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| Volume 20 Number 3 March 2018 | Page 13 |
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| Volume 20 Number 3 March 2018 | Page 13 |
Cliff Holmes
I have my weaknesses and limitations, and I’m growing older much more rapidly than I like to consider. Each morning, I open my medicine box and consume an assortment of prescription doses to help provide what my body needs to maintain a reasonable portion of health. Each formula has something that I need, but no one source is enough to provide all that I need. How thankful I am that in my relationship with the living God, I can truly say that He alone is sufficient for my every need. I never have to ask, “Is God enough?" The following Scriptures show the answer to that question, which many may be seeking.
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). The shepherd always supplies every need for his flock. I am part of Christ’s flock, and He will supply in some way or another all I could possibly need. Most of us, myself included, have known good times and bad, prosperity and perhaps want, but thanks to the God who meets our needs, I have never been hungry or begging bread.
We are not sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God. We all work with heart, hand, mind and body to provide the needs for ourselves and for our families. We toil diligently to provide food, raiment, shelter and safety for ourselves and for our children, but we do not do this alone. Scripture says “…but our sufficiency is from God” (2 Corinthians 3:5). We must trust God to be our full and complete sufficiency.
“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in Him in all speech and knowledge” (1 Corinthians 1:4-5). God will provide not only the needs of the body, but speech and knowledge, too. God provides us the ability to know, to converse and to commune with Him. The grace of God given in Christ Jesus allows us to discern from where we came, where we are going and what we are to do while we live our lives, no matter how long that may be. Our task while here is to serve Him and to be grateful for all the riches of life itself with which God has so generously blessed us
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Philippians 4:19-20). Be assured that from His riches in glory in Christ Jesus for whatever you need, God will surely provide to His faithful and obedient children. 
System Reset
Derek Broome
It’s Monday morning and you are tired. You get to the office, already dreading the day ahead, when suddenly you remember you forgot to print the reports for your boss. You rush over to your computer. It is fifteen minutes before the big meeting. You open your computer and try to access the file. Nothing is working. “What is wrong with this machine?” You finally decide to restart your whole system. Slowly but surely, the system begins to open up. You are barely able to get everything printed that you need, but you make it. Your week has officially begun. Your week is as busy as ever, and you promise yourself that this weekend you are going to get some rest. One activity leads to two, maybe three. Church services on Sunday are followed by more activities Sunday night. It is now Monday morning again.
Many people rush through life, day in and day out, and they never take time to rest. Sooner or later, if we do not take care of ourselves, we find ourselves like that old computer on Monday morning, in desperate need to be shut down and restarted. As a Christian, living a life that is so focused on the next activity hurts more than just our physical lives. Our spiritual lives begin to take a back seat to everything else, and eventually we find ourselves looking back, "Wondering how did things go so wrong?"
Jesus taught many great lessons while He was here on the earth that can help us as we live our lives. These principles are applicable for day-to-day living and for those times where we need a good reset. Here are just a few. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” We see in this verse that the rest that we all truly need can be found in Christ, but we need to come to Him. Jesus went off by Himself in Matthew 14:23 after the feeding of the five thousand. Here we see specifically that He went off by Himself to pray. Prayer is how we come to Christ and take to Him our cares.
However, we need more than just rest and prayer. In Matthew 11:29 when Jesus was letting us know how we can find true rest, He gave us some instructions, “learn from Me.” As Christians today, we learn from God by studying His Word. As we study His Word and grow in faith, we become better prepared to take on each day. Yet, that still leaves the question of our busy and over scheduled lives. What do we do about that? In Matthew 6:33 we read, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” In our lives, we are to be focused on God and less on the cares of the world. When we get distracted by the world instead of on the things of God, our spiritual lives will suffer, and we will be in need of a good restart. Each day we should take time to be alone with God in prayer and in the Word. As we plan our lives, we need to always remember to put God first. Lastly, we must all remember to take time to rest. All of these things will help us in life and will help us as we live for Jesus.