Encountering God's Provision

George was pretty wild when he first came to college. I didn’t know him personally, but he was described as “wicked to the extreme.” But things changed for George when one of his friends invited him to a prayer meeting. The Holy Spirit began to work on His heart that night, and he surrendered his life to Christ.

As he began to study his Bible, he saw how God could be trusted to provide for every need, so long as he was doing God’s work. He made it a rule of his life that he would do whatever God led him to, and present his needs to God alone in prayer, and trust God to provide.

After graduating college, he moved to Bristol England to pastor a church. While he was there, he saw a great need for orphan homes, where children could be cared for both physically and also spiritually. As he prayed, God provided the funds to purchase a house big enough for 30 orphans. Then, God provided for another 3 houses. For ten years, George cared for 120 children, often with many trials, but God always provided for their needs. I have four kids, and people often think I’m crazy. George cared for 120, but that was just the beginning. God was preparing him for more.

George sensed God leading him to ask for the funds to buy a house for another 300 children. God provided for that. 9 years later, God provided for another house to fit 950 more orphans. about 12 years after that, God provided two more houses for another 850 orphans, totalling around 2,100 children that were under his care at one time. Over his lifetime, George Muller was able to provide a home for somewhere around 120k children in need.

He made it his goal to prove God through prayer. His trail of miraculous answers to prayer are astounding.

Have David read a story:

“One morning, all the plates and cups and bowls on the table were empty. There was no food in the larder and no money to buy food. The children were standing, waiting for their morning meal, when Müller said, “Children, you know we must be in time for school.” Then lifting up his hands he prayed, “Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat.”

There was a knock at the door. The baker stood there, and said, “Mr. Müller, I couldn’t sleep last night. Somehow I felt you didn’t have bread for breakfast, and the Lord wanted me to send you some. So I got up at 2 a.m. and baked some fresh bread, and have brought it.”

Mr. Müller thanked the baker, and no sooner had he left, when there was a second knock at the door. It was the milkman. He announced that his milk cart had broken down right in front of the orphanage, and he would like to give the children his cans of fresh milk so he could empty his wagon and repair it.”

George Muller’s life did end up proving God. He had the joy of encountering God’s provision. George got to experience the adventure of living by faith. It was risky, it was bold, it was difficult. But it was simple, it was miraculous, it was profound and it was so worth it.

Project:

(groups of 3-4) For this project, you get to be God. You have infinite power and resources. You have chosen to execute your plan in the world. What would you be looking for in a person in order to provide resources for them?

Matthew 6:33–34 NLT

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

1. Seek God's Kingdom above all else

Matthew 6:33 (NLT)

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else...

Culture: “You only live once, therefore _________”

People fill in the blank in many different ways

Experiences

“Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing!”

- Oscar Wilde

Utopia/happiness

“After all, life is too short to be anything but happy.”

- Karl Marx.

Live your way

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking...And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

- Steve Jobs.

Dreams

“Follow your dreams, they know the way.” – Kobe Yamada

These things sound really nice, don’t they?

Money: After college, what you will find is that if you work hard enough, you can pretty much make enough money to fill in the blank however you want.

If you want to follow Jesus though, things are gonna be different. He fills that blank in for you.

Jesus: “You only live once, therefore live for the Kingdom of God.”

Store up heavenly treasures. (Matt. 6:19-21)

Matthew 6:19–21 NLT

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

Christians don’t live for a bucket list. That’s silly in light of heaven.

Money, your degree, your experiences, your notoriety will all vanish. You can’t take it with you.

But what you did for Christ will last forever.

Guard your desires, they dictate who you are. (Matt. 6:22-23)

Matthew 6:22–23 NLT

“Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

When it’s talking about “the eye” here, it is using an idiom.

It represented what one was looking for in life, what one desired, what one was searching for.

If a person was greedy, desiring money at the cost of others well-being… He would have been said to have a “bad-eye.”

We have a similar saying today: “His sight is set on ______”

What is your eye set on?

You must choose your master. You choose primarily with your actions, not your words. (Matt. 6:24)

Less like a quiz with a multiple choice question.

More like you are driving on the freeway and there is a fork in the road. You make the choice in real time based on the direction you steer the car.

Matthew 6:24 NLT

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.

Put anything else there in place of money. The point is, we make a choice about who we will serve.

Let me make this really practical for you, this starts now with how you prioritize living for the Kingdom right now.

The biggest choice for most of you, is going to be whether or not you really plug in to Christian community and grow, or if you put school/job first.

You have an incredible opportunity to grow here and get training.

Worship, Word, Witness

---------------------------------

Studies, Social life, Sports

2. Live Righteously

Matthew 6:33 (NLT)

...and live righteously...

What does it mean to live righteously in this case?

There are four types of righteousness in Scripture:

Comparative Righteousness: Conformity to God’s moral and ethical standard (Deut. 6:25)

Perfect righteousness: Only Jesus has done this (Rom. 3:23)

Imputed Righteousness (Gen. 15:6, Rom. 4:23-24)

Realized Righteousness: A life lived in harmony with God’s will, by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 6:13-14)

2 Chronicles 16:9 (ESV)

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.”

3. Trust the Promise: “He will give you everything you need”

Matthew 6:33 (NLT)

... and he will give you everything you need.

The Revival Study Bible Matthew

Faith: Living without scheming

Depend on it: God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply. (HT)

If you have put your trust in Jesus, he will be good to you.

Trust that God will not rip you off.

Trust that He will be good to you.

He will provide.

My first two years of College, I did not put God first.

My second two years of college, I put God first:

I decided that Worshipping God, growing in wisdom and my witness for Christ came before my studies, social life and sports.

Actually, I even considered dropping out of college if that was going to be more strategic for Christ’s Kingdom.

Here’s the crazy thing: My grades went up, and my social life was way more fulfilling.

4. Don’t Worry

Matthew 6:34 NLT

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Jesus says not to worry 5 times in this passage.

Don’t worry about your food: God feeds the birds.

Don’t worry about your clothes: God clothes the flowers

If God cares for these things, how much more will he care for you?

Matthew 6:31–32 NLT

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.

God provides for his Children; and if you trusted in Jesus, you are adopted as a Child of God (John 1:12)

If you are a child of God, he gives you the gift of not needing to worry. You have the promise of His faithful provision.

Going Places with God: A Devotional Journey Through the Lands of the Bible DAY 8: Worry on the Mount

The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith. The beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety. —George Muller

Begin Your Collection of Stories

As you step out in faith, trusting God enough to do what He says, you will begin encountering God’s provision. You will begin to see God come through and provide for you in miraculous ways. Over time, you will begin to collect stories, one at a time, of ways God has provided for you. Just as George Muller set out to prove God through the power of prayer, your stories will give glory to God as he shows up to provide for everything he has called you to do.

What’s Your Next Step?

Put God’s Kingdom first by prioritizing Worship, Wisdom and Witness over Studies, Social life and Sports.

Turn from a specific sin to live righteously.

Trust Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Believe that God will not rip you off.

Stop worrying about _________.