Call Home: What are you doing with what you’ve been given?
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· 2 viewsGod’s provision is meant to sustain His mission. In other words, God provides what we need in order to PARTICIPATE actively in His Kingdom. “Our daily bread.” is a request for that provision. The question is, what will we do with what we have been given?
Notes
Transcript
Look at these verses:
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
3 Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40 when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?
41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
25 I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.
7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.
23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.
24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!
What do all of these scriptures have in common?
— — Provision — —
Now, look at Luke 11:3
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
Verse 2 is all about God… Recognizing Him for who He is… Making Him King of the Hill… Committing to His Kingdom and His Will - purposes…
Then Jesus says this: (vs 3)
What is He trying to tell us? What is His point? What are we praying for here?
— Provision — Seeking God for our needs — trusting Him to provide…
At it’s basest level, that is true… And…
That is exactly how most people interpret this part of “The Lord’s Prayer”.
— they see it as a simple request for the things they need to sustain their lives…
— we think of it as a request for food, clothing, money, cars, houses, healing, …
BUT…
How does that fit into the rest of the prayer?
Could it be something more?
“We can look at this prayer another way… [as] a request for spiritual strength to do God’s will.” — Keith Newman
I think we miss this, because our society tends to “compartmentalize” everything… We try to separate everything into neat, tidy little boxes… We attempt to separate the spiritual from the physical…
Think about it…
How many times have you heard people say:
“Religion doesn’t belong in the workplace, that’s just for your private life.”
“Your beliefs don’t belong here.”
“Your beliefs shouldn’t effect your job.”
and on and on…
As if we can somehow separate our core beliefs from our methods of living, working, playing, etc…
Do you see the problem????
— — We Can’t!!!
That’s not the message of the Bible!!
That’s not what being a Christian is all about…
15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;
16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
A Holy Life is informed and directed by our spiritual beliefs…
That’s why Paul said:
17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Jesus calls us to “Come and See,” and then “Go and Tell.”
Doing God’s will… Making Him King of OUR Hill… means seeking His provision for every aspect of our lives, INCLUDING how to live within His Will!
Provision — “Daily Bread” — is not just about our personal needs.
Look at Gen 1:29-30
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
God knows our needs… and He promises to meet those needs.
That’s why Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount “Not to worry”.
We have a Heavenly Father who loves us… Who has a plan and purpose for us… and Who WILL provide for us!
We have the right to ask for what we need… BUT… we have a problem don’t we?
How many of us have asked for something and not gotten it? How do we react?
— anger, frustration, give up… after all, scripture says that if we ask for it in Jesus name, then God has to give it to us, and He didn’t, so He must be a liar!!! Right???
WRONG!!!
you see… we often confuse our NEEDS with our WANTS!
God is not a Genie in a Lamp… He tells us to ask, but He is not bound to giving us whatever we ask for… And we often ask for things we don’t need, or that God knows will harm us, and so… the answer is “No!”
What’s the other thing we do?
We ask for what we need tomorrow, or the next day, or next week, or next year…
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
What is the key phrase here?
— “each day”
We are supposed to ask today, only what we need for today, and trust God for tomorrow.
When we don’t do that… when we begin worrying and asking for provision way in advance, instead of focusing on today’s needs… God’s answer is “Wait!”
Why does God do that?
— We need to learn to depend on God.
(Manna in the wilderness)
2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
What did God do for them?
— fed them with manna
— each day, they gathered 1/2 a gallon of manna per person, BUT… it was only for that day…
What did manna become in that story?
— manna was a symbol of their dependence on God.
— — side note — — sometimes we need those “desert” times to learn to depend on God…
What symbol do we have today?
the way we live our lives
tithing
giving
serving
loving our neighbor
etc…
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Why do we worry about today, and not tomorrow?
— because today is what matters!!!
But, this isn’t just about our personal needs, is it?
— This is about asking God, not only for our personal needs, but for direction and provision for carrying out His Will.
We have to start looking at things His way!
Andrew Murray states:
“The world asks: What does a man own?
Christ asks: How does he use it?”
God’s provision is meant to further His mission!
Newman tells the story of attending church as a teenager with his older friend, Wayne…
— when the offering plate was passed, Wayne put a quarter in, but he simply passed it on without putting anything in…
— Wayne leaned over and said, “I’m a poor college student, what’s your excuse?”
Many of us would balk at that! We’d say, “He shouldn’t judge!” or “That’s why I don’t go to church!”
BUT…
God asks us: “What will you do with what you’ve been given?”
(I’m gonna get cryptic for a minute)
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.
(if….)
We are accountable for what we do with what God has given us.
“Give us our daily bread.” is a request for God to give us the resources we need — not only to live and care for our families — for His Will to be done in our lives.
But that means that we need to be committed to making Him holy in our lives… to setting Him up as “King of OUR Hill”… to sanctifying our lives, our activities, our finances, our resources, to His Will…
Look at Mal 3:10
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
What is He talking about?
tithe, giving, serving…
What does “food in my house” mean?
provision, ministry, love, outreach…
We do not have “manna” as a symbol of our dependence and trust in God… But, we do have a symbol: Tithe.
I want you to notice something here: This verse is the ONLY place in scripture where God tells us to “test Him”.
When we tithe, we are saying “God, I trust you.” — “I trust you for my family… for my needs… for guidance… for direction… for purpose… I trust Your provision for me, and Your will to be done in my life.”
And something awesome happens in that…
God honors it, and opens the flood gates of provision to us…
the church is taken care of…
the people are taken care of…
the Kingdom grows!
What will you do with what God has given you?