Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Only The Best!


Matthew 6:30-34 (New Living Translation)

30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God[
a] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.


Are these words true for you? Has God given you everything you need? Is He a good Father to you? This past week we personally saw His miraculous provision. Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread...I never knew that could include coffee. Some of you might not know this but I am a coffee snob. Now I'd never tell you if you served me a lousy cup of Java, but personally in our house bad coffee is simply not worth it. As Prayer Missionaries we have chosen to live below our means so we can devout ourselves to lives of Prayer. Sometimes that means buying a generic or going without something that is a luxury. Coffee was one of the first things to go; I just couldn't bring myself to accept "Folgers" in my cup. Being born and raised in Seattle some folks think gourmet coffee is a recent phenomena; it ain't so Starbucks been around since 1972 and before Seattle's Best Coffee won THE BEST it was Stewart Brothers Coffee. So rather than complete or lower my standard I chose to give it up. No matter how much I try to rationalize coffee as a necessity it is not! But my Heavenly Father knows. This year for my Birthday I received an incredible Espresso Maker it cost almost as much as my first car (don't ask). Mom wanted to surprise and bless me and she did. Yet even the finest machine can not turn bad coffee into good! Last week while praying in the prayer room one early morning, I opened my eyes to find two cans of Illy Coffee in front of me. Now this was God's abundant over and above provision. Now, I know who gave it to me...but they were simply a "conduit" that God used. He was the source. They had a choice(Thanks guys you Rock!) but He was the source. He cares about the small stuff too!


Later that week I was in the prayer room (am I seeing a pattern?) and sitting at one of the few tables. I left my stuff at the table briefly to meet with my prayer room team (cool peeps). Sometime while I was gone an envelope makes its way into my journal. My name on the outside in red...inside $150 bucks. It paid a bill that was sitting on the counter.


So I share these stories to give glory to God! But also to encourage others who are trusting God for provision. In the weeks ahead I would like to share stories of God's provision. Will you share your stories with our readers? Maybe your a Prayer Missionary, Pastor, Teacher, Overseas Missionary, Business Person, Chief Financial Officer for your household, starving student, simply a trusting Christ-Follower...tell us your story of His wild extravagant provision. You can email me chrisferguson@ihop.org


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2 Comments:

At 6:42 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Mr. Coffee,

Hath you or hath you not giventh up the liquid gold? We in Metronaturalville are in the midst of pulling your Seattle roots right out of the ground if you no longer drink from the fountain of Charbucks! Say it ain't so brother! Maybe I can find some locals out there that will form an intervention team!!! And if I hear the word "Folgers" fall from your lips one more time...you may find yourself sleeping with the fishes in the big muddy Mizz-ur-a (do they still have fish in that river?).

Bubba "The Knuckles" Smith

 
At 8:33 AM, Blogger ChriS & Yvette Ferguson said...

Mr. Coffee says:

I still sip from the best roasted, fresh ground, black beans this earth has to offer. Just say NO to the poorly roasted stuff. Yes, I did go through a period of declaring I had given up coffee...just to prove I could. Now, I only drink and more importantly share the good stuff. With my very own Espresso Maker...I no longer have to Patronize any of the 37 KC metro area starbucks. Folgers the new "F" word.

 

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