Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Gim'me More!

In worship, we sing a song written by Chris Tomlin that says, "All of You, is more than enough for all of me, for every thirst and every need; You satisfy me with Your love, and all I have in You, is more than enough!" Around 3 am today, while I was watching my Dad wrestle with his illness and weakness, trying to make sense of the cancer that has taken away most everything in his life, those words came to me - I believe from the Spirit. Accompanying the song was a question: is He really enough for you, Jerry, should you find yourself in a situation similar to your Dad? It made me ponder my daily walk with the Lord. Am I nurturing my love for Him in ways that, if everything I cherish were taken from me, I would still have enough in Christ Jesus to be satisfied deeply and fully?

The Word tells us that in Christ Jesus, His disciples find complete sufficiency! "God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." (2 Corinthians 9:8, KJV) Another way to say it is that we have been given all the resources to do whatever He asks us to do!
  • Do you struggle with some temptation? In Christ, you are empowered to overcome it.
  • Are you fighting fear of the future? Christ is bigger than tomorrow and is already preparing you to meet its challenges.
  • Are you dealing with debilitating illness like my Dad? In Christ, there is strength to face the daily loss with faith! And, so goes the list. He is more than Enough for everything - IF we are willing to radically put our trust and hope in Him.

Too often, I am more likely to mourn what I believe I lack that I am to celebrate the sufficiency of Christ's provisions. God forgive me. I fall into the same sin as Israel who, in middle of living on God's Heavenly manna, whined for the food of Egypt, which they remembered having 'at no cost.' What foolishness. They were slaves who ate "cucumbers, melons, leeks, and garlic" (Numbers 11.5) at the cost of their lives and freedom.

The requirements for knowing that He is enough are faith and submission. James says that in the middle of our trials, we need to ask God for what we need. "You do not have, because you do not ask God." (James 4:2, NIV) Read that with understanding! Part of what he is saying is that we will experience God's provision when we want only what God wants, when our desires are aligned to His. If we want things of this world, we have no assurance that God will give them to us just because we request them of Him. And how do we become submitted to Him? He does not subdue us! He invites us to love Him so deeply that we gladly give ourselves to Him - without reservation.

Our submission to Christ Jesus, the Bible teaches, is modeled on the submission of the godly wife to her husband. Her submission does not come from his dominance, or because she is intimidated. He loves her with a selfless love, serving her needs over his own, deepening her trust to the point that she joyfully trusts his servant leadership of the household. Christ Jesus loves us in that way. He has given Himself for us, to the extent of setting aside all his Divine prerogatives to become our Servant. The demonstration of this love should cause us to abandon ourselves to Him.

Here is a declaration of His sufficiency. Read it with joyful thanksgiving, regardless of your need right now. Remember, these are words of life, not mere slogans.

"When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.
Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God."
(Ephesians 3:14-19, NLT)
____________________
You are my supply; My breath of life,
And still more awesome than I know.
You are my reward worth living for,
And still more awesome than I know.

You’re my sacrifice,Of greatest price,
And still more awesome than I know.
You’re the coming King,
You are everything,
And still more awesome than I know.

All of You, is more than enough for all of me,
For every thirst and every need,
You satisfy me with Your love,
And all I have in You is more than enough!

More than all I want!
More than all I need!
You are more than enough for me!
More than all I know!
More than all I can say!
You are more than enough for me!

Chris Tomlin
2004- copyright Worship Together Music

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