Ph 4:19 “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Have you ever heard the expression “I am banking on…”? The expression carries the idea of “to expect or rely with confidence upon something or someone.” In Philippians 4:19, Paul pens what is perhaps the best-known and best-loved verse in the entire epistle. We should notice that this promise follows the description of their faithful stewardship. In other words, because they had given of their material resources to God, even to the point where their own livelihood was endangered, God would supply their every need.
How easy it is to take this verse out of context and use it as a permissive pillow for self-aggrandizing Christians who are squandering their money on themselves with seldom a thought for the work of God! While it is true in a general sense that God does supply the needs of His people, this is a specific promise that those who are faithful and devoted in their giving to Christ will never suffer lack.
I have discovered that most believers are not stingy toward the work/will of God because of selfishness but a stagnant, abiding fear of running out. If you are a part of that timid throng, this verse is for you!
Williams calls verse 19 a “note drawn upon the bank of faith”:
My God—the name of the Banker.
Shall supply—the promise to pay.
All your need—the value of the note.
According to His riches—the capital of the bank.
In glory—the address of the bank.
By Christ Jesus—the signature at the foot, without which the note is worthless
What an insightful analogy that shapes and soothes my soul! When other voices are saying, “Don’t bank on God,” remember not only the perks but the Banker behind the promissory note from this cattle-on-a-thousand-hills bank. Here is a question that I dare you to join me in asking: “What would I do in life if money were no object and I could not fail?” Wow! That unleashes a whole new range of possibilities in my life. I choose today, anew and afresh, to bank upon Philippians 4:19.
By the way, banking in this manner requires patient faith. This divine Banker not only has the resources we need but the right to disperse when and where He chooses. As Elizabeth Elliot so wisely asserts, “God has promised to supply all our needs. What we don’t have now, we don’t need now.”
How about you? You can count upon God to supply all of your need. Are you willing to risk it all to truly experience the deep, deep pockets of God’s riches in Christ Jesus? Only then can God truly get glory from and through our needy lives as Paul reminds us in another epistle, “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Co. 1:20).
harleysnode 