I hope that you are looking forward to the rest of this week; we will be focusing on the gifts and blessings that our Father gives to us, and praising Him.
Today I want to guide our thoughts to the provisions that God makes for us. He is the all-powerful Yahweh, but He willingly, freely gives us strength, food, shelter, and more.
Remember in Matthew, and again in Luke, the words "give us this day our daily bread"?
We recognize our dependence on God, when we speak or think those words . . . after all,
...the earth is the Lord's, and everything in it. (Psalm 24:1)
The bread, the veggies, the meat . . . all the things we are accustomed to buying at the local store, they belong to God. They are provided by Him, as is the money that we use to purchase them!
In the passage in Luke, the words carry a slightly different meaning: give us "day to day" our daily bread. We are given single days in this life; we are "authorized" if you will, to ask for daily sustenance. Even if, like the widow in the Old Testament, we have but a tiny bit of oil and a small scoop of flour, we need not be afraid. God has not forgotten us. And He is fully aware that humans can really only handle one day at a time! We can ask with confidence, for He cares for us, and will provide.
He will also provide us with the strength that we need for each day.
Look at these wonderful verses:
Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually!
I Chronicles 16:11)
The Lord is my strength and my song, and He has become my
salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him ... (Exodus 15:2)
When we feel we are almost overcome, and overwhelmed, we need only to look to Him for our strength. He is faithful, and He will make good His promise!
I hope you will leave a comment today in praise for His provision for us.
I know I'm not thankful enough for His provision of physical needs and emotional strength, but I'm thanking Him now!! When I feel weighed down from responsibilities and demands, if I will just go to Him, I can handle it so much easier!!! What a wonderful, loving God we serve!
ReplyDeleteI am so very thankful for the faithfulness and provisions that the Lord has given us through the years. I love the verse in Matthew 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” and also Luke 12:24
ReplyDelete"Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!” We’ve been through some very hard times, both financial and emotional. At one point our bank actually closed our account because we had so many bounced payments. And I must confess to deep anxiety and worry during those times, often bordering on panic. In hindsight, I can see that those were times when God was growing my faith, and showing us His faithfulness. My faith in Him may have been weak then, but I shudder to think what those times would have been like with no faith at all. In all those times, The Lord was faithful and never let go. I thought I was hanging onto Him, some days only by my fingernails. But it was the Lord hanging onto us.