Divine Provision Quotes

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Without a regular pay for two years, I appreciate the timeless provisions of God.
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
Do you want to be safe from the influence, ways, and lusts of the world and the flesh (I John 2:16)? From the sins which so easily entangles us (Hebrews 12:1)? Then delight in yourself in the Lord, in His provision, in His Word. Faithfully feed on the things that possess true substance and real meaning. When you remember that "all Scripture is given by inspiration by God and is profitable" (2 Timothy 3:16) and partake of such divine substance, then you are fed, you are led and you are safe!
Elizabeth George (Quiet Confidence for a Woman's Heart: The Power of God's Restoration and Healing)
Jehovah-Jireh is a Great provider. Even in times of famine, we have enough to eat.
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
Where God leads, He provides.
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
In the year 1819 an act of Parliament was proposed limiting the labor of children nine years of age to four-teen hours a day. This would seem to have been a reasonable provision, likely to have won the approval of Christ; yet the bill was violently opposed by Christian employers, backed by Christian clergymen. It was interfering with freedom of contract, and therefore with the will of Providence; it was anathema to an established Church, whose function was in 1819, as it is in 1918, and was in 1918 B. C., to teach the divine origin and sanction of the prevailing economic order.
Upton Sinclair (The Profits Of Religion)
What timeless resources, God provide to serve every need?
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
Headship is the divine calling of a husband to take primary responsibility for Christ-like, servant leadership, protection, and provision in the home.
John Piper (This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence)
Divine favor is the supernatural agent that positions us for "unfair" blessings, abundance, and provision.
T.D. Jakes Ministries (Favor Ain't Fair: 90 Promises for Experiencing God's Blessing, Abundance, and Provision)
the key to understanding the Beatitudes. They serve to clarify Jesus’ fundamental message: the free availability of God’s rule and righteousness to all of humanity through reliance upon Jesus himself, the person now loose in the world among us. They do this simply by taking those who, from the human point of view, are regarded as most hopeless, most beyond all possibility of God’s blessing or even interest, and exhibiting them as enjoying God’s touch and abundant provision from the heavens.
Dallas Willard (The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God)
Principles of Liberty 1. The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural Law. 2. A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong. 3. The most promising method of securing a virtuous and morally strong people is to elect virtuous leaders. 4. Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained. 5. All things were created by God, therefore upon him all mankind are equally dependent, and to Him they are equally responsible. 6. All men are created equal. 7. The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal things. 8. Men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. 9. To protect man's rights, God has revealed certain principles of divine law. 10. The God-given right to govern is vested in the sovereign authority of the whole people. 11. The majority of the people may alter or abolish a government which has become tyrannical. 12. The United States of America shall be a republic. 13. A constitution should be structured to permanently protect the people from the human frailties of their rulers. 14. Life and Liberty are secure only so long as the Igor of property is secure. 15. The highest level of securitiy occurs when there is a free market economy and a minimum of government regulations. 16. The government should be separated into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. 17. A system of checks and balances should be adopted to prevent the abuse of power. 18. The unalienable rights of the people are most likely to be preserved if the principles of government are set forth in a written constitution. 19. Only limited and carefully defined powers should be delegated to the government, all others being retained by the people. 20. Efficiency and dispatch require government to operate according to the will of the majority, but constitutional provisions must be made to protect the rights of the minority. 21. Strong human government is the keystone to preserving human freedom. 22. A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men. 23. A free society cannot survive a republic without a broad program of general education. 24. A free people will not survive unless they stay strong. 25. "Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none." 26. The core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore, the government should foster and protect its integrity. 27. The burden of debt is as destructive to freedom as subjugation by conquest. 28. The United States has a manifest destiny to be an example and a blessing to the entire human race.
Founding Fathers
Reclaiming the sacred... is not simply a new linguistic or symbolic strategy for feminism. It goes to the heart of feminist struggles for social justice and can provide a critical foundation for social transformation. At one level, feminism becomes a means for the decolonization of the divine. At another level, the provision of spiritual strength to individuals deeply committed to social justice is more necessary than ever in a world racked by immense hatreds that feed on each other in endless cycles of retribution, always in the name of 'justice.' Finally, a spiritualization of social movements can provide a means with which to break from these cycles of retribution which perpetrate multiple and linked forms of oppression so that social movements continually find themselves appropriated by or circumscribed within the very structures they have tried wholeheartedly to resist.
Leela Fernandes (Transforming Feminist Practice: Non-Violence, Social Justice and the Possibilities of a Spiritualized Feminism)
Worry To worry is to fret or torment yourself with disturbing thoughts. A wise person once said, “Most of the problems I’ve had in life never happened.” Is the emotion of anxiety consuming you? Is it attacking someone in your family? Do you dwell on “what will happen if” more than you abide in God’s Word and promises of divine provision? “Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.”3 Ultimately, worry is faith in fear and not in God! We all experience various trials in this life. It’s normal to be concerned about the crisis you or a member of your family may be facing. But excessively worrying about a situation will not change it; only by taking your concerns to the Lord in prayer and leaving them at the altar can your outcome be different.
