Daily Devotion
Poor And Needy
By: Marissa Wolf
“But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying.”
Psalms 70:5
Have you ever cried out to the Lord in desperation, asking Him to save you from the troubles of this life? The Bible says that the Lord is near to those who have a broken spirit, and a broken and contrite heart. He will not despise such! When we face difficulties in this life, we can call upon the Lord to give us strength! He alone is the One who provides us with His strength when we have nothing left. He is our Help and our Deliverer! If you think you’ve been needing some help and deliverance, read on!
The Bible instructs us in Proverbs 3:5-6 to trust in the LORD with all our hearts, and lean not on our own understanding. It’s all too easy to look at our circumstances and trust in our own way to get us through, but God is the One who leads us and it is He who directs our paths. There is an unfortunate amount of poorness and neediness in today’s day and age, whether financially or spiritually. If we want to stop being spiritually poor, we have to start making some good deposits! Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God! (See: Romans 10:17). We must be filling our hearts with God’s word and spending time in prayer and talking with Him. Our God, Jehovah Jireh, has promised to both provide for all of our needs and never leave us nor forsake us! We know that God is not a liar, for He is truth and His word is truth and thus we can trust in Him to provide! (See: Philippians 4:19, Hebrews 13:5-6, John 17:17).
Jesus said to ask and keep asking, seek and keep seeking, and knock and keep knocking. He said that whoever asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks the door shall be opened. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we can just “wish” for God to do whatever our hearts desire, it has to start with our desires lining up with His desires. For if we pray anything according to His will, it is always a yes from God! (See: 1 John 5:14-15).
It’s usually the easiest to do the asking, but in the asking process let’s not forget to do the seeking of Christ! Seeking Christ first is where you’ll find peace and rest within the circumstances that surround us. (See: Matthew 6:33). It can be so easy to do one or two out of the three of “ask, seek, knock.”, but it’s like praying on the armor of God - each piece of the armor is important and the full armor of God isn’t complete if it’s missing one or a couple parts! For example, the gospel shoes of peace are just as important as the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness is just as crucial as the loins girt with truth! All are vital parts to a full set of God’s armor! A man might as well be defenseless if his armor isn’t fully intact.
The knocking on God’s doors can be quite scary sometimes, especially when we give into the spirit of fear as we never know what will be on the other side of the door and if we’re ready to handle or overcome whatever God throws our way. (See: 2 Timothy 1:7). Sometimes it’s a time of testing and other times a time of blessings that can be on the other sides of the door. Sometimes it’s a no too and God’s nos are still full of His goodness! We are to not give into the spirit of fear, but to trust in the Lord at all times and remember that His perfect love casts out all fear, but we must fully surrender that spirit of fear in full humility to Him and confidently place it in His hands for Him to take care of. (See: Psalm 62:8, 1 John 4:18, James 4:7-10, and Proverbs 3:26). We may never know what’s behind Door #1, Door #2, or Door #3, etcetera. Some may be forever closed and some may be open only for a season. It's up to God and what His plans for us are and when His timing is right; those doors that we’ve been knocking on, God will give us the answers for. (See: Jeremiah 29:11 and Isaiah 55:8-9).
When we’re facing desperation, we can either do two things: “forget everything and run” or “face everything and rise.” Forgetting everything and running away from God won’t solve anything. It would do nothing, but make a man feel more empty and broken inside than he was before. This is a temporary relief and coping this way won’t fix the heart problem. Facing everything and rising with Christ within you will give you new life like never before! (See: Proverbs 24:16, 2 Corinthians 5:17, and Galatians 2:20). It may not be easy and even times after one has overcome the problem, the temptation will come back to test you time and time again, but each time we must deny the flesh and resist the devil! (See: John 16:33, Luke 9:23, 1 Corinthians 10:13). The devil’s temptations will no longer overtake us! We must remember the running to everything, but God will never fully satisfy the flesh, nothing ever will. The flesh will forever be in a state of discontent. (See: Proverbs 27:20). The spirit within us, on the other hand, is willing. (See: Matthew 26:41). We have the urge to keep fighting the good fight of the faith! (See: 1 Timothy 6:12). It is salvation that we long for and that is a gift that only the One-true God of the Bible can give us. (See: Psalm 119:174 and Ephesians 2:8-9). Salvation is not found in any other or in any worldly thing. Salvation is found in Christ alone and He offers it to us as a gift! (See: Acts 4:12). This is a choice that we have to make individually on whether or not one will accept His gift.
In accepting the gift of salvation, one will have a long, but narrow road ahead of them. (See: Matthew 7:13-14). The narrow road is never easy, but God is the One guiding us down it. Time spent on this earth is fleeting, but eternal life with Christ is long-lasting. Eternal life with Christ is definitely worth fighting for!
Eternal life separated from Christ in the Lake of Fire being tormented forever is where we go if we lose the fight. There is a Spiritual war going on and our souls are in the crossfire, both the devil and Christ desire them. The only difference is Christ, cares for each and every single one of you, and He loves you so much that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus to die on the cross as a sacrifice to be the propitiation for all of our sins from way back when, to the present, and even all of our future sins that we have yet to make. (See: 1 Peter 5:7, John 3:16-17, and 1 John 2:2). Jesus willingly died for them all. God, the Father wants to get to know you; to talk and to listen to you! The devil on the other hand couldn’t care less about you, he has no desire for you. The devil just wants you to not choose Christ and Satan will do anything with his power of darkness to keep you from choosing Jesus. Satan doesn’t want you, he just hates Christ so much that he’s willing to lead all of God’s children astray so that the devil can have them. So who will you choose? Whose hands will you leave your soul in? (See: Joshua 24:15).
Do you trust in the Lord to provide for your needs, both physical and spiritual? Do you believe that God is with you wherever you go? Will you ask, seek, and knock that you might receive the gifts that Jesus has in store for you? Will you trust in the Lord with all your heart, or do you lean on your own understanding?
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
Matthew 7:7-8
