“At the moment I have all I need – and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:18-19 NLT)
Have you ever been in desperate need? Like sinking in quicksand with no one within miles kind of need? Here’s the tragedy – lost people are slowly sinking in the mire of their sin, yet have no apparent awareness of their need, while here we are with the rope of their only hope securely anchored in Jesus, but we’re too frightened to hand it to them. What’s wrong with that picture!
Pastor Rick Warren wrote: “Sometimes in life, you don’t realize God is all you need until God is all you have—and that’s exactly what he wants you to learn.” There was a time in my life when I learned that valuable lesson. It seemed I was all alone. In my heart I felt no one cared and I had no one to turn to. Of course, that wasn’t true, but truth doesn’t matter when you’re in the middle of a pity party.
But that’s when the Lord showed up and said to me: “Are you an idiot! What about…then he began to list all the names of people who loved me and stood with me.” NOT! He doesn’t work that way. He gently and quietly shared with me that I wasn’t alone because He was with me and He was all I needed! Fortunately, He’s never allowed me to forget that, and I pray it’s a lesson you’ll learn and never forget.
Charles P. Jones, the songwriter, got it right when he penned the words of the beloved hymn “All I need” the chorus of which says: “Wisdom, righteousness and pow’r, Holiness forevermore, My redemption full and sure, He is all I need.” Why are we so blind to God’s all sufficiency until we come to the end of ourselves and our limited means of meeting our own needs?
As we stand on the threshold of this new year, might it be an excellent opportunity for us to open our hearts and minds to the reality that in and of ourselves, we’re never enough. We’re not strong enough, rich enough, talented enough, smart enough, holy enough; we can’t serve enough, love enough, pray enough, or attend enough meetings to ever earn or deserve self-sufficiency.
If we could ever be good enough to be free of our sin without Jesus, He would never have come to die in our place to pay the penalty for our sin that we could never have paid in all eternity. Jesus is all we need because He’s God poured into human flesh. He lived as we live, died as we die, and suffered every human emotion that we will ever experience.
He sees what we can’t see and feels what we can’t know He feels when we’re suffering. He sees not only how we feel, but why we feel that way and alone understands the answer to our suffering rests in our trust in Him. If only we’d learn He’s all we need, we’d immediately turn to Him in every moment of our lives, believing that whatever it holds, He holds our hand and will walk with us through it.
Please don’t enter this new year without Him. Please tap on the highlighted link and let Ron Hutchcraft walk you through a simple, straightforward explanation as to how to place your trust in Jesus and allow Him to become the Lord of your life. Jesus is literally all you need. Everything else that you think you need or have ever needed comes from and through Him. He is our Provider. Always has been. Always will be.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 