John Hagee (The Three Heavens: Angels, Demons and What Lies Ahead)
That’s when I realized that, more often than not, the miracle isn’t the absence of struggle, disease, or pain; it is the presence of grace and certainty, the ability to face strife, the unknown, or a slow death, without fear. My obsession with divine intervention had distracted me from the truth that God had already intervened. We desperately want provision to make sense on our terms—bills paid, food on the table, and sickness taken away—but simply waiting on God and being angry when he doesn’t show up the way we want him to is a perverted sense of provision. Make no mistake, I believe that physical healings still happen. But God has made it pretty clear that while he answers prayers, those answers are based on his understanding, not our own; and when it comes to God’s provision for the world, we are the front lines. Or at least we should be.
Patrick Gray (I'll Push You: A Journey of 500 Miles, Two Best Friends, and One Wheelchair)
Dignity and honor are gifts: “[O God], You exalt whomever You will, and You debase whomever You will” (QURAN, 3:26). Proofs of this Divine law abound. There are many accounts, for example, of people who were once in positions of authority and wealth, who then find themselves paupers completely stripped of their former glory, reduced, in many instances, to wards of the state. God is powerful over all things, and all good, authority, and provision are in His hand, not ours.
Hamza Yusuf (Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart)
Cain and Abel represent two classes that will exist in the world till the close of time. One class avail themselves of the appointed [73] sacrifice for sin; the other venture to depend upon their own merits; theirs is a sacrifice without the virtue of divine mediation, and thus it is not able to bring man into favor with God. It is only through the merits of Jesus that our transgressions can be pardoned. Those who feel no need of the blood of Christ, who feel that without divine grace they can by their own works secure the approval of God, are making the same mistake as did Cain. If they do not accept the cleansing blood, they are under condemnation. There is no other provision made whereby they can be released from the thralldom of sin. The class of worshipers who follow the example of Cain includes by far the greater portion of the world; for nearly every false religion has been based on the same principle—that man can depend upon his own efforts for salvation. It is claimed by some that the human race is in need, not of redemption, but of development—that it can refine, elevate, and regenerate itself. As Cain thought to secure the divine favor by an offering that lacked the blood of a sacrifice, so do these expect to exalt humanity to the divine standard, independent of the atonement. The history of Cain shows what must be the results. It shows what man will become apart from Christ. Humanity has no power to regenerate itself. It does not tend upward, toward the divine, but downward, toward the satanic. Christ is our only hope. “There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” “Neither is there salvation in any other.” Acts 4:12.
Ellen Gould White (Patriarchs and Prophets (Conflict of the Ages Book 1))
The Bible account of man's creation is that God created him perfect and upright, an earthly image of himself; that man sought out various inventions and defiled himself (Gen. 1:27; Rom. 5:12; Eccl. 7:29); that, all being sinners, the race was unable to help itself, and none could by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him (Psa. 49: 7, 15); that God in compassion and love had made provision for this; that, accordingly, the Son of God became a man, and gave man's ransom-price; that, as a reward for this sacrifice, and in order to the completion of the great work of atonement, he was highly exalted, even to the divine nature; and that in due time he will bring to pass a restitution of the race to the original perfection and to every blessing then possessed. These things are clearly taught in the Scriptures, from beginning to end, and are in direct opposition to the Evolution theory; or, rather, such 'babblings of science, falsely so called,' are in violent and irreconcilable conflict with the Word of God.
Charles Taze Russell (Studies In The Scriptures, Volume 1)
There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those . . . we spent with a favorite book. Everything that filled them for others, so it seemed, and that we dismissed as a vulgar obstacle to a divine pleasure: the game for which a friend would come to fetch us at the most interesting passage; the troublesome bee or sun ray that forced us to lift our eyes from the page or to change position; the provisions for the afternoon snack that we had been made to take along and that we left beside us on the bench without touching, while above our head the sun was diminishing in force in the blue sky; the dinner we had to return home for, and during which we thought only of going up immediately afterward to finish the interrupted chapter, all those things with which reading should have kept us from feeling anything but annoyance, on the contrary they have engraved in us so sweet a memory (so much more precious to our present judgment than what we read then with such love), that if we still happen today to leaf through those books of another time, it is for no other reason than that they are the only calendars we have kept of days that have vanished, and we hope to see reflected on their pages the dwellings and the ponds which no longer exist.
Maryanne Wolf (Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain)
Then now let us consider what will be their way of life, if they are to realize our idea of them. In the first place, none of them should have any property of his own beyond what is absolutely necessary; neither should they have a private house or store closed against any one who has a mind to enter; their provisions should be only such as are required by trained warriors, who are men of temperance and courage; they should agree to receive from the citizens a fixed rate of pay, enough to meet the expenses of the year and no more; and they will go to mess and live together like soldiers in a camp. Gold and silver we will tell them that they have from God; the diviner metal is within them, and they have therefore no need of the dross which is current among men, and ought not to pollute the divine by any such earthly admixture; for that commoner metal has been the source of many unholy deeds, but their own is undefiled. And they alone of all the citizens may not touch or handle silver or gold, or be under the same roof with them, or wear them, or drink from them. And this will be their salvation, and they will be the saviours of the State. But should they ever acquire homes or lands or moneys of their own, they will become housekeepers and husbandmen instead of guardians, enemies and tyrants instead of allies of the other citizens; hating and being hated, plotting and being plotted against, they will pass their whole life in much greater terror of internal than of external enemies, and the hour of ruin, both to themselves and to the rest of the State, will be at hand.
