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Tag: God our provider

Where is Jehovahjireh?

The place where Abraham was provided a ram to sacrifice in place of his son, he called “Jehovahjireh” meaning that “In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.” God made provision for a ram to be made available to Abraham on a mount in the land of Moriah (Genesis 22:2) for the sacrifice. On a mount, God showed Abraham the sacrificial ram.

Points to ponder:
On the mount that looked like a skull a.k.a. Golgotha (in Hebrew) commonly known as Calvary, God showed us his provision of salvation for all of mankind, by providing his only begotten son – the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. On mount Golgotha, salvation was seen. The real place that can be called Jehovahjireh is mount Golgotha i.e., Calvary. At calvary, you will see the provision of the Lord as he is the provider. Do you believe in Jesus, God’s salvation who is seen on the Cross on the mount of the Lord.

Genesis 22:14 (KJV)
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

Be Still :: Who are you?

The Bible teaches us to Be still and know that Who God is (Psalm 46:10), but did you know that the Bible also counsels us to Be still and know, who we are. (Psalm 4:4). We are asked to commune with our own heart and be still. In other words, we need to Be still and introspect.

We need to be still and introspect that we are standing (on our knees) in awe of God for his glory outshines all other things that glitter.
We need to be still and introspect to make sure that we have no unconfessed sin in our lives that displeases God.

Points to ponder:
When we are still, we can ponder in our hearts and introspect as to who we are (in Christ Jesus). Those who have believed in him, can be still and recognize that as the:
– Accepted of God, we can be still and know that we don’t need to be captive to any loneliness that binds us.
– Beloved of God, we can be still and know that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and so we don’t need to conform to the ephemeral things of the world that define short-lived beauty.
– Child of God, we can be still and know that as our Father, God is our provider, our protection, our pillar, our preserver,  and all powerful to meet all of our needs according to his riches in glory.

Do you know who you are? Be still and commune with your own heart; Be still and introspect.

Psalm 4:4 (KJV)
Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.

Why not go to the Father?

After I read to our six year old son, Reuben, the story of Isaac’s twins; Esau and Jacob, and how the firstborn of the twins, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob in order to satisfy his hunger, from Genesis 25:29-34), Reuben, inquisitively and innocently asked, “Why did Esau not think about going directly to his Father, if he was hungry?” As usual, dumbfounded by his question and the simple child-like analysis of the story, I responded, “Good question!”. Later it dawned on me that many a times, we are like Esau. We go to our fellow men and are willing to trade our spiritual birthright blessings in Jesus Christ for mere beggarly elements of this world (such as position, power, pride, popularity, pleasures, etc), instead of going to God our Father, who can satisfy all our hunger; both spiritual and physical.

Points to ponder:
Why not go directly to God, our Father, who can give us this day our daily bread (and satisfy all our needs)?

John 6:32 (KJV)
32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven

God in the Lord’s Prayer

If I was to ask a majority of Christians, do you know the Lord’s prayer, the answer is most likely going to be resoundingly affirmative, and some may even go on to tell me that it is recorded in Matthew 6 and Luke 11 and starts with “Our Father, who are in heaven” and ends with “Thy power and the glory, forever and forever.” Now,  for a while, I was under the impression that most Christians had gotten it wrong when it came to knowing what the Lord’s Prayer was. This stemmed from either a message that I had heard or an article that I had read, which stated that the familiar “Our Father which art in heaven” was not the Lord’s Prayer but instead the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray, making it “Our Prayer”, while the Lord’s Prayer was the prayer that Jesus prayed for himself,  his followers (disciples) and future believers as recorded in John 17. The John 17 prayer is also known as the High Priestly prayer. But last night, when meditating on the Pater Noster (Our Father) prayer, I realized that there was a fallacy in my understanding; that this prayer, in fact cannot be written off as not being the Lord’s Prayer, because in it, we actually see a glimpse of the characteristics of God. In fact, close scrutiny of each phrase of the “Our Father” prayer, reveals that hidden in it is a treasure; a treasure of knowledge about the characteristic of the God we serve. Now I am of the understanding that referring or not referring to the “Our Father” prayer as the Lord’s Prayer is inconsequential, for what really matters, is whether or not, we see the kind of God, He is, as we read and recount the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray.

Read below, and make your own conclusion.

Our Father which art in heaven,- God, our PATER (Father)
Hallowed be thy name. – God, our PRIORITY and PURITY
Thy kingdom come, – God, our POTENTATE (King)
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. – God, our PURPOSE and PLAN
Give us this day our daily bread. – God, our PROVIDER
And forgive us our debts, – God, our PARDONER
as we forgive our debtors – God, our PATTERN
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: – God, our PROTECTOR
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen – God, our POWER

Points to Ponder:
Do you/I see God as our Pater, our Priority & Purity, our Potentate, our Purpose & Plan, our Provider, our Pardoner, our Pattern, our Protector and our Power. Next time you are asked to pray the Pater Noster, think about who God is, instead of vainly repeating the words.

Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV)
9
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Our Father :: The Providing Father God

From the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples we can learn of many characteristics of the kind of God, Our Father, is. In this prayer, he teaches us to ask God to give us our daily bread. This establishes the fact that our God is a providing Father. Additionally, it also reflects the fact that God the Father is one who is willing to meet us daily. Jesus asserted this fact when he asked us to consider the birds of the air, which neither sow, nor reap nor gather, yet God the Father provides for their needs (Matthew 6:26). Interestingly, the Bible also records of birds (ravens) that were used by God to provide for the sustenance needs of God’s prophet, Elijah, twice daily (1 Kings 17:1-8). God as a Righteous Father is ready and willing to provide his children of what they ask him (Matthew 7:11), for He is a Providing Father God, but the important thing is that we must ask God (and not anyone else) – Give us this day our daily bread.

Point(s) to ponder:
Our asking of God not only affirms that God is a providing Father God, but it also demonstrate our ongoing (daily) dependence and reliance on Him to provide for our needs.

Matthew 6:11 (KJV)
11 Give us this day our daily bread.

Matthew 6:26 (KJV)
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

1 Kings 17:1-6 (KJV)
1
And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
2 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
5 So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.


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