DIVINE PROVISION FOR YOU

As Christians, we should realize that the God we serve and who is also our father is a God of Miracle. He specializes in working miracle. We are suppose to be expecting miracles in our day to day life.

From the book of Genesis down to Revelation, we see God miraculously providing for the needs of people.

In this article we look at some miracles of provision of God for people

1. Well water in desert for Hagar and her son: In Genesis 21:15- 19

Gen 21:15  And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

Gen 21:16  And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

Gen 21:17  And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

Gen 21:18  Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.

Gen 21:19  And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

Hagar was expecting to her son to die, because the she had to water again to give her son, but God stepped into her situation, opened her eye to see the well of water. That was a miracle. I believe that the Lord will also open your to see where your miracles lies

2. Divine provision for the Jacob and his family during the period of famine. This is event might look natural and nothing spectacular about it. But it was a miracle of divine preservation and provision for the Jacob and his entire family and race.

Psa 105:16  Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.

Psa 105:17  He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:

Psa 105:18  Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:

Psa 105:19  Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.

Psa 105:20  The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.

Psa 105:21  He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:

Psa 105:22  To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.

Psa 105:23  Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

Psa 105:24  And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies.

The Lord had sent Joseph ahead of Jacob and endued him with wisdom before pharaoh on how to deal with the famine that is coming upon the whole world at that time.  Hear what Joseph says to his brethren, and then we realize that God is a God of fore-knowledge

Gen 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Gen 50:21  Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

3. The Ram for the Sacrifice: The Lord had demanded that Abraham would sacrifice Isaac, his only son to him. Abraham obeyed the Lord, At mount moriah, Abraham had tied his son Isaac and was about sacrificing him to the Lord, then a voice from heaven came to Abraham that He should sacrifice no longer Isaac but the look behind him that we would find a ram caught in a thicket, which he should use for the sacrifice. This is a miracle, a miracle of divine provision

Gen 22:11  And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

Gen 22:12  And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

Gen 22:13  And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

Gen 22:14  And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

We will continue looking at this topic in the next article

Don’t Pray like Abraham

As much as we are instructed to pray, it is important for us to understand how we should not prayer and what we should not pray for. I will be using Father Abraham as a case study in the article.

The Lord God appeared to Abraham and told him his plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Then Abraham started to intercede on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah because of his nephew Lot who was living in that country

In Genesis 18:17 – 33,  Abraham started to negotiated with the Lord about the destiny of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Here is drama between Abraham and God (my own version)

Abraham: Lord, if you found 50 righteous souls in Sodom, will YOU destroy the city

GOD: I will not destroy

Abraham: Lord, Don’t be angry with me, make the request I am about to make

GOD: Abraham, go ahead I am not angry

Abraham: Lord if you found 45 righteous souls in Sodom, will YOU destroy the city

GOD: I will not destroy

Abraham: If you found 20 righteous souls in Sodom, will You destroy the city

GOD: No I will not destroy

Abraham: Don’t be angry with me, I still want to make another request. That will be the last one request about this issue

God: I am not angry, go ahead and make your request

Abraham; Lord God, if you found 10 righteous souls in Sodom, will You destroy the city

GOD: Abraham, I will not destroy the city

Abraham in his heart thought that Lot would have converted his household to worship the Lord including his servants but scriptures make us understand that possibly it was only Lot that was righteous in the city of Sodom (2peter2:7-8). Lot did not spread his righteousness to his family ( his wife looked back, his daughters slept with him, that doesn’t portray that his family knew the ways of the Lord). It behooves us not to keep our righteousness to ourselves, but we must share it and spread it 

Let us move back to Abraham

Abraham did not negotiate well with the Lord over the destiny of Sodom and Gomorrah. My reasons as outlined

1.From the Statement of Jesus Jesus in Matthew 11:23 make us understand the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were not upto the sins of Capernaum of his time .Yet Capernaum is still existing today. If Abraham had possibly asked God to wrought a special sign or miracle in the city of Sodom, that city would have still be existing up till today.

” Mat 11:23  And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.”

Abraham was not praying to God, it was like Abraham was playing God. If you meet 50, 45 20, 10  righteous people in sodom , will you destroy it, Lord?

