Direct Deposit

On the first day of every month, a miracle occurs.  The earth doesn’t tremble, there are no peals of thunder, no bolts of lightning, and bodies of water don’t divide exposing dry ground.  But nonetheless, a miracle does occur and that miracle is called a direct deposit!

I fall asleep on the last day of the month with pennies in my bank account and wake up to find that, overnight, someone has deposited dollars into my account.  It’s a great feeling and one that I try not to take for granted. In that deposit is all the provision I need for the month. My house payment is there, my car payment is there, all my meals are there, clothes are provided, and there is even enough for a cup of coffee or two.

All this happens while I am asleep. During the dark, wee hours of the morning, someone has made sure to provide for my monthly needs.  I have never met them, I don’t know their name, and I would never recognize their voice if I heard it. Nevertheless, while I sleep, they faithfully ensure that funds are deposited and credited to my account.

King David would fully understand and appreciate the direct deposit. In fact, he describes it beautifully in Psalm 121:3b-4: “[H]e who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” David, perhaps more than anyone, understood God’s provision directly deposited into his life. 

See him stand against Goliath when God deposited strength and courage.  Witness him guarding the sheep when God deposited grace and mercy into his life.  Remember him after Samuel anointed him king, living in caves for 13 years while God deposited into his life faith, wisdom, patience, and the desire to pursue God’s own heart.

Yes, David knew about the direct deposit.  The psalms are filled with deposits made into his life. David trusted God, knowing that the Lord always watched over him, in good times, in difficult times, and in lonely times. David knew that God never sleeps, that he watches over those who belong to him and provides for their every need. Are you experiencing God’s direct deposits into your life today?

A Good Drink of Water

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hen it comes to plants, my thumbs are any color but green!  My brother, however, can make anything grow and draws so much pleasure and enjoyment from making things grow.  It is quite remarkable, then, that I have managed to keep two plants alive in my home for several years.

One of the plants lives in my study. Her name is Tracy and the other lives in my bedroom and his name is Spencer.  Now don’t ask me why I named them, I just did.  As I walked through the house on Saturday morning, I glanced into my study where Tracy stands guard, making sure everything is in order.  I noticed that her leaves had begun to droop, a sure sign that a good drink of water was needed.

So, I stopped my house-cleaning chores and attended to her.  I picked her up, took her to the kitchen, placed her in the sink, and gave her a good drink of water from the faucet.  As I carefully guided the stream of water so that all the soil in her container was dampened, God spoke to me and reminded me of a great biblical truth.

I knew that Tracy needed water. I also knew that she could not get that water on her own. There was no way she could make it to the kitchen, put herself in the sink, turn on the faucet, and get the water she needed.  She is my responsibility and her life is in my hands.

It was at that time that God reminded me that I am just like Tracy. I am totally dependent on my Heavenly Father for everything in my life.  As the water poured from the spigot into Tracy’s container, this is what I heard God saying to me: “I know what you need.  I know when you need it. You are my responsibility and your life is in my hands.  I will see to it that you have everything you need exactly when you need it.  Trust me!”

Water from the spigot wasn’t the only water flowing in my kitchen on Saturday morning.  Tears ran down my face as I felt God’s presence so real and His loving arms enfold me.  He reminded me of the truth that Paul shared in his letter to the believers in Philippi.  In Philippians 4:19 he writes “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”

Wherever you are today, it is my prayer for you that this truth will become so real in your life.  God is our father. We are His responsibility.  He will see to it that our needs are met, right on time.  He knows when we need a good drink of water.  Have a great day!

Do You Have Any Bread?

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ealtimes at our home were always wonderful.  My mom worked during the day but she always made sure there was a good, hot meal for us when suppertime came.  I can still hear her as she would call us from play to come home for supper.  It didn't matter where we were or what we were doing, as soon as we heard her call, we came running.

As we sat down to the table, my dad would always ask the same question, "Do you have any bread?"  It didn't matter what type of bread we had, whether homemade biscuits (my favorite), rolls, cornbread, or sandwich bread.  The fact was, the meal was not complete

without it. 

Since my boyhood, I have visited and lived in several different foreign countries and I have found my dad's question to be very common.  Whether in France, Australia, Germany, or Spain, the importance attached to bread is universal.  It seems we can't eat a meal without it and no table is complete until the bread is placed in its center.

There is, however, one great problem with bread.  It is filling but it is not satisfying.  Eating bread for one meal, only means we are ready for more bread at the next one.  Freshly baked biscuits, rolls, or loaves of bread meet an immediate need and desire; but provide no long lasting solution to our problem.  Hence, my father's repeated question at every one of our meals.  It is still his repeated question at the table today.

Jesus used this very idea to teach a great truth about himself and his ministry.  Our scripture reading for today occurs just after Jesus has fed the five thousand.  The people sought to make him king, so Jesus withdrew from them and went across the lake.  The next morning, the time of our scripture, finds the people coming to Jesus, searching for bread.  Essentially, they were interested in Jesus solely for what he could do for them.

Jesus' response is found in John 6:26-35.  Notice that Jesus confronts the people by saying, “The truth is, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you saw the miraculous sign."Jesus always looks for the motives behind our actions.  Why are we following him?   Is it because we want to do his will and be a part of this work? Or, are we interested in coming to Jesus only when we need something? 

Those around him that day were only interested in getting something from Jesus. What they wanted was a quick fix to their hunger.  Moses, they said, had provided food for them in the wilderness.  If Jesus could perform a miracle, then they would believe him.  Doesn't this sound so much like us?  We come to God, asking for solutions to our problems and answers to our questions.    Rarely do we come to him just to relate or converse, yet this is what he wants from us, relationship.

