Recipe for Blessings
PSALMS 37:5
The great value of the Book of Psalms is that in it we have godly men stating their experience, and giving us an account of things that have happened to them in their spiritual life and warfare. Throughout history, the Book of Psalms has, therefore, been a book of great value for God’s people. Again and again it provides us with the kind of comfort and teaching that we need and can find no where else. What we find from the beginning to the end of the Bible is the account of God’s dealing with His people. He is the same God in the Old Testament as in the New; and these Old testament saints were citizens of the kingdom of God even as we are today. We are citizens of a kingdom which already contains such people as Abraham, Issac and Jacob.
It is right, therefore, to regard the experiences of these people as being exactly the same as our own. The fact that they lived in the old dispensation makes no difference. We are no different today than folk who lived in the time of the old testament. If any of you are tempted to feel like that, I would invite you to read the Book of Psalms, and then to ask yourself whether you can honestly say from your experience some of the things of the Psalmists said. Can you say, "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up?" Can you say, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God?" Can you say "The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want?" Read the Psalms and the statements made in them, and I think you will agree that these men were children of God. The book of Psalms along with the book of Proverbs is considered to be a Recipe for life. Here in our text today we find one of the most grates recipes for life.
There are biblical principles other than those of faith and healing that we as Christians need to hear. We all know that Faith is the Substance of things Hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. -- We all know that. And we are familiar with healing. For the bible says that by his stripes we are healed.
Certainly, we need to know about faith and healing because the Bible says the just shall live by faith and healing belongs to us in Christ Jesus. But there is a whole lot more to living for God and serving him than getting our needs met. For God is not some slave of ours where he moves at our command. But we are his people and the sheep of his pasture and we are to do his will not him to do our will.
But, God does want to meet our needs. That is His will. Phil 4:19 says "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." But it is also God’s will that we practice the principles of faith. In our text today we find our Recipe for Victory.
One of the greatest secrets we can learn in life is the secret of making a total commitment to God’s Word and learning to completely commit each problem in life to the Lord in faith.
Actually, there can be no faith without commitment. The kind of faith that perseveres is the faith that stays committed to God’s holy written word.
To commit means to roll. In other words, if we commit something to the Lord, that means we completely roll it upon Him with the greatest confidence that it’s going to be taken care of.
If your car was broken and needed repairing and you took to the mechanic to have it fixed, you would be committing it to the mechanic’s care. If he said to you, "I can fix it; your car will be ready next week,: you would return the next week, expecting it to be fixed. You wouldn’t spend the entire week worrying about the details involved in repairing your car. And you wouldn’t call the repairman the next day and ask "Do you still have my car, Is if fixed yet? No, you would have confidence in the mechanic’s ability to fix your car.
How much more confidence should we have in the Lord, the One we call King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The God who owns the cattle of a thousand hills. The God who knows your needs even before you ask. The God who is more than enough to meet our every need. Yet many of us will pray about something and commit it to the Lord, and then question him about it day after day. But that’s not total commitment to God and His Word. In reality, that’s doubt and unbelief.
If you left your car with the mechanic, and someone asked you "Where is your car?" you would tell them, "It’s in the shop getting fixed." Likewise, when you pray to God about a problem or need, instead of begging Him about it in unbelief, we should totally depend on Him to take care of it for you. We need to put our problems in God’s shop and get them fixed. I heard somebody say Jesus will fix it after while.
Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." Psalm 55:22 "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."
In order to get an answer from God, we must commit our problems to God and totally surrender possession of them to Him. Then and only then will we possess the answer to the problem and experience the victory that is ours in Christ Jesus. But, if you continue to hold on to your problem, it will remain a problem because God is not going to wrestle with you to get your problems away from you. God’s Word and his ways are not complicated. He said that the way is so plain that a blind man can see the way and a fool will not error. We need to get our eyes off our problems and look unto Jesus. Who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. Turn it over to Jesus and he will work it out.
We need to learn to be still and wait on God. Continue to listen to what God is saying to us through his word and his holy spirit. If you will wait on God, then even though Satan might try to hinder you, you will be able to claim the victory that is always the outcome of committing everything to the Lord. Remember that we walk by faith and not by how we feel. You may say that I don’t feel like a victor. I don’t have a job. I am behind in all my bills. But no matter how you feel, the Word of God says you are on the winning side because you are in Christ Jesus. We are more than conquers in Christ Jesus. Regardless of how you feel, God will make a way where there seems to be no way. God will open doors that are closed in your face. God will make your enemies your footstool. Get your eyes off your problems and look to Jesus.
Mark 11:23-26 We need to learn how to take God at His Word and commit those things to God that would hinder us from receiving His blessings in our lives. Many people today are desperately seeking answers for their problems, yet they are trying to hold on to the problems. But holding on to your problems will only keep you bound by the circumstances you are facing. You need to turn loose of your problems and commit your burdens and cares to the Lord.
Circumstances can’t hurt you if you are really believing God. Jesus said if I’m for you, I’m more than the world against you. You can praise God that you are going over to the other side to victory in God no matter what the circumstance you may be facing. For I heard somebody say the other day that victory, victory shall be mine. If I hold my peace and let the Lord fight my battles, Victory, Victory shall be mine.
2 Corinthians 5:7 "We walk by faith and not by sight." If I was you today, I would turn it over to Jesus and let him work it out.
