JEHOVAH-JIREH – “THE LORD OUR PROVIDER”
The revelation of ‘Jehovah- jireh’ – God our provider, is one of the redemptive names of God. He is our provider! He provided a ram just in time for Abraham, and He is able to provide for our needs as well, when we are steadfast in our faith and expectation.
Genesis 22:1-19 – Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
Special note: Abraham’s confident faith is seen before the test, declaring by faith that they would both return…
6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
Special note: Abraham’s confident faith is seen during the test – declaring that God would provide the sacrificial lamb.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” 12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, Jehovah-jireh – The-Lord-Will-Provide (Heb. YHWH Yireh); ; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men…
Song: JEHOVAH-JIREH, MY PROVIDER
Jehovah-jireh, my provider, His grace is sufficient for me, for me, for…
Jehovah-jireh, my provider – His grace is sufficient for me!
My God shall supply all your need…
According to His riches in glory.
He will give His angels charge over you…
Jehovah-jireh cares for me, for me, for me
Jehovah-jireh cares for me!
BLESSINGS OF THE PROVISION OF ALL NEEDS
Psalm 34:9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want (no lack) to those who fear Him…
other translations – …or all who fear him will feast with plenty. (TPT) …•those who fear him will have all they need. (NLT) …those who fear Him lack nothing (NIV)
Psalm 67:1-2, 7,10 – God be merciful to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us, Selah2 That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations. Let all the peoples praise You.6 Then the earth shall yield her increase (yield its harvest); God, our own God, shall bless us. 7 God shall bless us, And all the ends of the earth shall FEAR Him.
Philippians 4:19 – my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
GOD’S SUPPLY
Elisha and the widow – “how can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” (2 Kings 4:1-7 “What is in your house?”)
Special note: Expect God to take whatever is in your church, home and life and do much with it. We can expect much because we know a God who can do much with whatever we have in the house.
Psalm 31:19 – How great is your goodness which you have stored up for those who FEAR YOU, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.
Psalm 68:10 – … O God, you provided for the poor (your needy people).
Psalm 132:15 – I will abundantly bless her provision, I will satisfy her poor with bread (my provision).
Psalm 64:3 – … you come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways.
Malachi 3:10 – Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house…and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
Luke 6:38 – Give and it will be given to you… for with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Special note: Do not let the fact that you have needs kill your generosity. Instead continue to give as God directs, and believe in faith that He will hear and answer your pleas for help.
Psalm 68:19 – Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits…
Matthew 7:7 – ask… seek.. knock.. how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him.
John 15:7 – If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
GOD IS ABLE TO PROVIDE FOR US
Ephesians 3:20 – Now to Him who able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…
GOD’S MIRACULOUS PROVISION
Inspiring thoughts from Int’l Minister Tommy Barnett regarding the Lord’s miraculous provision: 1
- Most people regard problems as hindrances to miracles happening in their lives. Actually, just the opposite is true. You cannot qualify for a miracle until you have a problem.
- The Israelites had the Jordan River blocking them from going into the Promised Land. There’s always a problem out in front of us. There will always be a Jordan River. Before we can see a miracle, we must go a little further. They had to go into the midst of the water before the waters parted and the miracle was seen.
- Shadrach & friends faced the fiery furnace. In the midst of it, the Lord was there to preserve them and help them through.
- David & Goliath. When there was a giant to overcome, victory was accomplished through God’s power and provision.
- Jericho had high walls, but in spite of them being formidable, God miraculously brought them down and brought a mighty victory!
- 12 spies – There were real giants in the land. Several had good reports – believing God was well able to help them overcome / some bad reports (Deut. 1:22-36).
- Psalm 78: 9-11 – The men of Ephraim … turned back in the day of battle – they forgot what God had done, the wonders he had shown them, and gave place to.
- We all want miracles. There is a great risk involved in miracles. You have to step out into your problem, face your difficulties and confront your enemies before you will see a miracle. Face the problem. This means we must humble ourselves, pray, repent, and seek God’s face (2 Chronicles 7:14).
- The thing that qualifies you for a miracle is a problem. Be willing to face and enter into your problem. Pray and seek God’s face for the solution to your problems.
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
We need faith, and to speak words of faith based on God’ Word!
Mark 11:22-24 – So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
I Timothy 5:8 – But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Isaiah 41:17-18 – Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.
Proverbs 6:6-8 – Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, 7 Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, 8 Provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.
Special note: Just like the ant is a diligent worker, we need to follow that good example – and provide food in harvest.
Walking by faith 1) Knowing what God want you to do 2) Obeying whatever He shows you to do, then… 3) Trusting Him to do what you cannot do, in His way and in His time.
You can always trust God to meet and supply your needs when you cry out to Him in FAITH.
More scriptures about provision…
Deuteronomy 30:9 – The Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good. For the Lord will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers,
John 10:10 – … I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
2 Peter 1:3-4 – – as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,…
2 Corinthians 9:8 – And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
I Corinthians 2:9 – – But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.
Psalm 84:11 – For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
Psalm 37:3-5 – Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.
Proverbs 3:5-10 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. 8 It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones. 9 Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the first-fruits of all your increase; 10 So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.
Psalm 23:1,5 – The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want (lack)… You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
Psalm 65:9-11 – You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, for so You have prepared it. 10 You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth. 11 You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance.
