Give us this day our daily bread. And of course,
you easily recognize this as a part of that prayer
that Jesus taught us to pray. Give us this day
here now on earth today. Look at your calendar.
That's right. Look at the calendar in that room
where you are now sitting. Give us this day,
now, our daily bread. Do you want to know something?
The most wonderful thing in the world is to know
that God is your Heavenly Father. You talk about
riches. You talk about an inheritance. The greatest
riches any human being can know, the greatest
inheritance that any one of us can experience
is the inheritance and the riches in knowing
that here and now we are the sons of God. And
all that is His is ours. And because we are the
children of the loving Father, we're entitled
to expect that God will provide us fully with
everything that we need. That's right. Before
I get through with my little heart -to -heart
talk with you today, I pray you'll just be so
sorry you ever worried. I pray that you'll say
to yourself, well, why didn't I go to bed and
sleep last night? Why did I roll and toss and
worry and... Six o 'clock this morning, I was
all tired out. Haven't slept a week. I just...
rolled and tossed and worried about how everything
was going to come out. Remember something. Because
we are the children of a loving Heavenly Father,
you and I are entitled to expect that God will
provide us fully with everything that we need.
Now, children, just naturally, just spontaneously,
looked to their human parents to supply all their
wants. Your child did not lose one wink of sleep
last night, worried about his food today. He
knew that when he would get up in the morning,
it would be there. Never entered his mind. He
knew that Dad would have it there. Dad would
bring it in. Mama would have it on the table.
That's the reason children sleep so well. They
don't worry because children just naturally look
to their human parents to supply all their wants,
all their needs. And in exactly the same way,
we should look to our Heavenly Father, to God,
to supply all our needs. And he's promised. And
if we do, in faith and understanding, I'll promise
you something we'll never expect in vain. We'll
be no more disappointed than Yuri Youngster was
disappointed when he came down to breakfast table
this morning and the cereal and the milk and
the egg and the juice was right there. It is
absolutely the will of God. that all of his children
should lead healthy, happy lives, full of joy,
full of joyous experiences. We should live a
life of expectancy, of adventure. We should develop
freely and steadily, day by day, week by week.
as our pathways unfold more and more unto the
perfect day. To this end, we require such things
as food and clothing and shelter and means of
travel and everything that we need down here
in an old material world. And above all else,
we require freedom. And in the prayer, all these
things are included. under the heading of bread.
And by the way, that bread can be literal, too.
Bread and butter. Sure. But bread, that is to
say, means not merely food in general, but all
things that you and I need for a healthy, happy,
free life. But in order to obtain these things,
we've got to remember our relationship with our
Heavenly Father. We've got to believe Him for
it. We have got to claim these things. We've
got to recognize God and God alone as the source
and the fountainhead of all our good. Lack of
any kind. is always traceable to the fact that
we've been seeking our supply from some other
source, some secondary source, instead of from
God. But you must remember that God is the author
and the giver of life, and every good and perfect
gift comes from Him. I want you to consider something
in this little heart -to -heart talk. And it
is the most practical thing that I could talk
to you about because I don't care how spiritual
you may be, you're still in the flesh. You're
still human. The material needs must be met and
must be supplied. There still must be The money
to pay for the groceries. You've got to pay the
milk bill. You've got to pay the rent. There's
gasoline to buy for the car. There's a car to
be bought. There's taxes to be met. We're still
human. I don't care how spiritual you are. You
never can get to the place spiritually where
you don't have to pay these things. It's like
that. Now, most people think of their supply
as coming from certain investments or from a
business or from some employer. Whereas, if you
could only realize that these things are merely
the channels through which it comes. God being
the source. The number of possible channels is...
Infinite. But the source is just one. And God
is that source. Now the particular channel through
which you're getting your supply is quite likely
to change. Because change is the law for manifestations.
Now remember something. There is one Heavenly
Father who has promised to supply the need. Everything
else that concerns you in the supplying of that
need is nothing more or less than a channel that
God uses. And if you read the Word of God, He
used angels. Oh, you'd be amazed Channels that
God uses. Sure. Now, you take a man, for instance.
