Purpose Is Yours, Provision Is God's: Start Before the Money

Sermon outline

God is your source, and whatever He purposes He provides for, so pursue the dream He gave you and take the first step before the provision is in your hand.

1. "They need not depart": it is God's nature to bless

   The disciples wanted to send the crowd away to buy food, but Jesus said, "They need not depart. Give ye them to eat." That shows the compassion of Jesus and the nature of God, whose desire is to bless His people. The automatic human answer is "we have here but five loaves and two fishes", yet Jesus said, "Bring them hither to me", because by the Spirit He already knew the end from the beginning.

   Illustration: When a man of God speaks under the anointing it is not just so-and-so speaking. Jesus did not take the boy's lunch and then try to work something out: He already knew what He was going to do with it.

   “That is the nature of God. He wants to bless his people.”

   • Matthew 14:15-18

2. A miracle of substance: your lack is God's provision

   Jesus blessed the five loaves and two fishes and gave them to the disciples to hand out, training them that whatever they lacked He could multiply. So do not look at your limited resources and say you do not have enough for what God has called you to do. What God gives satisfies: they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets were left over, which is overflow. He says the same Spirit lives in us, and turns to 2 Kings 4, where a servant asked how twenty loaves could be set before a hundred men.

   Illustration: From a little boy's lunch a crowd he puts at ten or fifteen thousand, counting women and children, was fed. While you are sleeping, God can speak to a man or a woman to bring what you need.

   “Your lack is God's provision. Whatever you lack, I can multiply.”

   • Matthew 14:19-21
   • Romans 8:11
   • 2 Kings 4:42-43

3. A miracle of material supply: the money in the fish's mouth

   When the tribute money was due, Jesus sent Peter to cast a hook and take the money from the mouth of the first fish. Whether the fish picked the coin up from the seabed or it was created in its mouth, either way it was a miracle, because Jesus knew which fish Peter would catch. He says the same power is in the believer's mouth, that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, and that tradition limits God and makes His word of no effect.

   Illustration: "He can add zeros in your bank account": if He can create money in a fish's mouth, He can do that too.

   “God's answered a long time ago. All you're waiting for is the manifestation.”

   • Matthew 17:24-27
   • John 6:63
   • John 8:32
   • Hebrews 13:8
   • Mark 7:13
   • 1 Corinthians 2:4
   • Ephesians 4:11

4. God is your source, and He shows up when there is no way out

   When you feel down and nothing seems to be happening, that is when God likes to show up, because if He came earlier you would say, "I did it." The place with no human help is a good place to be: it is just you and God, and when He comes through you will have a testimony. Israel went from slaves to a people loaded with silver and gold in a moment, supernaturally. So it is dangerous to look at your job, your business or your bank balance as your source.

   Illustration: One minute the Israelites were slaves, driven hard and covered in mud. The next they walked out with silver and gold, not one feeble among them, and their shoes did not wear out.

   “You can't have a testimony if you do not go through a test.”

   • 1 Corinthians 14:33
   • Exodus 12:35-36
   • Psalm 105:37
   • Deuteronomy 29:5

5. Whatever God purposes, He provides for

   Do not stop dreaming because your resources are limited. Proverbs 16:1 says the plans of the heart belong to man but the answer comes from the Lord, so when you follow the plan God put in your heart He will tell you on time what to do and whom to call. A dream from God usually looks impossible, and He planned it that way: you pursue the dream and He provides. God knows our provisions are never equal to the vision at the moment we receive it. He just wants you to begin.

   Illustration: The Comrades Marathon: the race starts, and all along the road there are helpers and seconds handing out water and sponges. When you start running for your vision, God has enough seconds on the road for you.

   “Purpose is your responsibility. Provision is God's responsibility.”

   • Proverbs 16:1

6. Faith starts before the provision arrives: take action

   Some people have a business or a plan in their heart and have not started because they are waiting for the provision, and it will not come that way. Fear is not from God, and someone else's failure says nothing about you. Most of us want the provision before we start, but faith does not work like that. Do not despise small beginnings, and do not let inflation or other people's advice decide for you.

   Illustration: Pack your car for the journey and the petrol money will come. Book your ticket. Plan your holiday now, not one day when the money comes.

   “When we take action, then God manifests provision.”

   • 2 Timothy 1:7
   • Zechariah 4:10
   • Job 8:7