Jehovah Jireh: The Lord my provider

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13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. (Genesis 22:13-14)

This is well-covered territory for most Christians, but God is a good God. More than that, God is a good Father. We are his children. As a good Father, the Lord knows he must take care of us. 

I reiterate this as a reminder to myself and anyone else out there that needs to hear it again. 

My family and I are in a battle. We are on a journey. But, in this journey, we have enemies. 

Some of the enemies are our circumstances. I'm jobless. I'm 54. I'm on unemployment. Most businesses in this day and age have no interest in hiring a man my age. 

First of all, a man my age needs a larger salary than a 22-year-old just out of college. I have established bills and a family to care for. Companies can pay the young college grad (I'm a recent college grad myself) far less than what they would pay me.

Secondly,

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/intentional-insights/202003/why-you-should-hire-women-over-men-according-science

https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/why-you-should-hire-women-over-men-according-to-science/

That's just 2 examples of the narrative that our society is pushing. Supposedly, 2020 has been declared the year of the woman. So employers are actively searching for reasons and ways to hire women over men. 

Both of these, plus the Covid-19 economic mess has made it extremely difficult for me to find a job. Even looking for a job is more difficult now for us older folks. In my youth, you went to the place you wanted to work at, filled out the application, talked with the manager (many times before you left) and you at least left with an interview set up. 

Now, companies get offended if you look for a job that way. "Can't you go to our website and apply like everyone else? We don't do applications in house." So, we're left with the cold, and impersonal cyber world. We go to the job sites, linked in, and company websites. But, usually, we don't even get a "thank you for applying" email. 

It's very frustrating and disheartening.

Other enemies include the devil (who hates all Christians) and even some brothers and sisters in the Lord who do not like the way that we live or believe. 

These folks actively send curses our way (not from God) by praying for us to fall flat on our faces. Supposedly, in their minds, if we fail, then it negates the scriptures that we live by and they are not responsible to line up with God's word in that department. 

But, "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." (Psalms 23:5)

Take heart! 

God says that when we are surrounded by enemies because we are his child, he will provide for us! He'll even give us a glorious picnic for us to eat while our enemy is kept at bay. All they can do is sit back and watch us eat it! 

Hallelujah!!!

Also, in the process, the Lord will refresh our anointing and fill us to the point of running over again! 

I'm not there quite yet, but he is providing for us. I know the refreshing is coming though- because he said so.

The enemy of our souls whispers, "you're going to lose everything. All is lost. You're God has abandoned you. You're going down this time." He tries to fill our minds with images of our pets and children starving, and we're homeless- having no way or place to go. 

But, just like when Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac, if we will willingly say, "thy will be done," the long trek up the mountain will be worth it all. The Lord will make a way where there seems to be no way. 

Abraham and Isaac climbed that mountain. Isaac was willing to be strapped onto the altar of sacrifice. Abraham was willing to strap him in and lift the knife. 

Then God spoke.

There will come a time when God will look at our willingly offered sacrifice and speak deliverance into both my situations and yours. 

When he does, we, like Abraham, will once again call him, Jehovah-Jireh- The Lord my provider.

Until then, let's just hold on to him and enjoy our picnic. Let the enemy watch us eat every bite. Because one day, victory will be ours because the Lord will free us!

The mother's challenge. (Pray for the mothers)

Genesis 2:¹⁸ And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.


Ephesians 5: ²² Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

²³ For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

²⁴ Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

²⁶ That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

²⁷ That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

²⁸ So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

²⁹ For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

³⁰ For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

³¹ For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

³² This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

³³ Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Deuteronomy 6: ⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:

⁵ And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

⁶ And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

⁷ And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Titus 2: But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:

² That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

³ The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

⁴ That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

⁵ To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

I appreciate my wife. Truly, I do! But, I'm very glad that I'm a man. I don't believe that I could do her job. The worst thing that our femenistic society has ever done, is to convince a generation of people that being a wife and mother is a waste of material. Our children and our homes are suffering for this- desperately. 


Understand this also, God in his infinite wisdom created the family BEFORE he created the church. The family relationships are to be a model of the relationship between Christ and his bride. Our homes are MORE important than our callings of ministry. In fact, if we don't perform our duties at home correctly, the word says we are not fir to lead in his church.


So many preachers kids go slap wild because they were neglected in their homes! The parents put most of their emphasis on their ministry, rather than on their family. This is wrong and needs to be corrected- now! 

Lets take a close look at what scripture says about her job. Let's really look at how tough her job is. 