Jesus corrected their misunderstanding by saying, "I assure you, Moses didn’t give them bread from heaven. My Father did." Like so many of us, they failed to recognize that everything in life comes from God's hand.  Moses provided them with nothing, God rained the manna down from heaven.  Jesus continued this thought by saying, “I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again".  This is what God is truly like.  He sees us in a hopeless situation, eating our fill, only to be hungry again.  His answer is always to surpass our need and give us the best he has, not only to sustain our lives, but to give us eternal life as well.  When we feed on Christ and his word we need never ask the question, "Do you have any bread?"  We have our fill.

I've Got You Covered!

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hen I was sixteen years old, my parents allowed me to get a job and earn my own money.  For the first time, I could buy something I wanted with my own money and it was very exciting.  However, it also proved to be very challenging because I had to decide between what I could afford and what I couldn't.  Furthermore, I had to evaluate all my purchases in terms of needs or wants.  It is so easy to spend someone else's money; but when you go to spend your own, you become very cautious and your approach to owning things takes on a different perspective.

Like most sixteen-year-olds, I had a desire for a car.  Most of my friends had one and, using teenage logic, that justified my having one as well.  My mom and dad got me a car, but told me I would be paying for it.  It was the smartest thing they ever did for me, although at the time I didn't always agree with this idea.  Car ownership was fun so long as I could make the payments and have everything I wanted.  However, when I wanted to purchase something and couldn't because I had a payment due, the car became more of a burden than a joy.  My parents were giving me a good lesson in the reality of life, that you can't have everything you want, and that the privilege of ownership comes with a price.

But it was also a good lesson about having my needs met.  Just before school started, mom and I went shopping at a local store.  I needed clothes in the worst way for school.  Problem was, I couldn't afford to buy them due to the fact my car payment was due for the month.  My job at the local hospital provided me enough cash to pay for the car and the gas to run it.  There was very little left over for entertainment or purchasing necessary items, like clothes.  So, mom and I went shopping, although I had absolutely no idea how I was going to pay for them.

At the store, we picked out several shirts, pants, a new belt, and a new pair of shoes.  As we approached the counter, my mind was filled with questions, well just one question, "How would I pay for it?"  When we got to the register, the clerk ran the total and mom opened her checkbook, wrote a check, and looked at me and said, "Let's go!"  

I remember standing there in disbelief.  Mom had never intended for me to buy my clothes, she just needed me there to try them on. It was always her intent to buy the clothes for me.  She never meant for me to worry about having clothes nor did she mean for me to be concerned with paying for them.  As a parent, providing clothes for me was her and dad's responsibility and when the time came to buy them, she wrote the check, she had me covered.

This is the great truth the Apostle Paul was expressing in Philippians 4:19. The members of the church at Philippi sent Paul a gift, perhaps money or provisions he needed.  Paul accepted the gift with gratitude and used their expression of love as an illustration of a great spiritual truth.  Paul writes, "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."  The Philippians had met a real need in Paul's life.  Perhaps he was concerned about money for his journey.  It is possible he needed food and clothing.  Whatever the precise need, the gift from the church at Philippi adequately addressed it.

Paul realized that God uses various situations and people to meet our needs.  Paul also knew that we are never able to meet our own needs.  We are spiritually poor, lacking the funding to adequately provide for ourselves.  We consistently fall short of the mark and we find ourselves in constant need.  This is where God meets us.  He knows our needs, even before we do (Matthew 6:8), and he stands ready to meet them.  God never expects us to "pay" him for meeting our needs.  

As our father, God is responsible for providing for our necessities, and he takes that responsibility seriously.  The death of Jesus is proof of God meeting the ultimate need.  We cannot provide our own salvation.  We can never work enough, never attend enough church meetings, never give enough food to needy families, never spend enough money on the new church building, never pray enough, never visit the sick enough, etc.  We simply don't have the necessary funds to cover the cost of salvation.  But God does!!  He opens his checkbook, he takes out his pen, he writes the check, and says to us, "I've got you covered, let's go home."

Today as you spend time with God, thank him for meeting your needs.  God's promise is that he will meet all our needs, and he means all of them.  What we need to do is distinguish between our needs and our wants, which is something we find so very difficult to do.  God is not responsible for our wants; but he is responsible for our needs and he takes that responsibility seriously.  The infinite riches he has in Jesus Christ are more than adequate to provide for any need you have today.  Please don't worry about having your needs met   God understands, he is aware, and he will provide.  Hey, he's got you covered!

The Steeple Chase

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hurches dot the landscape around my home in North Carolina.  It is almost impossible to drive in any direction without passing a church.  There are large churches, small churches, churches made of brick, others made of wood, some old, some new, some occupying street corners while others are surrounded by rolling hills and pastureland.  Some have large congregations, and some have very small ones, some have graveyards while others don’t.  But no matter the church, large or small, brick or wood, in the city or in the country, they all have one thing in common—a steeple.

As a small boy, I can remember seeing these various churches, most of which look the same as they did then, from the front seat of my parent’s car. I could always tell when we were approaching a church because I could see its steeple towering above the tree line or surrounding buildings, assuring everyone that God was still at work despite the hustle and bustle of the city or the remoteness of the countryside.

Atop most of these steeples was a cross, the constant reminder of the price God paid for man’s sin.  In addition to adorning the tops of these churches, the cross served another purpose—a lightning rod!  Since the steeple was the tallest portion of the church, it served to attract lightning strikes, protecting the building by taking the full force of a strike and dissipating it to the ground so the structure and all inside would remain safe and unharmed.  Without that lightning rod, the church building remained at risk for certain damage.

