In Your Bible Read This
Philippians 4, 2-20
Here Is Your Memory Verse
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious
riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4.19.
Afterwards Talk About
This
Talk about the principles that you have discovered in the
life of Jesus
and Paul. Cant you live that way as well?
Something To Do Before
Next Time
Make a personal or family budget for each month of the year
giving
your income and expenses. List all your expected income on one
side
and your expected expenses on the other side. Do they balance?
Income over expenses is blessed, expenses over income is stressed!
Written Diploma Work
List all Deuteronomy 28 has to say about prosperity
and poverty and write on one page why each comes.
Meditate Word By Word On
This Verse
Deuteronomy 28.47
- Spend
a Minute to Change the World
- Pray For Djibouti - 473,000 Muslim Somalis and Arabs
- Mere handful of
Christians, hot, desert land in horn of Africa
- Be sure to
teach this lesson to others.
- Always pray
and prepare well adding
- your own verses and stories to
bring it to life.
God Had One Son, He Was A Missionary
How did Jesus live? How did he buy his food
and pay his bills? Did he turn stones into bread as he surely
could, or did he minister as a man empowered by the Holy Spirit?
Philippians 2, 6-8, and Acts 1.2 tell us it was the latter.
We dont know all the answers but the
Bible offers lots of clues without giving any particular method.
Lets deal with one important question first.
Was Jesus A Poor Man?
Most people and pastors will answer, "Yes,
he was." People seem to think there is something holy or
humble about poverty, although actually the Bible says it is a
curse. Deut. 28.47.
Why Would A Poor Man
Have A Treasurer?
Do the poor men you know have a man always
with them to keep account of all the money that comes in and goes
out? One thing is clear, Jesus had resources for himself, for a
team of twelve young, hungry men, and for giving. A poor man
would never have a treasurer, but Jesus did. So there was money,
but where did it come from?
Jesus Chose Weakness
Today everyone looks for strength but Jesus
chose to be weak, vulnerable and dependent upon his Father and
upon his friends.
-
He chose to be born in the lowest
of circumstances.
-
He decided to be in the family of
an ordinary working man.
-
He chose to be an ordinary worker
in society, not removed from its pressures. He made
himself vulnerable, subject to the local economy and
dependent.
-
He was anointed with joy but also
familiar with the suffering of the peoples around him.
Isaiah 53.3.
-
Jesus chose to go without things
people said were necessary. He said that he had
nowhere to lay his head, presumably meaning property
that he owned, because good homes were always open to
him. He therefore kept expenses and debts to a
minimum. We know that he chose to sleep outside for
at least 40 nights.
-
He worked making and repairing
furniture until he was 30.
-
He welcomed accommodation and
hospitality. We find Jesus in the homes of Zaccheus,
Matthew, Simon a Pharisee, Martha and Mary at Bethany,
Peter's mother-in-law, and others.
-
He was not too proud to be a man
supported by ladies. Luke 8.3.
-
He allowed his disciples to break
church rules to gain God's provision. Matthew 12,1-8
-
His disciples went shopping, John
4.8, and also caught fish to eat and sell.
-
There were miracles of provision
from time to time but they are the exception rather
than the rule, and include a fish with a coin in its
mouth; taking a little boys lunch to feed 5,000 men
and a catch of fish for a resurrection meal.
Simple Not Spectacular!
The point that God is trying to make
through the story of Jesus is that there are miraculous
provisions when we need them but normally Gods provision
for eleventh-hour workers will come through everyday events and
from the ordinary people he brings across your path. Keep on
going in holiness, meekness and in living for others and you will
see how God builds a solid bridge under your feet as you step out
upon the thin air of faith in him and in his word. See John 6.35
How Did Paul Live?
Now, what about Paul, the man who opened up Europe for
the gospel, and who wrote most of the New Testament letters.
Who Supported Paul's Ministry?
It wasn't the church at Antioch, because in practice that
would have been impossible in those days. In any event Paul
was sent off by the Spirit rather than sent out. Churches
supported him, and churches also withdrew. Once only one
church supported his pioneering. See Phil. 4.16.
-
Support from Antioch, could only
ever have been from time to time. How could they know
where Paul was? There were no credit cards, banks,
registered letters, money by wire services or
telephones.
-
Like Jesus, Paul welcomed
hospitality even from refugees like Priscilla and
Aquila in a simple home, Acts 18.3
-
In Cyprus, Barnabas' family had
homes. So where did they stay? With them!
-
In prison people brought food and
later the jailer made a meal. Acts 16.34.
-
At Philippi, he stayed with Lydia,
a new convert and business lady, Acts 16 15.
-
Paul had his own workshops to make
and sell goods in the market, to provide for himself
and for the needs of others. Acts 18.3; 11.26; 20.24;
2 Thess. 3.8.
-
The Levites, who were the Old
Testament Christian workers depended on the Temple.
But when the temple could not help they had a field
of their own to grow food and sell it. Num. 3; Num.
18.21; 35.2, 6-7, Nehemiah 13.10.
Pauls Theology Of
Support
Paul, the greatest theologian of his time
explained his way of living something like this, " I do
whatever is necessary, the best I can wherever I find myself. I
have learned the secret of being content in all circumstances, in
poverty and in prosperity. I work hard to get along and I am what
I am by the grace of God. "1 Corinthians 15.10.
You have seen that you do not need to be a
person of great faith to step out to answer the call of God. The
two greatest people in the New Testament have shown us just how
straightforward it is to live in the grace and provision of God.
To Close Pray For The
World's Most Unreached Peoples By Name
Taken from the
Joshua Project Unreached Peoples List these
people have no church
and as yet no cell, church or mission has committed themselves
to prayer, adoption or church planting among this people.
Libya
|
People Name |
Language |
Population
|
Zuara (Zwara, Zuraa) |
Zuara |
33,000
|
|