PROVISION BEFORE PROVIDER?

MEMORY VERSE: the Lord is not slow about His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, 2 Peter 3:9.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deut 19, Ps 106, Isa 46, Rev 16

BIBLE STUDIES: Exodus 32:1-10

There is only one provider and that is God. John 3:27 says a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. Whatever the Lord has given to you e.g. gifts, ministry, employment, business, ministry, life partner, please do not show off with it. They are for His glory not for you to show off. Ecclesiastes 9:11 says the race is not for the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding nor favor to men of skill but time and chance happen to them all. Also it is your responsibility not to abuse whatever He has given but to serve Him with it.
As the Lord had promised, the children of Israel left Egypt with great wealth or great provisions. Exodus 12:36 says and the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians. When the Lord provides for you, His provisions should not take His place in your heart. The Lord’s provision must not replace Him in your life. In our bible studies we read how the Israelite abandoned their provider and made a god out of the provisions their provider had given to them. If for not the strong intercession of Moses, the Lord would have consumed the whole nation.

It is a dangerous thing for God’s provision to replace Him in your life. The job, education, life partner e.t.c. should not take His place in your heart. The ministry should not replace Him. It is sad that a lot of activity has taken the place of bible study or personal retreat. Your soul is more important to God than the ministry He has given to you. Don’t spend hours preparing sermons and just minutes in personal worship. That is not too good. Whenever anything replaces God, challenges and God’s anger beckons. Has His provisions replaced Him in your life? Would you rather obey your Boss than God? Has the Love of money replaced the love for souls and evangelism? Death physically, spiritually, mentally, academically, financially e.t.c is inevitable when anything replaces God. God is not interested in the death of any but all should come to repentance, 2 Peter 3:9. Repent today!

PRAYER POINT: Father, from now on nothing will take your place in my heart please help me.

Jehovah Jireh

Psalm 23:1 says The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

There is a very difference between needs and wants.’Need’ is a basic living essential i.e. if you do not have it, you could die while ‘Want ’ is something you feel you need ,or you really desire. God is not only able to meet your needs but your wants also. The Psalmist say in Psalm 23:1 that even his wants will be catered for. Why is the Lord able to meet needs and wants? Because according to 1 Corinthians 10:26, the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. Genesis 14:22 calls Him the possessor of heaven and the earth. Because everything belongs to Him, He is able meet our needs regardless. Have you ever wondered where the ravens that feed Elijah in 1 Kings 17:2-6 got the bread and meat from? When the Lord asked Elijah to go to the house of the widow of Zarapheth, it was because the brook dried up not the bread and meat. God’s supply can never dry up.

Jehovah Jireh means the Lord will provide .Sometimes back the Lord helped us to understand the meaning of Jehovah Jireh. While I was praying, the Holy Spirit told me to bless a particular sister with a token. I did not really feel comfortable with the idea because I did not want the sister to read funny meanings to it. Besides the funny meanings she might read to it, the amount was quite small and honestly I would have love to give her more but that was all I had in the world . I thought giving her such an amount will be an insult and she would get angry and I will be lucky if all I get is a slap. Anyway I summoned courage and made attempts to contact her but I did not get through. I tried for three weeks but for one reason I could not reach her. When I got hold of her over the phone, I gave her the message from the Lord and she was reduced to tears. She told me things had gone so bad that she was just managing until this morning (because I spoke to her in the evening) when things went from bad to worse. She could not feed herself and her junior brother. She thanked and prayed for me. A week later, the Holy Spirit asked me what I learnt from what happened. I said I learnt that you are a God who meets needs and you can bring help from anywhere. He said not only that, I make provisions ready long before the needs for it arises . He further explained to me that when He told me to give her a token, everything was alright with the sister; she did not really need the token then. That was why I could not get through to her. Immediately the need arose, that was when I got through to her. Long before her situation went from bad to worse, the Lord had made preparations to cater for her needs. Can I tell you that long before that problem started, Jehovah Jireh had created a solution? Long before that need arose, Jehovah Jireh had prepared the resources you need to cater for the need.

ACTION POINT : Go ahead and thank Him because long before you were born , he had provided the solutions to every challenges you will ever face.