How Blessed Are You?

MAT 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

I want to talk to you today about provisions....God’s provisions for His people. Some might look at that text and say "hey, pastor.....does that mean we don’t have to work for a living? It says not to worry about tomorrow"! Some might even quote PHIL 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. We all know that’s not an excuse to sit back and not take up our responsibilities to provide for ourselves and our family. Remember 1 TIM 5:8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. We don’t want to be infidels!!!

Seriously, we all know that it is necessary for us to work to make a living. Most of the time no one is going to give you anything without something in return (your boss wants work in exchange for a paycheck)...and God expects you to take care of your responsibilities with Him as He showers His blessings out to you. The difference between Him and your boss is that you may be able to hide behind stuff where the boss can’t see if you’re working....but God always knows! You can’t fool Him ANY of the time!

Here’s the problem....we sometimes get so caught up in working and earning a living that we leave God out. Listen, Christians.... you would not even have a job to go to if God hadn’t provided it for you! You might say "look here, Pastor....I’m good at my job! That’s why I get the big bucks (got any extra?)! In JOHN 15:5 Jesus says "without Me you can do nothing." Listen, work is necessary, without the blessing of God it is futile.

God is not against human effort. Hard work honors God and you, as a Christian, should be the hardest working employee of the company. You are an example.But working to the exclusion of rest or to the neglect of family (yours and Gods) may be a cover-up for an inability to trust God to provide for our needs. We all need adequate rest and times of spiritual refreshment. Be careful to maintain a balance: work while trusting God, and also rest while trusting him.

Accomplishments in life, of whatever dimension, come as the result of God’s gift. He provides the skill for accomplishment and

allows us to complete projects we start. This does not call us to idleness in the face of His sovereignty but to gratitude as we labor with Him to accomplish His purposes on earth. One of the things that Nanci and I enjoy about small-town pastoring is that we know our church is full of honest hard working folks. And you guys are faithful to pay your tithes, too! Most churches come no where near the percentage of participation that we do here. Praise God for that! We are extremly blessed and you are enjoying God’s blessings if you are doing what God expects from you.

"What do you mean, Pastor? God hasn’t opened up the money tree for me! I work hard for what I get!" Yes, that’s what I just said. But have you ever considered what MIGHT happen to you and your family if you weren’t in God’s will? Sometimes we might not be able to physically SEE the results of His blessings.....but God does NOT lie ROM 3:4 says let every man be a liar, but Gods word be true....and God will do His part if you are doing your part! He may be protecting you from some evil you don’t even know about! Doing things in the spiritual realm that you have no idea how He has protected you...EPH 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.