With America’s economy in shambles and so many people facing financial pressure, I thought I’d look up some of the Bible’s best promises about God’s provision. If you’re anxious over making ends meet, here’s a list of verses in which God promises on the authority of His goodness to meet all our needs. These promises have conditions, of course, for they’re given to those who faithfully love and serve Him. But the promises themselves are of greatest benefit to those who are struggling in the Red Sea, that is, in a sea of red ink.

• The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want—Psalm 23:1.
• Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing—Psalm 34:9-10.
• No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly—Psalm 84:11
• I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread—Psalm 37:25.
• And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus—Philippians 4:19.
• Do not worry, saying, “what shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For… your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you—Matthew 6:31-33
• He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?—Romans 8:32
• God will provide—Genesis 22:8
• So Abraham called the name of the place, “The-Lord-Will-Provide—Genesis 22:14.

Read through this list with pen in hand, circling the verse or verses that most encourage you. Look up any passage you’ve circled and read it in its fuller context. Then memorize and claim it for yourself as an act of faith. If you’re a pastor, consider using these verses as a Sunday morning Scripture reading, or a responsive reading. Or you can hammer them into a sermon outline.

Here are my teaching notes from KALEO last night as we covered the opening vision in the book of Revelation.

• 1:9:  John the Apostle was exiled 40 miles off the Turkish coast on the island of Patmos. He was the elder statesman of Christianity, the last surviving member of the apostolic band. The Roman government wanted to minimize his influence so they banished him to this island; but God used the forced exile to give us the book of Revelation.
• 1:10: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” Some interpret this as “I was caught by the Spirit into the Day of the Lord to see coming events.” But the simplest understanding is that as John was worshipping and Spirit-filled on Sunday, he began receiving this series of visions and revelations.
• 1:11: This book is addressed to seven churches in western Turkey (ancient Asia Minor). As Bishop of Ephesus, John probably kept an itinerary and preached regularly in these seven churches. The order given in this verse follows the common postal route of that day.
• 1:12-16: This is the first time John had seen his Friend since Jesus ascended into the sky on Ascension Sunday 60 years before. Now he again saw Jesus, enthroned, resplendent in glory. This is a literal view of Christ, although some symbolism is overlaid across it. It reminds us of how Jesus appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration. The most wonderful thing about this vision is that the risen, glorified Christ is seen walking among the seven golden candlesticks, which represent the churches. Jesus is walking among His churches during the church age. At TDF, He is walking through the Celebration Center, through the Life Group areas, through the offices, through the nursery, up on the catwalks. He is present as we gather together.
• 1:17-18: His first comment to John was: “Do not be afraid.” Why should be be unafraid at the onset of the End Times? Because Jesus is the First and the Last, Alive, One who was dead, but is now alive. He is the living one. He is in charge.
• 1:19: This verse gives us the outline to the book of Revelation. Write:

1. The Things You Have Seen (chapter 1)
2.  The Things that are Now (chapters 2-3), which describes the present condition of the churches.
3. The Things that will take place later (chapters 4-22)

There is an alternate way of looking at this verse. It depends on whether you put a comma or a colon after the word “seen” in verse 19. It could be Write the things you have seen:

1. The things that are now (chapters 1-3)
2. The things that will take place later (Chapters 4-22).  This is not a big difference in interpretation. While most Greek experts prefer the latter, most English students of the Bible (including me) prefer the former, giving the book of Revelation a three-fold division.

• 1:20: This is a good example of how the book of Revelation interprets itself. The seven candlesticks are symbolic of the church, and the seven stars are the seven “angels” or “messengers” to the church. This could refer to literal angels (meaning that every church would have an angel assigned to it); or to the messengers who would take this book to the seven churches; or to seven leaders of these seven churches.

An African proverb claims, “Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.” We love smooth seas and sunny days, and if we had our way there’d be no storms, no clouds, no sorrows, and no losses. But Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:22, NKJV), so we’d better learn to be good sailors.
 
But in that verse – John 16:33 – Jesus didn’t close His mouth and stop talking at the end of that phrase. There’s not a period after the word “tribulation.” In my Bible, there’s a semicolon:  “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
 
Praise God for that semicolon! All our losses are temporary; all our blessings are permanent. In the power of Christ, we are more than conquerors. Nothing can separate us from His love. All things work together for good. Those who wait upon Him will renew their strength, and we can do all things through Him who strengthens us.
 
Here’s the full quote from John 16:33: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Before the word “tribulation” is “peace” and after the word “tribulation” is “cheer.” Jesus Himself is the opening and closing: “I have spoken” and “I have overcome.” And we are “in Him!”

Here are my teaching notes from KALEO last night as we covered the prologue of the book of Revelation.

