“The earth was rocked at the sound of His voice from the mountain, but now He has promised, “Once and for all I will not only shake the systems of the world, but also the unseen powers in the heavenly realm!” Now this phrase “once and for all” clearly indicates the final removal of things that are shaking, that is, the old order, so only what is unshakable will remain. Since we are receiving our rights to an unshakable kingdom we should be extremely thankful and offer God the purest worship that delights His heart as we lay down our lives in absolute surrender, filled with awe.” Hebrews 12:26-28 TPT.

It makes perfect sense to me that we all need to be daily, prayerfully, seeking out and loosening any godless-ties we have to this world, and the things in it that are transitory. The stuff that won’t make it through the fire of God. The Lord knows what we need to let go of, and He will help us … but He will not make us do it. Now is the time to deliberately choose Him, despite our current circumstances. A human being’s natural tendency is to go with habitual behaviour when a crisis comes, so this means all of us need to practice relying upon God – so we learn to go to Him first!

Where I live, crisis points are popping up like daisies. It is getting harder and harder for the poor to manage the simple  necessities, like shelter and food. Many people are angry at their governments because money is so tight. Yet some of us still like our nice little extras. All this seemingly important extra stuff, sounds a little like the Egyptian leeks and garlic that the Israelites longed for as they spent 40 unnecessary years in the wilderness. Yet their shoes and clothes didn’t wear out, they didn’t get sick, and the food arrived every single morning. All that sounds good to me!

Today I want to ask some questions: why does it seem like our faith in God’s goodness and provision has gotten so much smaller? Why are we working so hard for the things that will not, and cannot last? We have stopped stretching our faith and trusting in our God. He promised us – IN WRITING – that He will not leave us or forsake us. He tells us, in His book, that He will provide for our needs. Let’s not forget that one of the Lord’s Names is Jehovah Jireh … He is our Provider. Trusting the Lord to provide for us teaches us to step into faith and trust Him. It starts with our giving, and extends into receiving. Both things take faith.

I would like to make a suggestion. Take your gross pay and pray over how much to give away, first. Pray over where you need to give it, I suggest your own church, and then pray about what the Lord wants you to do if there are left-overs. This world’s finances can look like the moths have been at them, but as we choose to pray over them first, we are storing up our finances in heaven. There are no moths up there. There’s no rust either! Our God guides us with His wisdom instead.

Many people tend to approach this subject the other way around by putting their bills and needs at the top. Everyone has expenses. However, if you start with the Lord and let Him guide you, you will experience your needs being met from all kinds of unknown places. It will help build up your faith and enrich your spiritual life. Money is a focal point in our society, including how to get it. When we plan to share, we are walking away from greed.

Here’s a small example of provision: years ago, we bought a good quality solid cake tin from a charity shop, we were poor. It had a huge dent in it and it cost one dollar. Hubby took a hammer and dinged out the dint. That cake tin is still going 39 years later – we laugh every time we use it. You can’t do that with the latest titanium gee-whizz-it-cooks-and-ices-itself model! Now we have a story, not a perfect cake tin. Those things we share, that belong to us, are the things which slowly strengthen and enrich marriages.

Over the years, I’ve experienced the Lord’s provision in so many ways when I decided to put His kingdom first. I exhort you to treat your finances like they are His money, and you are a just a steward of it … because you are! I know that because if someone’s job disappears, the first place they go to is on their knees asking God to give it back please! The Lord tells us clearly not to worry about tomorrow, because ‘tomorrow’ thoughts can ruin today’s flavour. After all, we don’t have to be anxious for anything.

Even though our world is shaking and quaking with earthquakes, floods, fire, tsunamis, tornadoes and volcanic eruptions happening almost every week, plus financial institutions turning up their toes daily! Still, as Christians we need to take a note of the times. Not so that we promote fear, but so we can buy up the days and use our time wisely, as we build up our faith in our generous God Who provides for His kids. As we do this, we increase our personal experience of how big He is. If we never take a risk we will never have a testimony. His perspective about these things is so different to this world, and when we put His kingdom first, that becomes a window into a new way to live.

I can rejoice when my neighbour-who-doesn’t-know’Jesus-yet, is blessed by something that I can clearly see the Lord has done for him and his family. Our Heavenly Father loves to do things in secret for people all over the world, yet they  have no idea where their provision and deliverance came from. But we know. One day, this life will be over, so now is the time to experience our God’s provision and favour. Bye.👋.