Of Provision, Plenty and Prosperity.

When is enough, enough? And where does it all come from? When can adequate provision be called prosperity? What is the priority for gain?
All these questions I asked myself when considering the idea of enough but not too much! I was thinking of my riches, and indeed they are plenty, and considering how generous the Lord is in His provision, while realising how He measures prosperity. We have been prospered in ways I could not have imagined through my own prayerful requests, and not even recognised in some of the initial provisions. The realisation that A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions, Luke 12:15, brought me to an understanding of 4 specific blessings for which I need to acknowledge my indebtedness.
1) LOVE. God is love, and He showers His presence on us with such abundance that sometimes we only see it when it has grown, missing it in its infancy. Love is not some pleasurable emotion that sends shivers down our spine, palpitations to our heart and weakness to our knees. No, Love is hurtful, risky, yet rewarding. Love comes unbidden, and in many forms. Love can swell through the first sight of a new-born baby, through the breaking heart of rebellion, criticisms, accusations, arguments, pain and separation. Love can start with simple attraction, sympathy, empathy, mutual agreement, and progress through disaster, disagreement, differences and disorder. Love grows through persistence, and in spite of, rather than because of, behaviour, reciprocity or similarity. Love cannot be earned; it comes unbidden, and includes hurt, misunderstandings, betrayals, rejections, as well as pleasure, friendship, consideration and comfort. Only when we love, lose, suffer and survive, can we know what real love is.
I may speak in the language of humans and of angels. But if I don’t have love I am a loud gong or clashing cymbal. I may have the gift to speak what God Hs revealed, and I may understand all mysteries and have all knowledge. I may even have enough faith to move mountains. But if I don’t have love, I am nothing. I mayeven give away all I have and give up my body to be burned. But if I don’t have love, none of these things will help me. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn’t jealous. It doesn’t sing its own praises. It isn’t arrogant. It isn’t rude. It doesn’t think about itself. It isn’t irritable. It doesn’t keep track of wrongs. It isn’t happy when injustice is done, but is happy with the truth. Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up … 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 (God’s Word.)
Only when we are broken by the love that consumes us can we know the Father heart of God who says, ... Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you ... Hebrews 13:5 – for we cannot forsake the love He has given us from His own heart, to us and for us, as well as to others and for them.
My family is distant, some more than others, in physical distance as well as emotional, some having come and gone, all having made an imprint on my heart that cannot be erased. Some show no return of love or concern, but love cannot be erased, and is a gift of God. How grateful I am for the abundance of love the Father has given. I am richly blessed.
2) FAITH. In difficult situations despair can creep in and weaken our spirit. Sometimes situations seem interminable with solutions out of reach, but the trick involves keeping on in spite of circumstance. Faith is not built under the circumstances, but above the circumstances of our lives. So many times when things have seemed so low that release seemed a barren hope, survival and going forward has proved possible. When ‘Underneath are the everlasting arms’ is the knowledge to be clung to, then faith is confirmed and built upon. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, 'Destroy him!' Deuteronomy 33:27.
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39. (NIV) My faith has grown through the chapters in my life so that it is yet a treasure to be tapped to its full potential, but sufficient always for hope to triumph. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus and His faithfulness. On Christ the solid rock I stand – all other ground is sinking sand …

3) PEACE. How can life be understood without knowledge of God’s promises, and how can peace be found in the turmoil of life around us? The peace of God that passes all understanding is a promise that can only be understood in the light of our experience of God’s ways and. You will hear of wars and rumours of wars. Don’t be alarmed! These things must happen, but they don’t mean that the end has come. Nation will fight against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All of these are only the beginning pains of the end. Matthew 24:6-8. (God’s Word.) Wars and rumours of wars surround us. Unrest, weather anomalies, earthquakes, lawlessness, violence, immorality, lies – all signs of the times of Noah when God said “Enough is enough! No more!” and sent a flood of gigantic proportions, greater than any tsunami of today’s extent. Afterwards, He said, Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. As longas the earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. Genesis 8:21-22. (NIV.)

4) JOY! In all these things I have abundance of JOY! Prosperity is moot. May I share some wisdom gained through years of prayer in petition, praise, and thanksgiving.

a. Do not inflict me with love for money Psalm 119:36b
b. Don’t give me either poverty or riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise I may have too much and disown you and say ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonour the name of my God. Proverbs 30:8,9
c. Honour the Lord with your wealth … Proverbs 3:9
d. When God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work – this is a gift of God. Ecclesiastes 5:19.

