Monday Morning Quarterback: Hope for Provision

This week at Bethel Community Church, Pastor Lance Phillips relayed an important Biblical principle in a great way.  Often times, when churches speak on provision it comes from the angle of pressure to tithe producing guilt or from the selfish angle of “bless me, bless me” from the prosperity crowd. Instead of that, very candidly, He spoke of his struggles to trust God in the area of provision.

Here are my take-a-ways from the message:

God commands us not to worry. Matthew 6:25, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?”

Jesus calls himself “the good shepherd,” and promises to lay his life down for his sheep. John 10: 11 – 15, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

We need to develop the same “hope for provision” that King David had. Listen to Psalm 23…

¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. God is a God of provision in every area.

² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters, God gives us his peace.

³ he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. God gives us his protection and direction. In laying down his life, he purchases the possibility of eternity for us.

⁴ Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me. God protects us with His presence and guides us with his gentle authority.

⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. God gives us his overflowing pleasure and joy.

⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. We all need to develop this confidence that David had for God’s provision.

I woke up this morning thanking “the good shepherd” for all of his provision in this life and in eternity through salvation.  He truly has laid is life down for the sheep and I am so thankful… Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever!

*** On another note – this summer there has been one tragic death after another… from Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon to “the king of pop” Michael Jackson and closer to home, Steve “Air” McNair.  Many people have asked me my thoughts on the subject.  My friend and Every Nation President, Steve Murrell best sums up my feelings in this blog that he calls, “The Accidental Missionary.”

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Tags: Bethel Community Church, hope, Pastor Lance Phillips, tithe