I have thought many times what a wonderful picture of salvation those lightning rods represent and how they serve as a reminder that Jesus took upon himself the full brunt of God’s judgment so that we could be saved from sin’s deadly curse.  In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul reminds us of this fact, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Do you see God’s lightning rod at work in this passage?  The cross lifted Jesus, suspending him between God and man.  When God’s judgment fell, Jesus, himself, bore the full brunt and took upon himself the punishment for our sin.  How fitting and proper it is that we should affix crosses to the steeples of our churches, using them as lightning rods, to serve as the constant reminder of God’s love for mankind and the provision he made to save us from our sins.  The next time you pass a church with a cross on its steeple, slow down and remember what that cross represents. Are you under the protection of the cross today?

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Just Write A Check!

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ust write a check, daddy!”  As a child, this was my solution to any financial difficulty facing my family!  Now, you have to understand that my definition of a financial crisis varied greatly from my dad’s definition.  For me, a financial crisis arose whenever I wanted something and my dad told me I couldn’t have it because we didn’t’ have the money to spend every time I saw something I wanted. 

Now, for a six-year-old boy, this just simply didn’t compute.  I was very observant and I had noticed that every time my parents purchased something, they wrote a check for it. When we bought groceries, mom wrote a check.  When we bought clothes, she wrote a check.  When dad got the car repaired, he wrote a check.  Honestly, I can’t remember my parents making a purchase without writing a check.

So, I simply applied the same principle when I wanted something.  I figured as long as mom and dad had checks, there was money in the bank.  I mean, how hard could it be?  All you had to do was fill out the check, sign it, hand it to the cashier, and walk away with whatever you wanted.  It was a great system and one I learned easily.  Checks equaled money and as long as you had a check, you had an infinite supply of the green stuff to purchase whatever it was you wanted.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul addressed the truth that God has unlimited resources.  Philippians 4:19 reads, “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” There are two distinct lessons we must learn from this brief passage of scripture.  First, Paul tells us that God will meet all our needs.  Please pay attention to that little word need.  So often as God’s children, we come to him with a list of wants and we present them as needs.  God knows the difference!!  His promise is to meet our needs, not our wants.  Like children in a toy store, we are convinced we need everything we see.  However, just like a loving parent, God never gives us everything we see, he only supplies what we need.

The second truth is that God’s supply of resources is infinite!  No matter how great our need is, no matter how impossible it looks, and no matter how overwhelming, God has the resources to cover it!  God’s resources are found in his son, Jesus Christ, and are backed in full by the blood he shed to save all of us from our sins.  I don’t know about you, but when I look at all the things I do on a daily basis that aren’t pleasing to God, I am amazed at the price He was willing to pay to claim me as His own.  Whenever I need something, God always provides it, perhaps not the way I imagined and perhaps not in the time frame I desired, but he always comes through, no matter what.

There is one last illustration I believe will be helpful for us today.  The times my dad told me no were always times when I let my wants get out of balance, confusing them with my needs.  If I needed something, I got it.  I never went hungry, I was never cold, I always had a bed to sleep in, and I always had clothes to wear!  Mom and dad always wrote a check for our needs and we were never in want. 

They also wrote checks for things I couldn’t see.  These checks took the forms of hugs, laughter, tears, conversations, walks, and time on the front porch!  These were all needs and the checks never stopped coming.  My parents’ supply of love and support was and is measureless.  How much more measureless is God’s supply in Christ Jesus!  His love will never run out, his concern for us will never diminish, and his ability to care for us will never be depleted. God writes checks for us all the time! Are we cashing them?   

Funds Now Available

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 love banking via the Internet, especially when my schedule prevents me from running by the bank to make a deposit or a withdrawal.  Actually, deposits are like Haley’s Comet, they only come around once every 76 years it seems!!!  A quick gander at my checkbook register reveals that money flies out of my account much more readily than it flows in.  I am always in the black but it seems that the money in my account doesn’t stay in there long enough to even get comfortable!

My banking program allows me to connect with my bank and download all my transactions.  This helps me stay current with the bank and keeps me ever mindful of the funds I have available to spend during the month.  One of the most wonderful feelings comes from connecting to the website and seeing that my direct deposit has been made by the university.  During the night, while I sleep, the university’s accounting department forwards my paycheck directly to my account. The next morning, those funds are displayed on my screen and are available for use!

Has it ever occurred to you that God works the same way in our lives?  While we sleep, God is working, taking care of us and providing for us.  When we wake, we find that He has made a direct deposit of 24 hours into our lives.  The first rays of light, the first sounds of the day, the first movements of our bodies, and that first cup of coffee all serve to remind us that a fresh deposit of time has been placed in our accounts.  How we spend it is up to us.  The funds are available upon our waking but do we always spend the time God gives us in a wisely fashion?

This thought occupied the mind of Moses, the author of Psalm 90.  In this psalm, Moses offers a wonderful prayer to God.  He begins the psalm by praising the Lord for caring for His people throughout all generations.  Moses praises and thanks the Lord for His faithfulness, for always making deposits of time, grace, mercy, and love into the lives of His people.  Moses continues by enumerating the mighty acts of God drawing his examples from the created order and speaking of God’s eternal existence.

But Moses also realizes that man has a responsibility before God, a responsibility he often neglects and takes for granted.  It is this very fact that has caused him to write this psalm. Moses knows that people forget their maker too easily.  They need to be reminded that He is God, that He is eternal, that He is sovereign.  They need to know that without God their very existence is impossible.  That is why he calls on the Lord to return to His people and to teach them how to live and walk before Him in a right relationship.

In Psalm 90:12, Moses asks God to teach the people how to use their time wisely.  The New Living Translation renders the passage this way, “Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.”  Please notice that this request carries with it a direct result.  Moses understands that the time God give us is precious. He also knows that only God can truly teach us how to use the time we have wisely and for His glory.  The result is that we may grow in wisdom.  When we learn to use our time in the right way and for God’s purpose, we do indeed become wise.  That means that when we neglect to use our time for the Lord and when we take it for granted, we become foolish and act accordingly.

