“But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33 NKJV)

Simple and powerful!

This is another of my favorite promises that comes directly from Jesus Himself. It is so simple, direct, powerful, and filled with great promise!

Basically, if you SEEK the Lord FIRST (in every situation) along with His RIGHTEOUSNESS (doing God’s right thing in the circumstance), then all the things He mentioned in the previous verses 25-32, about the things you need in life, will be added to you automatically.

“But, my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil.4:19 KJV)

The Golden Promise!

I meditate on and confess this wonderful promise a lot! It is the golden promise that you can apply to every single “need” that arises, whether physical, mental, social, or spiritual!

ALL your need!

Notice that the verse says, “all your need”. That’s a HUGE statement and a wonderful blessing for us to have! And notice that He supplies “according to His riches in glory!” It’s not according to any earthly thing! And notice too, that the last part of the verse says that it’s “by Christ Jesus”. Praise God for that!

“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Eccles. 4:9-12 KJV)

This is another flexible promise that you can use in many applications. It will work in a family (working together as a team), in a business (partnerships), and all kinds of positive relationships (friendships).

It especially works well in marriage relationships!

Couples who see themselves as totally committed partners (the Bible calls it “one flesh”) are empowered to accomplish amazing things together. They become stronger working together than what was ever possible going it alone! They are able to take advantage of each other’s strengths to overcome challenges and succeed.

A threefold cord

The last part of this promise says, “a threefold cord is not quickly broken”. In a marriage relationship that third cord must be God! When a couple puts God into their relationship, something wonderful happens. As they pray together to get closer to God, they get closer to each other in the process! And, another wonderful thing happens! The promise of Matthew 18:19 becomes active for them: “If two of you will agree together on anything, then God will do it”.

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Rom. 10:13 KJV)

This is a wonderful and very powerful promise!

First, it says, “For Whosoever”! Wow! That means ANYONE who calls upon the Lord SHALL be saved! And, this promise is MUCH BIGGER than it looks when you define the last word in this promise “saved” in the original Greek language. That word for “saved” is “sozo” (σῴζω – sózó).

Here is the Greek translation: (you can look it up yourself in Strong’s Concordance):

· Saved from destruction,

· Healed from disease,

· Rescued from the penalty of sin, and

· Protected from danger.

Therefore!

So, what does this familiar promise say now that you know the Greek definition of the word “saved” (sozo) that is used in this promise? Let’s look.

“For whosoever shall call upon of the name of the Lord shall be saved, healed, rescued, and protected!

And, on top of this, the Greek word sozo (saved) is found 108 times in the New Testament! Now that’s something to get really excited about!

“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.” (Psalm 23 KJV)

God is your personal Shepherd!

You never have to worry about anything! Ever! Not only does he take care of your “need” he also takes care of your “wants”!

There is a good reason that God compares himself to a “good shepherd”

· A good shepherd takes care of every single one of his sheep.

· He lays down his life for his sheep (Jesus did that for you!).

· The sheep are led to “green pastures and still waters” where they get all their wants met in complete safety.

It goes along perfectly with: “And, my God shall supply your every need according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19)

“Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter4:11 NASB)

I love this promise/command combination verse, that says that if we serve or speak, we should do so “as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies”.

You are God’s instrument!

Wow, this is clearly telling you to be an instrument of God! This means when you are speaking, you should expect God to speak through you; you let Him use your voice! And when you serve, you should expect God to serve through you; you allow Him to use your hands to serve!

How do you do this?

You fill your mind with God’s Words, so that they will roll off your tongue instantly, in positive and helpful ways (Out of the abundance of a man’s heart, so he speaks – Luke 6:34), and so that His Words will transform the way you behave, and will make you useful, kind, and helpful (Be transformed by the renewing of your mind – Rom. 12:2).

Here is the litmus test

You know you are doing it correctly when it brings glory to Jesus Christ.

Hansi, the girl who loved the swastika

Many years ago I had the privilege of meeting Maria Anne Hirschmann (Hansi), who, as a young peasant girl, had been intrenched in Adolf Hitler’s school for students. She had also been held in a Russian prison camp and forced into slave labor as part of the many horrors of WWII. But, through an amazing set of circumstances, she was able to escape Nazi Germany and flee to an American prison camp. She hoped that she would be treated better by the American soldiers than she had been by the Russian soldiers. And, she was! Many of the American soldiers were Christians. At their camp she found both kindness as well as a genuine life-changing faith in Jesus Christ.

Hansi’s prayer

After the war concluded she traveled everywhere telling about her amazing journey from hopeless desperation to joyful redemption. Wherever she spoke, she always started every talk exactly the same way, with the same simple “Hansi’s prayer”.

“Lord, make me a nail upon the wall. And upon this thing, so insignificant and small; hang a great big picture of thy wonderful, smiling, face!”

Hansi expected God to use her and speak through her, and He always did! And, according to 1 Peter 4:11, He will certainly do the same with you!

“And 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 Cor. 9:8 KJV)

You can abound in every good work!

I expect to succeed in everything I do because of promises like this one!