Plato (The Republic)
The "kindness of giving you a body" means that, at first, our bodies are not fully matured nor are our pleasant complexions. We started in the mother's womb as just an oval spot and oblong lump, and from there we developed through the vital essence of the mother's blood and flesh. We grew through the vital essence of her food while she endured embarrassment, pain, and suffering. After we were born, from a small worm until we were fully grown, she developed our body. The "kindness of undergoing hardships for you" means that, at first, we were not wearing any clothes with all their ornamentation, did not possess any wealth, and did not bring any provisions. We just came with a mouth and stomach-empty-handed, without any material things. When we came to this place where we knew no one, she gave food when we were hungry, she gave drink when we were thirsty, she gave clothes when we were cold, she gave wealth when we had nothing. Also, she did not just give us things she did not need. Rather, she has given us what she did not dare use for herself, things she did not dare eat, drink, or wear for herself, things she did not dare employ for the happiness of this life, things she did not dare use for her next life's wealth. In brief, without looking for happiness in this life or next, she nurtured her child. She did not obtain these things easily or with pleasure. She collected them by creating various negative karmas, by sufferings and hardships, and gave them all to the child. For example, creating negative karma: she fed the child through various nonvirtuous actions like fishing, butchering, and so forth. For example, suffering: to give to the child, she accumulated wealth by working at a business or farm and so forth, wearing frost for shoes, wearing stars as a hat, riding on the horse of her legs, her hem like a whip, giving her legs to the dogs and her face to the people. Furthermore, she loved the unknown one much more than her father, mother, and teachers who were very kind to her. She watched the child with eyes of love, and kept it warm in soft cloth. She dandled the child in her ten fingers, and lifted it up in the sky. She called to it in a loving, pleasant voice, saying, "Joyful one, you who delight Mommy. Lu, lu, you happy one," and so forth. The "kindness of giving you life" means that, at first, we were not capable of eating with our mouth and hands nor were we capable of enduring all the different hardships. We were like feeble insects without strength; we were just silly and could not think anything. Again, without rejection, the mother served us, put us on her lap, protected us from fire and water, held us away from precipices, dispelled all harmful things, and performed rituals. Out of fear for our death or fear for our health, she did divinations and consulted astrologers. Through many ritual ceremonies and many other different things, in inconceivable ways, she protected the life of her child. The "kindness of showing you the world" means that, at first, we did not come here knowing various things, seeing broadly, and being talented. We could only cry and move our legs and hands. Other than that, we knew nothing. The mother taught us how to eat when we did not know how. She taught us how to wear clothes when we did not know how. She taught us how to walk when we did not know how. She taught us how to talk when we did not know how to say "Mama," or "Hi," and so forth. She taught us various skills, creative arts, and so forth. She tried to make us equal when we were unequal, and tried to make the uneven even for us. Not only have we had a mother in this lifetime, but from beginningless samsara she served as a mother countless times.
Gampopa (The Jewel Ornament of Liberation: The Wish-Fulfilling Gem of the Noble Teachings)
Imprecatory psalms. Imprecatory psalms (Ps 12; 35; 52; 57—59; 69; 70; 83; 109; 137; 140) are usually lament psalms where the writer’s bitterness and desire for vindication are especially predominant. This leads to such statements as Psalm 137:8- 9, “[Happy is] he who seizes your infants / and dashes them against the rocks.” Such statements are shocking to modern sensitivities and cause many to wonder at the ethical standards of the biblical writers. However, several points must be made. The writer is actually pouring out his complaint to God regarding the exile, as in Psalm 137. He is also heeding the divine command of Deuteronomy 32:35 (Rom 12:19), “It is mine to avenge; I will repay.” Finally, as Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart note, the author is calling for judgment on the basis of the covenant curses (Deut 28:53-57; 32:25), which make provision for the complete annihilation of the transgressors, even family members (2003:221). The hyperbolic language is common in such emotional passages. In short, these do not really contradict the New Testament teaching to love our enemies. When we can pour out our animosity to God, that very act opens the door to acts of kindness akin to Romans 12:20 (Prov 25:21-22). In fact, meditation on and application of these psalms could be therapeutic to those who have suffered traumatic hurt (such as child abuse). By pouring out one’s natural bitterness to God, the victim could be freed to “love the unlovely.” We must remember that the same David who penned all the above except for Psalm 83 and Psalm 137 showed great mercy and love to Saul. When you have called out for justice after being deeply wounded (like the martyred saints in Rev 6:9-11), Romans 12:19 is actually being fulfilled because the vengeance is truly left with God, freeing you to forgive your enemy.
