Daily Series

Daily • Matthew 6:11 • May 29 & 30, 2010

OPENING:

Introduction: This single verse is a greater CHALLENGE than many realize. A careful study of the Scriptures unveils God’s promises to meet our NEEDS day by day.

3 Foundational Life Principles

Principle 1: God is READY to meet our needs.

How do we know this?

1) The EXPRESSION – today… daily… (72 words in this prayer in Greek and here this word is used 2 times in one sentence). daily = immediate day if praying in the morning or for tomorrow if praying in the evening… This word is rarely found in NT… matter of fact 100% only place it is found is here. Aramaic usage = household cleaning term… The reality is that those to whom Jesus was speaking would not have thought of this word in regards to time (daily = 24hrs, 10hrs, 8hrs) but rather as a measure. Laborers were commonly paid each day for the work they had accomplished that day. Pay was frequently so low that it was not common to save any of it. So each day’s pay purchased the day’s food. On top of this, in a mainly agrarian/farming community one failed crop could spell major disaster. Not just an empty phrase. Jesus is teaching that we must learn to trust our Heavenly Father to meet our needs and that He is ready to do so.

2) An EXAMPLE – Ex. 15 – bitter water – Marah – fresh springs – Elim… Ex. 16 – Manna from heaven…

Principle 2: We must learn to completely RELY on Him.

Easier said than done. We learn over time that… if you want something done right, do it yourself… that when you completely depend upon another… they let you down…

We learn to rely on substitutes. And when you rely on a substitute long enough you will prefer the substitute over the real thing.

Example of Paul’s Life. Hater of Christians. Acts 9. Experienced God’s transforming love. From a human perspective life didn’t get better… worse… always in a debate… beaten… jailed… shipwrecked… snake-bitten… and yet He never lost site of the fact that God even though nothing made sense and at times Paul wasn’t aware of God’s care based upon his circumstances… Paul declares… Philippians 4:19 – And my God will supply every need of yours according to His glorious needs in Christ Jesus.

ILLUSTRATION: Thursday My Wife’s Surgery… went well… post-op in recovery… Nova was half-way coherent… in and out… experienced a reaction to some meds… Nurse Bill… there the entire time… assigned specifically to take care of Nova… meeting every need she had without her even being aware of it.

God, our heavenly Father, is working for His glory, and to meet every need that we have even though we aren’t even aware of what we need.

Principle 3: Remember God is interested in our NOURISHMENT spiritually as well as physically.

God is Concerned about three things… (His GLORY)

1) Our Food as His children (basic necessities) – why we as His people must be sensitive to His Spirit and help those in need. –MT 6:25f - (Example of Block Party)

(some focus on just the physical = social gospel… when we see great need, we can become overwhelmed by it and forget about their spiritual needs)

2) Our Forgiveness of sin – Psalm 130

3) Our Freedom from sin – 1 Peter 2:16f

Often we only notice God’s daily provision when it stops. – Loren Cunningham, Daring to Live on the Edge