That is not prayer, Abraham was doing probability with God.. In Prayer you are going to be definite and specific. If it fish you want, you will say it is fish I want.(Matthe7:7-11)

Abraham wasn’t definite, He was playing merry go round.

Let us be specific, definite and detailed when requesting from God.

2.Abraham did not fully understand how God perceived him: God saw Abraham as a Friend (James2:23, Isaiah41:8)

Isa 41:8  But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.

Many of us are shallow, when dealing with God, because we lack perception of how God perceives us . We are God’s friends. Jesus said to His disciples “I called you friends” (John 15:15)..

We should let that sink deep into our heart, we should carry ourselves that way that we are the Friend of the Almighty God. If Abraham understood that He is a friend of God, he should have just said My Friend, I don’t want YOU. to destroy Sodom. Our perception of ourselves and God matters a lot in prayer. That is why Jesus when teaching about prayer  first deal with perception (Matthew6:9)

Our Father in Heaven

We should see God has our Father, We see ourselves as his Children (that is perception in practice)

3. Abraham was negotiating out of fear: Gen 18;30, 32 Revealed to us that Abraham was not praying in faith, but out of fear. He was thinking that God will be angry with him for making his request. When we come to God, we come in faith, we ask in Faith, not in fear or doubt. Hebrew 4:16. We come in boldness and full assurance of faith in our heart

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Heb 10:22  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

4. Abraham lack knowledge of God’s will: Abraham did not understand God’s will. In Jeremiah 5: 1,

Jer 5:1  Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.

The Lord said if he can find A MAN who is righteous, he will pardon the sin of Israel.

If Abraham had knew this verse of scripture, that a Single man is enough to preserve the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. He would have negotiated well over the destiny of Sodom and Gomorrah for atleast his nephew Lot was a righteous man living in the city of Sodom.

It also important for us to arm ourselves with knowledge of God’s word when we are praying or interceding

Hos 4:6  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge,

Hos 6:6  For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Isa 33:6  And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.

Friends, for us to be successful in our prayer life we need knowledge of God’s word. It is vital.

Where are your accusers?

I have been thinking for sometime now how I came through in some issues, while brooding over those issue the Holy Spirit laid on my heart this verse Woman, Where are those thine accusers?......(John 8:10)

It is was the Lord Jesus that  made this statement to the woman caught in the act of adultery. I don’t want us to bother about  many issues emanating from this scene, but by the help of Holy Spirit to bring out a salient point that will help us in our Christian walk

The speech  of Jesus will be my major concentration.

Joh 8:7  So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

Joh 8:9  And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

The Lord spoke such a word that the conscience of the accusers of the woman were cut,  they were convicted of their sins, each of them had to drop their stones and left off.

I believe that there are people who are also accusing us before God and man

I believe that the Lord can speak once again to our accuser including the Devil such that our accusers will drop their stones  and leave off.

Hear the response of the Woman, to Jesus question “Joh 8:10  When Jesus had lifted up

himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine

accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

The woman said No man….

This woman was cleared before man (No man she said) and also before God of all

accusation for the Lord said Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

What a peace the woman will experience in her heart.  

It is my prayer that the Lord will speak on our behalf to our accusers such that they will drop their stones and leave off . As the Lord also acquit the woman of all charges, the Lord will clear every charges we have before him for his blood sake.

Shallom

Dealing with Offences Part 2: DOES THIS OFFEND YOU

We are still discussing on the issue of getting offended at God

Joh 6:61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?

Joh 6:66  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Jesus was discussing with people, and also some of his converts and followers were also present at this meeting. Jesus taught them they have to eat his flesh and drink his blood. These sayings of Jesus got some of Jesus’ convertS offended that some left  following Him from that  day.

Hear what these followers of Jesus said

Joh 6:60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

The converts described the words of Jesus as hard

Earlier in my first article: “Dealing with Offences”, I have mentioned that God can get you offended, OR  let me put this way You can get offended at God. It is good that we know this ahead of time, so that when it happens, we can get along with Him.

