Philippians 4:19  And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus

The verse above is used by fraudulant prosperity preachers, especially in the USA, to teach sinners to love the world. That God is basically an ATM machine and the “need of yours” is actually “the lusts and wants of yours”, which could NOT be further than the truth! That earthly goods, money, possessions are these needs.

The problem is, most of the time we don’t know what we actually need, but God does. You need oxygen for example to breathe, sustenance so that you don’t starve to death, water to drink, these are physical daily needs supplied by God that we often take for granted.

But the context of Phil 4:19 must be studied carefully, what needs is Paul speaking about? He is writing to BELIEVERS here, not unbelievers since he mentioned “according to the His riches in glory of Christ Jesus”. An unbeliever is not placed in Christ Jesus nor do they follow Him, so these are needs specially for the believer.

And these “needs” are not only the physical needs but spiritual needs we have of which God knows every single last need of yours. They are not our selfish desired “wants”. So resting in God in Jesus is quite imperative to understand these needs of ours. It means trusting that in everything you do, God is with you. That He alone is supplying every need of yours to His glory. An example would be the need for His word, time to read and study His word, time to pray, time to share the Gospel, time to praise and honor and worship Him. You understand and realize those needs based on the inherent desire you have for God.

Eariler in Phillippians 4, Paul writes in verse 6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”. Again demonstrating that by prayer and communion with God, we are resting in Jesus so anxiety should be repented of. Your trust that God WILL supply every need of yours is realized to your very core, so contentment in this grown.

Do not be deceived by the Osteens or Joyce Meyers or Steven Furticks or Kenneth Copelands out there, God is not an ATM machine. He is NEVER working on enhancing your worldly riches which will not bring Him glory, but only results in the lust for sin and this fallen world. And your needs are different than another’s needs, so remember this! God is using every actual believer to build His kingdom specifically to His purpose and will. Osteen and the others lie when they claim they know your needs! It is God alone which does, so trust in Him alone!

As your journey in life with Christ begins, those needs are constantly being shown by God. By growth and sanctification, the process of understanding them are being made known to you. If you love the world, possessions, earthly things, bottom line is your degenerate needs are not God’s needs for you but your own.

Wrestling with God – Genesis 32

²² And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. ²³ He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. ²⁴ Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. ²⁵ Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. ²⁶ And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” ²⁷ So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.”

²⁸ And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” ²⁹ Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. ³⁰ So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” ³¹ Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip. ³² Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.

Some have this idea that a new birth in Christ is a negotiation. The pastor screams a fiery sermon, then passionately asks those in attendance to rise up and come forward if they want this rebirth. The sinner swept up in this passion, emotionally comes forward, but experiences no rebirth goind forward. Some also view salvation as a heretical Pelagian choice, meaning you gird yourself up by an inherent faith, and just believe when you feel it necessary.

When God gives a rebirth, there is no negotitation. Now He may wrestle with you in your sins so that you realize the blessing as Jacob, but He will always prevail. The physical example of Genesis 32:22-32 above is how this works. Some of us like Jacob are so very prideful in our sins, that God will break us into submission no matter how long it takes. God doesn’t say then “you idiot, why didn’t you submit earlier?” or gloat over this victory or demean you because of your MANY sins, rather like with Jacob, He is gracious in this forgiveness and blessing.

Jacob was given a new heart and the evidence of this is as he wrestled with the pre-incarnate Christ, he said “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”. You see, when the rebirth comes there is no mistaking it, no second guessing, because you cling to Christ with your last grip. It is not some emotional experience only, but truly a life changing event. Jacob’s hip was thrown out of the socket so that he would always remember that day. Again, being prideful, Jacob needed to realize who he was and who God is.

The analogy of the wrestling will come in different forms tailored for every born-again sinner. God might break you financially so that you realize that He, not money, is the focus now. He might take a relationship away from you so that your focus now is on Him, and not your degenerate lusts. He might expose the church you are involved with as false, so that you repent of the idolatry and blasphemy of that church. He might take a job away on you so that your focus is now on His Gospel, not your anxieties. There are many other life changing things He could employ and does.

The point is if you have been reborn of God, you are not going to be on the same path as your degenerate past. He CHANGES that path immediately! If you felt nothing days/weeks/months after the pastor told you to “come forward” it because that rebirth was a fraud. The rebirth is realized at your very core and is profound! Your worldview has drastically shifted in the focus of God, His word, and the Gospel now as your priorities.

Some like me need a sledge hammer so to speak, to the head, in order to wake up and realize this rebirth. But make no mistake, when God gives this rebirth, it is realized and although not immediately completely understood, you realize something happened to your life. Your entire love and focus is on God. You LOVE Scripture more than your daily food and drink and without it, you fell empty. Folks around you also can see something rather profound as happened because you are not your degenerate self. You might immediately lose friends and family, but it is their loss, not yours!