This morning, the bank’s website told me I had funds that were available for use.  Those funds must last me until the end of the month so I keep looking for ways to spend the resources I have in a wise and responsible manner.  If you are reading this today, you are doing so because God made a direct deposit of 24 hours into your life account.  Those funds are now available.  Are you spending them wisely today?

All In One Place

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 was fortunate to grow up in a small North Carolina town.  It wasn’t exactly Mayberry, few towns are, but it did provide a nice environment in which to grow up and learn about life.  One of my favorite things to do was to go downtown.  Most of the activity in our community centered around the small stores and shops located on Main Street.  Here, you could find just about anything and everything you wanted. 

There were two drugstores, two men’s shops, two ladies’ shops, a dime store, a movie theater, a hotel, a small family-owned grocery store, three barber shops, a bank, a savings and loan association, a hardware store, a general mercantile, and two department stores.  You could spend all day downtown, browsing through the shops, pausing to talk to the store owners as well as the people on the street.  Everyone knew everyone else and there was always something to talk about and news to catch up on.

Usually, I would accompany one of my parents on these little jaunts downtown.  My mom would go to the grocery store or to one of the clothing stores to get something she needed.  My dad usually went to the hardware store, the general mercantile, or one of the men’s shops to find what he wanted.  I never gave much thought to the fact that we visited different stores for different things.  It just seemed to be the way things were done.  If my dad needed nails or screws, we went to the hardware. If my mom needed bread and milk, we went to the corner grocery.  And if we needed clothes, we went to one of the several shops downtown.

However, when I turned sixteen and was able to chauffeur myself around, I began to notice a difference in the way people shopped.  In the towns to the west and east of us, several large department stores had been built.  It was possible to go to these stores and purchase a number of different items under one roof.  The stores offered everything from house paint to shoestrings, from ink pens to motor oil, and cassette tapes to chewing gum.  In time, these large stores gave way to the super, mega stores we are accustomed to today where you can have your prescriptions filled while you wait to have new tires placed on your car.

In a way, our spiritual lives resemble my hometown during my childhood. We are constantly looking for answers to all of life’s questions.  We visit one place to find answers about life’s trials and challenges, we look in certain books to discover our “inner child”, we turn to various spas and exercise establishments to “feel good” about ourselves, and we chase after anyone who can teach us how to “take control” of our destinies.  However, all this running around trying to find satisfaction only leaves us unfulfilled and more confused and frustrated.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could find what we really needed and wanted in one place?  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could locate everything under one roof without having to run all over creation looking for an answer?

Well, there is such a place and the Apostle Paul knew just where to find it.  In his letter to the Philippians, he makes the following promise to his readers: “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) Notice that Paul does not encourage the Philippians to seek the answers to their questions in various places.  He never tells them to explore a certain new idea, or to run after such and such a promise.  Instead, Paul states very plainly that the answer to all of life’s questions is found in one person, Jesus Christ.

Not only does Jesus hold the answers to all of life’s most pressing questions, he is also the source that supplies all our needs.  Notice Paul’s words in this verse.  God meets all our needs—not some, but all—according to his riches in Jesus Christ.  You want to talk about finding everything under one roof, here it is.  No matter what your need, physical, emotional, financial, social, spiritual, relational, marital, etc., Jesus Christ stocks everything necessary to address and fulfill all of them.  There is no need too small or great that he cannot completely satisfy.  He has everything we need all in one place.  Won’t you pay him a visit today?

Eat What's On Your Plate

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ugar in any form has always been one of my many weaknesses.  Whether straight from the bag or in piecrust; the sweet taste of sugar ranks as one of my all-time joys in life.  My doctor recently reminded of that fact and encouraged me to release my death grip on sweets in exchange for things that are “good for me.”  He has no idea just how much of an uphill battle this is going to be.  Why is it that everything that’s “good for you” tastes like shoe leather and never really satisfies that craving for a chocolate-covered banana split sundae with caramel topping, whipped cream, and a cherry on top?

This is not some trend I’ve developed in recent years.  Oh no! This goes back, way back to my childhood when I spent more time eyeing the cake or pie on the countertop and less time eating my green peas, potatoes, roast, and pickled beets.  Now don’t get me wrong, those all tasted great but they were nothing when compared to mom’s homemade strawberry cobbler!  Mom always knew what I was thinking and each time she saw me mulling over my vegetables or throwing glances at the countertop she made the same statement, “Eat what’s on your plate!”  Problem was, I didn’t want to eat the food in front of me, I wanted to dive head first into that cobbler and eat my way out!  But mom wouldn’t allow it so I choked down the meal in order to get dessert!

I suspect that most of you reading this today have had the same experience. Perhaps you are fighting this battle right now, deciding between broccoli and apple pie.  Your initial reaction is to go with the pie but the broccoli is the better choice and we need look no further than the Old Testament book of Numbers to learn a great spiritual truth.

The Children of Israel had left Egypt behind.  Gone were the days of slavery, gone were the taskmasters with their whips, and gone was the grinding toil of turning mud and straw into bricks.  The people were free and ready to follow the Lord to the land promised so long ago to their father, Abraham.  Yet despite all the miracles they witnessed, despite the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, they still found reason to complain against Moses and their situation. 

This was nowhere more evident than in their request for food.  God knew their food situation and He sent manna each morning to sustain them on their journey.  Manna fell each day without fail except for the Sabbath. The day before this a double portion fell so the people would not go hungry.  All they had to do was pick up the manna and eat it.  What could be simpler?  What could be more wonderful than not having to worry about food?  Yet worry is just what they did.

The people came to Moses complaining they had no meat.  They pined for the food they had in Egypt refusing to remember that the price for eating that food was slavery.  Now they wanted meat and the Lord granted their request though not as they wanted.  He sent quail, enough quail so they would have to eat it each day for over a month.  As they began to eat the quail, the Lord broke out in anger against them and many died by His hand. 

