WHAT WE NEED WHEN WE NEED IT – Part 2 of 2

Remember the Lord’s Prayer? “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11)

What we really wish is that it said weekly or monthly or yearly bread. That way we wouldn’t have to depend on God on a daily basis! But that’s when God has us right where He wants us. Spiritual maturity is not self-sufficiency. In fact, our desire for self-sufficiency is a subtle expression of our sinful nature. It’s a desire to get to a place where we don’t need God. We want God to provide more so we need Him less…

Everyone wants a miracle, but no one wants to be in a situation that necessitates one. But you cannot have one without the other. So God gracefully puts us in situations where enough isn’t enough. We find ourselves in a situation where we need to feed 20,000 people and we have two fish to our name.

-- Mark Batterson in “The Grave Robber: How Jesus Can Make Your Impossible Possible” 

#6027

DAILY RENEWAL

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV)

To prepare for flight, the eagle spends an hour each day preening its feathers.  Perched high on a rock, the eagle methodically passes each feather, up to 1200 in all, through its mouth and breathes on each one.  This action produces a similar effect to steam cleaning.  Once the feathers are restored, the eagle is ready to soar through the sky.

The eagle also has a gland that secretes an oily liquid, making its feathers waterproof.  When it rains or the bird dives into water after prey, the eagle's feathers do not become heavy with water or endanger its ability to fly.

We, too, must renew ourselves daily before the Lord or we will become "grounded."  Without those necessary "quiet times," cares and concerns bring on anxieties and fears that slow us down.  We take on burdens we were never meant to carry... Worry comes from natural concerns that are part of our lives.  But when these legitimate concerns are handled wrongly, they dominate our lives.  Worry can make us forget that our caring God is in control and cause us to wonder about our future, over which we have no control.

Renewing ourselves is a daily process just as it is for the eagle.

-- Sheryl Lynn Hill in “Soar as the Eagle”

#4967

FITNESS TRAINING FOR THE NEW YEAR

"Physical training is of some value," Paul tells us in I Timothy 4:8, "but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."

My guess is that our hopes and resolutions for the New Year are quite similar. Like myself, many of you have probably committed to dieting, making better use of your long neglected gym membership and reestablishing a quiet time with God. Our commitments to dieting and gym membership require elaborate preparations and consistent training. After all, we must not only choose our diet, but we must train ourselves to stay away from sweets or that extra serving of mashed potatoes. Similarly, we must not only carve out time in our schedule for the gym, we must commit ourselves to, and stick with, a rigorous training schedule.

Unfortunately, when it comes to our spiritual fitness, we often fail to make any specific preparations at all. So, while we try to spend more time in prayer, we fail to schedule time to be on our knees. Likewise, although we would like to explore fasting, we fail to train ourselves to sustain a fast. While we try to read the Bible, we fail to place ourselves in a small group Bible study that will hold us accountable. If you are like me, you know that trying often gets us nowhere. As John Ortberg teaches so clearly in "The Life You've Always Wanted", if we want to grow into godliness we need to "stop trying and start training." We need to train ourselves in godliness. Spiritual practices and disciplines will help us to grow in the godliness that holds "promise for both the present life and the life to come." 

-- Adapted from the Christian Living Newsletter from Christianbook.com 


SPIRITUAL FITNESS NOTE: If you know of someone like you who would like to be part of a daily spiritual fitness routine this year, encourage them to follow this blog, find us on Facebook, or subscribe via e-mail.


#4495

OUR DAILY PROVISIONS

“Give us this day our daily bread.”  (Matthew 6:11)

Truth is, I think, if God just gave us our daily bread, many of us would be angry. “That's all you're going to give me? You're just going to give me enough to sustain me for today? What about tomorrow or next year or 10, 20, 30 years from now? I want to know that I'm set up.” And yet Jesus says just pray for your daily provisions.

-- Francis Chan

#4388

THANKFUL FOR GOD’S PROVISION

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  NIV)

The Israelites escaped captivity in Egypt only to face the challenges of the desert. One of the biggest challenges for such a large group of nomads was enough food to eat. Over and over again God provided supernaturally for His people. If God could provide for many thousands of Israelites in the middle of a desert, He can surely provide for you and your family’s needs. One of the precious testimonies of Scripture is, “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or His children begging for bread” (Psalm 37:25).

But even with God’s supernatural provision, the Israelites still complained and grumbled in the desert. They longed for the food they left behind in Egypt. God was literally providing bread from heaven -- enough for each day -- but they wanted His provision a different way. They wanted it their own way.

Ask God to provide for you in whatever way He deems fit. Don’t grumble against God’s supernatural, unexpected ways.

-- Matt Brown in an article entitled “Four Truths About God’s Provision”


#4259

JUST ENOUGH, JUST IN TIME

“Give us this day our daily bread…”  (Matthew 6:11)

When God miraculously provided just enough manna for the Israelites, Scripture says that He provided just enough. The language describing God’s provision is extremely precise. Those who gathered a lot “did not have too much” and those who gathered a little “did not have too little.” God provided just enough. Then He gave them a curious command: not to keep any of it overnight.

Why does God provide just enough? Why would God forbid leftovers? What’s wrong with taking a little initiative and gathering enough manna for two days or two weeks? Here’s my take: the manna was a daily reminder of their daily dependence upon God.

Not much has changed. We still need a daily reminder of our dependence upon God. So while we may want a one-year supply of mercy, His mercies are new every morning. If God provided too much too soon, we’d lose our raw dependence upon God, our raw hunger for God. So God usually provides just enough, just in time.

I have scribbled the initials JEJIT in the margins of my Bible at various places where God provides just enough, just in time. He does it with the widow who is down to her last jar of olive oil. He does it when the Israelites are trapped between the Egyptian army and Red Sea. He does it when the boat is about to capsize on the Sea of Galilee during the perfect storm. And He does it again with the two fish and twenty thousand hungry people.

-- Mark Batterson in The Grave Robber


#3955

THE DUST OF DAILY BATTLE

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things."  (Philippians 4:8)

Most of us, unfortunately,... say things like: "He made me so mad." "You really get to me." "Her remark embarrassed me terribly." "The weather really depresses me."... We are content to blame others, circumstances, and bad luck... [But] we can rise above the dust of daily battle that chokes and blinds so many of us; and this is precisely what is asked of us in the process of growth as a person.

-- John Powell, quoted by Gary Smalley in Making Love Last Forever

#3702

THE BREAD OF LIFE

Jesus said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” (John 6:51 NRSV)

Jesus Christ is the living bread of life -- bread for sustenance, bread for daily use. He is not cake for special occasions.

-- Unknown


#3611

THE BREAD OF LIFE

We thrive when we eat properly.  If we eat right, we feel healthy and full of energy.  If we eat the wrong foods, we tend to drag around and not feel quite like ourselves.

To sustain ourselves spiritually, we must feed on the living bread of life that comes from the Bible, the Word of God.  The Lord promises we will never be hungry or thirsty if we eat the bread of life.

-- Elisabeth Elliot


#3291

ONLY MY DAILY BREAD

"Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.  Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?'  Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."  (Proverbs 30:8b-9)

No amount of wealth will ever satisfy a person's basic needs for security and significance, which can only be met by God.

-- Ron Blue


#3256