The sayings of Jesus got this converts offended

Also we must realize that the words of Christ can get you offended. Late Swelyn Hughes described these words as the hard sayings of Jesus

Some of the Hard saying are

1.To follow Jesus, You must hate father, mother, wife, children even oneself. I think that is hard

2. He who marries a divorcee, committed adultery

3. If you are slapped on one check, you turn other to them

Can you give some instances that you felt the words of Jesus are hard

The bottom line is this

1. Though the sayings Jesus seem hard, we must understand it was spoken out of love
2. Though the sayings of Jesus are hard, we must understand He is telling us what will take us to the kingdom of God
3. Though the sayings of Jesus seems hard, we must understand that He is telling us the price we must pay to enter the kingdom

After some of these Jesus’ converts left, Jesus turned to the remaining and asked whether they will also go away

Joh 6:67  Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

Peter answered the Lord

Joh 6:68  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Joh 6:69  And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

Peter was saying to the Lord, though the sayings were hard. You still have the solution to our problem

Jesus, we can’t return from following you, there is no one that can be compared to you

Your words carry life, your words deliver  from crisis, Your words heals

Jesus, You have the word of eternal life

NO OTHER MAN HAS THE WORD OF ETERNAL LIFE EXCEPT  JESUS

LET US STICK WITH Him

Dealing with offenses Part 1

This discussion will be in parts, One will be toward God and the other will be towards our fellow man. In this particular article, we will be considering offences toward God.

Friends, you must realize that God can offend you. It is good that we come to terms with God and get along with him

Mat 11:6  And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

The background to this verse is that John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus sent to Jesus after been arrested by Herod {Matt 14:6} to enquire from Jesus whether Jesus is truly the Messiah. Then Jesus replied the disciples of John of Baptist

Mat 11:5  The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

Mat 11:6  And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

The last verse “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me” was revealing what was going on in John’s heart. John was expecting Jesus to use his mighty power and anointing to deliver him from the hand of Herod. If of a truth Jesus is the Messiah, He should save him.

And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me, the statement revealed that there is possibility for people to get offended at God. The reason for there been offended could range from challenge to another in which they are expecting God to intervene and come through for them; but alas God restrained Himself for reasons best known to Him.

John was probably expecting help from Jesus, but Jesus restrained himself but exhorted him and we that are following Him about the blessedness of not been offended.

Reasons why people can get offended in God

1. When God does not deliver like in John the Baptist . Jesus perceived that John was already getting offended. Jesus was sending a message back to John, Don’t get offended, Get rid of offences in your heart, because blessed {happy, envied, fortunate, favoured}are those who are not offended in ME
2. When wicked people prospering, and judgment is not executed on them,  people get offended (Malachi 3: 13- 15)

Mal 3:13  Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?

Mal 3:14  Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?

Mal 3:15  And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

The people in Malachi 3:13 -154 are offended at God because the wicked are succeeding, but the verse did not end that way

The Lord replied these people in Malachi 3:17 -18

Mal 3:17  And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

Mal 3:18  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

Ultimately, God is saying there is a time, an appointed time, a time to vindicate those who don’t get offended

Also in Isaiah 50: 10 – 11

Isa 50:10  Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.

Isa 50:11  Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

Verse 10 admonish us not to get offended at God, though darkness surround us, but the latter verse us of the impending danger of those who get offended at God, to device their own method of deliverance.

Ultimately the word of the Lord Jesus Christ will come to pass that

And blessed is he whom whomsoever shall not be offended in Me. (

I won’t fail you says the Lord

Jos 1:5  There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

For some time now, I have been thinking about the word “fail” and also the sentence “I will not fail thee” that I had to check up in the dictionary.

