The Village Church
Don't Bite The Hand That Feeds You - Audio
(piano music) (muffled speaking) (muffled speaking) (muffled speaking) (muffled speaking) (muffled speaking) (muffled speaking) (muffled speaking) (muffled speaking) (muffled speaking) (muffled speaking) So if you have your bibles turn with me to Matthew 6. (muffled speaking) Beginning in verse 9. This is Jesus speaking. He said pray then like this. Our Father in Heaven. Hallelujah be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. So how is your prayer life today? It's been four weeks since we started this series on prayer. So what difference has it made in your life? What difference has it made in your prayer life? I'll assume for many of us our prayer lives are the same as they always has been. It's just okay. It's alright. I could do a little better. How could I make this assumption? Because I've seen in my own life these past four weeks that even though I'm preaching on prayer, I still struggle to prayer. I still struggle to pray. And I'm writing service about prayer. And I see that it's not always easy to do the things that Jesus wants us to do. It's not always easy to do the things he expects us to do. And so when we talk about prayer, our goal and our expectation cannot be won a perfection. No ones will ever have a perfect prayer life. No one. Only Jesus had that. But what we can have is a learning not to give up to pray. Learning not to stop praying. Learning to always come back to prayer when we struggle not to pray. There's one thing I have in my prayer journal. And it's a prayer request that I have for God. And it says, "Lord, help me to faithfully come back to prayer when I wander from it. Help me to always come back." Because the reality is we all wander away from the things that we desperately need in life. We all do. You desperately need prayer. You desperately need it. But over here, you still wander from it. And the good news is that you can always go back to it. We have to learn to press a beer in prayer. Not to give up. But we fight through it. We continue to go to God and pray. Even when things are hard. Do you remember the three things I said, supposed to direct that attitude toward prayer? This is the first time that I preached on prayer. You remember those three things. Three things that's supposed to direct that attitude toward prayer. The first one is prayer is supernatural. Because the spirit is involved. He prays with and for us. That's in Romans 8. Second, prayer is intentionally confident. Why is it confident? Because the guy we pray to knows what we need even before we ask. He knows what you need, what your family needs, what your kids needs, even before you ask. And so when you pray, you should be confident that God hears what you're asking for. Thirdly, our prayer should be directed toward God. Why? Because prayer is always dependent upon who he is. Not who we are. Who he is. And so those three things. That should be your attitude toward prayer. And in the Lord's prayer, Jesus gives us a model. A model that we can have for prayer. And we've been working our way through this prayer. The first week we talked about the first phrase of the Lord's prayer. What is it? Our Father who is in heaven. And that tells us who God is. Who is he? Do you remember? He's a Father. He's a person. He's a person like us. So he's like us on one hand. But he's also in heaven. Unlike us, because he's infinite. He has no limits, whereas we do have limits. And you say, "Well, Alex, why are you recapping all this stuff?" Because we forget things. That's why. We forget it. That's why I'm doing this recap. To remind you of the things you have forgotten. This prayer has six petitions. Dividing the two parts. We talked about the first three. And the first three deals with God's glory. His name is to be treated as holy. His kingdom will come. His will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The prayer begins with God because his kingdom should have top priority in our life. He should have top priority in our life. That's why Jesus says in Matthew 633, "Seek first my kingdom in righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." What are all these things that Jesus is talking about? It's those things that he talks about in the second part of the Lord's Prayer. So the second part of the Lord's Prayer deals with our need. The needs of man. "Give us this day our daily bread." "Forgive us of our debts as we forgive our debtors by need." "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." "A need." "Our needs." You see, when our vision and focus in life is properly set on Jesus, then we have a correct vision of our needs. But our vision has to be on him first. So the fourth petition, "Give us this day our daily bread." "Give us this day our daily bread." Pray with me. Father God, I pray that as we work, as we talk about daily bread, that you will receive glory. And as I always pray, and as I always remind myself, and this is not about me, this is not my peace, this is not my righteousness, and man's praise is not my righteousness. Christ is. And so Spirit, I pray that you will move me aside and let