Today is all you got, and God is in today
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Notes:
Notes:
Both times God gives them bread, its not enough they complain and grumble. Seeing is not believing. Faith is found in trust.
“Prayer isn’t just about asking God for things you want, but it’s about establishing a relationship with Him. It is a relationship built on faith and trust.”
“Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, but Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.”
Manna is this picture of God saying I am going to provide everything you need for today, I do not promise tomorrow, but what I do promise is today and I am in today.
Give us this day our daily bread,
Matthew C. Trust God’s Provision, Not Your Own (6:25–34)
He was asking, “Do you trust your Father or not?”—not with a slap in our face, but with an arm around our shoulder. Jesus was not belittling his disciples; he was encouraging them upward.
Matthew C. Trust God’s Provision, Not Your Own (6:25–34)
If our life is not to be preoccupied with fretting over basic needs, what is our concern to be? The answer is, his kingdom and his righteousness.
Matthew C. Trust God’s Provision, Not Your Own (6:25–34)
“All these things” will fall into place when we put God’s kingdom and righteousness in its proper place and serve the kingdom’s interests.
Matthew C. Trust God’s Provision, Not Your Own (6:25–34)
“All these things” will fall into place when we put God’s kingdom and righteousness in its proper place and serve the kingdom’s interests.
Exodus 16: The Lord will provide for your every need
John 6: Jesus is the Manna from heaven, the promise of today and eternity
Matthew 6:
Flow:
Set up the tension of the moment, Caught in between and exodus has lessons for how we live in the presence of God in the in between
Oogway Story
Today is a gift, and the LORD is in today. Seek the Lord today.
Sermon:
We are entering into a new series and I am AMPED. We are going to be walking through some key stories in the book of exodus. And you may be like why is this series called exiles.
An exile is a person who has been sent away from their home. A punishment for people in history has been to be exiled from their home. The inspiration for the series came from this great quote I heard from a pastor at COTC, he said To be a christian is to be an exile, and to be an exile is to have an awareness that you are not home.
This got me thinking and praying and studying in the book of exodus and I began to feel this great tension. See to be human is to be caught in between. We are always caught in between two things.
One season and the next season
The kind of person you are and the kind of person you want to be
You have a loved one in the hospital you are caught between hoping they will live and preparing that they might die
You like someone and you are caught in between do they like me whats gonna happen
This is then amplified in the life of a believer because we deal with this in between-ness on an eternal level. Because we are righteous holy people destined for eternity with Christ yet still living in a fallen and broken world.
In all of these ways we are caught in between and the tension of that is so felt. How many of yall have been in the middle of something before and felt like once this one thing is over I will just be so happy and content.
Once you get out from this state of in between everything will be okay.
See the problem is, once you get out of this state of in between, youll just find yourself in another one.
We so easily believe man if i can just get out of high school and go to college everything will be fine, we just wish away our life hoping for the next moment where we wont be in-between anymore.
You are an exile, longing for home, but home is not found in the next season.
See the reason why we are studying exodus is because it is this amazing picture of this reality. You have the people of Israel caught in between slavery in Egypt and the promise-land. And for 40 years they live in the in between. And exodus has lessons for us on how we as Christians can live in the in between and let me tell you the secret.
Its not about hoping for the next season, or walking faster out of the desert, no no no see the life of a Christian is finding God in the midst of the in between and so that is what we are going to be talking about these next few weeks. How can we as exiles, find God in the midst of the deserts of our lives.
Lets pray.
They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
The people complain God hears them it says over and over in this passage that God heard them when they cried out.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
He only gives them a daily portion
And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.
People tried to store up for tomorrow because they did not trust that God would provide for them tomorrow.
Thats what God meant when he said he was testing them. He was seeing would they trust that he would take care of tomorrow so they could live in today.
The truth from this is that God hears you when you talk to him or about him, even deeper than that, he knows what you want and what you need and whether you believe it or not if you are a follower of Christ God is working on your behalf to care for everything you need.
But youll say Jackson, I dont see any manna from heaven, I dont need food but could I get a man from heaven to be my boyfriend. Kidding, but for real, its like they had bread from heaven where is ours?
John 6, Jesus just fed the 5000 and the people have been trying to track him down, Jesus first walks on water, then teleports to the other side of the sea to get away from these people and they find him, then...
When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
You don’t want me you want more bread, being miracles.
They are trying to make it about works what they do, Jesus is like its not what you do its faith that saves you, believe.
Such an interesting statement. What sign, jesus literally just fed all of yall with like no bread and no fish.
Now here’s where it gets interesting, Jesus is saying it was God, not moses who gave bread in the wilderness, and that same God wants to give you bread, They are like great give us this bread cmon we like that miracle bread.
Wondering where your manna is? Jesus says I am the bread of life. Whoever believes in me shall not hunger and never thirst.
The people are talking about a physical hunger and thirst, Jesus is talking about something much deeper. A spiritual hunger and thirst. There is something more important than physical hunger and thirst, it is a relationship with Jesus Christ. In a relationship with Jesus Christ you have manna, or all that you need for today. What is that?
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
See Jesus is promising two things, today and eternity. He is saying you will never hunger or thirst, you will have everything you need today, and you have the promise of eternity. Notice what he doesnt promise. Tomorrow.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Jesus is laying out this picture of his providing for his people right.... Its a logical argument.... If God provides for these things and he loves you so much hes willing to die for you will he not also take care of you?
The term ye of little faith is more of a term of endearment. Its less condescending and more like little faith ones. Theres a sense in which Jesus is asking, “Do you trust your father or not?” He wasnt belitting the disciples he was encouraging them.
Do you trust your father?
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Remember Jesus is promising two things, today and eternity. He doesn’t promise tomorrow.
We arent meant to live worrying about tomorrow thats not our purpose. All you got is today,
All you have is today. Thats all you got. Tomorrow isnt promised so why spend time worrying about it.
Worrying about tomorrow is where we find discomfort in the in between. Its when we are worrying about what tomorrow will look like or the next season of our life jsut hoping and hoping for tomorrow when God has given us today.
So what do we do instead of worrying?
What God wanted in the desert for the people of israel to seek him. Accept the manna for today and seek him.
Thats what this passage says if we are not worrying about tomorrow what do we do?
For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
This is so good, look at this. The Gentiles seek after all these things, all these things are what you willl where what you will eat, the longings you have for tomorrow. And God says if you will seek me, I will take care of all of those things.
Listen you do not have tomorrow, all you got is today, and if instead of worrying you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, God will take care of the rest. You can trust that.
What does it mean to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness?
It is seeking for the Lord to have full reign in your heart in life. In other words, it is instead of wondering what tomorrow will look like, asking how you can serve God and grow to look more like him today.
The people of Israel in the desert did not do this. And it came back to bite them hard, 40 years in the wildnerness, never seeing the promise land. praise God we have Jesus who promises us grace and eternity.
For us now in the in between, we can get up in the morning, accept our manna for today being the grace and love of Christ trusting he will care for our every need, knowing our eternity is secure, and rather than worrying for tomorrow trying to store up more manna, we can seek to serve and honor the Lord today, trusting he will add all things to us in his time.
OOOOGWAY
Today is a gift, and the LORD is in today. Seek the Lord today.