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TEXT: Php 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. INTRO: One of the most amazing Christian warriors in recent times is a man who has come to be known as Brother Andrew, or the "God's Smuggler." He's risked everything to get God's Word into spiritually closed countries where that was virtually impossible. In his biography, he tells about an incident in his early life as a follower of Christ that showed him the kind of God he was serving. After some pretty wild years without the Lord, he came to Christ and almost immediately felt the call to begin training for the ministry. He went to this small Bible school in Scotland, and before the students were allowed to graduate, they were given a very unusual assignment. They were asked to go out for a month to do evangelistic outreaches in Scottish villages, and they were given some money to live on - one British pound, to be exact. For those of us who are Americans, it would be like being given a dollar to live on for a month. The students were to go with that one bill and eat, and sleep, and rent halls, and buy refreshments, and hold outreaches, and return that one bill at the end of the month. Brother Andrew's team went out and did just that. Except he returned with enough money for the school to send out two missionaries! TRANSITION: One Dollar And God. Maybe everyone in God's service should have an assignment like that - to live the adventure of what life is like when all you've got is God. 1. BARE FAITH It may be that God wants you to be at that point, and you've been avoiding it. For all of us, the ultimate questions of security and obedience boil down to this: Can God be trusted? Is God really enough? Figuratively speaking, can I make it when it's just "one dollar and God"? Ps 31:23 O love the LORD, all ye his saints: [for] the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. 24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD. As we'll see from Elijah in 1 Kings 17:1-6. The prophet Elijah has just delivered a message of God's judgment to the Jewish king that there's going to be a long drought in Israel. Then the prophet is given an assignment that sounds something like Brother Andrew's in Bible school. Here's what the Bible says: 1 Kings 17:3 "Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah, 'Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine. He is sent into a situation where it's just him and God - just him and whatever God provides, that is. He's being sent away from all the normal sources of supply. Php 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Ever been there? Close now? Do you worry? or hope? Fret? or rejoice? 2. SUPPLIER Now, God sends Elijah into this situation where God is all he has. God may be doing the same thing with you. Elijah is in the wilderness where there is nowhere to get food. Oh yeah? 1 Kings 17: 4-6 You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there.' So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook." Twice a day, here come the ravens, delivering God's supply. Notice, God will always find a way to provide what His servant needs. He's, in fact, the God of unlikely sources! Ps 78:23 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, 24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. 25 Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full. Hungry? Ex 17:6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. His people have nowhere to get water in the wilderness, so it comes from a rock! Thirsty? Mt 14:19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to [his] disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children. Five thousand people have nowhere to get lunch, so Jesus takes the one lunch there and makes 5,000 lunches from it. But you have to be in a seemingly hopeless situation like this to experience God's amazingness like this. Who is your provider? Whats the the source of your provisions? What really gives you your security? Work? Bank account? Stocks? Could you handle one dollar and God? Are you down to 5 loaves & 2 fish? Perhaps its not money. Perhaps your emotionally tapped, or mentally, physically? Isa 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to [them that have] no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint. I tell you that after 10 years of ministry, I can "amen" David's testimony in Psalm 37:25 "I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread." Php 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Do you truly count on God as your source? Is there another supplier you count on? 3. ABNORMAL Ec 11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Make sense?!!... Mt 14:26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth [his] hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Good ol' Abnormal Peter, takes a supernatural stroll! (Expound) Apostles mirror us - v26 We're afraid of God, when He does something different! v27 God re-assures us that He is ABLE! v28 A Christian willing to put all His security in God alone and push beyond the normal! v29 Listening for God's command. Here Jesus say today "Come" and I will supply ALL your needs! v30 We see the normal telling us to doubt focus on the circumstance intead of Jesus, we sink! Ps 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me: because [he is] at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. 10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence [is] fulness of joy; at thy right hand [there are] pleasures for evermore. v31 Jesus grabs us in mercy and supplies for us as always! v32 And when all is said and done the winds cease - Abnormal Peace! True Security from Abnormal Faith! If God has you at a point where it's "one dollar and God" - financially, emotionally, physically - don't stop trusting Him now. You must leave the boat, leave your security in anything other than God, you must be as abnormal as Peter. Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. God says me ALONE, no other sources, all our faith eggs have to be in one basket, no spreading out and covering the religious bases. Your security is not the resources you have in your hand, but the Heavenly Father you belong to. And if you've been holding back from God's calling because you can't see where the resources will come from, remember the God of the manna,water rock and the ravens, and the endless lunch. And just in case there is no resources to work with, take Abraham's perspective - Ro 4:17 (Abraham). . . believed, [even] God, who quickens the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were. 18 Who against hope believed in hope, . . . If you don't step out of the boat, you'll never know what it is to walk on water! A great spiritual warrior was once a Bible school student with the equivalent of a dollar to live and a month to live on it. And he found out what you can discover in a time when there seems to be "no way," one dollar and God is more than enough for everything you need! Php 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Will He? Will you let Him? Is the Lord set before you? Always?Will you be abnormal and leave the security of the boat? |