Supply: November 15, 2010

Today's Word for Monday November 15, 2010

SUPPLY

DEFINITION


To furnish or provide to a person; something that is supplied.

SCRIPTURE

"And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

"Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for loaves, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness. II Corinthians 9:10

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

God has promised to supply our needs. Our "needs" and our "wants" are not the same thing. If we focus only on what we want but do not have, we forget to be grateful for what God has given us and we become dissatisfied. This was the problem that Moses had to face with the children of Israel as recorded in Numbers 11.

God had provided manna to feed them as they went through the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land. Some of the Israelites became dissatisfied with the manna supplied by God and complained to Moses that they wanted meat. They were no longer grateful that God was supplying their needs. Moses took it to the Lord. God answered and sent them quail in abundance and the people gorged themselves on the meat. God was displeased with their greed and their ungratefulness so He punished them by striking them with a severe plaque.

When God supplies our needs and we are not grateful, He is greatly displeased as He was with the Israelites. We are at all times to be grateful for all that he has given us.

This is an interesting word (supply) for Christians. We say this because so many limit God as to all that He wants for us because of our lack of faith. We are reminded in the scriptures of many promises that tell us that God shall supply ALL of our needs. But do we really believe that this is true? Do our actions show that we believe this? God is unlimited in what He can supply. It is our lack of faith and our unwillingness to ask that limits God.

In II Corinthians 9:10 (above) God not only supplies all that we need but also increases the fruits of our righteousness. Whether we have been given much or little, God can use us for His glory if we put our trust in Him and ask Him to "multiply the seed we have sown."

My father [Dottie's] suffered a severe stroke when I was nine years old. My sisters were eight and six and life for us changed dramatically. We were not a rich family but God for years always supplied our every need. My dad was incapacitated so my mother had to work and take care of my dad and provide for us three sisters. Mother was able to get a job from 4:00P.M. until midnight. We had to live on a meager income so we learned what it meant to trust in the Lord to supply all our needs.

The words of Paul in I Timothy 6:17, "to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything," became a reality in our lives. He always supplied just what we needed.

For five years my mother went to work after we came home from school. It was my responsibility, being the oldest, to keep my father and sisters. Those were tough years but looking back on those years, I remember that I never felt discontent. God always supplied every need and the most important thing is that I always felt loved --- by my Lord, my mother and my family.

"God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supplies." Hudson Taylor

LEARNING

Our memory verse for this week is found in Deuteronomy 33:27

The eternal God is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms.

PRAYER

Thank You Lord for the way You continually day by day supply all my needs. Help me to understand that it is because of my lack of faith that I limit You for what You want to do in my life and through my life. Make me a channel for You to bless others today.