The Father Heart of God.

Knowing God stems from an ever deepening relationship with Him – a walk beside Him allowing Him to choose the direction. Of necessity it involves surmounting hills and rocky terrain, through storms and heatwaves, across rivers and in darkly shadowed valleys. Even in verdant meadows are the dangers of stepping in cow clap! But it is worth it all! Walking with God entails recognising where He is at work, and seeing His pain when others are invited but turn down the invitation.

Through the years I have recognised occasions when He has allowed me to experience with Him His Father heart. I have felt the pain of rejection, and He has helped me through. I have seen the results of disobedience and the consequences of deliberate sin, watching in horror when wrong decisions have been made leading to further problems, and felt the agony of having to stand aside, and watch.

When Jesus, (the personification of God, and the One who helps us understand what Love is) hung on the cross, His mother and others who loved Him had to stand by, and watch. What we call heartbreak is a common feeling for God. He could have programmed us to be good little clockwork people. He could even, like human parents, have pushed and prodded us to achieve the right results; and then punished our disobedience. But he didn’t. He allows us to make decisions and then live with the consequences. And in His Father Wisdom, He still works in every situation to bring good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 That is beyond what we can do. Sometimes we have to sit and watch mistakes being made, (especially when the children are grown and way beyond our jurisdiction), and do the biggest and best we can do, pray! Pray for God’s Will to be done, and know that in His answer will lie that unshakeable truth of His Love.

This weekend we remember how that truth was played out at Calvary. No heartache we can suffer, watching our children, and loving them through every chapter in their lives and living with their decisions, can come near to the suffering of God, the Father, Jesus, the Son, and Mary, the mother.

It all started in the first Garden, that place of beauty and perfection, where the first man and woman lived in harmony with God, their Creator Father. Evil slithered into the Garden of Eden, silently intruding into paradise, waiting a chance to insinuate lies into the faultless communication of God the Father with His first created children, Adam and Eve, They were innocent, devoid of sin until the serpent satan challenged the pride he first instilled into them, then used to break them. “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4,5

It’s typical of satan to instil into open minds a feasible half-truth. Yes they would recognise good and evil, but too late to retain the good and refuse the evil! Conscience was born, and choices multiplied. And so their progeny was condemned to live under God’s condemnation, “…for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3:19

For the first time, blood was shed in order that nakedness could be covered, and Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden, with no way back.

Centuries passed while Father God watched His children fall into ever greater sinfulness. In Noah’s day, it was so bad that God decided enough was enough. The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain. Genesis 6: 5,6

After the flood, and a fresh start, God’s heart must have been hopeful. Patiently He watched, and waited, and saw the cycle begin again. He had not destroyed the source of evil, the satanic agenda to win the world to wickedness, but He had a plan. He called a man named Abram, and guided him into a life of faith. Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:6

The Nation of Israel was born. And into that nation, many years later, came the Redeemer, the Saviour of mankind, Son of God, and Son of Man. Father God’s plan was reaching fruition. But it was a plan fraught with pain and agony, with obedience and determination, as infinite love triumphed over persecution, misunderstanding, torture and ridicule.

Redemption began in another Garden, the Garden of Gethsemane, when evil tried another tactic by confusing self-righteous minds into giving a death penalty; a death penalty in the cruellest form, for accusations with no evidence, and against the wishes of the judge. Yet the decision of the people was upheld; people whose minds were clouded and who had listened to the lies of the deceiver instead of listening to and accepting Truth, personified.

Yet that was part of the plan. The Father God knew what would happen, He had watched His children sinking further into the depths of pride, self-righteousness, distrust, and self-service. He knew what the outcome must be. Father and Son, back in the Kingdom of Heaven, had agreed that blood must again be shed, but this time to right the wrongs of Eden. The first blood that was shed was to make garments to cover nakedness. This blood would be shed to pay the price for all that had been unleashed in the first garden, and this blood would be used to wash guilty stains away.

The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father. John 10:17,18

The agony of the Cross is over but the Father Heart of God still agonises over His children, wanting them to listen, learn from His Word, and receive the eternal life given through His Son.

Have a wonderful Easter remembrance of the Son’s obedience to His Father’s Heart.