I AM…Providing

Do you see the glass…

• Half Full?
• Half Empty?
  

In life, everyone has what’s called a cognitive filter, it’s the way you perceive reality.

• Optimists see opportunity
• Pessimists see all the potential problems.
  

A picture frame represents how you see the world.
Your environment has and does impact your perception of the world.

• If you grew up in or are in a bad home situation,you see the world from your lens.
• If you grew up in a good school with good teachers and good parents or a good parent, you see the world from your lens.
  

For those that have gone through tough times the good news is that you can reorient your cognitive filter through good counseling and self-learning.

Know your identity in Christ and not others or things or money. When you have your identity in Christ and live a Christian lifestyle it helps you keep things in the right perspective.

The closer to Christ you are the better and clearer you will see and know God.
The closer you are to Christ the more you will see His provision for you in your life.

The Israelites are now in the dessert.

The cloud is over them during the day to protect them from the sun,
and the pillar of fire at night to keep them warm.
But what about food?
The people have no food and no water. They brought what they could carry when they plundered the Egyptians on the way out of Egypt and now their food and water is gone.

“Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
Exodus 15:22-24

You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.
Actually originated because you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them rink because a horse will never drink poison water. They have the ability to be able to smell the water to determine if its drinkable. If the hose won’t drink the water, you shouldn’t either because its bad water.

“Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.”
Exodus 15:22-25

God would provide for them again and again in surprising ways that would draw them closer to Him. Not everyone all the time would grow in their faith, but many did. This was just another instance of God providing water when there was no potable water. But their faith was short lived. They had water to drink then realized how hungry they were.

“The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
Exodus 16:1-3

Their cognitive filter was twisted and out of whack and it got that way because they felt hopeless.
They didn’t think they had any option but starvation.
Then God provides yet again.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
Exodus 16:4-5

Manna means, “What is it?”

The sixth day people were to take twice as much so they would not have to work collecting it on the Sabbath.
If they tried to keep it overnight any other day it would go bad and become inedible because God provides daily provision.

“The Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’” That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need.’”
Exodus 16:11-16

Some scholars suggest that manna pictures the humility, perfection, purity, and sweetness of Christ.
Jesus tells us that he is the bread from heaven in John 6:48–51.

“I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
John 6:48-51

Manna is connected with the morning dew, reminding us that we need Christ daily. This implies the sufficiency of Christ to meet every need of all His people. Once gain God provided in a way that was not expected. He provided a way when there was no way.

Jesus says
When we are thirsty,
He is the living water

When we are hungry,
He is the bread of life.

If you feel that God is distant, move closer to Him.

Why did God wait until they were really thirsty and really hungry?
He was testing their faith. He was drawing them closer to Him.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”
James 1:2-3

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:19

God knows the difference between what you want and what you need.

Sometimes
God doesn’t give you what you want
because if He gave you what you want,
He wouldn’t give you what you need,
because you already settled for what you wanted.

One tangible way that you can see God provide is if you tithe.
When you tithe you get to see God provide. That’s why it is so important.

Put God to the test.

• The one and only time we are ever told to test God is in tithing. Yet so many Christians don’t participate.
  

He will provide for you financially if you trust Him. That’s God’s promise.
God provided clean water after Moses threw a stick in the pond. He provided refreshing water from a rock after Moses was told to strike it with his staff. He provided bread from the sky and quail from the wilderness. He provided in ways the people never could have guessed.

The closer you grow to God by reading the bible, praying, learning more about Him, trusting him in your circumstances, and through worship the more you will see how He provides for you every day.