God doesn't Meet Needs,...He Exceeds Them

 

 

Ephesians 3:20.

 

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

 

Jude 1:24.

 

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.

 

The word exceeding comes from the root word (excel) which means to be better or greater than. So, this scripture literally means that God will do greater or more than you, or I, ask or think. Also that he (God) will do it with exceeding joy! I'm glad that I have a God that knows my need, and will not only meet that need, but will do greater than the need and will do it with exceeding joy. I'm so thankful and blessed to know him (God) but, even more blessed to have the assurance that he knows me.

 

Israel was and are God's chosen people, the very elect! Yet, because of disobedience they drifted away from God. God expels his wrath upon Israel, the clouds float away, the morning dew fails, God sends a drought through out the land. The country begins to languish, the people begin to suffer, the nations morale begins to erode. Don't you know that we serve the same God that Israel did? Don't you understand that God has not lost any of his power? If he pronounced this plague on his elect...don't you know that he is able to do the same thing to the United States? God loves us so much that he might have to make some sacrificial choices to get this nation's attention. Sometimes when you correct a child...you have to bear down pretty good on the rod to get the child's attention. I believe the same thing applies when the Lord is chastising a nation or a generation.

 

Elijah the Tishbite hides at the brook called Cherith and was fed by God appointed ravens. After a while the brook dried up and Elijah moved to a place called Zarephath. But as long as he waited on God, the Lord provided for him. When we are obedient to God...he will provide!

 

But in the mist of wrath God remembers mercy. Divine love rendered is so glorious when it shines in the midst of judgments. Fair is that lone star which smiles through the rifts of thunder clouds, bright is the oasis which blooms in a wilderness of hot sand. Both fair and bright is God's love in the midst of wrath.

 

In this scripture in I Kings 17, God has sent a devastating, an all consuming, famine to the lands. The land is parched, cooked dry, by the bright sun and the lack of moisture. The people are lamenting, mourning and repenting, because of the judgments of Almighty God, whom they have rejected for the false gods of heathens.

 

Ahab and Jezebel had provoked the wrath of God, and God determined to withhold both dew and rain from the sin polluted land. Brethren/Sisters...the land we live in today is far more polluted than what Israel was...according to God's word...we are long overdue for judgment! It's just the mercy and grace of the Almighty God that has spared us to this point. I have always wondered why people will wait for the judgments of God to come before they will admit to their sins in repentance before God who will forgive and bless.

 

But while God poured out his wrath upon the land and the people, he took care that his own chosen ones should be secure. God has, and will always, take good care of his own. The words of David were, “I've been young and now I'm old, but I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread.” If all the brooks dried up, yet would God preserve a place for his Elijah. Not only Elijah, but God had prophets hidden by fifties in caves, that were fed, not by ravens, but by a prophet named Obadiah, and he was getting the food to feed them with from Ahab's store of supplies.

 

Come what may, God's people are safe. If the world is to be burned with fire (which it is), among the ashes there shall not be found a trace of a child of God. If the world should again be destroyed by a flood (which it won't), yet should there be found another ark for God's Noah and family. If God can not save his people under heaven, he will save them in heaven!

 

Be ye then confident, my good friends, when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, when you hear of nation rising against nation, when you hear of famines, when you hear of pestilence's, when you hear of earthquakes in divers places, when you hear of false prophets, when you hear of iniquity abounding, when you hear of the love of many waxing cold, let no distress trouble you, rest under the broad wings of Jehovah and be secure, and nothing by any means shall be able to hurt you.

 

Temporal Things Run Out:

 

Youth evaporates into old age

 

Health deteriorates into sickness

 

Strength declines, then comes weakness

 

Money defaults and you're left as a recipient of welfare

 

Friends terminate the friendship and you're left detached and lonely.

 

Memory abandons you early and you forget easily.

 

Yes, temporal things fail everyday, things that we put our hope in, things that we cared for, things that was a real blessing to us. They fail. Temporal things certainly failed the little woman from Zarephath, listen to her as she laments, I Kings 17:12, “And she said as the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but only a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse, and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. The Lord will never ask you for more than you have. Sometimes when our faith is tested, the Lord may ask for all you have, remember Job? However, he was blessed with a double portion in the end.