Grant R. Osborne (The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation)
Divine power . . . what mom would turn it down? Jesus, who is God, full of power and might has poured down and lavished on us everything we need to live and serve God. Everything? What kind of resources are we talking about here? The blessings Jesus gives transcend physical things, so take a look at the spiritual blessings He pours out. Start with faith. It’s a gift. How happy can you be if all your anxieties are lifted by Someone you can trust? Because God is good and full of glory, He tells us to give all our worries to Him (1 Peter 5:7) and to worry about nothing (Philippians 4:6); and He promises to pour down peace (Philippians 4:7). He calls us His own, and gives us “very great and precious promises”—gifts of His Spirit, blessings of greater worth than anything money can buy. He gives salvation, eternal life, and the ability, while we’re earthbound, to “share in God’s nature.” Jesus’ Spirit is our companion, so we are never without a friend. He also protects us from spiritual defeat that rises from the evil surrounding us. We have all this available to us daily as we focus on the Person of Jesus. Today, we can pray, “Lord Jesus, thank You that You pour on me everything I need to live the life that pleases You. I want to be infused with Your mighty strength and to stay under the faucet of Your provision today.
Bobbie Wolgemuth (NCV, Mom's Bible: God's Wisdom for Mothers)
Have Thine Own Way Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. PSALM 100:3 NIV “Thou art the potter, I am the clay.” Those are ringing words from the song “Have Thine Own Way” that stirs up emotions and a desire to allow God to mold us and make us in His image. But what a hard thing to do. We strive to create our own worlds, to make a plan, to fix it. However God asks us to allow Him free rein. Sheep follow their shepherd and trust in him for provision. “As in his presence humbly I bow.” Submissive to their masters, they quietly graze the hillsides knowing the shepherd knows best. What a wonderfully relaxing word picture: relying on God’s guidance and timing, following His lead. It is a simple prayer to ask Him to help us give up control, yet not a simple task. In obedience to His Word, we can bow our heads and ask for the Holy Spirit’s direction and take our hands from the steering wheel. Then wait. Quietly on our hillsides, not chomping at the bit; hearts “yielded and still.” We wait for the still, small voice. This day, resolve to listen and follow. Lord, we humbly bow before You and ask for Your divine guidance. Help us to follow Your plan with yielded hearts, ever ready to give up control to You. Amen.
Anonymous (Daily Wisdom for Women - 2014: 2014 Devotional Collection)
God Provides by divine Power through knowledge of His Promises so that we Participate in divine nature in godliness.
Corey M.K. Hughes
Why should we take care to maintain focus on the gospel of grace in our interpretations of Daniel? The first reason is to keep our messages Christian. We are not Jews, Muslims, or Hindus whose followers may believe our status with God is determined by our performance. We believe that Christ’s finished work is our only hope. To make Daniel simply an example of one who fulfills God’s moral imperatives and thus earns his blessing is essentially an unchristian message. Apart from God’s justifying, enabling, and preserving grace, no human can do what God requires to be done. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Interpretations of Daniel devoid of the enabling grace of Christ—even in its Old Testament forms of unmerited divine provision—implicitly deny the necessity of Christ.
Bryan Chapell (The Gospel according to Daniel: A Christ-Centered Approach)
those who understand Jesus and his Father know that provision has been made for them. Their confidence has been confirmed by their experience. Though they work, they do not worry about things “on earth.” Instead, they are always “seeking first the kingdom.” That is, they “place top priority on identifying and involving themselves in what God is doing and in the kind of rightness [dikaiosune] he has. All
Dallas Willard (The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God)
God is our great helper,shelter, provider and protector.
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
Psalm 23 Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life. Psalm 23:6 The end of Psalm 23 sums up its message, that goodness and mercy follows us throughout life and into eternity. The old divines called them God’s two sheepdogs that constantly circle, herd, tend, and protect us every day. Taken altogether, Psalm 23 promises: God’s Peace in Life’s Meadows: “The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the quiet waters. He renews my life.” His Plan for Life’s Pathways: “He leads me along the right paths for His name’s sake.” His Presence in Life’s Valleys: “Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me.” (Here the pronoun changes to the first person: In verses 1–3, it’s “He leads . . . He restores.” In verses 4–6, it’s “You are with me; Your rod and Your staff.”) His Provision on Life’s Tableland: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” His Promises for Life’s Journey: “Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD as long as I live.” Goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow me; And in God’s house forevermore my dwelling place shall be. —The Scottish Psalter
Robert J. Morgan (All to Jesus: A Year of Devotions)
Great is the Lord’s provisions. Even in times of famine, we have more than enough to eat.
