I Need You, Now: The Watch Letter
As we sang during choir rehearsal the other day, a lyric grabbed me and would not let me go.
The song was "Yes" by Shekinah Glory. The singer was singing what God was telling her:
"There is more that I require of thee..."
The word require may appear at first glance to mean command or demand or rule. But the true definition is a "need for a particular purpose."
The Lord is saying "I need you now for a particular purpose." God needs us. And he needs our answer to be "yes" when he asks us to do something. This is not my first time hearing this. Our pastor has taught us time and time again that the Lord needs us to meet his needs and make his vision come to pass. He uses human hands.
Now, some may ask: How can God need me when I'm the one who is needy or I have my own needs? How can God need something when he is the creator of everything?
The answer I believe God gave is: God created us for that purpose. He wanted someone to trust, he wanted someone to partner with in accomplishing his will. God is not selfish and he never wants to do anything without us.
(P.S. This is also a great time to stop seeing God as a genie in the bottle, and stop thinking of him as just someone to call on or take off the shelf when we need something or need help.)
When Jesus came into the world, in human form, he could have accomplished every assignment God gave him on his own -- he had enough power to do it, but Jesus wanted help. He chose to need the help of the disciples and apostles. He wanted others to partner with him in the plan of salvation. To be needed by the Lord is an honor and a blessing.
So, yes, there is more that God requires (needs of us). In the old days, when people wanted someone to participate in something they would send an invitation that would say "your presence is required (needed)."
God is saying to us today, your presence is needed. I need you, now. (Let's not miss that word now. He needs us to be available to him readily and urgently.)
But God is faithful in never asking us to do anything he hasn't already done. He is asking us to fulfill his needs now because he has already fulfilled ours.
In one of the most popular scriptures in the world is one of the most critical assurances from God in fulfilling our needs. People often recite it … but can miss what it means.
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." (Psalm 23)
Let's break these words down. This verse is saying the Lord himself, the most powerful person, thing, entity, source in the universe, has made himself our shepherd and responsible for us. We are directed, protected, fed, led, attended to by the creator of the universe. That's powerful. His resources and power are endless, so we can never run out of what we need. So, how can we want (lack)? Every need we have, even the ones we don't know we have, has already been fulfilled from the foundation of the world.
Think about the creation. He provided vegetation and animals (for food, labor, environmental health, and other resources). He provided water for drinking, cleaning, farming, and much more. He provided the sun and rain (for energy, production, and more.) The materials we use to make clothes, build buildings, medicines, and operate day-to-day all come from the earth God created. So, yes, all of our needs are met in the physical. But God always goes above and beyond and he also ensured our spiritual and mental needs were met. Our deliverance from sorrow, sin, sickness, doubt, fear, worry, etc, was already completed when Jesus died on the cross.
So, every need we could ever think of has been met before we, this current generation of people, were even born. Before we could ever think of what we need ... it's already done. (Our pastor, Chief Apostle H.C. Gunn, used to sing to us a song God gave him: It's already done, It's already done.... whatever you need .... it's already done. If you need healing, it's already done. It's already done. It's already done.)
Another keyword here is want. Chief Apostle Gunn always says: I have nothing I want. When you hear this you may say: that can't be true ... he is human, there has to be something he wants. But when you look deeper, you see that he understands Psalm 23. He knows that God has fulfilled his needs, so there is no lack (want).
Now, sometimes, and I am guilty of this myself, we create a lack in our life. We want and want and want things (or people) and then convince ourselves there is a need or lack in our lives - we create emptiness or cravings that were really there. But, oftentimes, the things we want are not needs, they are just desires. And when we don't get what we want, we convince ourselves (or allow the devil to convince us) that God has not met our needs. Or we make bad choices, get out of God's will or stop believing ....so we miss the fulfillment of our needs that have already been sent — whether at the beginning of the time, on the cross, through his word or spirit, or through another person God sent.
But the word of God bears out that all of our needs have already been met. Philippians 4:19 says, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
So, now that we know all of our needs are met. Why don't we focus on meeting God's needs?
We can ask God what do you require of me today? What can I render for all your benefits to me? What can I help you with today? How can I work with you today? Sometimes God may need to just hear I love you. Sometimes he may just need a praise. Sometimes he may need us to pray for someone. Sometimes he may need us to go help someone. Sometimes he may need us to sacrifice or give something. Sometimes he may need us to call our pastor and see how we can help or pray for him or assist him. Sometimes he may need us to teach our children. Sometimes he may need us to minister to someone who needs encouragement or correction.
God is saying, I have taken care of you. I am your shepherd. You will never want for anything, but I need you, now, to take care of my people, my kingdom, my household of faith, my dreams, my plans, etc.
I encourage you to listen to today's radio broadcast by Chief Apostle Gunn. In it, he talks about caring for God and being attentive to God. He asks: How are we loving God and abiding with him? It reminds me of the scripture in Luke 10 about Martha and Mary. Martha was busy cleaning, cooking, and serving others when she invited Jesus into her home, so she was distracted and not attending to the Lord. But her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet. She was attentive and loving to him and listened to every word he spoke. Jesus didn't need food or drink from Martha, he needed her attention.
What if he had an assignment or request for Martha but she was too busy with the things of life… or maybe she was thinking: I am going to prepare all this stuff for Jesus and the guests so then I can impress him and tell him about my needs. Sometimes we busy ourselves to either hide from Jesus, so we don't have to do what he asks, or to try to trick him into blessing us to make it appear we are doing his will, but he sees through it all. And knows all that we are and all that we truly need from him.
We don't have to do anything extra for God to fulfill our needs, he has already done it. All he asks in return is that we do his will. And we should want to be available to God just like he has always been available to us. Think about it: since the beginning of time, God has personally visited his people and talked with them and walked with them. With billions of people in the world, he deals with each of us one-on-one.
Throughout human existence, God has addressed everything people could need. It's documented in his word. God has shown us that he will do whatever it takes to take care of us - even down to sending manna from heaven and creating a water fountain from a rock. Through his love and his shepherding, he has eliminated anything that would cause us to not be available to him, so all we have to do is be like Mary and wait on him (attend to him and stay at his feet).
There is a song called "I need you now" by Smokie Norful. In it, he is crying out to God to tell him how much he needs him, but it just occurred to me, that God can sing those words back to us too: "Not another second or another minute. Not an hour or another day. But, I need you right away."
Again the Lord is saying: I need you, now. Will your answer be: Yes, Lord, here am I?
Listen to the broadcast: "How do I love God?" here: https://www.thebodyofchristinc.com/listen-in?wix-music-track-id=7969375844078086&wix-music-comp-id=comp-kjfzbgmx.
Read our youth blog "Giving thanks" at the link below. It is a powerful testimony of a young lady in our body who decided to meet God's needs.
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