28 Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!"
29 "I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."
Don’t you just love Peter? He always says or asks the things we all want to say or we all want to know but we are just too reticent to blurt out! Our Savior is very clear - you simply cannot out give God. He is the Giver of every good and perfect gift. He commands us to give our very lives to Him – to daily deny self and to take up our cross - yet in this giving we receive the abundant life that only comes to the life that: “Forsakes All I Trust In Him” (F\_A\_I\_T\_H). This is what Luke speaks of earlier in his Gospel:
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38 (NIV)
Jesus’ response to Peter’s statement makes every 401K in America pale in comparison! It reminds me of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus gives us the following command:
19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth , where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matt 6:19-21 (NIV)
Our treasured stored in heaven will never be lost or stolen or destroyed. That is a comforting thought is it not? Not only that, He very much cares for our present circumstances as well as our future eternal ones. This is His pleasure – He delights in doing us good.
6 My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart. Jer 24:6-7 (NIV)
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 (NIV)
“All God’s gifts are prepared gifts laid up in store for wants foreseen. He anticipates our needs; and out of the fullness which He has treasured up in Christ Jesus, He provides of His goodness for the poor. You may trust Him for all the necessities that can occur, for He has infallibly foreknown every one of them...God has marked with prescient eye all the requirements of His poor wandering children, and when those needs occur, supplies are ready. It is goodness which He has prepared for the poor in heart, goodness and goodness only. ‘My grace is sufficient for thee.’ ‘As thy days, so shall thy strength be.’ Never shall you come into such a position that Christ cannot aid you. No pinch shall ever arrive in your spiritual affairs in which Jesus Christ shall not be equal to the emergency, for your history has all been foreknown and provided for in Jesus.” C.H. Spurgeon
Psalm 37 is a wonderful Psalm of provision for those who trust in the Lord. While lengthy, it is worth a slow, meditative read. Some of the promises of this precious psalm pop out and speak so plainly to our subject for today. Read and savor God’s loving faithfulness and be blessed:
Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Psalms 37:3-6 (NIV)
18 The days of the blameless are known to the LORD, and their inheritance will endure forever. 19 In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty. Psalms 37:18-19 (NIV)
23 If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; 24 though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. 25 I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. 26 They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed. 27 Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever. 28 For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off; 29 the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. Psalms 37:23-29 (NIV)
“Jesus is the One who shows us the paradoxical route to meaning in a chaotic and hostile world. It’s the paradox of the gospel: Strength is found in weakness. Control is found in dependency. Power is found in surrender...God uses the frustrations of this life and the hurt of relationships to compel us to look beyond what we can control to the God who controls all things in order to woo us to himself. As we move from control to surrender, we move from chasing the wind under the sun to embracing God above it.” Dan Allender, Breaking the Idols of You