Ramesh C. Reddy
Editor in Chief
Hi everyone :)
May you experience the Lord's providence in your life as you serve Him faithfully! Amen!
Quiet Times (Psalm 149:3-4 and Philippians 4:19)
“For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds.” (Psalm 149:4-5)
“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
Observations:
It is only 1 verse but I decided to break it down into parts:
Point 1: And my
What stuck out in my mind is how Paul had a sense of ownership when he used ‘my’. It showed me that he had a relationship with something or someone. The relationship could be a sense of ownership or personal. I asked myself who is ‘my’ referring to and came up with God. Paul had a personal relationship with God that he was able to say ‘My God’. It was not someone else’s God to him but personal.
Point 2: God
What came to my mind is the Creator of heaven and earth who made us in His image. Paul has a relationship with God and shares that with the Philippians. He does not end it here but lets the Philippians know what God can do for them. This is evidenced by point 3.
Point 3: will meet
For all the support and aid the Philippians have given to Paul (yesterday’s DQT: F.I.N.A.N.C.E), he wants them to know that it is not forgotten by God and God will personally intervene in their lives by meeting but meeting what. This is evidenced by point 4.
Point 4: all
God is in the business of wholeness and completeness not partial business. Paul wants the Philippians to know that God ‘will meet all’ and not just some. But what?
Point 5: your
Paul wants the Philippians to know that God will directly intervene in their lives. For what?
Point 6: needs
God will meet whatever they need. It is a intervention for need by God and not an intervention for want even though that could happen. Paul is assuring them that whatever support and aid they have given to others is not going unnoticed by God. On the contrary, God promises to meet all their needs. How?
Point 7: according to his
What came to my mind is God will do it His way even when we do not understand the methods. He is able to meet all our needs because of who He is and what He has. This is evidenced by point 8.
Point 8: glorious riches
Everything belongs to God and God will meet all their needs according to his glorious riches. What came to my mind is that they are not ordinary riches like we may think of but glorious riches. That is exciting to know. How?
Point 9: in Christ Jesus
The Philippians needs will not be forgotten for all the help they have given Paul. Instead, they themselves will be blessed. Paul is letting them know God will meet all their needs according to His glorious riches in Jesus Christ. That is exciting to know because the Philippians already know Jesus and have learned a lot about Jesus even through the book of Philippians. They can rest in Jesus knowing He will become their Jehovah Jireh!
I saw important implications for my own life. I learned support and aid does not always need to be financial but through other means too. I want to share a personal story of mine with you.
Many of you who know me know how much I love to reach out to students with the love of Christ. I love to do this by developing disciples for the Lord who themselves will engage the campus in all its ethnic diversity with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To do that it takes time and support too. In the past, I would do ministry 40+ hours on campus and loved every bit of it. I loved especially seeing students lives changed and transformed.
I saw myself as a missionary on campus being directly involved in the lives of students as the campus served as a country to me. My student ID served as a passport for me to legally be in the campu-country and engage the campus. My classes served as tent-making where I would assimilate myself where students were to reach them more effectively. It happened for a long time. But the main reason I tell you this is that while I did 40 hours of ministry and took classes, bills still had to be paid.
Amazingly not only did the Lord provide for me financially through different means but He also took care of me academically. Even though I did ministry 40+ hours, I was just shocked and amazed when I got my transcript back. I was expecting C’s and D’s after I took my exams. I knew I should have put more work into my classes because there was no point to take classes and not do my best to excel in them. If not, what kind of example was I setting? This did not mean that I get all A’s but working hard in my subjects for the glory of the Lord and leaving the results in His Hands. If I went on probation, that would have affected my ministry on campus too because my ID would be invalid. Anyway, to make things short for the first time I made a 4.0 in college which also boosted me to have 4.0 in one of my majors. God was providing for me as I took care of the students on campus for His glory.
In my first 2 majors, I had a 3.17 and a 3.87 and was not even expecting to 4.0 in my third major which is legal studies. It was just exciting how I was able to put 40+ in ministry and still maintain good grades. It is by God’s grace and mercy that happened. After that semester, I have not always maintained a 4.0 but am thankful to the Lord for a 4.0 in my final major. For me that was a need because I needed to boost my cummulative Q.P.A from what it used to be and the Lord provided.
Coming back to ministry, I am so thankful for all those who have supported me and continue to support me in ministry. Currently, I am not spending that much time in ministry on campus because of a leadership/structural change in the ministry I have been involved in and other reasons. But I still am involved in ministry indirectly through different channels and see the Lord providing for me.
I ask you now dear friends, what are your needs?
Dear friend, I learned as we seek the Lord and His Kingdom first, He will add all the other things to us. He has done that for me in ministry and outside of ministry. I realized there are many things we want to do but the Lord knows what we need and what we need to do. He will take us on that track
I still look to the day the Lord will restore completely what I used to do and that it would become a permanent thing even though I don’t consider it a need. Friend, the Lord knows what you need in your life and will intervene as you seek Him and make yourself available to others. The Christian life is a life of servant hood and service. We desire to help others because Christ first helped us.
I realized grades are just letters and may look good on paper but they are not necessarily needs but wants many times. Friend, I do believe the Lord can provide us the grades we need to pursue a field/career if that is the direction He wants us to go as we trust in Him and give our best leaving the results in the Lord’s hands. I also know of people who have not gotten good grades but have gotten in a field/career because of the Lord’s favor in their lives. They did not give up nor did they see God as their genie in the box. They served the Lord faithfully without ulterior motives.
Paul was confident that God would meet all the needs of the Philippians according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. We have the same God in our lives and can be confident that God will meet all our needs His way and for His glory.
No matter what needs you are facing, take it to the Lord in prayer no matter how big or small, for He is our Jehovah Jireh, our Provider! May you intimately get to know the Lord in your life now and always! Amen!
I want to share with you a poem I wrote years ago and modified it today. It is called Jehovah-Jireh, my Provider.
Jehovah-Jireh, my Provider
Your guidance provides my need
Thank you Lord,
Upon Your Word, I can feed
Thank you Lord,
Upon Your Word I can heed
Jehovah-Jireh, my Provider
Your guidance provides my need
Depending on You,
Financially I won't drown
Depending on You,
Emotionally I won't frown
Cause Jesus,
You are my true Crown
Jehovah-Jireh, my Provider
Your guidance provides my need(2x)
AMEN!
Nicely Everyday Everlasting Deliverer Supplies! (N.E.E.D.S)
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, thank you for loving us so much. Jesus, you know all our needs and I thank you that you do intervene in our lives as we seek you with our whole heart. Oh Lord, I pray that we would depend on you completely for our needs. Thank you how you do provide for us. We turn all our needs to you and depend on you for the answer. Oh Lord, you know each one’s needs and wants. Please Oh Lord make it clear to us what we think our needs are and what you see as our needs are. Thank you for your awesome promise to claim regarding our needs being met. I trust in you Lord completely with everything. Thank you for hearing us and answering us. In Your Name I Pray. Thank you Jesus we can ask you things in your Name! Amen!
Love in Christ,
Ramesh
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