Lastly, praise God for that wrestling! When He took you from a dark depraved existence into His light in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit! God always wins! World religions always fail!

Mark 9:42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

Lately, there has been a lot of press on parents who confront school board in their challenges to the sexual perversions and racism taught to their children. The fundamental basis of right and wrong is realized, and some parents have quite enough of it. These teachings are a clear example of causing them to sin.

But I will more than bet many of these parents either ignore or totally disregard the indoctrinating of their same children in the church they attend into sins of blasphemy and idolatry. This is where they gray the lines between right and wrong, and by coginitive dissonance will not discern it based on the religious cult. Confronting a school board is one thing, confronting their church is a no-no in this mindset.

Everything in a religious cult’s existence hinges on the indoctrination of children. Satan’s influence behind this is that he knows children are the most vulnernable. And is why Jesus gave a very STERN and GRAVE warning in causing a child to sin. The child’s mind has not been cluttered with things, they are quick learners, they are completely open to acceptance, they are eager and excited to learn, and are the most vulnerable based on their physical and mental weakness compared to the adults in their midst.

So the cult knows, children are the EASIEST to indoctrinate. The child will be completely unaware of the indoctrination and because they lack authority, will never question it openly or publicly. What their parents say is the law, and the child will need to confrom and accept, or they would face dire ramifications. So the grooming process from a church/cult or your public schools now starts at a very young age. They know there is a limited amount of time to indoctrinate, and cannot allow time to pass.

Fortunately, some of the indoctrinated cults are weak in nature, so the child easily leaves it just as fast as they accepted it. In some cases, it isn’t as easy leaving based on the tremendous amount of guilt placed on the child. I was indoctrinated as a Roman Catholic as a child for example, the scare and guilt of hell was given to me at a very young age so that I would NEVER question Roman Catholicism. They use a pictorial design of indoctrination with statues, pictures, scenes, knowing that children are visual and love picture type of books. You are shown a picture of Jesus or Mary for example as a child, and they tell you “that is them!”, and everything they tell you about them MUST be believed.

Sadly, this sinful indoctrination has led many children down the path to hell, and some after realizing the deception just stop believing in God’s existence based on the lies they were told. The bitterness towards anything of God is based on their experience in the cult. There are those who remain, and will be the hardest of hearts in listening to or reaching with the Gospel of which they will reject blindly for the cult’s teachings. And then there are those who God gives a rebirth, they also realize the deception of the cult almost immediately, but in their case they run to Jesus Christ and never return to that cult.

If you are a parent of a teacher, take the warning of Jesus SERIOUSLY! If you knowingly OR unknowingly caused your children to sin, there is a dire consequence for it. It is something that can be forgiven, so examine yourself and repent if you influenced a child to sin. and remember this, parents can be the most stubborn, prideful, when it comes to their children, another reason why Satan targets them in indoctrination.

Isaiah 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
We all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind

I would say from the beginning of mankind, there has been this notion that to believe God, to follow God, He must also see mankind as inherently “good” and overlook sin. Adam and Eve were kicked out of the perfect Garden of Eden for simply disobedience, but it doesn’t prevent those from thinking God was just bluffing when it comes to sin and His holiness.

If mankind was inherently “good” or had the ability to be sinless as some heretical religions propose, Jesus would have never been tasked to be a Savior. There would be no need for His sacrifice if that were the case. Rather, God’s aborrent view of our stains of sin and intolerance was the reason by His mercy, Jesus died on a lonely Cross.

Subjective worldly goodness is not God’s idea of goodness. Heavenly goodness equates to absolute perfection. This would mean every thought, every action, every deed, every inaction we would make would fall into absolute perfection. And once you understand this, you will then understand what Isaiah wrote “all our righteousness are like filthy rags”, because we ALL have failed that absolute perfection test.

Do You Think You Can Slide Into Heaven?

The prevailing thought from a degenerate and depraved society is that God will allow sin enter His heavenly kingdom by just either ignoring it or by viewing the scales between good and evil and if “good” outweighs the bad, the sinner slides in. Again, if you believe that demonic falsehood, ask yourself WHY Jesus would have ever needed to die on a Cross.

Some believe God is pliable like a politician. Not so! His promises have not changed. There is not an Old Testament God differing from a New Testament God either. He is the same God which sent the whole world to death, less 8 people, in the Great Flood. His view on sin and evil have never changed! He may have granted something called common grace and mercy for you to walk on earth, but this does NOT mean He owes you any salvation because of this.

There is just ONE way one can be saved, ONE way! It is by faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ. God did not send Jesus to the Cross on a gamble or a billboard display. There is just ONE Savior. And the sooner you realize it is His goodness which can save you instead of your own subjective filthy rags type of “goodness”, the sooner you shall be saved.