In Numbers 11:34 we read this chilling statement, “Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved other food.”

This is a very hard passage of scripture to read.  All these people wanted was something to eat! Why would God strike them down?  Let’s take a closer look at this passage and understand what took place. 

God provided for his people’s needs.  The manna sustained them and gave them the nourishment their bodies required.  However, they were not satisfied with this; they wanted more.  Essentially what they said to God was, “Your provision is not enough for us!  It’s not what we want!” 

If we are honest with ourselves, we will recognize that we too make this statement concerning things in our own personal lives.  We ask God to provide but we want to dictate the ways and means of that provision.  Rather than meet our needs we expect God to meet our wants and in this respect, we are no different from the Children of Israel who wondered in the desert for 40 years.

God has never promised to meet our wants.  The Bible does not say nor does it teach this notion.  Instead it requires us to place our faith in God and to rely on him to meet our needs.  Moreover, we don’t know what our needs are and we often confuse the concept of need with the idea of want.  The two terms are not synonymous!

Because they craved other food instead of enjoying and appreciating God’s provision, they suffered the consequences.  The name Kibroth Hataavah means “graves of craving” and that is exactly what happened to them.  They perished because their want got in the way of God’s provision for their need.  They were eying dessert instead of eating what was on their plate!  How like them we are!

God has nothing against dessert!  He wants us to enjoy our walk with him and to understand that we must trust him to provide all our needs.  We sometimes suffer in our walk with him because we confuse our wants with our needs, passing up what is best for that which never fully satisfies our cravings!  As you walk with the Lord today trust him to provide all your needs.  He knows where you are and he knows everything you are facing.  Be content to eat what’s on you plate now because there will be dessert after!  We have his word on it!  Bon appétit!

A Trip To The Bakery

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rom time to time I reminisce about the opportunities I have had to live in France.  I remember places I’ve visited, friends I’ve made, and conversations I’ve had. However, my daily surroundings remind me that I am no longer in Paris.  Yet, it’s not the fact that I can’t visit the Eiffel Tower; it’s not the fact that everyone around me is speaking English, and it’s not the fact that I can drive a car instead of taking a metro.  None of these facts, while true, are as poignant a reminder as the fact that I cannot run down to the local bakery and buy a freshly baked French bread!   I guess you could say I am addicted to the stuff.

Every morning in Paris, I ran down to one of several bakeshops in the neighborhood and bought fresh bread and fresh croissants!  It was the best part of the day and one I eagerly anticipated!  You might say, I became a regular customer of the small bakery located just at the end of the street.  In fact, I referred to it as my boulangerie (bakery)!

A trip to this bakery was always an ordeal because it always involved somewhat of a dilemma.  The place was always busy. People from the neighborhood were busy buying their breads, desserts, and sandwiches for the day ahead.  For me, the bread selection was easy; it was the pastries that posed the problem.  Would it be a croissant, an apple turnover, a flan, a small quiche, etc.?  The possibilities were endless! Thank goodness, the patience of the lady behind the counter was not!  Finally, I would decide and hurry out of the place before deciding to purchase something else.  But no matter what else I had in my hand, I always had bread with me.

Bread, it seems, is the quintessential staple of life.  No matter the culture, no matter the language, no matter the country, bread is simply one thing we all have in common.  Perhaps this is why Jesus spoke so often of bread.  The word bread appears 63 times in the NIV version of the New Testament.  But the most well-known reference is found in Matthew 6:11 where Jesus teaches his followers to pray.  In this verse, Jesus simply says, “Give us today our daily bread.”

Two important ideas are presented to us in this small passage from Matthew’s gospel.  First, we see Jesus asking God to supply our bread.  This means we do not provide it for ourselves!  Far too often in the Christian life we try to be self-sufficient, trying to discover ways and means to provide for our needs.  We say we trust God yet we attempt to do everything for ourselves.  Jesus simply asked God to supply the bread, the very staple and the most basic need of life.  After all, that is God’s promise, isn’t it?  He promised to meet the needs we have in life and He is faithful to that promise.

The second lesson we need to grasp is the frequency with which this bread is delivered.  Jesus did not pray for weekly bread, monthly bread, or for a bread truck that would delivery on a pre-determined schedule.  No, he prayed for daily bread!  He wanted his followers to understand that we need God every day, not once a week, once a month, or just when we get into trouble.  We need Him every moment of every day and Jesus used the picture of daily bread to teach this every elementary but most important point about God.  We must partake of Him daily as the most basic and quintessential part of our lives.

Early every morning, I went in search of fresh bread and every morning I was rewarded for my efforts of getting up, getting dressed, and walking to the bakery.  The same principle is true for us today.  We must get up, open God’s word, plumb into its depths, partake of it, and make it the most integral and central part of our lives each day.  God stands ready each morning to provide your daily needs so trust Him and take Him at His word.  Have you made a trip God’s bakery today?

I've Got You Covered

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hen I was sixteen years old, my parents allowed me to get a job and earn my own money.  For the first time, I could buy something I wanted with my own money and it was very exciting.  However, it also proved to be very challenging because I had to decide between what I could afford and what I couldn't.  Furthermore, I had to evaluate all my purchases in terms of needs or wants.  It is so easy to spend someone else's money; but when you go to spend your own, you become very cautious and your approach to owning things takes on a different perspective.

Like most sixteen-year-olds, I had a desire for a car.  Most of my friends had one and, using teenage logic, that justified my having one as well.  My mom and dad got me a car, but told me I would be paying for it.  It was the smartest thing they ever did for me, although at the time I didn't always agree with this idea.  Car ownership was fun so long as I could make the payments and have everything I wanted.  However, when I wanted to purchase something and couldn't because I had a payment due, the car became more of a burden than a joy.  My parents were giving me a good lesson in the reality of life, that you can't have everything you want, and that the privilege of ownership comes with a price.

