DAILY DEVOTIONAL – September 27, 2019
“You Have It All”
Prayer: God, you are the God of all good things. As Your word promises in James 1:17, “ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.” Lord strengthen our faith in Your provision and let us not look elsewhere for all that we need and desire. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Scripture: Matthew 5:6
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
Devotional: “You Have It All!”
In his book entitled “The Sermon on the Mount” author Kent Hughes relays the following true story.
“Mrs. Bertha Adams was 71 years old when she died alone in West Palm Beach, Florida on Easter Sunday 1976.
The coroner’s report read, ‘Cause of Death . . . malnutrition.’ After wasting away to fifty pounds she could no longer stay alive.When the state authorities made their preliminary investigation of her home, they found a veritable ‘pigpen . . . the biggest mess you can imagine.’ One seasoned inspector declared he had never seen a dwelling in greater disarray. Bertha had begged food at her neighbors’ doors and had gotten what clothes she had from the Salvation Army. From all appearances she was a penniless recluse–a pitiful and forgotten widow.
But such was not the case! Amid the jumble of her filthy, disheveled belongings were found two keys to two separate safe-deposit boxes at two different local banks. The discovery was unbelievable. The first box contained over 700 AT&T stock certificates, plus hundreds of other valuable notes, bonds, and solid financial securities, not to mention cash amounting to $200,000. The second box had no certificates, just cash–$600,000 to be exact.”Bertha Adams was a millionaire and then some!
Yet she died of starvation.”
Who knows what unfortunate circumstances could have caused this poor woman to die alone and starving while she has a lifetime’s worth of riches within her grasp.
Have you ever wondered how you would live your life if money wasn’t a concern? If you never had to worry about affording the essentials in life, and even the luxuries of life, how would you live? Most people immediately think of all the things that they would buy to try and get the most out of life. Others think about all the investments they would make just to make even more money.
If the tragic story of Bertha Adams proves anything, it’s that living a happy, purposeful, and fulfilling life has nothing to do with what you may have stockpiled in possessions or bank accounts.
God has provided us with an eternity’s worth of riches in the blood of His Son Jesus, who through His death and resurrection has opened up not only the treasures of Heaven itself, but having reconciled us back to God by dying for our sins, God cares for our ever need now, today. We struggle with this truth only when we confuse what we think we need with what God in His perfect love and mercy knows we need. As Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
You don’t have to have millions of dollars stashed away to live in the security of knowing your needs will be met. You can live your life now in the freedom and joy of knowing that God will provide all that we need, when we need it and how we need it, in His perfect way.
Who knows if Bertha died starving and in such sad shape because she we too concerned with stockpiling as much money as she could or if she simply forgot the riches that she had. Either way, it is a tragedy that she died so unsatisfied and with such wealth at her disposal.
It is equally tragic when we deprive ourselves of the joy and satisfaction of God’s promised provision and the riches He has provided in Christ when we become too concerned with the temporary possessions of this world or when we forget all of the precious promises of God and His very real presence with us.
Hunger and thirst for righteousness my friends, knowing that God will satisfy. And remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
