GOD IS MY PROVIDER (Yahweh Yireh) OF ALL THINGS.

GOD IS MY PROVIDER (Yahweh Yireh) OF ALL THINGS.

(Genesis 22:14 - So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided. ”)

I have been reading the book authored by Max Lucado called “Fearless”.  I never dreamed it would turn into a book that would lead me through my daily devotionals in such a personal way.   Today’s chapter is titled “Make Believe Money” and my personal take away has been a reminder that God is the provider of absolutely all things in my life.

The following sentences make up a summary of my own notes and prayers that came out of this morning’s study.  Please disregard grammatical errors and incomplete sentences if they exist as these are notes and thoughts that came to me as I read and pondered.   Also, the words in a contrasting color in the middle of scripture are where I inserted comments that brought application to me to a personal level.

Psalm 104:27-28

²⁷ All creatures (made by God) look to you (God)
    to give them (me) their food at the proper time.
²⁸ When you (God)  give it to them, (all creatures, of which I am one)
    they gather it up;
when you (God) open your hand,
    they (which includes me, myself and I) are satisfied with good things.

This led me to ponder on some of the things that I am satisfied and blessed with in my life.

My Savior

My Family

My Home

My friends

And soon I will be blessed with a new job. 

I can ponder for hours on why I am blessed and satisfied with each of the points above.  It is overwhelming to sit and ponder on the goodness of God my Provider. 

With all the goodness of God I wonder why fear enters.  The most fearful thought that invades my peace right now is when I dwell on the negatives of my jobless state.  Today I am reminded that God will provide a new job at the “proper time” (vs 27) and when he does “open His hand” I will be more than “satisfied with good things”.  (vs 28).  In the meantime, scripture tells me not to forget the blessing that I still have and that God is the source of them.

Hosea 13:6

⁶ When I fed them, they were satisfied;
    when they were satisfied, they became proud;
    then they forgot me.

Lord, I repent of forgetting you.  Let my thoughts, words and actions be pleasing to you.   I pray that I will always be aware of your presence in me and my fellow believers.  I also pray that the hearts of those who do not know you yet will be drawn to you through contact with your saints.

IT ALL BELONGS TO GOD. It always has, always will.

No matter what we have or don’t have, it all belongs to God.

Deuteronomy 10:14

⁴ To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.

1 Chronicles  29:11

¹¹ Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
    and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
    for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
    you are exalted as head over all.

Haggai 2:8

⁸ ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty.

What I have is more than sufficient.  I am richer than probably 95% of the world’s population.  The realization of this fact, lead me to this exhortation:

Psalm 49:16-20

16 Do not be overawed when others grow rich,
    when the splendor of their houses increases;
17 for they will take nothing with them when they die,
    their splendor will not descend with them.
18 Though while they live they count themselves blessed—
    and people praise you when you prosper—
19 they will join those who have gone before them,
    who will never again see the light of life.

20 People who have wealth but lack understanding
    are like the beasts that perish.

Lord, I pray for understanding so that I will live according to your desires and not my own.  I pray that I never take you , my family, my friends or my processions for granted.  I pray that I always remember that you are the source of everything good in my life. 

The Lord provides everything that I need and so very much more.  I can take credit for none of it.  I finish today with a direct quote from the ending of Chapter 9 of “Fearless” by Max Lucado.

“God owns everything and gives us all things to enjoy.  He is a good shepherd to us, his little flock.  Trust Him not stuff.  Move from the fear of scarcity to comfort of provision.  Less hoarding, more sharing. “Do good…be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share.”

              And, most of all, replace fear of the coming winter with faith in the living God.   After all, it’s just Monopoly money.  It all goes back in the box when the game is over.

These thoughts that I have expressed are my own personal take away from this chapter.  They go along with the author’s thoughts most of the time but God sent me down a rabbit trail or two as well.

I pray for God’s blessings to all who stop by to read.

Year of Change Update

So, how is my year of change going?  I would say rather quickly in some aspects and very slow in others.  I say quickly because it has already been over three months since my job ended and I still don't have a new position.  Of course I just now started to seriously search for one so I can't complain about that.  I have been enjoying time with with the g-kids doing summer time things.

It is going slowly in the weight loss department, once again that is on me as well.  I am just now getting a hold on my eating habits and have started losing weight.  I joined a gym as well and I am surprised to discover that I kind of like it.  I work out with a trainer once a week and do cardio an additional five days a week.  So I am at the gym every day except Sunday.  So hopefully the weight will start coming off a little better.

I also had surgery on my left foot in April and am still in the recovery process for that as well.  Went to the doc yesterday and he said that everything is progressing normally.  I will be going back to physical therapy because the scar tissue needs to be broken up which entails manipulating the tissue using a high amount of pressure and I can't do that to myself.  It is painful.  I know that this is minor compared to what other people go through for surgeries and injuries but I will freely admit that I am a wimp.  I will go through this stage without complaining.  It will pass.

I have one more hurdle to get through though and this one is more a matter of the soul.   I am searching for a new church.  Not because I am unhappy with the one I currently attend but because my heart is being lead in a different ministry direction which means that I must move on.  I need to actively start that search as well and stop Internet surfing and actually start visiting.  I get so timid when I have to go do something by myself for the first time. (I wouldn't have gone into the gym for the first time without my sister taking me with her).

Overall life is good.  I just have to stop procrastinating and move forward in a more focused manner

God's Blessings to everyone who stops by to read.