Jesus be glorified in this time in Christ and my prayer. Amen. We always pray, we always petition Jesus to give us our daily bread, to give us the things that we need for today. And as I've been saying throughout this series, do you understand the implications of this petition? When you ask Jesus to give you your daily bread, do you understand what you're asking for? You see, each of these petitions, they have something for it, they mean something for the way we live our life. They mean something for how we live as Christians. You see, when you pray, "Father, give me my daily bread, give us our daily bread," you are acknowledging the fact that you know who is providing for you. So you can't pray that prayer if we don't know who's providing for you, it mean it from your heart. You are acknowledging that it's God's provisions that provides you with everything you have, even the shoes on your feet, and the socks on your feet. You know that the hands of God are the hands that feed you, not your hands. And how can you say those words if in your heart you don't believe it? You don't believe that God meets your needs. Only someone who is striving and living to be dependent upon God can truly pray that prayer and mean it. God doesn't listen to lip service. He listens to this when you pray. What's the attitude of my heart when I say, Lord, give us this day our daily bread? What's the attitude of your heart? So his provision, it gives us those things, it gives us this daily bread. But what is it? I mean, is Jesus talking about all over bread? I have wheat bread, Jesus. White bread, Jesus. Is it bread? No, it's not literally bread. But if I gave you a multiple choice test, you can choose between A, B, C, D, R, F. Is it A, spiritual? Is it B, physical? Is it C, material? Is it D, emotional? E, mental? What is it? Which one do you think it is? Or is it F, or are they above? F, daily bread is all inclusive. It involves everything we need to live and survive. One Christian by the name of Martin Luther said, daily bread was a symbol for everything necessary for the preservation of life. Like food, a healthy body, good weather, rain, house, home, kids, good government, and peace. Daily bread includes all those things. You see, when God created us, when God created you, He just didn't make you spiritual only. You're not just a spiritual being. No, we're just physical. We're also emotional. We're also psychological, mental. And let's say, for example, you went to the store, a bakery, and you got your nice sweet potato pie. 'Cause you love sweet potato pie. If you don't like sweet potato pie, it's whatever you like. And so you get home, you open the box, your jaw drops, because there's a slice missing. Your sweet potato pie isn't home. Someone stole a slice of your pie. And you see, we are whole people. Whole people. And our problem is that we cut slices out of who we are, and we make the slice the whole. Some people want to make spiritual the whole. It's always spiritual. No, it's just physical. No, it's just emotional. No, it's just mental. No, it's everything together. We're whole people. And Jesus doesn't just care about one slice of your life. He cares about every part of you, every part of you, every part of who you are, he cares about that. And so he wants us to reflect him in every area of our life, in every slice of our life. Yes, it begins with the spiritual, but it moves to everything else. That's redemption. That's being conformed to the image of Christ. Every single part of our being, being molded into who he is, that's what he wants to do. And so when we pray, Lord, give me my daily bread, you're asking God to give you the bread in every area of the life. That's what you're doing. That's what you're asking for. Giving you the necessities of life. That sounds easy, right? Is it easy? No, it's not easy. And the reason it's not easy is because there's an elephant in the room when it comes to God's provisions and blessings in our life. It's an elephant. The elephant is you. It's me. We've heard of the phrase, "Don't bite the hand that feeds you." Well, we bite God's hand. Some of us are biting it now. How? Because we don't always respond properly to his blessings in our life. We don't always respond in the right way. So we have a predicament. We are in a dilemma. And what do you mean, Alex? Some of us have a Nebuchadnezzar moment. You know who Nebuchadnezzar is, right? He was King of Babylon. And so he was so full of himself one day. He was walking on the roof of the palace. And he said, "Is this not great Babylon which I built with my power as my house for the glory of my majesty?" He took the place of God. He took credit for what God has done. And sometimes in our life, we do the same thing. Our Nebuchadnezzar moments. Have you ever said things like, "Well, I worked too long and hard for the things in my life. I worked six days a week, and I'm going to get the things I want. I got a job, so I'm going to enjoy things." It's all about me, because you deserve it. You see, our Nebuchadnezzar moments say they prevent us from living out the first part of the Lord's Prayer, which is for God's glory, because