Wants vs Needs

 

Philippians 4:19

[19]But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Wants and needs are two diverse expressions of desires for something. While Wants are desires for goods and services we would like to have but do not need, Needs are a special kind of want, and refer to things we must have to survive, such as food, water, and shelter.

Paul was categorically clear in his address to the church in Philippi as to what class of their desires God was committed to supplying. 

Whenever man's needs are mentioned, only three primary concerns come to mind. Food, shelter, and clothing. 

Adam Smith, a Scottish economist, philosopher, and author, who is also considered the father of modern economics, taught us that man's needs are insatiable. And by insatiable, he was painting a scenario where an appetite or desire for something was impossible to satisfy. This means, the more you have it, the more you want to have more of it.

If this narrative is any truth to go by, then it implies that our core desires, which form the fulcrum of our needs; food, shelter, and clothing; are not needs you satisfy one-off, but their satisfaction lies in their continuous consumption. 

Let's try and unveil this one after the other, as the Spirit of wisdom would grant access and insight.

Food:

This, I believe, is the most urgent of man's needs. Every man eats, irrespective of your gender, color, race, tribe, religious disposition, etc. Hunger is a common factor, applicable to all.  One of the proofs of health is hunger. A man who does not eat is already of medical concern to people around. Food in the context of this piece is an encompassing word for food and water.

Both temptations of the first and second Adam took off on the food runway, and if we are to truly see what God would have us understand, then we need to pay apt attention to what is unwritten, yet communicated. 

Jesus in replying His examiner on the first question and in doing so quoted Deuteronomy 8:3. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man Live. Imagine with me if Jesus was bankrupt of God's word, He wouldn't have had what to quote or He would have misquoted the right scripture wrongly or misapplied the scriptures. 

Let analyze the verse Jesus quoted.

The first thing we see here is that God allowed hunger, and the reason is so He can feed us with manna, so that we may know that man was not designed to live by bread alone. If the solution to our hunger was manna and yet we see a contrast that man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, it goes to say that manna is not another type of food, but another kind of word or if you would permit, spiritual food.

In His inaugural instruction to Joshua after the demise of his late boss, God instructed him among many things that the book of the law should not depart out of his mouth. Many of us grew up with the mental construct that the only thing that should not depart out of our mouths was food. But here, scripture is giving us perspective to another kind of food, spiritual food rather, that must not depart out of our mouth. So, in all your eating, eat Scriptures, consume it voraciously, digest it thoroughly, because it will bring health to your soul.

If our thesis so far is logical to follow through, we can then conclude that this food Jesus was referring to is the Word of God. 

David, the Psalmist, understood something about this kind of food, to the extent that he esteemed it more than his necessary food. He admitted that food was necessary, as a matter of need, but God's word was of premium value. 

Food is to the physical body, what the word is to the spirit man. How much of the word you have in your word bank may be the deciding factor in the face of temptation. Remember, after the exams, the examiner left the student for a season as is captured in the Luke account. The exam is never over, it is only administered in phases. 

That a student can pass an exam is not because he has the textbooks or materials at his disposal but that he has studied and understood what is contained in those materials and can replicate same when asked questions bothering on what he has read.

Jesus did not defeat Satan because he was the Son of God, but He defeated him on the strength of the word He knew and understood.

So, when God says in Jeremiah 3:15

"And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding." He wanted to meet our need for food and satisfy our hunger.

Shelter:

Still, on that scripture, God said He will give us pastors, who will feed us. A pastor represents a spiritual house, just as a president represents the country he presides over. In giving us pastors, He was telling us that He will connect us to spiritual houses.  The same way a physical house protects you from adverse climatic conditions, this spiritual house was to play the same role spiritually. 

By spiritual house here, I'm not necessarily referring to a church, but a tribe. From the scriptures, we see that only tribes are allotted portions in inheritance. So, your portion in God; which has been given on the account of your salvation, thanks to the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus; can only be accessed through your tribe. The earlier you locate and connect to it, the easier and faster you begin to enjoy what God has in store for you. Have you ever noticed that once a Bible figure is being introduced, amongst many important details captured, his tribe is traced. This is so that you can know what to expect from him or her because your tribe determines your possibilities. Your tribe determines the kind of network you should have. Your tribe determines your spiritual heritage and allocation. Your tribe determines your ordination, priesthood, and the kind of sacrifice required. Your tribe also, tells you the weaknesses that are prevalent in your bloodline and how to live victoriously above them.

Not all possibilities are possible at the same level in every tribe. What some tribes do effortlessly, may require another tribe, days, weeks, months, even years of preparation with diligence and astute execution to accomplish the same. For instance, everyone from the tribe of David were notorious for slaying giants. David slew Goliath and his nephew slew Goliath's son.

