The Journey of a Lifetime

The Provision of God

observing the Israelites in their early knowledge of God in the wilderness, they did not know Him, but they knew His provision. Gathering manna each day was like “level one faithfulness” and failure only had 24 hours worth of consequences. Nevertheless, gathering faithfully each day led to being filled, and being healthy.

In our lives we need to reach the point where we recognize that our lives are not provided for by our own efforts alone, but by God.

Also we need to take steps to ensure that we use the provision of God for the purposes of God, and don’t try to build our own empires. Try to stockpile manna and it rots.

How can we in our lives recognize and live in such a way that we honour God in the way we receive and use His provision?

One way is to recognize that as you go to your job each day you can serve your God in the way that you achieve at work. If you are forever dreaming about what’s next, never giving your all to the work? Serve as unto the Lord and see where that can lead you.

The Purposes of God

the purposes of God are revealed as we become established in His ways. The Israelites had to move from gathering daily manna to sowing and harvesting. God’s purposes were to bless Israel as its own nation as they drove out the other heathen nations that did not serve His purposes.

So that is the next level beyond just gathering your manna each day. God’s purposes are to establish a culture of faithfulness within us, where we use resources to serve Him. In exchange He knows he can give us more authority.

The Parable of the talents:

The Purposes of God

The Promise of God

The promise of God is that when we are faithful in the little we will be given much. And that even when have been given the much, he grows us into the place that we can not only steward our own resources, but can be faithful stewards of cities.

When we demonstrate that His Kingdom is more important to us that our own Kingdoms, we receive more of His authority and trust. Imagine if God thrust upon us all the fullness of our calling in Christ BEFORE we had been through the lessons and the growing up and maturing that it would require to steward it well? It would become our OWN thing that we got our identity all jangled up in. I have been in the position to believe that my ministry to the Lord WAS my relationship with the Lord, and it just isn’t true.

The Person of God

As we receive and live in the provision of God, and allow to unfold the purposes of God, we live in the Promise of God, and become friends with the Person of God.