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
There are thousands today echoing the same rebellious complaint against God. They do not see that to deprive man of the freedom of choice would be to rob him of his prerogative as an intelligent being, and make him a mere automaton. It is not God’s purpose to coerce the will. Man was created a free moral [332] agent. Like the inhabitants of all other worlds, he must be subjected to the test of obedience; but he is never brought into such a position that yielding to evil becomes a matter of necessity. No temptation or trial is permitted to come to him which he is unable to resist. God made such ample provision that man need never have been defeated in the conflict with Satan. As men increased upon the earth, almost the whole world joined the ranks of rebellion. Once more Satan seemed to have gained the victory. But omnipotent power again cut short the working of iniquity, and the earth was cleansed by the Flood from its moral pollution. Says the prophet, “When Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness, ...and will not behold the majesty of Jehovah.” Isaiah 26:9, 10. Thus it was after the Flood. Released from his judgments, the inhabitants of the earth again rebelled against the Lord. Twice God’s covenant and his statutes had been rejected by the world. Both the people before the Flood and the descendants of Noah cast off the divine authority. Then God entered into covenant with Abraham, and took to himself a people to become the depositaries of his law. To seduce and destroy this people, Satan began at once to lay his snares. The children of Jacob were tempted to contract marriages with the heathen and to worship their idols. But Joseph was faithful to God, and his fidelity was a constant testimony to the true faith. It was to quench this light that Satan worked through the envy of Joseph’s brothers to cause him to be sold as a slave in a heathen land. God overruled events, however, so that the knowledge of himself should be given to the people of Egypt. Both in the house of Potiphar and in the prison Joseph received an education and training that, with the fear of God, prepared him for his high position as prime minister of the nation. From the palace of the Pharaohs his influence was felt throughout the land, and the knowledge of God spread far and wide. The Israelites in Egypt also became prosperous and wealthy, and such as were true to God exerted a widespread influence. The idolatrous priests were filled with alarm as they saw the new religion finding favor. Inspired by Satan with his own enmity toward the God of heaven, they set themselves to quench the light. To the priests was committed [333] the education of the heir to the throne, and it was this spirit of determined opposition to God and zeal for idolatry that molded the character of the future monarch, and led to cruelty and oppression toward the hebrews.
Ellen Gould White (Patriarchs and Prophets (Conflict of the Ages Book 1))
Biblical headship for the husband is the divine calling to take primary responsibility for Christlike, servant-leadership, protection and provision in the home. Biblical submission for the wife is the divine calling to honor and affirm her husband's leadership and help carry it through accroding to her gifts.
John Piper (What's the Difference?: Manhood and Womanhood Defined According to the Bible)
Whether the issues concern justification or sanctification, we live in a clearing hewn by Scripture, with deep woods of mystery regarding divine sovereignty and human responsibility on either side. The Bible gives the answers we need to navigate the clearing, without giving us all the answers for negotiating the woods beyond. ¶ In helping us travel through the clearing, Scripture tells us what direction to face for the answers to questions we must ask in order to progress in godliness. If the questions are, ‘Must I confess Christ as Savior?’ and, ‘Must I obey him as Lord?’ then Scripture turns us toward the horizon of the woods of human responsibility for our bearings. However, if the question is, ‘Where do I get the motivation and enablement to do what God requires?’ then the Bible turns us toward the horizon of divine provision.
Bryan Chapell (Holiness by Grace: Delighting in the Joy That Is Our Strength)
He especially gave voice to the words of Jesus, whose “advice and encouragement” in the Sermon on the Mount spoke to them in their desperate crisis. Drawing on these resources, he urged his people to respond to this time of danger and suffering by imitating God. “It [is] not at all remarkable if we cherish only our own brethren with a proper observance of love.” Instead, Christians should do “more than the publican or the pagan.” They should overcome evil with good and exercise “a divine-like clemency, loving even their enemies . . . and praying for the salvation of their persecutors.” For doesn’t God make the sun to rise and rain to fall upon all people, not merely on his own friends? And shouldn’t “one who professes to be a son of God imitate the example of his Father”? Cyprian’s flock were deeply schooled in Jesus’s teaching that they should love their enemies. And Cyprian extended this teaching by applying it to the provision of crisis nursing for our brothers but “not only our brothers.” Let us imagine the rhetorician Cyprian as he warmed to his point: You Christians, you are my people and flock, you know the mercy of God, and you demonstrate this by providing visits, bread, and water for other believers who are suffering. I praise God for your faithfulness. Now I am calling you to broaden your view, to exercise “a divine-like clemency” by loving your pagan neighbors. Visit them, too; encourage them; provide bread and water for them. I know that in recent months some pagans have been involved in persecuting you. Pray for them; “pray for their salvation,” and help them. You are God’s children: the descendants of a good Father should “prove the imitation of his goodness.
Alan Kreider (The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbable Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire)
A basic guide for application offers this equation: The intention of the text The human condition of the text The human situation of the text The divine provisions of the text Like conditions, situations, and provisions + Responding to the intention of the text in our world _______________________________________________ Near application
Zack Eswine (Preaching to a Post-Everything World: Crafting Biblical Sermons That Connect with Our Culture)
Every page of the New Testament is in perfect agreement. From Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount to the book of Revelation, the message is consistent. It acknowledges the hopelessness of human depravity, but it points to Christ as the only remedy for that dilemma. Starting with the historical facts of His death and resurrection, it proclaims salvation by divine grace (rather than by the sinner’s own works); the full and free forgiveness of sins; the provision of justification by faith; the principle of imputed righteousness; and the eternally secure standing of the believer before God. Those truths all constitute the very heart of the gospel.