Even if I do make a mistake, and I occasionally do, I expect God to help me make the necessary adjustments to turn it into a resounding success (His grace abounds to me). And, He always supplies my every need (Phil. 4:19). Some of my best successes, in fact, have come from adjusted mistakes. And what I ended up with was far better than what I had originally planned! Often “more than I could ask or imagine”. (Eph. 3:20).

Gods Guidance System

A while back Susan and I were driving through Chicago during a torrential rain fall. We had the address we needed to go to programmed into our GPS. The rain was coming down so hard that we couldn’t see the road clear enough to safely switch lanes. We were in the wrong lane and drove right past the exit where we needed to get off!

As soon as we missed our turn, a loud voice from the GPS said, “RECALCULATING!” Then, new instructions were given to get us back to where we needed to go. We followed those directions and soon arrived to our destination.

God is always recalculating for you! Because of that, you have no need to worry or fear! Ever! Even if you make mistakes! He is able to make “all grace (undeserved favor) abound to you in all things! And it’s guaranteed for you by this wonderful promise in His Word!

“This is my command--be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 NLT)

In my early years, I was a nightclub performer

My nights were filled with loud music, smoke filled rooms, alcohol and much of the negatives that went along with the lifestyle. Because I got so many free drinks while playing music, I drank too much and eventually developed a chemical dependency. I became an alcoholic! My life was a mess! It was only through the grace of God that I “accidentally” discovered the answer one evening. While partying and drinking with some friends I found a small gospel pamphlet in a glove compartment while looking for matches to light a cigarette. The words in the little booklet explained how Jesus had died for our sins and it explained how to pray a simple prayer of faith to receive Jesus. And I did. And it worked!

My life was instantly and dramatically changed!

I eventually went into full time ministry, began attending Bible college, married a Christian woman, and started a family.

Several years later we were on vacation in Los Angeles and I decided to stop and visit a former nightclub friend who was still in the business. I was hoping that I might get an opportunity to share Christ with them.

They were very happy to see me and invited us to go see them perform that evening, which happened to be the very nightclub where I had last performed!

I did not want to go! But, I didn’t want to sound rude.

So, instead of turning them down flat when they invited us, I turned to my beautiful wife, Susan, and said “what do you want to do, honey?”, believing sincerely that she would say “no” because she had never been inside any place that served liquor.

To my complete shock, she said, “Okay, dear, whatever you want to do.”

I was flabbergasted but didn’t show it! They insisted that we ride with them because it “made sense to take just one car”. But, it also meant that we would be stuck in a nightclub for the entire evening!

My fears were realized!

When we arrived at the club, it was exactly how I remembered and feared it would be! Loud music, “colorful” language, smoke-filled room, dancing and booze!

I was numb and didn’t know what to do

As the evening went by, I sat there feeling completely defeated! Everything that I had left behind was once again all around me! And, I had brought my young, innocent, wife into it! I felt terrible!

I wanted Susan to forgive me!

About halfway through the terrible evening, I leaned over and spoke softly into Susan’s ear. I said, “Honey, can you ever forgive me for bringing you to a place like this?” And, she replied just loud enough for only me to hear what she said, “Have you forgotten who we are in Jesus?”

Gentle words made a powerful difference!

I had forgotten! But now her gentle words had reminded me of God’s promise, “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

Suddenly I felt different.

I felt a renewed confidence. It didn’t matter where we found ourselves to be that evening, the promise of God’s presence, and “who we are in Jesus”, was true! And as soon as I realized that truth, everything changed for me for the rest of the evening! Even though everything around us remained exactly the same, it was no longer a problem.

I felt empowered!

In fact, I was now able to share freely with people around me about my changed life, how it had happened, about Jesus, and what I was now doing in ministry among youth! The rest of the evening turned into a wonderful, unexpected, sharing opportunity! And all because I was reminded of God’s wonderful promise, “the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest”.

“If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.” (Prov. 2:4-5 NKJV)

People sometimes tell me that they can’t understand the Bible so they don’t read it. I tell them that they are making it too hard. They should just read it a little at a time and then think about what they have read. It helps, too, to ask God for wisdom and understanding as they read.

My brother, David, loved to search for hidden treasure. He had a metal detector that he used to comb parks and beaches. It could detect certain kinds of metals buried at different depths of the ground. When he found something, (the detector would beep) he would dig to get it.

Search for hidden treasure!

In a similar way, the Bible says to search the scripture like searching for hidden treasure, then “you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God” (Wow, what a huge promise!) I look for some specific things when I read the Bible such as: sins to forsake, promises to claim, examples to follow, commands to obey, and stumbling blocks or errors to avoid. When reading a passage of Scripture I don’t find all of these things in every verse I read but I always find some of them. It’s fun and rewarding to search for them, to find them, and then to apply them personally.

Put on your “spiritual glasses”

I use a simple Bible study method that helps me “search for hidden treasure” while reading the Bible. In each verse or passage that I read I “put on my spiritual ‘specs’” (glasses) and I then look for these specific things using the following acrostic “SPECS” as a guide.

SPECS

· S – Sins to forsake.

· P – Promises to claim

· E – Examples to follow

· C – Commands to obey

· S – Stumbling blocks or errors to avoid.

This is how I am able to find so many exciting promises in the Bible!