TAPS

How many taps are there in your house? I’ve got 8.

There are 6.6 Billion people in the world, and over half of them (3.6 Billion) don’t have any taps. In fact, only 4.9 Billion have access to any clean water at all.

We are really rich.

I did the rich-o-meter on the channel 4 website. It turns out I’m in the top 7.4% richest people in the world. I thought I was poor. I am really rich. Try it yourself here

Funny that we have this mindset that we’re really poor, when we are really rich.

1 Timothy 6:17 (New International Version)

17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment

BREAD

Matthew 6:11

Give us today our daily bread

Bread is about needs. Not really wants, but actual needs. Not Jam, butter and clotted cream. Bread. The Message is translated as “keep us alive with 3 square meals”. It’s about trusting God for provision and not worrying about things.

As we acknowledge God in everything, all our needs, every day (even Mondays) we learn to Hold Things Lightly. We need to hold our possessions lightly. Then we can take the hand of God when He leads us somewhere. We only do this by saying “all I have is God’s anyway”. We can start getting this mindset by asking God for everything we need.

How about praying when we go shopping? Being open to the Holy Spirit’s prompting in the choices we make – asking Him to show us the things we need & the things we perhaps don’t.

It’s important to remember that God doesn’t want us to become the poorest person in the world. I believe poverty breaks God’s heart. It’s not wrong to own possessions. But we need to have an attitude of “these belong to God”, and be aware that they can have a hold on us if we’re not careful.

A few years ago I spent a year living by faith. I was doing a year out course and wasn’t going to earn any money for living and stuff. So I had to learn to rely on God as my provider. Part of it was about me being really sensible with my money. So I decided to not buy any clothes or CDs for the year. Another part of it was about me learning that God is really generous and doesn’t want us to have a really hard time with no stuff. One day I saw some sunglasses in Top Man for £12. I wasn’t sure if I had £12 to spend at that time, so was praying about it. I had a real sense of peace, like God was saying ‘buy these in faith’. I took them to the counter, and they rung up on the till as £3. A random sale item. Coincidence? Maybe, or maybe we need to start believing God is in the coincidences of life and we might start to see Him more.

1 Timothy 6:10

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”

This is often misquoted as ‘money is the root of evil’. It says ‘the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”

We need to find the balance between being careful with our money and enjoying what God has given us. I think we find the balance by opening up these areas to the Holy Spirit. Because we start to feel a peace sometimes about things that sound quite extravagant. I just booked an expensive honeymoon in Thailand. That seems quite extravagant, when there are people in the world today who really need that money. We have an extravagant Father. Really generous. If we can get our heads round all good things coming from God, get our heads round His heart for the poor, and be really thankful to God for all He’s given us we’ll be on the right track.

US

It doesn’t say ‘give me today our daily bread’ it says ‘us’. Do we have that community mindset? Do we daily ask God to provide for us as a community? Do we share each other’s burdens?

Galatians 6:2

“Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ”

What if the ‘us’ means the whole of humanity? It takes on a different meaning if we’re asking for the people living on a rubbish dump in Durban

Why are we silent about those things that really get us? When you watch the news and hear about people in 2007 who are dying because they are starving. Maybe in another country, maybe in the UK. People caught up in debt problems, all types of poverty. I believe God put these things on our hearts and those feelings deep in our guts so that we can do something about it.

‘Give US today our daily bread’ – why are we silent?

Imagine a scene 6 months from now… I’m having dinner with my wife. Most people who know Sarah knows she likes a good debate. And by good debate I mean full on argument (!). I’m different. I don’t particularly enjoy heated debate, I just like everyone to get on – all problems neatly brushed under the carpet, everyone’s happy…

Imagine we begin to have a debate about something. We’re coming from different angles, we hear things through different filters. Imagine I have loads of issues with what’s going on, but I decide to bottle it in. So I leave the room and keep silent, and sulk. Sarah follows me & tries to talk but I just go to another room.

Some time the following day / week (?!) we will be reunited, and I will learn a valuable lesson

- Not Communicating Is Worse Than Fighting.

In a wrestling match at least both parties stay engaged. [I’m sure we’ll have a good wrestle in the marriage too…]

I would say wrestling is a biblical practice.

Jacob wrestled with the Lord, saying “I will not let You go till you bless me”. After that night, that encounter, God gave Jacob a new name: “Israel”, which means “God wrestler”

God loves us to engage with Him. He’s big enough to take it. He wants us to be real with Him. He asked us to come to Him daily and ask Him about provision. I’m guessing He knows in asking that that He’s going to get a mixed bunch of interaction. But I believe He loves it all. It’s about love

Philip Yancey: “The opposite of love is not hate – the opposite of love is indifference; not engaging with God”

Faith = engagement with God.

DAILY

Daily. Every day. Every single day. Even on really busy days. Even on days where we’re really sad because we’ve got to get out of our comfortable bed and get in our warm shower and put on our designer clothes and go to university to get our first class education…(!)

Matthew 6:8

“For your Father knows what you need before you ask him”

He still wants us to ask because He loves us and wants relationship with Him. A relationship where He is the loving Father who really wants to give us the good things that we need, we are grateful children who receive these gifts thankfully

I’m guessing in asking everyone to ask Him every day for their needs, He knows He’s going to get a mixed bag. Some people will be really in need, some in a really bad mood, others really comfortable. HE CAN TAKE IT. What He wants is daily interaction with His children.

And daily bread is about more than the physical things. Spiritual food, the bread of life is the word of God; the bible, speaking into our hearts and lives DAILY.

BEING THANKFUL

(a) Actually being thankful

- Recognise that all good things come from God

- Thanking Him every day for the things He has blessed us with

- The thankfulness challenge. Spend a day thanking God for everything. If you’re in a traffic jam, thank God for your car, your CD changer, your friends… If you have to go to the dentist, thank God that you can be in a country with decent health care, that you’re going to leave with good strong healthy teeth… Just an exercise but might just make us think.

(b) Doing something about the inequality of the world

- There are lots of people much worse off than us. As a community we want to collectively do something about it. Let’s get involved with this part of being thankful

1 Timothy 6:17 (The Message)

“Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life”