reminded that HE supplies our needs…

listen.  GOD wants you to ask daily not so HE can hear you beg but because we have short memories.  GOD wants us to be reminded that HE is the one who supplies our needs.

in the old testament, when the people of israel were wandering through the wilderness, GOD fed them every single day for forty years with something that the bible calls manna which literally translated means “what is it?”  so everyday, they would get up out of bed, walk outside and on the ground they would gather up what is it? to eat every day.  every breakfast – manna, every lunch – manna, every dinner – manna. 

and they got tired of it but every day – day in, day out like clockwork GOD was faithful to provide.  GOD did it that way so that every 24 hours they would have to trust GOD to meet their needs. 

what is your manna?  what is it that every 24 hours it drives you to say “GOD, i trust YOU.  i declare my dependence on YOU.” 

look at this… matthew 6.34 (msg), give your entire attention to what GOD is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.  GOD will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. 

when the time comes…

i’m to seek GOD as the one who answers the needs of my life.  then we daily declare our dependence upon HIM.   

just a thought from the front porch…

day by day needs HE will supply…

now notice something.  two times in the space of six words GOD reminds us that this prayer, the LORD’s prayer is day by day.  HE says, give us today our daily bread.  notice it says, daily.

it’s the only time in the entire bible that this particular greek word is used.  in fact, this particular word baffled scholars and translators for a number of years because they couldn’t find any record of it in any of the ancient manuscripts, they couldn’t find it anywhere in classical secular greek literature.  it was nowhere to be found. 

until, in the 1940s when they discovered the dead sea scrolls where they discovered hundreds of fragments of the bible, they also discovered many secular writings.  and in those fragments was this word. 

now they discovered that this word was a word for a daily shopping list for that which was perishable and would only be good for today.  so what HE is showing is we are praying give us our daily rations.  not enough for tomorrow, not enough for next week.  but one day at a time. 

now this is hard for us to connect with this in our world because we not only have today’s food but tomorrow’s food and next week’s food setting in our freezer. 

listen, do we really need to buy toilet paper 48 rolls at a time?  well, if there’s ever a diarrhea epidemic you will be set! 

here’s the point.  in 21st century pinellas county daily bread is not much of a felt need.  it still comes from GOD and we shouldn’t take it for granted but there are other needs that we have that are more day to day. 

for some of you you have an emotional need that really is a day to day issue of whether or not you’re going to trust GOD. 

some of you are in a marriage relationship and for you right now the issue is not whether you will have food tomorrow.  the issue is can i trust GOD to keep my marriage together today.  for some it’s an issue of finances or it could be an addiction.  it’s probably not food that’s the day to day issue in your life.  but our need for GOD is still just as great. 

it reminds me of a prayer i read a while back.  “dear LORD, so far today i’m doing all right.  i’ve not gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish or self-indulgent.  i’ve not lied, complained, cursed, or eaten any chocolate.  i’ve not given into temptation and used my credit card once today.  but i’ll be getting out of bed in a minute and i think i’m going to need your help.”

there are issues in your life where day to day you have to trust GOD. 

just a thought from the front porch…

supplying or sustaining grace?...

GOD's sustaining grace removes my hurt. it relieves my hurt and helps me keep going when i'm in pain, when i want to give up.

paul, in corinthians, had a problem that was constant pain. three times he said, "LORD, take this pain out of my life" and GOD didn't do it. instead GOD said, 2 corinthians 12.9 (tev), MY grace is all you need, for MY power is strongest when you are weak.

GOD says, I'm going to give you grace. grace is what you need to keep on keeping on.

if paul prayed and didn't get an answer should i pray about my problem? of course. the bible tells us to pray about our problems. hebrews 4.16 (niv), let us approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive grace to help us in our time of need.

when you have a problem, a crisis, going through stress and tension and you pray for GOD's strength in your life, one of two things is going to happen. one, GOD may remove the pain. that's HIS supplying grace. but if HE doesn't, number two, HE may leave the pain in your life, in the situation, and HE gives you sustaining grace to handle it, to take you through the problem so you can learn something through the problem.

we'd never learn anything if all of our problems were instantly removed. we learn much more through pain than we do through pleasure. sometimes GOD has to leave the pain there. but whenever HE leaves the problem in our lives HE gives us the grace to see it through.

HE removes my guilt by saving grace, HE reshapes my life by strengthening grace, but HE relieves the hurt and helps me through the problem with HIS sustaining grace. HE's going to help you out.

when you get that down, nothing can devastate your life. no problem, no crisis, no hurt, no harm, no stress because you realize that GOD's grace is sufficient. i can handle it – not on my own – but i can handle it with GOD's grace.

just a thought from the front porch…