John F. MacArthur Jr. (The Gospel According to Paul: Embracing the Good News at the Heart of Paul's Teachings)
THE EIGHT PRAYER WATCHES SECOND PRAYER WATCH (9.00PM—12MIDNIGHT) Father in the name of Jesus, we thank you for the continuation of your unconditional love and your divine protection over our families, our cities, our nation of South Africa and the nations of the world in the mighty name of Jesus ‘Let God arise and His enemies be scattered’(Psalm 68:1). Heavenly Father we ask for your intervention as we are approaching the midnight hour. We pray that you will give us strength and boldness to pray and give thanks to you Father, ‘At midnight I will rise to give thanks to you because of your righteous judgement’ (Psalm 119:62). We ask you Lord to set us free from every stumbling block that try to hinder your perfect gracious plan for our lives, our families, our cities, our villages and our country in Jesus name. The book of Exodus 12:29-31 tells us that it was at the midnight hour when you struck down the firstborns of Egypt which resulted the Israelis to be set free from the captivity. We ask you Lord to set us free from the hatred, anger, poverty, witchcraft and everything that is meant to harm us inJesu name. We come against every power of the kingdom of darkness and we cancel every plan of the enemy that is meant to destroy our lives in the name of Jesus. We pray for healing and the blessings of our beloved country of South Africa. We pray for the increase of repentance, love, peace, kindness, compassion and everything that will build our country stronger in Jesus name. We pray for the increase of provision for the visions God has given us. We pray for the increase of outpouring of the spirit of prayer for the following watch in the name of Jesus. Thank you Lord for your faithfulness and for your mercy and grace. We pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
Euginia Herlihy
And he then said, “O! my soul, look back with gratitude on what the Lord hath done for thee in this excursion. I think it is the seventy-fifth day since I arrived at Rhode Island. My body was then weak, but the Lord has much renewed its strength. I have been enabled to preach, I think, one hundred and seventy-five times in public, besides exhorting frequently in private. I have traveled upwards of eight hundred miles, and gotten upwards of seven hundred pounds sterling, in goods, provisions, and money, for the Georgia orphans. Never did God vouchsafe to me greater comforts. Never did I see such a continuance of the Divine presence in the congregations to whom I have preached.” [Collection of his Journals, p. 437.]
Isaac Backus (Your Baptist Heritage: 1620-1804)
The Christian vision of sexuality is the gracious provision of a loving God who invites us into a life of flourishing via participation in his own character, the relationships within the Trinity, and the reality of the kingdom of heaven as it takes shape on earth.
Jonathan Grant (Divine Sex: A Compelling Vision for Christian Relationships in a Hypersexualized Age)
But still, this great awakening, this surpassing concern, was never excited by any harangues of terror, but always appeared most remarkable when I insisted upon the compassions of a dying Saviour, the plentiful provisions of the gospel, and the free offers of divine grace to needy distressed sinners.
David Brainerd (The Life and Diary of David Brainerd)
Every noble human need has a divine provision. But life is only truly wonderful for all of us when each of us choose to be a channel of divine grace to others at their moments of need.
Tunde Salami
British colonists in Virginia passed the first in 1610:6 Every man and woman shall repair in the morning to the divine service and sermons preached upon the Sabbath day, and in the afternoon to divine service, and catechising, upon pain for the first fault to lose their provision and the allowance for the whole week following; for the second, to lose the said allowance and also be whipt; and for the third to suffer death.
Andrew L. Seidel (The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American)
Provision of divine redemption in the face of spiritual need is the consistent message of Scripture and the chief means by which human hearts flood with love for God that is power to obey his commands
Scott M. Gibson (Homiletics and Hermeneutics: Four Views on Preaching Today)
Christ is life. Accept Christ and live in the peace and salvation of God our Father in the Name of His Precious Son Jesus Christ.....Read all the Stellah Mupanduki books breathed by the Holy Spirit of a Sovereign God and Written by the Finger of God Almighty for your salvation and peace, protection and breakthroughs, justice, joy, long life, stability and favour of God. Love God our Father in the name that is above every name, love God in that wonderful name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world, and everything will go well with you. God is life. You will overcome trials and tribulations, you will defeat your enemies, no disease will dwell in your body, and you live in the great protection and provision of God our Father, in that name of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world.
Stellah Mupanduki
The divine revelation was through the enjoyment of the divine provisions as tasted in the supply of the heavenly manna and the living water flowing out of the smitten rock.
Witness Lee (The Holy Word for Morning Revival - Crystallization-study of Numbers, Volume 3)
But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. (emphasis added) Prayer is like a rocking chair. Sitting in one, you rock back and forth as you talk to the Father about the concerns of your heart. First, you rock forward, gazing right to left, asking yourself and the Lord, “Is this the day of Your answer?” You’re watching for His divine provision. When you don’t see the answer coming, you rock back, waiting for His perfect timing. Your hope is firmly established on His promise that He hears you. You continue rocking forward and backward, you’re continually renewed in His presence, as you watch expectantly for His answer, then rest again, waiting while He works. And one day, as you watch in hope, Jesus will fulfill the desire of your heart in ways that your mind cannot conceive (1 Cor. 2:9).
Tom Doyle (Women Who Risk: Secret Agents for Jesus in the Muslim World)
It is important to see that, in each case, the vision originated with God, not with man. The vision was God's part: Divine sovereignty. Obedience to the vision was man's part: human responsibility. God's vision is always God's provision. There was that which was conceptual. There was that which was practical. The conceptual was brought to fulfilment by the practical walk of obedience to the vision.
Kevin J. Conner (The Vision of an Antioch Church)
When the vessels of mercy perceive the fearsome wrath of God on the disobedient and reflect on the fact that they deserve the same, then in a deeper way they appreciate the riches of God’s glory (τὸν πλοῦτον τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ) and the grace lavished on them. The riches of glory may be defined as “his character, his essence, his divine life and limitless supply of kindness and mercy and wisdom and power and provision” (Berry 2016: 170).
