concepts we are going to struggle. Eventually we have to understand that Dad is in the business of providing but that He does so through multiplying seed. When you truly get a hold of that idea, you will begin to see how to operate all of the machinery in the Kingdom of God. Unfortunately the converse is true too. You will never operate in Kingdom principles if you don’t grasp the first law.

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Shepherd of Compassion

On June 9, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 49: 10

They will not hunger or thirst, neither will the scorching heat or sun strike them down for he who has compassion on them will lead them, and will guide them to springs of water.

What a wonderful promise and image. Father God has compassion on us and knows our needs. Jesus’ life was characterized by his great compassion. Their love for us compels them to care for us just as Jesus analogized about the sheep and the sheep herder. He told us, as recited in John 10, that he is the good shepherd and that the shepherd lays down his life in defense of the sheep. Will he who has defended us even unto his own death, now not lead us to fresh water? Will he not provide and care for us?  

Psalm 23 so clearly demonstrates the acts of a shepherd caring for his sheep. He will not allow anything to happen to us and he will meet all of our needs. He will lead us through the times of trouble just as described as the valley of death in Psalm 23. Do not fear your enemies or tortures. Our shepherd is well able to defeat them all.

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