The Oxford Dictionary gave the following meaning about the word “fail”

verb

[no object]

1 be unsuccessful in achieving one’s goal:he failed in his attempt to secure election [with infinitive]:they failed to be ranked in the top ten

• [with object] be unsuccessful in (an examination or interview):she failed her finals
• [with object] (of a person or a commodity) be unable to meet the standards set by (a test of quality or eligibility):a player has failed a drugs test
• [with object] judge (a candidate in an examination or test) not to have passed: the criteria used to pass or fail the candidate

2 neglect to do something: [with infinitive]:the firm failed to give adequate risk warnings

• [with infinitive] behave in a way contrary to expectations by not doing something:commuter chaos has again failed to materialize
• [with object] desert or let down (someone):at the last moment her nerve failed her

3 cease to work properly; break down:a lorry whose brakes had failed

• become weaker or of poorer quality:the light began to fail (as adjective failing)his failing health
• (of rain or a crop or supply) be insufficient when needed or expected: the drought means crops have failed
• (of a business or a person) cease trading because of lack of funds: he lost his savings when the store failed

noun

• 1a mark which is not high enough to pass an examination or test: [as modifier]:a fail grade

• 2 informal a mistake, failure, or instance of poor performance:their customer service is a massive fail [mass noun]:his first product demo was full of fail

So I came up with up what the Lord meant when He say “I will not fail you”

It means

1.                  I will not fail you means : I will not allow you to be unsuccessful in your task or projects

2.                  I will not fail you means: I will help you to meet the standard.

3.                  I will not fail you means: I will not judge you as failed, I will pass you

4.                  I will not fail you means, I will not make sure I give you adequate warning.

5.                  I will not fail you means, I will not desert you nor forsake you

6.                  I will not fail you means I will not behave in a way contrary to expectations by not doing something

7.                  I will not fail you means, I will make you have sufficient or enough

8.                  I will not fail you means, I will make sure you have all the necessary resources

9.                  I will not fail you means, I will not allow you to cease or stop due to lack

 I believe these meanings will help us to appreciate what the Lord meant when He said “I will not fail you”

Dealing With offences Part 1

This discussion will be in parts, one will be toward God and the other toward our fellowman. In this article, we will be considering offences toward God and possibly how to handle them.

            Friends , You must realize that God can offend you, and it good that we come to term with God and get along with Him.

            And blessed is he,  whosoever shall not be offended in Me (Matt11:6)

The background to this verse is that John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus sent some of disciples to Jesus after been arrested by Herod [matt 14:3 - 4] to enquire whether Jesus is truly the Messiah . Jesus sent back a message through John’s disciples back to John 

Mat 11:4  Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:

Mat 11:5  The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

Mat 11:6  And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

The last verse “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me” probably was revealing what was in John the Baptist’s heart. John was probably expecting Jesus to come to his rescue. Probably John was probably thinking if Jesus is the Messiah, He should save him from the hand of Herod who had imprisoned him.

But Jesus response was quite different, Jesus did not deliver him but instead made this astonishing statement “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me” we are now considering.

This statement of Jesus reveals that there is possibility for people to get offended at God. The reason for their been offended could range from one challenges to another, in which they are expecting God to intervene and come through for them, but alas God restrained himself for reasons best known to Him

For John, He was expecting help from Jesus, but Jesus restrained Himself for reasons best known to Him and exhorted and admonished John and the people that are present at the meeting

            And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me

The admonition is also for us today that “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me”

Reason why people can offended

1.         When deliverance does not come forth from God. Like the story we just read, John was expecting deliverance, but none came forth for him, but Jesus was perceiving what was going on in the heart of John, that John was already getting offended at Him for not coming to his rescue. Jesus was telling John the blessedness of not getting offend at Him for Blessed is He, who will not be offended. John get rid of offence in your heart, it will bar you from the kingdom of God. Are also offended at God for one reason or the other, let us heed the admonish of Jesus “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me”

2.         When the wicked are prospering, people get offended Malachi 3: 13-15

Mal 3:13  Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?

Mal 3:14  Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?

Mal 3:15  And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

This people in Malachi 3: 13 -15 are offended at God because the wicked are succeeding,

But the verse did not end that way, the Lord replied these people in Malachi 3:16- 18, In verse 18, the Lord said

Mal 3:18  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

Ultimately, God is saying there is a time an appointed, for Him to vindicate those who don’t get offended at Him. Also in Isaiah 50: 10 -11

Isa 50:10  Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.

Isa 50:11  Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

 Verse 10 tells admonishes us not to get offended even though darkness surround us but to wait on God for there is an appointed time, but the latter verse tells us of the impending danger of those who get offended at God, to device their own method of deliverance.

Ultimately the word of Jesus will come to pass that blessed is He who is not offended in Him.