He thinks of his employment as the source of
his income. And then for some reason or another,
he loses his job. Maybe his employer goes out
of business. Maybe they've cut down the staff.
Or maybe, well, one... a thousand different reasons,
he loses his job. Now, all these years, he has
always thought as his employment as the source
of his income. And after he's lost his job, He
becomes very depressed. He becomes very despondent.
Now, if such a man only realized that God is
his supply and his job was only the particular
channel through which it came, Then upon the
closing of that channel, he looks up and he says,
Now, Lord, what's the next channel that you're
going to open up for me to supply my need? And
maybe the next channel that God opens up will
be a better channel than the channel that God
used prior to that one. It's light. I always
think of that when I see some man who lost a
job. My word, you would have thought that the
bottom had dropped out of everything. He comes
home, he might just as well have opened that
back door and said, Mary, God just died. That's
the way he looks. That's the way he acts. He
is so despondent, so dejected. Why, listen. The
real source of your supply is God. There is only
one fountainhead of every good and perfect gift.
There is only one... giver of every good and
perfect gift. If you are his child, if God is
your heavenly father, remember something. He
is the source of all that you need. Your employer
is just a channel. Your position is just a channel.
The place where you work. Whoever God uses in
the flesh is just a channel through which God
is supplying the need for you and your family.
Yeah. And if your belief had been in God, then
since God cannot change and God cannot fail,
then... Believe me, you will look up and say,
now, Lord, where's the next channel through which
my need will be supplied? And he'll not let you
down. I promise you, he'll not let you down.
Now, our daily bread signifies the realization
of the presence of God. actual sense that God
exists, not merely in a nominal way, but as the
great reality. The sense that he is present with
us. The feeling that because he is God, all good,
all powerful, all wise, all loving, we have nothing
to fear. Just to know that we can rely upon him
to take every possible care of us. That he'll
supply all that we need to have. That he'll teach
us all that we need to know. That he'll guide
our steps so that we shall not make mistakes.
All that is what the scripture means when it
says, God with us. This is Emmanuel. Our God.
God with us. If you live in that constant realization
of God with you, God ever present, God the fountainhead,
God the source of all that you need, You'll go
to bed that night and sleep and not worry about
how things are going to be taken care of tomorrow.
That's it. You know, years ago, I found something
in the Bible and I... Always remember it as 2
Kings, the last chapter, the last verse. It has
meant so much to me through the years. I give
it to you. As I give it to you, I pray that it
shall mean as much to you as it has meant to
me. Because you see, I'm human too. all so human.
And the reason I can talk to you about these
things is because I've experienced these things
too. And you can never give to anyone else any
more than you have experienced yourself. I've
had to learn these very things that I'm giving
to you. That's the reason I can teach you. That's
the reason I can assure you that what I'm telling
you works. It works. Believe me, if more of you
preachers who spend so much time begging for
money would get your eyes off of money and on
the source of the supply, you wouldn't have to
be beggars. It's like that. If some of you folk
who are living such defeated lives, would lift
your eyes up and fix your eyes on the source
of the supply, fix your eyes on your Heavenly
Father, get a realization of His power, His presence,
and your relationship to Him, you'd be living
in the glory instead. All right, here's the scripture.
2 Kings, last chapter, the last verse. And his
allowance was a continual allowance given him
of the king, a daily rate for every day. All
the days of his life. I've lived by them. Do
you want to know the real secret of my everyday
fellowship with him? Here it is. It's found just
in those words. And his allowance was a continual
allowance given him of the king. A daily rate
for every day. You see, the reason we worry is
because we want more than just the daily rate.
We want a whole year's supply. Well, at least
six months. And we can't... possibly be satisfied.
We have to have more assurance than just one
day at a time. Oh, my goodness, a life. You know,
the government has spoiled us, I think. I think
the unions have sort of spoiled us. But God's
plan. is a day -by -day proposition, a daily
rate for every day, all the days of his life.
And the art of life is to live in the present
moment, to make that moment as perfect as we
can by the realization that we are the instruments
and the expression of God himself. And the best
way to prepare for tomorrow is to make today
all that it should be. Amen.