But it was also a good lesson about having my needs met.  Just before school started, mom and I went shopping at a local store.  I needed clothes in the worst way for school.  Problem was, I couldn't afford to buy them due to the fact my car payment was due for the month.  My job at the local hospital provided me enough cash to pay for the car and the gas to run it.  There was very little left over for entertainment or purchasing necessary items, like clothes.  So, mom and I went shopping, although I had absolutely no idea how I was going to pay for them.

At the store, we picked out several shirts, pants, a new belt, and a new pair of shoes.  As we approached the counter, my mind was filled with questions, well just one question, "How would I pay for it?"  When we got to the register, the clerk ran the total and mom opened her checkbook, wrote a check, and looked at me and said, "Let's go!"  I remember standing there in disbelief.  Mom had never intended for me to buy my clothes, she just needed me there to try them on. It was always her intent to buy the clothes for me.  She never meant for me to worry about having clothes nor did she mean for me to be concerned with paying for them.  As a parent, providing clothes for me was her and dad's responsibility and when the time came to buy them, she wrote the check, she had me covered.

This is the great truth the Apostle Paul was expressing in Philippians 4:19. The members of the church at Philippi sent Paul a gift, perhaps money or provisions he needed.  Paul accepted the gift with gratitude and used their expression of love as an illustration of a great spiritual truth.  Paul writes, "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."  The Philippians had met a real need in Paul's life.  Perhaps he was concerned about money for his journey.  It is possible he needed food and clothing.  Whatever the precise need, the gift from the church at Philippi adequately addressed it.

Paul realized that God uses various situations and people to meet our needs.  Paul also knew that we are never able to meet our own needs.  We are spiritually poor, lacking the funding to adequately provide for ourselves.  We consistently fall short of the mark and we find ourselves in constant need.  This is where God meets us.  He knows our needs, even before we do (Matthew 6:8), and he stands ready to meet them.  God never expects us to "pay" him for meeting our needs.  As our parent, God is responsible for providing for our necessities, and he takes that responsibility seriously.  The death of Jesus is proof of God meeting the ultimate need.  We cannot provide our own salvation.  We can never work enough, never attend enough church meetings, never give enough food to needy families, never spend enough money on the new church building, never pray enough, never visit the sick enough, etc.  We simply don't have the necessary funds to cover the cost of salvation.  But God does!!  He opens his checkbook, he takes out his pen, he writes the check, and says to us, "I've got you covered, let's go home."

Today as you spend time with God, thank him for meeting your needs.  God's promise is that he will meet all our needs, and he means all of them.  What we need to do is distinguish between our needs and our wants, which is something we find so very difficult to do.  God is not responsible for our wants; but he is responsible for our needs and he takes that responsibility seriously.  The infinite riches he has in Jesus Christ are more than adequate to provide for any need you have today.  Please don't worry about having your needs met today.  God understands, he is aware, and he will provide.  Hey, he's got you covered!

Let's Go Shopping

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esterday morning, I embarked on that great American adventure known as a visit to the local supermarket!  Yep!  I went in with all the prowess of a professional hunter, determined not to come out until I had a kill!  With my list in one hand and my checkbook in the other, I moved quickly forward, confident in my ability to return with a successful catch.

Now, a visit to the grocery store isn't this romantic.  Very few of us anticipate entering the store with the expectations of a big game hunter. It requires very little knowledge or skill to approach the meat aisle and simply select meat that has already been killed, dressed, and packaged.  It isn't very challenging to reach up on the shelf to find a can of soup.  The real problem is in choosing which can of soup you want.  Every aisle is simply chock full of items from which we may choose.  The supply of foods is endless it seems and every row holds something new for us to consider.

As I perused each aisle, I was able to find all the items on my list.  My cart slowly filled with the items I needed and soon it was time to leave the store.  Before I left home, my list looked incredibly long.  I wasn't sure if I could find all the items nor if there would be enough room at home to accommodate them all.  But in the checkout lane, the number of items I selected paled in comparison to the entire stock of the grocery store.  My worries about not finding certain items were simply unwarranted.  Even if I had wanted to, it would have been impossible for me to exhaust the supply of groceries housed in this store.  There was simply more there than I could ever hope to use.

The Apostle Paul would have understood my amazement at the enormous supply of the grocery store compared with my small needs.  In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul addresses the sufficiency and overabundance of God's provision for his people.  In the New Living Translation of 2 Corinthians 9:8, Paul writes, "And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others."  Today in the grocery store, Paul's point hit home.  The items in my cart were as nothing compared with the overall inventory of the store.  I purchased one can of soup, and I left several hundred there.  I purchased one loaf of bread, leaving countless others on the shelf.  In no way did my small purchase drastically diminish the store's supply.

This is what God is like!  No, I'm not suggesting that God is a great big grocery store where we shop at our leisure.  But I am stating that God does supply all our needs and our needs in no way even remotely begin to tap his resources.  When we come to him in prayer and present him with the list of our needs, he never says "Let me check to see if I have that in stock!"  His supply of love is endless, his grace is boundless, his mercy cannot be measured, and his understanding cannot be fathomed.  He is ever ready to hear our requests and he openly invites us to come to him and boldly make our desires known. 

When we obey him, he opens to us all his riches, and his riches are in Jesus Christ.  At anytime, day or night, in any location, we may come to God and present our lists. We can get our carts filled, confident in the knowledge that when we our needs arise once more, he will be more than able to fulfill them over and over and over again.  So, today if you are in need of experiencing more of God's love, if you feel the need for more of God's grace, if you are longing for a deeper relationship with him, or if you desire a more profound knowledge of your Heavenly Father, all you have to do is go shopping! Everything is always in stock!

What Do You Want?