• 1:1:  Revelation is a book to be understood.  The title of the last book of the Bible is taken from the first verse.  The Greek term is apokalypsis, from which we get our English word apocalypse.  But the Greek term doesn’t mean apocalypse; it means unveiling.  The prefix (apo) means from. And the root word means “to hide.” So the term actually means to remove something from hiding, to reveal, to unveil, to disclose a mystery that has been hidden.  So the first phrase of Revelation tells us that God intends for us to understand this book. It is readable, understandable, and enlightening.  We can study it and figure it out.
• 1:1-2: This is a book to be shared.  Note the channel of transmission: This material was given by God the Father to God the Son, and from God the Son to an angel; and from the angel to John; and from John to the seven congregations in Turkey; and from them to us; (and from us to those with whom we share it). This is a pass-along book, a book to be shared.
• 1:3:  This is a book that blesses us.  Revelation is the only book in the Bible that contains a specifically-stated blessing for those who read and heed it.  This beatitude is repeated at the end of the book, as well (22:7).
• 1:4:  This is a book that starts with greetings from the Trinity.
• 1:5-6: This is a book that begins with a Doxology.
• 1:7: This is a book that begins with a hymn.
• 1:8: This is a book that begins with a declaration from Christ.

Notice how many different types of communication John packed into the prologue of this book: A title sentence, an explanation about its transmission, a greeting, and doxology, a hymn, and pronouncement.  The great theme of it all is the unveiling of Christ at the end of the ages.

In his classic book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, Dale Carnegie told the story of Robert Moore, one of 88 men who sank in the submarine Baya of the coast of Indo-China in 1945.  While on patrol, they were detected by the Japanese Navy.  The Baya battened its hatches, went down 150 feet, turned off all the fans and electrical gear, and tried to be absolutely silent in the water.

Suddenly six depth charges exploded all around them, pushing them down to the ocean floor.  The men were terrified as hour after hour depth charges exploded all around them. The sailors were ordered to lie quietly in their bunks, remaining absolutely calm.  But the men were so frightened they could hardly breathe, and at any moment they expected the vessel to be ruptured.  With the fans and cooling system shut of, the air inside the sub was over 100 degrees, but Robert Moore said he was so chilled with fear that he put on a sweater and jacket.  He was coated with a cold, clammy sweat.

The attack continued fifteen hours, and those fifteen hours seemed like fifteen million years.  Robert’s whole life passed before him, and all his prior worries seemed to fade into insignificance compared to this.

How big all those worries seemed years ago! But how absurd they seemed when depth charges were threatening to blow me to kingdom come.  I promised myself then and there that if I ever saw the sun and stars again, I would never, never worry again.  Never!…. I learned more about the art of living in those fifteen terrible hours in that submarine than I had learned by studying books for four years in Syracuse University.

Robert Moore and the men on board the Baya did survive the attack, and he came away with a different perspective on life. 

One of the ways to live with less worry and more joy is to consider what might have been, then rejoicing that it wasn’t. If you’re needing a little more joy and thanksgiving today, just think of all the disasters the Lord has prevented, all the trials that have not come, all the diseases you don’t have, all the heartaches that haven’t appeared.  Things could always be worse; so be grateful they aren’t.

And thank Him for His shield of favor.

Winston Churchill, famous for his quips and quotes, once said:  “There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result.”

In other words, it aids our spirit of gladness and thanksgiving to consider all the things that have not happened to us.

One day, according to a time-honored story, St. Francis of Assisi longed to see his brothers. They agreed to meet in a remote monastery in the Umbrian mountains of central Italy. After arriving and enjoying their reunion, each reported what he had experienced on the road.

One Franciscan brother who had traveled on muleback said: “God protected me in a miraculous way. When I was crossing a narrow bridge over a deep mountain gorge, the mule jumped. I fell and narrowly escaped falling over the wall of the bridge into the gorge. God by his love saved my life.”

A second brother said: “I had to cross a river and I slipped and fell. The waters carried me down the river. But God in his grace provided a tree which had fallen across the river. I could grasp a branch of that tree and pull myself ashore, thanks to God’s miraculous mercy.”

Then St. Francis said: “Let us thank God for his wonderful works. I did experience the greatest miracle of all on my way. I had the smoothest, most pleasant, completely uneventful trip.”

We should rejoice in every safe and uneventful trip as gladly as if saved from a near disaster.  Thank the Lord for His constant oversight.

PS – The Francis stoy is from John H. Townsend, in Pulpit Digest, September/October 1979, p. 53.  On a personal note, I’m speaking this weekend at a retreat in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  Be in prayer for Joshua Rowe as he preaches at TDF, and for our all-music night of praise and worship.