we make life all about us. We're by God's hands. And if you don't believe God will provide for you, then you're going to labor hard to try to make your own provisions. You see, right now, you're either laboring to keep what you have, or you're laboring to get what you don't have. You're doing one of the two. Labor in to keep what you already got, or labor in to get what you don't already have. That's what you'll do if you don't believe God is your provider. That He is the one blessing you with everything that you've got. He is the one, not you, not me, not my good job, not my resources. You won't have the resources if God removed His hand. You won't have them. And so to pray that profession, Lord, give me my daily bread, you are also accepting the fact that God is the provider, the give of the bread. You are accepting that fact. Now, does this mean I have no role or responsibility? Should I just now quit my job? Should I quit my job? Should I not want to have a better life? Does it mean I should just sit around now and just pray? Is it what God's going to make away? Because I'm praying God's going to make away. Is that what it means? No, it does not mean that. You see, God's provisions in our life never kills our responsibility. It never means now I don't have to be responsible for anything. All you can do is pray and everything is going to happen. No, it does not mean that. You pray God give us our daily bread, but at the same time, you are supposed to live a responsible life, too. Because I still have to pay my bills. If I don't work, I don't have money to pay my bills. I can pray God need money, but if I'm not out doing those things, putting in job applications, doing those things I need to do, then there's God going to honor that. Now, this is not a salvation sermon. Don't confuse this with salvation. Salvation, we have no role in salvation. God chooses us. But when it comes down to living a godly life, living a responsible life, we have responsibility there. I still have to be a good parent, a good husband. Because if I'm not, I'm not going to be a husband for very long. I don't care how much I pray. I mean, that's just the reality of it. And so, God gives you the daily bread so that in return, you can bring honor and glory to His name through that bread, through that stuff. You bring Him honor and glory by being good stewards of what He has given you. That's what He's saying. Are you good stewards of your bread? Are you good stewards of the bread that you have? If it's little or small, you can still be a good steward of it. First Corinthians 1031 says, whether you either drink or whatever you do, you do it for the glory of God, for His glory alone. That's it. God's glory, the first part of the Lord's Prayer, lived out. See, I really don't listen to AM stations on the radio, but this week, I was turning through the dial this week and I came across the day Ramsey Show. I'm sure some of you know who He is. He is a financial guru. He offers financial advice to those who call on to His show. This week, He says something very interesting. He said, "One of the most beautiful human character traits is gratitude. Being grateful for the things you have received." He adds, "Our attitude should be that of gratitude." And He's right. Do we have an attitude of gratitude for all the things that Jesus has blessed us with in our life? Are we ungrateful? What's wrong, are we? You see, no parent is honored when that child is ungrateful for a gift they had given He or She. If you give your child a gift and that child is ungrateful, are you honored by that as a parent? Neither is God. Neither is God. When we don't appreciate the things that He does for us. We are ungrateful. We are again biting God's hand. The hand that feeds us. Question. What could peace with God the most for the affection of our heart? What could peace with Him? Stuff. Not just stuff. The same daily bread that we pray for. The same things we pray for ends up competing with God for our fictions. Why? Because we turn the bread into an island, we worship the bread. We bow down to the bread. Because our eyes are never satisfied, our appetites are never filled. We always desire more treasure and blessings, but never grateful for the blessings and treasure we already have. Why is that, you think? I think the reason is because He don't always give us the bread that we won't. That's why I think the big reason is. Let me explain. When I was in college, I had some female friends who always complain about God's never asked them out on dates. They don't ever ask us out. God's never asked us out on dates, Alex. And so, me and another guy, we were thinking, "Well, no guys do ask those girls out, but what's going on here?" And so, we had a revelation about those girls. The right guys weren't asking them out. That was the thing. They were being asked out, but not by the right guys. The guys that they wanted to be asked out by were not asking them out. You see, when we focus on the things that we don't have, the things that we don't have in our life, you begin to overlook what's right in front of you. You begin to overlook what Jesus has already