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ne afternoon I arrived back in my dorm room to find an e-mail inviting me to attend a dinner in Irving, Texas, about twenty-five minutes away from the seminary.  I was to join a group of men who would serve the Boy Scouts of America as chaplains at Philmont Scout Ranch that summer. Now, being a seminarian, and not having many opportunities to attend fancy restaurants, I immediately notified the BSA to expect me for dinner!

I arrived a few minutes early and the others were not far behind.  After being seated, we were given menus and told to order whatever we wanted. I found it difficult to believe I could have whatever I wanted and immediately began to base my decisions on price. You know how it is, you make a decision but you are worried what others will think if you order a certain item. So, after much debate, I decided on my dinner entrée and promptly ordered. 

Why is it we spend an enormous amount of time talking or dreaming about what we would do if we could have whatever we wanted; but when faced with an opportunity to do so, we have a very difficult time making that decision?  Everywhere we are surrounded by get rich-quick schemes, sweepstakes entries, and lotto competitions. All of these things promise the possibility of fulfilling our wildest dreams but none of them offers true happiness.  Could it be that we really don't know what we want?

The book of 1 Kings provides great insight into the life of a man who literally could have had anything he wanted.  King Solomon is noted for his riches and his wisdom.  However, a close observation of how he obtained both of these provides a great lesson in how we should approach God when making requests of him.

1 Kings 3:5-14 records Solomon's response to God's question. Solomon's father, King David, has died and the responsibility of governing Israel has fallen to Solomon. In verse 5 God says to Solomon, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." Wow!  Solomon could have anything his heart desired, and therein lies the great secret.  Solomon had rank and standing, after all he was the king.  He also had wealth and power. He could have asked to increase any or all of these things but instead, he makes a very uncommon request for someone in this position. Verse 7 records his answer, "Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties…So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong."

What was the desire of Solomon's heart?  It was to please God.  Notice that Solomon prayed, not out of his want, but out of his need.  This is the secret of effective prayer.  He recognized that the task to which God had called him was too big for him alone.  In addition, Solomon recognized that the people he had been called to govern were not his people but God's people.  This is what we, as God's people must do today.  We must realize that we are children, that we don't know right from wrong, that we can't effectively govern our lives without God's help.  Solomon asked for wisdom, not for himself, but for the task he had been assigned.

Let us follow his lead.  Whatever God has called you to do and wherever he has placed you, seek his guidance.  Ask for wisdom to know his will so that you may bring glory to him and be a blessing to the people you serve.  It has been said that when we get what we want, we rarely have what we need; but when we get what we need, we have what we want.  This is Solomon's testimony and because he asked of God wisely, he received the full extent of God's blessings.  So, what are you asking God for today?

I Don't Haul Gas!

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he motor pool at Philmont Scout Ranch is one of the busiest and most popular places during the summer season.  The doors open early in the morning and the sound of hammers, air compressors, and hydraulic lifts can be heard almost non-stop.  Inside, Jim Johnson and his team maintain and repair the fleet of vehicles used by Philmont’s staff.

Each summer as the staff assembles, Jim explains to them the “do’s” and “don’ts” of driving at Philmont.  Jim comes to this meeting equipped with a wonderful slide show that demonstrates just how dangerous mountain driving can be.  All of the accidents shown demonstrate how drivers failed to obey even the simplest of Philmont’s rules.

Jim does a wonderful job of explaining the purpose of the motor pool.  He wants to make sure vehicles are maintained in top condition and he also wants to assure the drivers that should they have difficulty, he and his staff will come to their assistance.  However, there is one thing Jim won’t do and he is straightforward about it.  Philmont provides the gasoline necessary to run the fleet and every one has 24-hour access to the pumps.  So Jim pulls no punches when he says, “I don’t haul gas!”  That is our responsibility, not Jim’s.

In our Christian lives as well, we need to be reminded that God does not and will not do everything for us.  He expects us to do what we can for ourselves and what we can’t do, He willingly and lovingly supplies.  God promised Abraham he would be the father of many nations and dwell in his own land, but Abraham had to walk!  God provided the Children of Israel with manna on a daily basis but they had to gather it.  God brought the people into the Promised Land but they had to conquer it.

Christians today run the risk of falling into the trap that is so prevalent in some of today’s preaching, namely that once we have accepted Jesus Christ as our savior, life becomes easy and problem-free.  We believe that if we offer up a prayer to God, making a request for something we want, that God will simply open up the heavens and send it to us or perhaps have it delivered in the mail.  What a narrow and childish view of God we have.  God is not a warehouse supervisor waiting to meet our every whim.  He is the sovereign creator of the universe, the Lord of all there is.

In Matthew 6:11, Jesus taught his disciples to pray.  In the middle of that prayer, he makes the following statement, “Give us today our daily bread.”  Jesus reminds us that our daily bread, our sustenance comes from God’s hand.  God provides what we need but how we use it speaks volumes about how we view God and our relationship with Him.  God is always near and he always supplies our needs but God will not do for us what we can do for ourselves.  Keeping our spiritual tanks filled by spending time in his word and in prayer is our responsibility.  God will not haul gas to us at every twist and turn, nor should he.  He has provided everything we need, but we must take the initiative and keep our tanks full.

Wherever you are in your walk with the Lord today, I trust you are in constant contact with him.  His word is filled with all the fuel we need to live life on a daily basis and be pleasing to him.  How full is your spiritual tank today?  Are you in need of a refill?

Raise Shields

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n the mid 1960’s television audiences in the United States were introduced to a series that would become legendary.  The voyages of the star ship Enterprise, its crew, and the long list of its explorations quickly became an integral part of American culture.

As a kid, I remember the familiar strains of the theme song as the series played over our television set.  But since the show came on past my bedtime, seldom, if ever, was I allowed to watch it.  Nevertheless, I was able to see the episodes when I started high school because the show was put into syndication.  Not long after, the ever-popular Star Trek movies were produced and an entire new generation of fans was born.