While it is almost natural for the sons of Issachar to have an understanding of the times, other tribes, including the priests needed to employ the services of the Urim and Thummim to receive revelation from God.

A proper, accurate, and balanced revelation of Tribes is very powerful. Belonging to the right tribe can compress time and restore lost years and vice versa.

Aside from your possibilities, heritage, and allocation, the growth and maturity of your spirit man, are tied to your tribe. God is not giving us pastors to rule over us, but to feed us with Knowledge and Doctrine.

Peter told us that first, grace and peace can be multiplied, and secondly, all things that pertain to life and godliness have been given to us according to His divine power, but all these can only be accessed through knowledge. This goes to say that the level of grace, peace, life, and godliness you have is a reflection of the quality and quantity of knowledge you have been able to comprehend. So, if you want more grace, peace, a better or enhanced quality of life, a closer reflection of the life and character of Christ, then the go-to place is knowledge. More knowledge, both in quantity and quality will produce more results.

The second food pastors are supposed to feed us with, is Doctrine. Doctrine is the body of truth, teachings, instructions, principles allocated for the victorious living of the saints.

Ironically, the body of Christ has been divided along doctrinal lines. The imbalance in what we preach and profess accounts for the malnutrition which the body has suffered. Just as the human body doesn't profit from eating anything except a balanced diet, the body of Christ needs to feed on balanced doctrine to stay healthy. And this balanced doctrine is gotten from the word, taught by pastors after the Father's heart.

In meeting your need for shelter, the Father is committed to connecting you to a tribe where you will be sufficiently provided with knowledge (not information) and doctrine.

Clothing:

Apostle Peter gave us a clue as to what God was seeking to cloth us with. 

1 Peter 3:3-4

[3] Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;

[4] But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Before you dismiss this scripture because it was been addressed to women or rather, wives, don't forget you are the bride of Christ, irrespective of your gender, your office in the spirit is "the bride of Christ".  Having cleared that, let me now communicate to wives.

Peter admonished that the clothing was the "ornament of a meek and quiet spirit".

If this adorning is of great price in the sight of God, then wisdom will profitably direct us to examine this clothing briefly.

Let's examine this scripture once more through the lens of the amplified translation.

"Your adornment must not be merely external—with interweaving and elaborate knotting of the hair and wearing gold jewelry, or [being superficially preoccupied with] dressing in expensive clothes; but let it be [the inner beauty of] the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, [one that is calm and self-controlled, not overanxious, but serene and spiritually mature] which is very precious in the sight of God."

1 Peter 3:3‭-‬4 AMP

So while men are concerned about clothing the physical body, God is particular about the inner man, the spirit of man within him. 

Two kinds of spirit God intends to put on us are a meek spirit and a quiet spirit.

The first meek man the Bible testified about was Moses, He represented and embodied a system of meekness so intense that God could find it comfortable to leave heaven and camp with this man on three occasions for forty days and night.  Don't forget it was this man that saw the back of God and as a result gave us a descriptive narrative of what happened in the beginning.

Jesus in His exegesis on the mount taught us that the meek are blessed with the inheritance of the earth.  If dominion was God's original design for man and meekness is what we need to inherit the earth, then we can read in between the lines and see that God is giving us what we need to fulfill our dominion mandate.

The second kind of spirit God is clothing us with is a quiet spirit. A quiet spirit is a peaceful spirit. A still spirit that is undisturbed by the stormy waves of life.

Jesus said in John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; My [perfect] peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. [Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.]

Matthew 5:9 says “Blessed [spiritually calm with life-joy in God’s favor] are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they will [express His character and] be called the sons of God". Romans 8:14 tells us "For all who are allowing themselves to be led by the Spirit of God are sons of God".

So, if peacemakers are called children of God and our qualification to be called children of God is that we are led by His Spirit, it then makes sense why God cloths us with a peaceful spirit. That is, peacemakers are led by the Spirit. Peacemakers are clothed by His Spirit. Peacemakers are adorned by the ornament of His Spirit. 

The true clothing God wants us to adorn ourselves with is the meek and quiet spirit, not what we have been focusing our attention and pursuit on.

So when next Apostle Paul tells you that God will supply all your needs, He is telling you that God will connect you to your spiritual tribe where you will be fed with the word, to the intent that you grow in the knowledge and doctrine of His word, to the end that you become adorned with the ornament of the spirit of meekness and peace. 

This is the true intent on the heart of the Father. This is what He wants to give us according to His riches in glory through the office of the Christ.

Grace and Mercy!!!

Amb. Emmanuel Etukudo

Kingdom Wealth Ambassador