done for you, what He has already given you. Because you're so focused on, "I don't have that. I don't have this. This isn't working out." So, you end up forgetting the blessings you already have. You see, even in the most difficult situations of life, Jesus is still at work. He is still providing for you. I know sometimes it's hard to see that, but He is at work. Do you have dreams? Do you? Dreams of what you want your life to be. Dreams of a better life. Dreams of a better job. Dreams are not having to live a paycheck to paycheck. Dreams are having a family. So, we all have dreams, all of us. And what happens is that eventually our dreams for our life collides with God's plan for our life, and there is a collision, and there will be fireworks eventually. Because sometimes what we dream about is not always the plan God has for us. And so, they will collide. They will clash. And when they do, we get frustrated. We worry. We get anxious. We get complacent. We get scared. Because we're wondering, my dream is not going to come true. My dreams are not going to come true. But if you are truly dependent upon God, if you truly know that God is your provider, when your dreams collide with His plans, different attitudes will come up in you, because you know He is your provider. What will come up with me? Contentment will come. You realize I might not have everything I want, but God has always given me what I need. And so, I can be content with that. I can be grateful for that. Paul says in Philippians, "I have learned in whatever situation I am in to be content." He learned that. I know how to be brought low. I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing, planning, hunger, abundance, and need. I can do all things to Him who strengthens me. When you don't have everything you want, go to Jesus. If you have everything you want, go to Jesus and repent, because you worship in those things. You can get by in any circumstances in life, through Him who gives you strength. That's His promise to you. That's His gospel promise to you and to me. And so, where do we have great, where we have things we want, where we are suffering things, or we don't have the things that we want, we have Jesus. At the end of the day, we have Jesus. You see, God is not in the business of spoiling us. He's not going to spoil me. Why? A spoiled child is not a content child. Always wants more. Always got to have more. Never satisfied. So, God is not going to spoil you. Sorry. He's not going to do that. But He will give you what you need. He will give you what you need. And so, that's why Jesus tells us not to lay up treasures on earth, but in heaven. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. For where your treasure is, there will the affections of your heart be also. If my treasure is found in the bread, then that bread has my heart. God's blessings has my heart, and not God. And God is a jealous God, because He wants your affections. He wants your heart. A Christian author, Larry Krab, he's a good author. He's helped me in my life through many situations. And in his book, Shatter Dreams, he says this. He says Satan's masterpiece is not the prostitute or the person on Skid Row. It is a selfish, self-sufficient person who has made life comfortable, who is adjusting well to the world and truly likes living here. A person who dreams of no better place to live, who only longs to be a little better, and a little better off than he already is. Is that us? Do we just desire to be a little better off than what we already are? And that's our predicament. Yours never can there's a moment, those moments of ungratefulness, because we want to be a little better off than we already are. And seeing this holds us back from being content, this holds us back from being dependent, this holds us back from being grateful. But God has a solution. He's probably not going to like this solution, but He has a solution for your predicament. Remember, I said earlier that the daily bread is all inclusive. It includes everything that is necessary to live and sustain life. And so when you pray, "God, give me my daily bread, our daily bread," you are also petitioning God to give you the bread that helps you fight against your worship of the bread. What do I mean by that? Well, Jesus says, "Man doesn't live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." God's word to you is a daily bread. Do you believe it? Do you partake of it? Or you partake of it? His word helps you fight against your sin. He helps you fight against your worship of stuff. And there's another bread that He gives us. And it's a bread that we petition for, but we don't really know we petition for it. It's a bread of suffering. Oh, yes, suffering. Hardships, disappointments. None of us consider suffering a daily bread because suffering, hardships, they hurt. I mean, they stain. They hurt us to the core. But God, He handles our suffering faultlessly. But He uses them to keep us from loving life here. To push us more than Him. The more to His throne, the more to His provision. To make us long more for heaven. To draw closer to His heart. Honestly, if you love your life