Phil 4.19 "And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus".

As God had proven to Paul, who was writing this from prison, God wants to prove to us that he will take care of all our needs.

When God called Abram to leave his home and family and go to a land that God would show him, God was wanting Abram to trust him, not only to led him but take care of him as well.

Every time Abram took care of himself, he basically made a mess of things. Every time he allowed God to provide, it worked out very well for him.

Ultimately Abram, now Abraham came to the place of complete trust in God, even prepared to sacrifice his only son Isaac on the altar. When Isaac asked his dad "where is the sheep for the sacrifice?" Abraham said "God will provide" and God did. But only at the place of complete obedience.

God could have provided earlier but he didn't, he was testing him.

And in the same way God tests us. Will we trust God or not? We have our own timetable of expectation as to when God will provide, and its usually too soon. God will provide, and it will not be one second too late.

One way God tests us is in being obedient to give our tithes and offerings to Him. As we give, we are, in a real tangible way, demonstrating our trust in God to provide for us and take care of our needs. The temptation to with hold our tithes to "take care of ourselves" will always be there. And if you want to take care of yourself, God will let you.

But when you give sacrificially and obediently, it is a sweet smelling sacrifice which is acceptable and pleasing to God (Phil 4:18).

No one can provide for you better than God our creator. Paul testified to that, and so do I.

Will you let him provide for you?

I read this email this week, it is from Max Lucado.

“All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other.” John 13:35

Stop and think about that verse for a minute. Could it be that unity is the key to reaching the world for Christ? . . .

Nowhere, by the way, are we told to build unity. We are told simply to keep unity. From God’s perspective there is but “one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:16). Unity does not need to be created; it simply needs to be protected.

We don't need to worry about creating unity, we need to put our efforts into protecting it. Our enemy seeks to destroy unity not prevent it.

I think we do spend a lot of time thinking of ways to create unity, for some reason we think we don't have it, but we do have unity. There is unity because we have one spirit, the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.

Don't spend time wishing we had more unity, but think of ways to protect it. The Bible tells us to aim for harmony and build each other up, Rom 14.19, to serve one another, 1 Pet 4.10, to not look after our own interests, but take an interest in others too, Phil 2.3-4, pray for one another, encourage each other 1 Thess 5.11, and love each other deeply with all your heart, 1 Pet 1.22.

Jesus said the greatest commandments are to Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself.

If we pour our efforts into protecting the unity, there will never be any shortage of unity.

Unity does not need to be created; it simply needs to be protected.

Have a great week, God bless you

Andrew

I was listening to the radio in the car today, and there was this conversation about how the big pharmaceutical company's had tricked everyone into believing that if you want to quit smoking, you need help, a nicotine patch or gum or something like that. Statistics show that between 65 and 75% of people who successfully quit did so when they decided they wanted to stop. They changed their mind.

Rom 12.2 says to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, change the way you think. THEN you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

If you ever find yourself wanting to change but can't, it starts with a change in your mind, a change in your thinking. Ask God, where is my thinking wrong, and help me to change my thoughts.

Col 3.2  And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth. [AMP]

THINK about that.

Hey everyone.
I thought this could be useful, to share some thoughts from time to time. I'm not going to promise to post on a set schedule, so you might have to check back every now and again. I hope that these thoughts are interesting, thought provoking and sometimes amusing.