In this message we shall cover more aspects of the believers’ experiencing and enjoying, in the progressing stage of God’s salvation, God as the Father in His love.
The Father takes care of the believers’ necessities. In Matthew 6:32 the Lord Jesus, referring to the necessities of life, says, “All these things the nations are seeking; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” The believers have the life of their heavenly Father, and they also have the Father Himself to care for their material needs, so that they need not be anxious about them. Their heavenly Father is the source of their strength and supply. Hence, they need not be weak or lacking in anything.
In Matthew 6:33 the Lord goes on to say, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” The Father’s kingdom is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today and the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens in the coming age. The Father’s righteousness is the righteousness by keeping the new law of the kingdom, as mentioned in Matthew 5:20 and 6:1. Since the believers seek first the kingdom and righteousness of their heavenly Father, not only will His kingdom and His righteousness be given to them, but also all their necessities will be added.
As God the Father takes care of our necessities, we enjoy His dispensing. We trust in Him for our needs, and He cares for us. What we enjoy is not mainly the Father’s outward provision but His inward dispensing. As He takes care of our material needs, He dispenses His element into us. Then we experience the divine dispensing through the Father’s care for our physical necessities.
First Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has taken you except that which is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, but will with the temptation make also the way out, that you may be able to endure it.” Some believers may think that temptations are too strong to be resisted. But here Paul points out that no temptation has taken us except that which is common to man. He also says that God is faithful and will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear, but with the temptation will provide a way out so that we may be able to endure it. This is a word of promise and of encouragement. However, it leaves the responsibility for being tempted with us, not with God. When we are tempted, we should never blame God for the temptation. According to this verse, the responsibility for being tempted rests with us. At the same time, we may be encouraged to know that the faithful God will provide a way out for us. God’s not letting us be tempted beyond what we are able and providing a way out so that we may be able to endure temptation is also a matter of His dispensing.
Whenever we are tempted, we may stand on 1 Corinthians 10:13 and say, “Lord, You will not let me be tempted beyond what I am able, but with the temptation You will make the way out so that I may be able to endure it.” When we pray to the Lord in this way, telling Him that He knows how much we can endure, He will make a way out by His dispensing that we may be able to endure temptation.
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