here so much, do you really long for heaven? Really? If you really enjoy your life here, the good life, the resources, the benefits, do you really long for heaven? Now, does this mean we should all go sell our stuff? It doesn't mean that. It means don't worship your stuff. Does it mean I shouldn't not try to better myself? Yeah, you can better yourself, but don't worship that. Don't make that your God. God wants us to enjoy life, just not to worship life. You see, there's a difference. You can enjoy life without making life your God. And another thing is, do you use your blessings to bless others? Oh, this is all about you. So, this is kingdom lifestyle here. Kingdom life. When God called Abraham, He said, "Abraham is going to bless you so that you can be a blessing to others." And the same is for us. If God has blessed you with nice things, nice job, whatever, use that to bless others. All of us have been blessed in some way. I don't care whether you're rich or poor, or wherever you live. You can still use what God has given you to bless others, and not just yourself. That's kingdom lifestyle. We all have something to offer. Not because we're trying to earn salvation. We're not talking about salvation. We'll make that clear again. We're talking about, because I am saved, now I should live like it. Now I should live like it. You see, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, "A thorn was given to me in the flesh." A messenger a Satan to harass me. "To keep me from becoming conceited." Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that He should take it from me. But what did God tell Paul? "My grace is sufficient for you." "For my power is made perfect in weakness." We all have thorns that we have in life. And sometimes God doesn't take those thorns away, but those thorns are a blessing. There are bread, because it keeps us dependent. You wouldn't be dependent upon God, if He didn't give you the things that make you dependent. You see, the one thing that came out of the fall is that we want to be our own God. We want to be independent of God. And so, left to ourselves, it never be dependent upon God, never. If you didn't bring things into your life to make you, you see what I'm saying here? So, when you pray for daily bread, you also praying for God to give you those things that are going to make you dependent. Giving you those things is going to help you live out, the first part of the Lord's prayer, because life is about God's glory. Living for His glory, bringing glory to His name, for whatever we have, and He gives us those things that enables us to do that through the power of His Spirit. I've said this before, a friend of mine said, "Life is this, God giving you and teaching you that Jesus is all you've got at the end of the day." And sometimes, He don't give us certain things to show us that. There are certain things God can give me that I really don't need, because it pushes me, it takes my attention away from it. Some people can handle having a lot of money. I probably can't, 'cause I'll worship it. It's all about God knowing what you need, and He gives you what you need, not everything that you want. One Christian said, "The good news of the gospel is not that God will provide a way to make life easier. The good news of the gospel for this life that He will make our lives better." How is that? He will empower you to draw closer to Him, to love other people, and to do both of those things to glorify God, to make God look good in your life. That's it. It always goes back, loving God, loving Him, and we do it all to make Him look good. You see, when I got ordained, I had a good friend that came up from Birmingham, and he gave me three points that he told me I should never forget. And one point was, he said, "Be the moon." And when he meant by that, the moon does not have light of its own. It reflects the light of the sun. And so, we don't have light of our own. We always reflect the light of Jesus in this life. All you're reflecting it through the life that you live. Be the moon people and reflect Jesus in your life. Let us pray. Father God, I thank you that you don't always give us everything that we want, but you do give us everything we need in your timing. It's all about your timing. So teach us what it means to truly be dependent upon you, to be content with what we have. None of us have everything that we want, but Lord, we do have the things that we need. And so teach us to be grateful. Give us the confidence and trust that you are working, you are moving. If we need a job, pray that we need a job, and we go out tomorrow and we put out applications everywhere in what you move. You will provide for us. You will move for us. And so teach us what it means to pray that petition for all of us to live it out in our lives. Teach us how to bless other people, Father, to be able to sacrifice, to be able to give more, to be able to bless other people, because we have been blessed by you so richly. So Father, let our faith not just be words, but Lord, it be also a lifestyle in which we live out daily. Trust in my prayer. Amen. But now I want us to have [BLANK_AUDIO]