First of all, she is to be a "help meet" to her husband. Many folks have taken these two words and made them mean something they do not. This does not mean that husband and wife, male and female, have equal authority in the home. In fact, the term "help meet", in scripture, actually means, "help help" in the Hebrew. 

The wife is there to help the husband, but as we will soon see, this does not make them equal in authority. It is NOT a 50-50 proposition, as some teach it. And we husbands DO need, probably, twice as much help as the wife does. 

However, the husband is the head (authority) of the wife in the same way that Christ is the head (authority) of the church. It is HIS job to lead the family in the direction that Jesus wants the home to go. It is the wife's job to submit to his leading- even when she disagrees or doesn't like it- just as we must submit to Jesus in the same way. 

Disclaimer: Paul told the church to "follow (him) AS (HE) follows Christ". It's the same in the home. If the husband is trying to lead the wife and children down ungodly path's, she can disobey him and not submit. 

We husbands are to love our lives as Jesus loves the church- AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR US! We are to pray, work for, follow Jesus, and lead our family- even if it kills us to do so. If we will devote our lives to our families, then them following us won't be an issue. They'll be happy to follow us. Just as we are happy to follow Jesus- look at all he's done for us. 

We are to nourish and cherish our wives and children. Our wives are to love and obey us- and nourish and cherish our children. The children are to be taught to submit to the parents and will learn to love and cherish their own families one day by what they see modeled in the homes that they are raised in. 

If the wife is submitted to the husband, then the children see a picture of how the church is supposed to submit to Jesus. If the wife is not submitted to her husband, but rules him or tries to be equal to him, then the children are raised to think that Jesus is to either give them equal say so or even is to submit to them- and they get mad when he doesn't! 

Deuteronomy 6 tells us how we are to raise our kids. But, guess who does most of the teaching? MOM! Read Titus 2. The husband does lead, teach, and enforce. But, mom does most of the teaching to the children since they spend the most time with them. 

If we line our homes up the way God tells us to, then our children will be raised to fear the Lord and come to know him. If we do not, then our children will not only have a hard time in their future marriages and with their future children, but they will have a hard time in their walk with God. Mom's have the tougher job, by far. 

I spent several years in restaurant management. People think that you're the boss and have it made. You're not. The owner is the boss. The supervisor he hires is your direct boss. Yes, you manage the restaurant and the crew, but you are confined in what you can and cannot do by the policies that the owner and supervisor lays down. 

It's not a problem, really, if the owner, supervisor, and manager are on the same page. But, if the supervisor begins to go against the owners policies, problems arise. It is then the managers job to stick to the owners policies, irregardless of what the supervisor says. 

If the manager steps out of line and the supervisor has not, it is the supervisor's job to discipline the manager and bring them into compliance with the owners policies. 

If the crew steps out of line, it is the managers job to discipline them and bring them in line with the owners policies.  

If the supervisor convinces the manager to go against the owners policies, they cause BIG problems. If they don't change, the owner will fire them.

The husband, in a home, is the supervisor. Jesus is the owner. The wife/mother is the manager. She is confined in her job by what her husband allows her to do and not do. 

If the husband tries to do things a different way than Jesus has said, then problems arise. The wife is to hold her ground- standing in prayer on scripture- until Jesus (the owner) disciplines him and brings him back in line. 

If the husband is following Jesus and the wife is not, then it is his job to pray for her and lovingly correct her. No, husbands, you cannot whip our wives. God does a much better job of that than we do.  

If husband and wife are following Jesus, and the children are out of whack, it is the parents job to pray for, correct, and whip them when they need it to bring them in line with God's rules. 

If husband and wife are NOT following Jesus, expect a bad whipping, possibly even being fired (we can lose our salvation). The kids will go slap wild in this case! 

This is why Titus 2:5 says that if the husband and wife don't do their jobs they risk "blaspheming (1) to speak reproachfully, rail at, revile, calumniate, blaspheme

2) to be evil spoken of, reviled, railed at the word of God!" 

Titus 2: But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:

² That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

³ The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

⁴ That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

⁵ To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

Mothers do the majority of this teaching, as they spend the most time with the children.

Men are the head of the home, but mom's are the heart. As the heart goes, so goes the body (home). If the mom submits to dad, and dad leads, loves, and corrects, then the children turn out right. 

But, if our homes are not in God's order, then the kids don't turn out right and we risk blaspheming the word of God. 

Lord, help us to fix our homes. Help the husbands to lead, and help the wives to obey and lead the kids. No job on earth is anywhere close to as important as Mom's job. Help us to help them. In Jesus name!