Jesus is our bridge to salvation and blessing

Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt

Throughout all Biblical times, God’s people have struggled with believing that God really loves them. They’ve struggled with the thought that the God of the universe would intimately care about them. They struggled believing He would always be with them, would continue to love them despite their faults, would watch over and protect them, and would care and help them in the details of their life. They struggled with these thoughts then, and people still struggle with them now. I guess not that much has changed!

People desiring provision and protection isn’t new. When God’s people cried out to Him for it, God brought help through the person of Moses. God promised to deliver them from trouble, prosper them, and protect them if they’d trust in Him. We read this in Deuteronomy 6:22-25 NLT. “Before our eyes the Lord sent miraculous signs and wonders… But He brought us out from there (their place of trouble,) to bring us in and give us the land that He promised on oath to our forefathers. The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear (reverence) the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive (protected,) as is the case today…”

When God first used Moses to bring them from Egypt, He made it clear that He wanted to bless them and bring them into a better place—a place called “the Promised Land.” God’s people hadn’t been to this land yet. They really didn’t know how great it was or what to expect. Nor did they really understand all God desired to do for them IF they would trust and put their faith in Him. Every time they saw the supernatural power of God intervene, it affected and blessed their lives in some way. God brought protection—the parting of the Red Sea and the drowning of Pharaoh’s armies. He brought provision—water from a rock and food—a sea of quail that flew right into their camp and manna—angel food from Heaven. He brought treasures—all the Egyptians gave the Israelites an abundance of jewels, silver, and gold as they left Egypt because of the Lord’s doing. They were also left with the riches of every people they defeated by God’s hand. They had seen God’s miraculous hand again and again. When these miracles were fresh, they had faith. As soon as any kind of hardship came along, they abandoned their faith and whined to Moses and God.

They always wanted to see Him move in the form of magnificent eye-popping miracles. If they didn’t see God move in some demonstrative miraculous way as they faced their day-to-day problems, then they turned their back on Him and abandoned their faith.

People still do that today. They bargain with God and pray more out of desperation than an unwavering faith based upon their confidence of His love and trust in what He has promised. Could they only have faith if He did these kinds of miracles every day? Children have more faith than that!

God promises that if we obey Him in our lifestyle and have faith and trust in Him, then our faith in what He promises us will result in provision and protection. That doesn’t mean we don’t face troubles. Remember that Satan is your adversary and against you. Psalm 34:19 (NKJV) says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.”

It does mean that through your faith, God will see you through the trouble. We see these promises over and over in God’s Word. Psalm 9:9-10 NKJV says, “The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, O Lord, have never abandoned anyone who searches for You.”

We see this again in Psalm 37:39 NIV “The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; He is their stronghold in time of trouble.” And again in Psalm 34:7 (TLB) “For the Angel of the Lord guards and rescues all who reverence Him.”

His promises apply to us all. Faith pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). Your confident faith through Jesus Christ is the bridge to all promises and miracles of God. What a powerful secret to learn! This is what brings God’s life-changing power into our lives. It not only changes our circumstances, it changes us! It changes our way of thinking and our character. It transforms us into people who truly trust God and have sincere faith! He wants us to learn and know His will so that all His promises of protection and blessing can be ours through faith!

1 John 5:14-15 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of Him.”

In His love,
Pastor Tim Burt

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