 

There has never been as many things failing as many people as there is in our day. Because of the point that people place their expectations (on worldly or temporal things) is the reason why so many in this generation are feeling defeated. Jesus asked the disciples once, “Where is your faith?” I would take this time to tell you, if your faith is in temporal things, get ready, because temporal things will fail you.

 

Our Need For Something Lasting:

 

This woman was no Hannah, I read not that she had smitten the Lord's enemies like Jael. Nor had she forsaken the gods of her country like Ruth, she was no more noble than any other woman, in fact she was a heathen from Sarepta, a city of Sidon. But, she had a need. Having a need is where faith takes seed, it's where faith is birthed! I want you to know that her condition was one of misery in the very last degree. Her husband had died, he left no inheritance, she had no money, and when you got no money, you got no future...until you turn to Jesus!

 

There are times when the love of God finds us all in this very condition. Most of us came to God because there was not anywhere else to go and no one else cared. We can be the most educated people in the world but, that doesn't supply the need. No one cares how much you know...until they know how much you care. Some of us tied a knot in the end of the rope and hung on a little longer, but then when it finally dawned on us that it was useless, we surrendered to the Lord. Worse than temporal insolvency, is spiritual deficiency.

 

Mister/Mam the world will let you down, but the scripture assures that Jesus will never leave nor forsake you. In a world of failing love, failing marriages, failing families, failing governments, failing economics, we need something that we can build our future on that will not fail. We need something that will become a foundation that we can build a substantial life upon and the one thing in life that is infallible is God and his word.

 

God Exceeds Expectations:

 

The first words this woman heard from the God of Israel robbed her. “Fetch me a little water in a vessel,” robbed her. “Bring me a morsel of bread in thine hand,” robber her. Again, God will not ask more than you can give, but he may ask for all that you have. He did not ask Abraham for more than Abraham could give, he asked for what Abraham loved, but not for more than Abraham could give. Give, my friends, obediently and cheerfully!

 

After she had obeyed the man of God, and had given that last cake, she remembered the words of the prophet, “Fix for me, and after make for thee and thy son.” Sometimes we are so caught up in this carnal world that we don't hear the complete sentence. All we hear is the first command that required us to give...then it dawns on us that there was more to the command than we initially heard. There was a handful of meal at night, there was a handful of meal by day. The barrel never filled, but it never emptied either. That's just God! He supplies, blesses and fills us, we use it and he fills again...we never run dry!

 

My brethren/Sisters, we have daily necessities. Maybe you think “because our needs are so vast, the supply will surely run out. But rest assured, according to God's word this can not happen. Each day, though it bring it's trouble, shall bring it's help. Though it bring it's temptation, it shall bring it's escape, though it bring it's need, it shall bring it's supply.

 

You will see the sinner die, for he trusted in his natural strength; you will see the proud Pharisee totter, for he builds his hopes upon the sand; you will see your own selfish schemes blasted and withered, but you yourself will find that your place of defense shall be the “munitions of rocks.” Your bread shall be given to you, and your water shall be sure. Isaiah 33:15-16. He that walketh righteously, and speaketh unrightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high: his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him: his waters shall be sure.

 

The staff on which you lean, shall never bend or brake.

The arm on which you repose, shall never grow weak.

The eye that looks over you, shall never grow dim.

The heart that loves you, shall never grow weary.

And the hand that supplies you, shall never be empty.

 

You have gone through spiritual fires, have you been burnt?

You have walked through spiritual waters, have you been drowned?

You have crossed spiritual valleys, have you been wearied?

You have experienced spiritual trouble, did your confidence give way?

You have faced mountains in your path, are you afraid of the climb?

 

Let past experiences console you about the future, snatch an ember from the alters of the past, and rekindle the dying flame of today. He that has been with you in time past will not leave you in time present nor in time to come. Matthew 28:20. “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

 

The “little” in the barrel brought this woman into contact with God on a daily basis. II Corinthians 4:16-17. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” By the same token that the "little" in the bottom of the barrel brought this saint back to the Lord everyday...so it is today with the Holy Ghost.  The Lord renews us, we use that up in a short period of time....then we go back to the "spiritual well" and get a refill or renewed.  Remember the ten virgins?  Five were wise (kept their lamps full) while five were foolish and used all their oil (holy ghost) and did not refill their lamps.  Our light will not shine in this dark world if we don't have an adequate amount of oil! How are we going to be identified in the dark (which this sinful world is) if our lamp isn't shining?