I remember my best friend, David Bame, and I seeing Star Trek, the motion picture.  We loved every minute of it, especially seeing all the old cast members still playing their roles, still predictable as ever, and still using the same lines that had won us over years before. 

One line contained in almost every episode belonged to Captain James T. Kirk. Whenever the Enterprise entered dangerous territory or when the ship and its crew were threatened, Kirk would tell his navigator (Mr. Sulu) to “Raise shields!”

The star ship’s shields were not visible to the naked eye but were in fact a type of force filed surrounding the vessel protecting it from attack.  On several occasions, the shields prevented an enemy from blasting a hole in the vessel or from disrupting its normal operations.  But the shields also failed on a consistent basis, leaving the Enterprise vulnerable to enemy hostilities and leaving the audience holding their breaths until the shields were repaired.

While the neither the technology nor the crew nor the episodes involving the Enterprise were real, the concept of the protective shield is one that has spiritual implications for us as children of God. In fact, we can look at the life of Abraham and learn a great lesson concerning the shield God placed around Abraham and how He can be our shield as well.

Genesis 15:1 reads, “After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."  God gives this promise to Abram following his refusal to accept tribute from the King of Sodom for helping in the defeat of several kings allied against him.  Abram refused the tribute, choosing to rely on God to supply his every need.

Notice that God tells Abram not to be afraid.  This command appears over and over again in the Scriptures because it is human nature to be afraid, especially of the unknown.  Everything ahead of Abram was unknown but God assured him that He was already in Abram’s future.  God does not tell Abram He will be his shield; He says that He is his shield. In other words, God’s presence, His very self surrounded and protected Abram at all times.  God wrapped Abram in the mantle of His protection and promised to keep him in all situations and to safeguard him from all sides.

Perhaps you feel as if you are under attack today.  Everywhere you turn you see the enemy and you seem to be under constant attack!  If you know Jesus Christ as your savior, God is your shield.  He has promised to protect you and keep you safe in all of life’s situations and trials.   But keep this in mind, shields protect us in battle, they do not remove us from battle.  The Scriptures never promise we will be removed from the cares of life; but they do promise God will be with us through them all.  Do you know the peace and do you have the assurance that God’s shields are raised around you today?

            

Camping With God

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ne of the things I loved most about our house was its backyard.  We had several trees, a row of bushes that separated our property from one set of neighbors, a neat ditch that separated us from the neighbors behind us, and a common driveway creating the property line with the neighbors on the other side of our home.  There was enough mischief in the backyard for an inquisitive, growing boy like me.  Needless to say, I took full advantage of the opportunity and got into more than my share of trouble.

The kids in our neighborhood also liked our backyard.  We would gather there for games of hide-and-seek, or to play basketball on our goal, or to play baseball, or just to swing on the swings.  One time, my dad erected a huge tent for us and all of the neighborhood boys came over and we camped out. 

Being in that tent was a big adventure. Here we were out in the big outdoors, sleeping on the ground in sleeping bags, eating chips, watching television, and going into the house anytime we wanted to raid the pantry.  So much for braving the great outdoors!  We were really roughing it, weren’t we?  Indiana Jones had nothing on us!

I have often thought of that night long ago when six boys got to spend the night in that tent.  Although we were camped in the backyard, we knew that anything we needed was just a few steps away.  Mom and Dad left the backdoor unlocked so that we could have direct access to the house.

Camping was not a foreign concept to the peoples of the Old Testament.  In fact, several of the patriarchs lived in tents and moved from place to place, following God’s leading and direction.  But their needs were always met and God provided for them and for their families.  This is nowhere more evident than in the story of Abraham, especially when God promised to give him all the land he could see.

In Genesis 13, we find the account of Abraham and his nephew Lot.  They were travelling and living together in the land God promised to Abraham.  Their families and possessions soon grew too large and they were in conflict with each other.  So, Abraham gave Lot his choice of the land and told him to settle where he wanted.  After making his choice, Lot and Abraham separated.  It was at this time that God came to Abraham and promised to provide for him and his family.

Genesis 13:17 is a small verse; but packed inside is one of the most wonderful promises in all the Scriptures.  God makes the following promise to Abraham: “Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”  Wow! What a promise and what a command!

Did you notice the first word of the verse?  Abraham was not to sit idly by, looking at the land.  Instead, he was to “arise” and “walk” in the land, to explore its length and width, to live in it, and to enjoy it.  As long as Abraham remained in the land, he remained in the center of God’s provision for his life.  Wherever he went, he was in God’s provision.  Whatever he saw, it was in God’s provision.  Everything he touched, smelled, ate, and did was in God’s provision.

Abraham’s life was full because he lived it completely upon the land that God provided.  God’s own words were for him to walk its “length and width.”  A few verses before, God told Abraham to look as far as he could see in all four directions and all the visible land would belong to him and to his descendants.

This story has wonderful implications and applications for us today.  God’s promise of provision remains. God never calls any of us to a place of service unless He first provides all that we need for the task at hand.  God never leaves us holding the bag and He never fails to meet every need we have. As long as we remain in the land, that is, in His provision, then everything we do, think, and touch comes directly from our Heavenly Father.  The secret is to remain in His provision, wherever that may lead.  Abraham lived in several places after arriving in the Promised Land.  However, wherever he pitched his tent, he was always living in God’s provision and so was his family.  God provided for them all.

That evening in the backyard of our home was a wonderful experience.  We stayed in the tent but we also had full access to the pantry!  Whatever my dad had in the house he gave to us to enjoy.  Our Heavenly Father is the same way.  As long as we seek to live in the center of His will and as long as we are content to live in His provision, we will always be satisfied and will always have all that we need.  So, when was the last time you slept in a tent?  Don’t you want to go camping with God?  I highly recommend it!