Psalm 1:3 – He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.
Isaiah 55:11 – So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
Ephesians 1:3 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
Luke 11:13 -If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Deuteronomy 28:1-14 – (Overflowing blessings upon the obedient)…
Isaiah 43:19-21 – Because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen.21 This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise.
Lamentations 3:22-25 – Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
Psalm 121:1-6 – (Our help comes from the Lord)…
Psalm 36:8 – They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
Leviticus 26:5 – …you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
Matthew 6:26-33 – Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
STORY OF PROPHET ELIJAH
1 Kings 17:1-7 Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve—there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!” •2 Then the Lord said to Elijah, 3 “Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. 4 Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.”
GOD’S SUPPLY IS UNLIMITED
God can even use fish, animals, and birds – like ravens, to provide what we need – even before we consider it or ask. Let’s not limit Him! All things are possible with God! (Matthew 19:26)
God used to a big fish to help rescue Jonah. (Jonah 1:17). He also used a fish to provide tax money for Jesus and Peter. (Matthew 17:27)
Psalm 50:7-12 – “Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you; I am God, your God! …10 For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. 12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its fullness.
Psalm 81:10 – I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
Psalm 78:40-42 – How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! 41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.42 They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.
Special note: Let’s have FAITH, not doubt and unbelief! Let’s not limit God!
Experiencing the Exciting Adventure of Giving
(Taken from Bill Bright’s “How You Can Experience the Adventure of Giving”.) 1
Enjoying God’s Abundant Blessings! Giving by faith is an exciting privilege! When you are a faithful and obedient steward, He showers you with blessing, and turns your giving into a thrilling adventure in Christian living. The following steps can be taken to appropriate God’s abundant blessings through faithful stewardship.
- Recognize that everything you “own” actually belongs to God. (Psalm 24:1; Acts 17:28).
- Realize that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35; Lu 6:38; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8.10,11. 9 (Most Christians have not learned to give, either out of their abundance or poverty, and therefore are not experiencing the reality of His promise of abundance. He blesses us to be a blessing – Psalm 67:1-2).
- You can never out-give God! It is an amazing law of God that His blessings back to you always exceed what you give to Him!
- Giving begins an endless circle of joy! God gives; you receive. You give; He receives. He then multiplies your gift back to you in the form of additional supply. This enables you to give more, completing the circle over and over again (2 Corinthians 9:10).
Proverbs 11:24-25– There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty.
25 The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.
Don’t misunderstand the meaning of blessing.
The various possibilities of God’s blessings are endless. It is not just financial blessing. God knows your true needs, and wants to do His very best work, and wants the best for you. It may be improved health and strength, a better job, wiser management of the funds you have, or contentment with what you do have so you can enjoy greater fulfillment in life, etc… (Philippians 4:12,13).
Give by faith
Take God at his Word and give generously in anticipation of His faithful provision (Philippians 4:19) Recognize that: God is the true source of supply. “God shall supply” (Philippians 4:19). Giving is based on His resources, not your own “according to His riches”. Christ is your link to God’s inexhaustible riches. “by Christ Jesus”.
what you sow, you will reap
Seeds produce the kinds of plants and fruits they came from (Genesis 1:11). This is a spiritual principle, as well as a physical one. A man reaps what he sows (Galatians 6:7,8; 2 Corinthians 9).
This law is seen in the following basic principles:
- To reap anything, you must first plant a seed. Whatever you give is a seed that you sow for an expected harvest.
- To reap a bountiful harvest you must sow your best seed. God wants your best because He uses what you give as the basis of His supply. He gave His very best – His Son.. It grieves the Spirit of God when you do not give Him your best. This means that the best of your life – the best of your time, the best of your talents, should be on the altar of sacrifice to God.
- You reap according to the amount you sow. This Biblical principle is basic to life – “if you give, you will get!…. (Lu 6:38).
- An abundant harvest springs from the most fertile soil. The choicest seed and best soil with the finest equipment and fertilizers and ground preparation and careful nurture affordable bring the best crops. We need to seek the greatest possible return for the sake of God’s kingdom. We need to wisely invest our resources. Good stewardship of any gift is determined by how well it reflects the will of God.
- Give to glorify God! As a steward of God’s resources, you have but one purpose – to glorify Him. It is poor stewardship to invest resources that God has entrusted to you into anything that is not directly related to discipleship, evangelism, and the fulfillment of our Lord’s commands.
- Give from the heart! Good stewardship is not just knowledge or application of the principles and priorities of giving. Our motives are an essential part of it as well! Godly motives come from a cheerful, loving heart for God. We give to please God and express our love to Him. We give out of obedience to our Lord’s command to lay up treasures in heaven. We give to be a channel of God’s abundant resources to a desperately needy world. We give to help fulfill the Great Commission and help reach the world for Christ. Keeping right motives is essential if we are to accomplish this for the glory of God.
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1. Special acknowledgement to Int’l Minister Pastor Tommy Barnett and his insights regarding the Lord’s miraculous provision.
2. Special acknowledgement – “How You Can Experience the Adventure of Giving” by Bill Bright; Philippine Campus for Christ, Published by NewLife Publications, Orlando, Florida, USA.
3. Special acknowledgement and thanks to Evelyn Asuncion for her assistance in helping prepare this message and for sharing it at our online service.
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