He’s All I Need
Gordon Crook – Pastor Wichita, Kansas
He’s all I need, when I just need someone to talk to. He’s always there to hear my prayer each time I call Him. All my needs He supplies, my thirsty soul He satisfies. He’s the Lord of lords. He’s all I need. (First stanza of a song by Genelle Tennant.
Sometimes we sing our hymns without really paying attention to the words and what they really mean. Singing the words is much easier than living them. Paul lived the words that he wrote in his epistles.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13. Paul reminds us that everything he needed, he would find in Jesus. Even though he found himself in situations of real need, he was always content, whatever his state, because he found his true supply in Jesus.
We are often encouraged to lean on ourselves, or maybe even on others, and that might make us feel better. While sometimes there are others that God will use to help us, we must always first look to our Lord for everything in our lives. “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.” Psalm 62:5. God is the only one that has proven Himself to always be faithful, and to always be there for us. “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5.
Satan will convince us that the world can offer us everything we need, and that we need all that it has to offer. However, we will never be able to be content as long as we search for contentment in this world and all that it offers. No amount of money, fame, titles, or anything else will ever be enough. The longing that exists in us is for God, and only He can fill it. “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;” Psalms 63:1 “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” Ephesians 3:19
There is an imminent danger for all of God’s people that Satan is desperately attempting to attack our minds to convince us that what God has told us in His Word is not true. To convince us that we can be in control of our own destiny and have no need of our Lord. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” 11 Peter 5:8. Paul says this about unbelieving humanity: “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Romans 1:21. Satan is not looking to literally “devour” us, but rather to destroy our fellowship with our Lord; to get us to believe that we do not need God.
The solution to this problem is found in James 4:7-8, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” Drawing near to God. He really is all we need.
This problem is not only about needing God to supply our material needs, but recognizing that we need our Lord in every aspect of our lives. He supplies our needs in every way. We also are not attempting to create some kind of lazy attitude about our lives. I go to work every day to provide for my life, but I recognize that God provides me the job, and enables me to accomplish my work, and supplies my needs through that. As soon as I begin to believe what the world is telling me about my ability and what I deserve because of my effort, I am shutting God out and it is a lie, because I cannot do anything without my Lord.
This is true about every aspect of my life. I need Jesus for everything that comes my way. And in fact, Jesus is all I need. If Jesus is first in my life, then all other things will fall in their place and be sufficient, because Jesus is sufficient.
Don’t let the world convince you that you are sufficient unto yourself, as you will miss out on the very best that God has for you. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5.
