Russell Mckinney's Blog

Straight Talk About God and Life

Will God Meet My Need?

In the mid-nineteenth century, poverty characterized the people of the northeast Highlands of Scotland. During those days, a man named John Murray was praying for guidance by a riverside. Many of his neighbors were imigrating to America, and he was wondering if he should join them. As he was praying, he heard a loud thud on the grass behind him. A salmon had leaped right out of the water and was lying there for him! Murray took it as an answer that the Lord could provide for him in Scotland. 

Philippians 4:19 says: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” This verse is very well known, for good reason. However, I would like to point out one important fact about the verse’s application.

That fact is: The verse was written by a Christian (the apostle Paul) to other Christians (the Christians of Philippi). You see, it’s not just anyone who can rightly say, “I know that God will supply all my need according to His riches in glory.” The verse doesn’t obligate God to provide for those who do not know Jesus as Savior. Pay careful attention to the wording: God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

I’m not saying that God won’t supply the need of a lost person. The truth is, He usually does. As Jesus said, “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). I’m simply pointing out the vast difference between knowing God as one’s heavenly Father and merely knowing Him as “the man upstairs.”

Imagine me walking around the mall with my two boys. It’s 6:00 p.m. and they haven’t had supper. They look at me and say, “Daddy, we’re hungry. Will you buy us something to eat?” I will buy them something because I’m their father, a fact which obligates me to provide for their needs. That is how God responds to the Christian’s needs. He meets them out of a fatherly obligation.

But now imagine another boy, a total stranger, coming up to me in the mall and saying, “Mister, I’m hungry. Will you buy me something to eat?” Based upon my assessment of the situation, if I sense a genuine need in the child, I will buy him something to eat. But I’m not obligated to do it, am I? Do you see the difference? I meet my boys’ need out of parental obligation, but I meet the other boy’s need out of something else, call it mercy, pity, charity, kindness, or compassion.

So, I’ll leave you with two thoughts. First, if you do not know Jesus as your Savior, you are not a child of God. You are loved by Him and you are desired by Him, but you are not His child. You must believe in Christ as Savior to actually join the family (John 1:12). And then, second, if you do know Jesus as Savior, you really shouldn’t worry about the meeting of your needs. Remember that your heavenly Father has inexhaustible “riches” and is obligated to take care of you, even if he has to drop a salmon on your bank to do it.

February 2, 2010 Posted by russellmckinney | God's Love, God's Provision, Trusting In God, Worry, faith, needs | , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Is Beautiful Music Coming From You?

Old stories are just that: old stories. Some are true. Some aren’t. Here’s one that comes from the late seventeenth century. I can’t testify to it’s authenticity, but it’s a good story.

A wealthy man from London was traveling across Europe. In a rundown little shop in Paris, he found an old violin. Its finish was flaking. It’s bridges were broken down. It’s strings were gone. But something about the instrument intrigued the man, and he bought it for a small sum.

He took the violin to his room and began to tinker with it but quickly realized that repairing it was far too great a task for him. He then began to search for someone to do the job. In Cremona, Italy, he asked a man on the street if he knew anyone who repaired violins. The man directed him to a certain house. He went there and knocked on the door, and the person who answered instructed him to leave the violin and come back in one week.

When the man returned to pick up his instrument, the door was answered by someone different. This man was quite elegant looking and wore distinguished glasses. When he brought forth the violin, it didn’t even look like the same instrument. It was restored completely and virtually sparkled with beauty. 

The man took his violin and tried to play it, but the sound that came out was harsh and unpleasant. He thought, “Oh well. It was worth a try to fix it.” Then he asked for the bill and voiced his appall at what he considered an outrageous price, considering that the violin’s sound still left much to be desired.  

At that point the bespeckled fellow took the instrument back and began playing it. This time the sound produced was indescribably beautiful to the ear. The owner, with his eyes bouncing, immediately changed his mind and agreed to the price. As he handed over the money, he asked the gentleman, “Who are you, sir?” The answer came back, “My name is Antonio Stradivari. If you will look closely, you’ll find that name inside your violin because I made it.”        

The spiritual application of this story is two fold. First, just as Antonio Stradivari knew how to restore one of his Stradivarius violins, God knows how to restore you, His creation. Second, just as Stradivari knew exactly how to play one of his violins to produce the most beautiful music from it, God knows how to play you to produce the most beautiful music you have in you.

December 10, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Doing Good, God's Love, God's Provision, Personal Holiness, spiritual gifts | , , , | Leave a Comment

A Good Thought For Thanksgiving

I preached a Thanksgiving sermon this morning. Then Tonya hit the Mcdonalds drive-thru tonight and picked up some supper. Let me combine those two events of my day and give you a good thought, Christian.

Let’s say that a father takes his child to Mcdonalds for french-fries. Once they have their order and are seated at a table, the father tests the child by asking, “Do you love me more than you love these french-fries?” The child has to think for a moment but finally answers, “Yes.” Do you know why that was the right choice? It’s because it’s better to love the source of the blessing rather than the blessing itself. 

You see, if that father had much money in his wallet, he could buy fries for all the people in the restaurant. The fact that he bought fries especially for his child showed that he loved that child and wanted to have an intimate time of fellowship with that child. The point is, the real gift was the father, not the fries. The fries were merely a byproduct of the far more important thing: the unique relationship with the father.      