A thankful, cheerful spirit can be cultivated by considering what might have been, and then rejoicing that it wasn’t.  There’s an article on CNN today about the emotions of the passengers aboard Northwest Flight 253, now that some time has passed since they were nearly killed by the Christmas Day Underwear Bomber.  One of the passengers, Roey Rosenblith, 25, had a great thing to say.  This is very preach-able (except maybe for the beer reference).

Though this might sound strange, for me personally almost getting killed 30,000 feet above the earth by an al Qaeda terrorist has been one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.  Now being alive, seeing the blue sky, hearing the rain fall, eating a delicious meal, drinking a beer with a friend – everyday stuff just feels like an amazing gift…  I feel as though I’ve somehow cheated death and against all odds been given this gift of continuing my life.

I actually have my boarding pass framed now, and it’s sitting on my desk, right next to a little prayer book I keep with its page turned to Psalm 23.  I keep it there simply to remind myself that whatever happens to me, things could always be far worse.

It reminds me of an incident from the life of St. Francis of Assisi, a quote from Winston Churchill, and from a story from a Dale Carnegie book.  I’ll post those over the next few day.  It’ll make a good multi-part series on the joys of not being killed.

Speaking of the weekend, I’m leaving today to speak at a Pigeon Forge retreat sponsored by my friends, Jerry and Linda Scarborough, of Columbus, Georgia.  It’s a beautiful weekend with lots of sunshine, and I’m looking forward to the trip.  Thanks to all who hold us up in prayer.

Today at the Alabama Ministers and Workers Conference, I shared the six C’s of guidance, and someone suggested it for a journal entry, so here it is.  Let me hasten to add that here at the Dothan conference, Randy Sawyer’s messages and those of Cliff Donaho have been excellent.  Thanks to both of them for their encouragement!  And my thanks to Heath Hubbard for driving down here with me and for his help and fellowship.

1. Commit your decision to the Lord in prayer.
2. Open the Covers of the Bible and seek Scriptural direction.
3. Seek the Counsel of those who know more about the matter than you do, for “in a multitude of counselors there is safety.”
4. See how the Circumstances are leading
5. Very often, an inner Conviction will begin to develop. The Holy Spirit helps us instinctively know what to do
6. Finally, Contemplate the issue. Think it through. God gave each of us a brain, and He expects us to use it to arrive at a wise and sanctified decision.

There’s a fascinating article in today’s New York Times that has tremendous significance from a spiritual perspective.  It’s about that fact that people die in the Philippines whenever they hear Frank Sinatra’s song, “I Did It My Way.”

 I’m a minor Sinatra fan and sometimes play one of his albums on my iPod while cooking or cleaning around the house.  But I’ve never liked “My Way.”  It’s my least-favorite Sinatra tune – morbid, fatalistic, sad, openly arrogant, humanistic, and defiant.  It’s about a man who is dying and, looking back over his life, feels good about the fact that he has done things his own way.

 Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew

When I bit off more than I could chew;

But through it all, when there was doubt

I ate it up and spit it out.

I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way.

 Well, there’s something about this song that releases an unhealthy, self-assertive energy in bars and karaoke restaurants in the Philippines. People get into fights and literally start killing others while the music’s going. This song has now been stricken from many nightclubs there because it fuels deadly fights.  No one knows how many people have been killed during the singing of “My Way,” but the police have a subcategory of crime dubbed “My Way Killings.”

 I don’t need to add that the “My Way” philosophy is the very essence of anti-Christian thinking.  As believers, our aim is to please Christ in every way.  We don’t come to the point of death and look back over our lives with fatalistic defiance.  We want to be able to say, “I have finished the work You gave me to do.”

 Our attitude is: “I did it His Way.”

During this morning’s Quiet Time, I was finishing a book by F. B. Meyer entitled The Christ-life for Your Life, and his final chapter is entitled “Heart-Rest.”  As Christians, wrote Meyer, we should have perpetual rest in our souls and spirits, and he uses two analogies from nature to describe it.  It is a…

Rest that is full of work; but like the cyclone, all the atoms of which revolve in turbulent motion around the central cavity of rest, so do all the activities of God revolve around His deepest heart which is tranquil and serene.

And it is possible, if you and I learn the lesson amid anxiety and sorrow and trial and pressure of work always to carry a heart so peaceful, so still, so serene as to be like the depth of the Atlantic which is not disturbed by the turbulent winds that sweep its surface.

As we grow in Christ and increasingly learn to rest in Him, those word-pictures become more and more real in our experience.  It wonderful to enjoy rest that’s full of work.

PS – If you want to view last Sunday’s sermon in Jackson, Mississippi, clink here and select the sermon, “The Lord’s My Shepherd—That’s Enough.”