Thomas R. Schreiner (Romans (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament): (A Paragraph-by-Paragraph Exegetical Evangelical Bible Commentary - BECNT))
Great grace saved her, rich grace encouraged her, unbounded grace gave her a divine assurance of forgiveness. It was proved that she was forgiven, for she loved much, but she had never received the full assurance of it. She was a hopeful penitent rather than a confirmed believer. But the Master said, “Thy sins are forgiven thee;” from that moment full assurance of faith must have occupied her soul. And then he gave her that choice dismissary benediction, “Go in peace,” by which the peace of God which passeth all understanding henceforth kept her mind, so that even when she had to go out of this world into the unknown realm, she heard in the midst of Jordan’s billows , the divine sentence, “Go in peace.” Ah! beloved, you know not what grace can do for you. God is not stinted in his grace. If he has lifted you up out of the miry clay, he can do more, he can set your feet upon a rock. If on the rock you already stand, he can do more, he can put a new song into your mouth; and if already you lift the joyous hymn, he can do more yet, he can establish your goings. You do not know the exceeding bounty of your own heavenly Father yet. Unfathomable is his goodness. Arise and enjoy it. Behold the whole land is before you, from Dan unto Beersheba — all the provisions of the covenant of grace belong to you. Have but faith, and you shall yet comprehend with all saints what are the heights and depths, and know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Work is the divine provision God has given to every man through which we can all provide for our needs, for the needs of our families and others.
Sunday Adelaja
done to show that this is not so (which is not to say that there are no points of difference between Thomistic and Aristotelian metaphysics). The dominant form of neo-Platonism in medieval Christian thought was Augustinianism. It is little wonder that the Platonic tradition should have seemed agreeable to the early Church Fathers, for it is not difficult to map Christian beliefs and practices into central elements of neo-Platonism. Most fundamentally, just as the Christian distinguishes between the physical cosmos and the eternal kingdom of God, so Plato and his followers distinguish between the material world and the timeless and unchanging realm of immaterial forms. Similarly, Christians commonly distinguish between body and soul and look forward to life after death in which the blessed will enjoy forever the sight of God; while Platonists contrast the mortal frame and the immortal mind that will ascend to eternal vision of the forms. Supreme among these forms is that of the One whose principal aspects are those of truth, beauty and goodness; a trinity-in-unity ready-made to assist Christians struggling with the idea that God is three persons in one divinity. The lesser Platonic forms, including those corresponding to natures experienced in the empirical world, became the ideas out of which God created the world. Even Christian mysticism found its rational warrant in the idea that the most noble experiences consist in inexpressible encounters with transcendental realities. Aristotle came into his own as a philosopher through his rejection of the fundamental tenets of Platonism and through his provision of a more naturalistic and less dualistic worldview. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the enthusiasm for Aristotelianism shown by Aquinas and by his teachers Peter of Ireland and Albert the Great was viewed with suspicion by the Augustinian masters of the thirteenth century. Even so, it is a serious mistake, still perpetrated today, to represent Aristotle as if he were some sort of scientific materialist. In one of the classics of analytical philosophy, Individuals: An Essay in Descriptive Metaphysics, Peter Strawson explains his subtitle by distinguishing between two types of philosophy, writing that ‘descriptive metaphysics is content to describe the actual structure of our thought about the world, [while] revisionary metaphysics is concerned to produce a better structure’.7 He goes on to point out that few if any actual metaphysicians have been wholly of one or other sort, but that broadly speaking Leibniz and Berkeley are revisionary while Aristotle and Kant are descriptive. In these terms Aquinas’s thought and thomist metaphysics are fundamentally ‘descriptive’, notwithstanding that they are at odds with the materialism and scientism which some contemporary philosophers proclaim as enlightened common sense. The words of G.K. Chesterton quoted at the outset of this chapter
John Haldane (Reasonable Faith)
Active faith is what breeds the perfect environment for the supernatural blessing of God. When you have an active faith, you can receive supernatural healing, deliverance, divine warnings of danger up ahead, provision, and protection.
John Eckhardt (Prayers that Activate Blessings: Experience the Protection, Power & Favor of God for You & Your Loved Ones)
The cruel man is of misanthropic temperament, and is a man of moods, oscillating from quiet brooding to sudden explosions. If a man like this does not fight this unhappy provision of his soul during his youth, under no circumstances could he a void becoming furious - and foolish. There are those who would leave it up to God, but to ensure justice on the earth, and not fob it off to the Divinity, it is mandatory that people know both virtue and its benefits, since the virtues lead to unity among them, not the war of all against all. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to conserve them, and show that crime can only return misfortunes and destruction, including of the criminal himself. Who is the last victim of his crimes.
Frederick the Great (Anti-Machiavel)
Until we really behold the horror of the pit in which by nature we lie, we can never properly appreciate Christ's so-great salvation. In man's fallen condition we have the awful disease for which divine redemption is the only cure, and our estimation and valuation of the provisions of divine grace will necessarily be modified in proportion as we modify the need it was meant to meet.
Arthur W. Pink (The Total Depravity of Man (The Pink Collection Book 55))
Charismatic authority is best described by a series of negatives—by what it is not.161 The staff of a charismatic leader is not made up of technically-trained officials. Appointment and dismissal, career and promotion have no place here, only the call of the leader himself. There is no hierarchical organization, no defined sphere of competence, and no salary scale. There is “no system of formal rules, of abstract legal principles,” no systematic judicial process, and no recognition of the normative status of precedent. Each judicial decision is arrived at de novo, as if by a fresh oracle of the divine. Charismatic authority repudiates the past and allows no place for tradition. Ordinary economic considerations have no place either, while “‘booty’ and extortion” are “the typical form of charismatic provision for needs.
David T. Koyzis (We Answer to Another: Authority, Office, and the Image of God)
PRAY FOR THE NATION Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD. PSALM 33:12 Our nation is always in need of prayer. In good times and bad, whether at war or at peace, during seasons of overflowing abundance or great need, it’s always important for us to intercede for our country. Why? First, because our fellow citizens need to accept Jesus as their Savior. If we desire for our nation to be characterized by godly families, wise and capable leaders, and strong communities, then we need to pray our countrymen will enthrone the Lord in their homes and hearts. Second, we need the Father’s favor and protection against threats such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters, epidemics, and economic downturns. If we wish for our country to remain safe, productive, and strong, we will need God’s divine provision.
Charles F. Stanley (Every Day in His Presence: 365 Devotions (Devotionals from Charles F. Stanley))
Yeah, We go with the flow in everything, as long as we are praying to a powerful and able, True and Faithful God, we breakthrough against all odds…The Lord God Almighty whom we worship, is a God of divine ability and strength and power and honour and wisdom and holiness and wealth, peace and provision, providence and divine intervention, he will will overcome for you.
Stellah Mupanduki (Healed Internal Organs: Healed Family)
I am the Author who is anointed to write unique books that touches humanity and humanitarian issues in this world with a wonderful healing that come from God Almighty…In my works; the work of my hands, breathed by the Holy Spirit of a Sovereign God; human beings are healed physically, emotionally, socially, economically, financially, politically…human behaviour is healed and there is goodness…countries are healed and there is world peace, love, unity, friendship and stability…Destiny is defined, distinguished and found for the world that is destined to live in peace, provision, protection and joy and happiness coming from God Almighty…The prophetic message and mercy of God is prevalent and imparted to a person, an entity, a country, a continent, a society, a community…and a group…There is the small picture as well as the big picture, there is the micro as well as the macro for the healing benefit of all mankind. There is that divine connection between God and his people…God and his world he created…God and entities like, schools, the government, publishers, the work place…Countries are healed physically, politically, economically and emotionally from strongholds. God uses the life of a person, an entity, a country and a continent to bring wholesome healing to the entire world. Countries are healed physically, politically, economically and emotionally from strongholds and erroneous attitudes. These are books that cannot be missed or forgotten…These are life giving Hallelujah Holy and Great Books of all times.
Stellah Mupanduki (Four In One Healing Books: Joyful wells Of Salvation)
Man’s only hopeful option in a universe of God’s making and governance lay in the acceptance and appropriation of this divinely inspired teaching. The Bible, the incomparably unique and authoritative source of spiritual and ethical truth, proffered all that is needful for human salvation and felicity; Scripture was a treasured divine provision that equips sinful rebels with valid information about the transcendent realm, and discloses the otherwise hidden possibility of enduring personal reconciliation with God.
Carl F.H. Henry (God, Revelation and Authority (Set of 6))
I have been asked the question, “If people are simply trying to physically survive by purchasing food through this system, why would God not give them grace and allow them to feed themselves and their families by using this mark?” The answer is that this entire system is based upon a false religion and the idolatrous act of worshipping the Antichrist and his man-made image. Consider this example. When the Israelites departed from Egypt, there were six hundred thousand men, not counting the women and children. They departed with unleavened bread but entered a rugged wilderness where they lacked the foods they were accustomed to in Egypt. There was also a shortage of fresh water. Moses left for forty days on Mount Sinai, and the people demanded that Aaron collect their gold earrings and create a golden calf they could worship. They had lived for hundreds of years among the idolatrous Egyptians, a culture that worshipped a different deity for just about every situation. They also deified and worshipped some mortals; namely, certain rulers. After all that time, the culture had influenced some of these former Hebrew slaves. Several of the Egyptians gods were represented by a cow or a bull, and they all were given names. Each named cow was associated with a particular role, and each had its main center of cult worship. Apis was worshipped in Memphis, Hathor was worshipped in Dendera, and so on. With Hathor being a cow god that was worshipped in Dendera, a location near the Red Sea where the Hebrews might have crossed, it might be reasonable to assume that the Hebrews could have been creating a golden image to represent this Egyptian god. This god was also associated with music and dance, among other things. By molding a golden calf and dancing around it, the Israelites were turning from trust in their God, Yahweh, who delivered them from slavery with astonishing and supernatural signs and wonders. Instead of turning to God for sustenance and provision, their hearts turned to idol worship, which was an abomination to God. The divine punishment for this act was the death of three thousand Israelites and the destruction of the golden calf.
Perry Stone (Artificial Intelligence Versus God: The Final Battle for Humanity)