I have two wonderful boys, and I enjoy filling their lives with pleasing things such as food, clothing, comfortable beds, balls, bats, gloves, toys, televisions, and Playstation systems. But they should appreciate me more than the stuff that I give them. New stuff gets manufactured and purchased every day, but there is only one me. Ryan and Royce don’t have another earthly father. I’m it. That makes me infinitely more important than anything I can buy them.

As we enter into this Thanksgiving week, I’ll ask you to do something: Spend some time thanking God for His person. Don’t just be thankful for the blessings He has bestowed upon you, blessings such as family, friends, health, peace of mind, home, money, and possessions. That’s just the child thanking the father for the french-fries. Be sure to thank God even more for simply being who He is.        

Christian, if all you can do is thank God for the blessings that He sends your way, what will you do if those blessings get taken away? That happened to Job. Chapters 1 and 2 of his book describe how he lost his wealth, his children, and his health. But over the course of the rest of the book, Job learns to thank God merely for being who He is. Could you or I offer up any thanks if we lost all the blessings that Job lost? That’s a good question to ponder over the next few days. Hopefully, by Thursday, the thanks we offer up to God will be more mature and insightful than any we’ve ever offered up before on Thanksgiving.

November 22, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Fatherhood, God's Love, God's Provision, Parenting, Priorities, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving, trials | , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Good Morning

Jesus was in my room this morning.

I don’t know why He came.

Unless it was the prayer last night

in which I called His name.

——————————————————-

It was too early for any daylight,

so I didn’t view His face.

But His love was present in the dark

and soon filled up the place.

——————————————————-

The early morning was cold outside,

blanketed by a frost.

But I realized with Jesus at hand

nary a hope was lost.

——————————————————-

I’d spent the night in an awful gloom,

ashamed of my many sins.

I’d prayed that God would open my heart

and let His Son come in.

——————————————————-

But I had not received an answer,

at least I didn’t think so.

Till I awoke and felt Jesus’ presence,

then I began to know.

——————————————————-

To know that my prayer had been answered,

to know how much He cares.

To know that He is my Comforter,

to know my pain He shares.

——————————————————-

And then I noticed some light outside,

cast by a rising sun.

Soon the entire house began to stir,

for a new day had begun.

——————————————————-

So I cried, “My dear precious Jesus,

please do not leave me now.

For I have to start this brand new day

and I’m just not sure how.

——————————————————-

You’ve only just arrived to my room

for the early morning light.”

Then a voice said, “I’ll never leave you,

don’t you know I spent the night?”

                                                                      Russell Mckinney

November 12, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Forgiveness, God's Love, Personal, Problems, Seeking Forgiveness, Worry, prayer, trials | , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

God’s Thoughts, Plans, & Love

Jeremiah 29:11 is an often-quoted verse. It says: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says the Lord, “thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (N.K.J.V.) The Hebrew word that is translated as “thoughts” carries with it the idea of planning, plotting, intending, devising, imagining, and purposing. That’s why every translation other than the King James and the New King James translate the word as “plans.” For example, the N.I.V. renders the verse: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” The point is, God doesn’t just think good thoughts; He also devises plans that will bring those good thoughts to pass.

Obviously, this is a beautiful verse that conveys a very pleasant idea. But we must be sure to take the verse’s context into account. This isn’t Paul writing to Christians. This is God speaking through the Jewish prophet Jeremiah to the Old Testament Jews. God is telling them what He is going to do for them once their seventy-year captivity in Babylon has ended. The previous verse, verse 10, makes this clear. It says: For thus says the Lord: “After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place (Jerusalem).” So, you see, there really isn’t anybody alive on Earth right now who can specifically claim verse 11 as their own.

This doesn’t mean, however, that the general principle of the verse can’t be carried over into our day. We shouldn’t think of God as creation’s mean-spirited policeman. We do Him an injustice when we depict Him as a cosmic killjoy who won’t let us have any fun. The truth is, He would much rather think good thoughts than bad ones toward people. He’d much rather devise plans for good than bad. He’d much rather bless than judge.

God didn’t enjoy allowing the Babylonians to conquer Judah and carry the Jews off to Babylon for seventy years of captivity. He only did that because those Jews needed chastening. For a 490-year period, they had ignored His command to let the land rest every seventh year (Exodus 23:11). This meant that they owed the land seventy individual years of rest. The land got each year of that rest during those seventy years the people were exiled in Babylon (Leviticus 26:27-35; 2 Chronicles 36:15-21).  

Certainly that punishment conveys one side of God’s nature. But it isn’t the only side. As soon as the seventy years of whipping were finished, what was God’s word to those Jews? It was, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Do you see the perfect balance? 

If there were ever any lingering doubts about God loving all people, they were dispelled when Jesus (God the Son) came into this world and became one of us. This was God giving to all humanity the absolute best He had: Himself. He did this even though He knew the gift would be ridiculed, misunderstood, mocked, rejected, arrested, whipped, and nailed to a cross to die. Why would God do such a thing? To save believers from their sins! As John 3:16 says: ”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (N.I.V.)        

I don’t know how you are feeling right now. But I can tell you with all certainty that God loves you. He loves you so much that Jesus died for you so that God can spend all eternity with you. You’ve got to love someone a whole bunch to want to be around them forever!!! Jesus came to Earth so that you could go to Heaven. He lived and died so that you could die and live. He paid a debt He did not owe because you owed a debt you could not pay. So the next time you to start to doubt that God loves you, look to the cross. There you’ll find the indisputable measure of His love.

November 11, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Belief, Christ's Death, Crucifixion, Disobedience, Forgiveness, God's Love, Heaven, balance, salvation | , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment