Three Things God Wants to Give You
Introduction
Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie were middle-aged Christian women in Holland when World War II erupted. They resolved to conceal fleeing Jews from the Nazis. They rescued many. But they were eventually arrested and taken to Ravensbrück concentration camp. Betsie died there. Corrie miraculously survived to bear witness to the way in which God can save, heal and forgive.
When asked how to prepare for persecution, she used to tell this story about her childhood:
‘When I was a little girl, I went to my father and said, “Daddy, I was afraid that I will never be strong enough to be a martyr for Jesus Christ.” “Tell me,” said father, “When you take a train trip to Amsterdam, when do I give you the money for the ticket? Three weeks before?” “No, Daddy, you give me the money for the ticket just before we get on the train.” “That is right,” my father said, “And so it is with God’s strength. Our Father in heaven knows when you will need the strength to be a martyr for Jesus Christ. He will supply all you need just in time.”’
Psalm 78:13–15
13 He divided the sea and led them through;
he made the water stand up like a wall.
14 He guided them with the cloud by day
and with light from the fire all night.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness
and gave them water as abundant as the seas.
Commentary
1. Continual guidance
God will give you all the guidance you need. As the psalmist continues to recount the history of the people of God, he recalls how, ‘He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night’ (v.14). In other words, he guided them continually.
You have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you. Expect no less. You are ‘led by the Spirit of God’ (Romans 8:14). The Holy Spirit will provide you with all the guidance you need.
God will also satisfy your spiritual thirst: ‘He split the rocks in the desert and gave them water as abundant as the seas; he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers’ (Psalm 78:15–16). Jesus promises you that, through the Holy Spirit, streams of living water will flow from within you (John 7:38).
Prayer
Lord, I really need your Holy Spirit and your guidance. Please fill me today with your Holy Spirit and may streams of living water flow from within me.
Acts 17:2–18
2 As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. ‘This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,’ he said. 4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.
10 As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.
15 Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible. 16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the market-place day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, ‘What is this babbler trying to say?’ Others remarked, ‘He seems to be advocating foreign gods.’ They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
Commentary
2. Good news
In a world that desperately needs good news, God has provided you with a message of good news. The word ‘gospel’ means ‘good news’. The good news is ‘about Jesus and the resurrection’ (v.18). All you need is in Jesus. It is all about Jesus.
Every time you give your testimony or speak about your faith in other ways, ask yourself, ‘Is it good news?’ Every time we preach it should be good news; otherwise it is not the gospel. Your message should always be good news because it is about Jesus, his death and resurrection.
God will provide you with the appropriate words for every occasion. Your words are powerful and life-changing. The good news of Jesus is dynamically relevant to all generations, cultures and situations. People’s needs are always the same. The message of the gospel is always the same.
- Explain the good news
When Paul went into the synagogue in Thessalonica, he ‘reasoned with them from Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he said’ (vv.2–3). His careful explanation of the gospel resulted in a number of people being ‘persuaded’ (v.4).
The fact that your message comes from God does not stop you receiving unfounded criticism. It is often one of the costs of following Jesus. Paul’s success led to jealousy (v.5). Interestingly, he was perceived already as having a global impact: ‘These men who have caused trouble all over the world [the whole ‘known world’] have now come here’ (v.6b).
- Study the good news
God gave Paul and Silas the appropriate words for the Bereans. They responded well to what they heard. They received the message with ‘great eagerness’ and then ‘studied the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true’ (v.11). Once again, the message bore fruit and a number ‘believed’ (v.12). I would encourage you too to set aside a regular time to study the Scriptures every day.
Once again, Paul and Silas’ success led to opposition. Some began ‘agitating the crowds and stirring them up’ (v.13). Do not be surprised if you find agitators and stirrers today.
- Reason the good news
Paul moved on to Athens. The Athenians ‘spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas’ (v.21). They were more interested in what was new than what was true.
Again, God provided Paul with the appropriate message for the Athenians. He ‘reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the market-place day by day’ (v.17). These were two entirely different audiences.
Speaking to the first audience would have been like preaching in a church. Speaking in a market place would have been more like speaking in the workplace. But, at its heart, Paul’s message seems to have been exactly the same – ‘preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection’ (v.18).
Prayer
Lord, would you give me the words I need for the conversations that are ahead of me today. Please supply the message. I ask for life-changing words in all my daily conversations. May I be led by the Spirit.
1 Kings 17:2–16
2 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: 3 ‘Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have instructed the ravens to supply you with food there.’
7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him: 9 ‘Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have instructed a widow there to supply you with food.’ 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, ‘Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?’ 11 As she was going to get it, he called, ‘And bring me, please, a piece of bread.’
12 ‘As surely as the LORD your God lives,’ she replied, ‘I don’t have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it – and die.’
13 Elijah said to her, ‘Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.”’
15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.
Commentary
3. Material needs
Jesus taught us to pray, ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ (Matthew 6:11; Luke 11:3). Look to God to provide for your daily needs. He will not necessarily give you all you want, but pray that he will provide you with all you need.
In a society that continued to sin and split into factions (1 Kings 16:8–34), God raised up a prophet who spoke with authority and power.
The New Testament tells us that Elijah was a human being ‘just as we are’ (James 5:17a). And yet, ‘He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three-and-a-half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops’ (vv.17b–18).
Elijah’s prayer resulted in problems for Elijah himself. However, God provided for all his material needs. Initially, ‘The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook’ (1 Kings 17:6). God can be very creative in providing for you. Your part is to obey him and then trust that he will provide for all your needs.
When the brook dried up (v.7), the Lord said to him, ‘Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food’ (v.9). When one door closes (the brook dried up), it is usually because God is about to open another door in your life. He was relocating Elijah so that he could be the answer to someone else’s prayer and need for provision.
The widow was put to the test. Elijah asks for food. She tells him that she and her son were about to eat their last meal and then die. Elijah promises that if she is generous with what she has, God will provide for all her needs. He says to her, ‘The jar of flour will not run out and the bottle of oil will not become empty before God sends rain on the land and ends this drought’ (v.14, MSG).
The widow did exactly as Elijah asked. And it turned out exactly as he said (vv.15–16). The woman showed great faith. She was prepared to give all she had. She risked everything. And God supplied all her needs. They had enough, but never a surplus. They remained utterly dependent upon God to provide their daily needs. If you obey God and give generously, you will discover that you cannot out-give God. God will do amazing things for you and through you.
This does not mean life will be easy. In spite of her faith she faced further battles. Her son became ill and finally stopped breathing (v.17). Elijah exercised huge faith when he cried out to the Lord for the boy who had died (v.20). ‘The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him’ (v.22).
How amazing for Elijah to be able to pick him up, carry him down from the room into the house and give him to his mother saying, ‘Look, your son is alive!’ (v.23).
Prayer
Lord, thank you for your amazing love, power and provision of enough food for the entire world. Forgive us when we fail to distribute what you have provided. Give us your guidance, your words and your courage to do all we can in our generation to change this terrible injustice. Lead us by your Spirit to change our world.
Pippa adds
In 1 Kings 17:14 it says, ‘For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.”’
I love this story of the unknown widow sharing her food with the greatest prophet. God turns the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Thought for the Day
God’s will supply all you need just in time.
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References
Corrie ten Boom (in a letter, 1974).
The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel (commentary formerly known as Bible in One Year) ©Alpha International 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Compilation of daily Bible readings © Hodder & Stoughton Limited 1988. Published by Hodder & Stoughton Limited as the Bible in One Year.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.