Whatever God Requires, He Provides

Whatever God Requires, He Provides

Austin Pryor

When God planned for Abraham to be the "father of many nations," He miraculously provided a son in Isaac. When God commanded Abraham to offer his only son as a sacrifice, He provided a substitute that He found acceptable in Isaac's place. Abraham called the mountain "Jehovah jireh," that is, "God will provide" (Genesis 22:13-14).

The life of Abraham is a striking example of a basic truth of the Christian life that Susie and I learned many years ago. It has greatly encouraged us in our daily walk with God and the choices we make. It is this: God can absolutely be counted on to provide all the means necessary in order for us to obey His commands or carry out His plans. In other words, He knows exactly what resources we need to stay in His will, and He always makes them available.

Searching through Scripture for occasions of this aspect of God's generosity makes for a great Bible study -- it is interesting and also very faith-strengthening. Here are a few to get you started:

When God planned for the children of Israel to go down into Egypt, He sent Joseph ahead in order to provide for them (Genesis 50:19-21). When God planned for the children of Israel to come out of Egypt, He sent Moses to provide the way. When Moses said he wouldn't know what to say, God provided Aaron to be the spokesman (Exodus 3:7-4:17). And when God required that a temple be built in His honor, He provided the means with which to build it (1 Chronicles 29:14-16).

Susie and I refer to this principle as "whatever God requires, He provides." I am mindful of this principle as seen demonstrated in Hebrews 1:3: "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven" (emphasis added). When God's righteousness required purification for our sins, He provided Christ as our Savior.

And as wonderful as that was, He didn't stop there. God continues to this very day providing each of us with the very best -- Himself. His Spirit lives in us, strengthening and empowering us to obey His commands. That's why God's requirement that we "be holy as He is holy" is completely reasonable. Consider:

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3).

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).

"He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful" (1 Corinthians 1:8-9).

"Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:22-24).

"For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Philippians 2:13).

In light of God's faithfulness, may we not grieve His great Father's heart with our sin-not merely because of the damage it does in our lives, which can be devastating, but even more importantly, because it demeans and devalues God's awesome gift of Himself. Let us rely on His strength, being mindful and thankful that whatever God requires, He provides.

"May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (Hebrews 13:20-21).

The Only One and Only

The Only One and Only
by Max Lucado

Two of our three daughters were born in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We lived in the North Zone, separated from our doctor's office and hospital by a tunnel-pierced mountain range. During Denalyn's many months of pregnancy, we made the drive often.

We didn't complain. Signs of life do a samba on every street corner. Copacabana and her bathers. Ipanema and her coffee bars. Gavea and her glamour. We never begrudged the South Zone forays. But they sure did bewilder me. I kept getting lost. I'm directionally challenged anyway, prone to take a wrong turn between the bedroom and the bathroom. Complicate my disorientation with randomly mapped three-hundred-year-old streets, and I don't stand a chance.

I had one salvation. Jesus. Literally, Jesus. The Christ the Redeemer statue. The figure stands guard over the city, one hundred twenty-five feet tall with an arm span of nearly a hundred feet. More than a thousand tons of reinforced steel. The head alone measures ten feet from chin to scalp. Perched a mile and a half above sea level on Corcovado Mountain, the elevated Jesus is always visible. Especially to those who are looking for it. Since I was often lost, I was often looking. As a sailor seeks land, I searched for the statue, peering between the phone lines and rooftops for the familiar face. Find him and find my bearings.

John 3:16 offers you an identical promise. The verse elevates Christ to thin-air loftiness, crowning him with the most regal of titles: "One and Only Son."

Do what I did in Rio. Seek him out. Lift up your eyes, and set your sights on Jesus. No passing glances or occasional glimpses. Enroll in his school. Make him your polestar, your point of reference. Search the crowded streets and shadow-casting roofs until you spot his face, and then set your sights on him.

You'll find more than a hospital.

You'll find the Only One and Only.

Because the World Can't Live Without Jesus

Because the World Can't Live Without Jesus

Dr. Ray Pritchard

This
morning Marlene and I on the road again, driving to Chicago for the
Keep Believing board retreat this weekend. Starting tomorrow night our
board is meeting in McHenry (located on the Fox River northwest of
Chicago, not far from the Wisconsin border). Here is part of an email I
sent to the board a few days ago in preparation for the retreat:

"As I have been thinking about our time this weekend, I have three goals in mind:

1) To spend time together developing deeper unity of heart and mind about what KBM is all about.
2) To talk through our current challenges.
3) To dream together about what God may want to do through KBM in the future.

Several days ago I asked the Lord what message he wanted us to have
for this weekend. Quick as a flash—I mean, just like that—the answer
came back to me, and I think it is from the Lord. We must live the message we proclaim.
That is a profound thought if you stop to ponder it. The best
ministries, the ones that change the world, are ministries where those
involved become the message itself. They have ultimate street cred.
Many ministries flounder because they end up being like
this:

Leaders (GAP) Message

But the strongest ministries are on the ones in which there is no gap:

Leaders/Message

The late Bill Bright was a good example of a man who embodied his
own message. Billy Graham does it as well. I think the same could be
said for Rick Warren. (And I would add the late D. James Kennedy,
founder of Evangelism Explosion, to that list.)

So here is the thought with which we will begin: We must become the message we proclaim. We can’t just talk about the message. We must become
the message. And as I thought that, my mind was drawn to 1
Thessalonians 2:1-12. I ask all the board members to read these verses
and meditate on them before Friday night. And then read Acts 17:1-9.
The KJV of Acts 17:6 says that the Jewish leaders declared of Paul and
Silas, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here
also.” 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12 tells us how Paul and Silas had that kind
of world-changing impact.

I am calling on the board to meditate and pray over all of this and ask what God is saying to us about KBM.

1) What sort of people should we be?
2) How can we embody the message we proclaim?
3) What needs to happen in us first?
4) If 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12 were all we had, what would that tell us about how to do things?

Let’s spend some time thinking and praying ….. with open hearts and
with anticipation. Pray, “Lord, speak to me” and “Lord, do things we’re
not used to.” Our only real danger is that we will think that we are
coming this weekend to make decisions about money and resources. We’ll
do that but if that’s all we do, we could do that over the telephone.
The New Testament constantly presents great truth and then says, “What
sort of people should we be in light of this truth?”

I will share one more thing with you. In last week’s sermon email, I
quoted part of a letter from a widow who decided to give her magazine
money to help KBM. This weekend I will share the whole letter because
it is not unconnected to the above. I can’t get one little phrase from
her letter out of my mind. She said, “I CAN live without my mags
(Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping) but the world CANNOT live
without Jesus.”

Here’s the phrase as it keeps coming to me . . .Because the world can’t live without Jesus.

I somehow connect it in my mind to KBM:

Keep Believing Ministries . . . Because the world can’t live without Jesus.

So here is my challenge. I would like everyone on the board to ponder all that I have written:

We must live the message we proclaim.
The message of 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12.
What needs to happen in us first?
Lord, speak to me.
Because the world can’t live without Jesus.

This may be the most crucial ministry event we’ll attend all year
long. Soon after this we begin almost two months of non-stop travel and
ministry. But it is this weekend that will give us direction and
encouragement for the next leg of the journey. And I believe God will
help us lay a strong foundation for the future."

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