Message summary: Today let us thank God for His supply chain and consider what part we may have in that chain.

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"And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).

Yesterday morning, since Brooksyne was sick with a cold, I alone visited the employees at "Your Heart's Delight", a large wholesale distributor of gift and home decor items. This company provides products to the gift shops that women especially like to shop at with items similar to what you find at the Cracker Barrel store gift section.

They had two full 45 foot container trailers to unload and I encouraged the men unloading them by informing them they were part of the "supply chain". The supply chain is a phrase you hear a lot about. According to Wikipedia, "A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities involve the transformation of natural resources, raw materials, and components into a finished product that is delivered to the end customer."

Supply chains are a part of how life works but we usually consider just the link in the chain immediately before us. When we thank God for our meal we may ask God to "bless the hands that prepared it", which Brooksyne has always gotten a kick out of as she mentally pictures detached hands peeling vegetables and stirring foods on the stove, then laying out the food.

We may say we got our food at the supermarket. But there are many, many links in the supply chain prior to that. When I pray over our meals I often remember these chain links such as the farmer, the truck drivers, the distribution workers and so forth. But actually we consider how the chain really goes back even further to the people who make the agricultural equipment that the farmer uses and on and on.

Today let us consider "God's Supply Chain".  Perhaps many of you have memorized our text which is one of the great promises of the Bible: "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).

The apostle Paul was initially writing this to the Philippian believers in the context of being content with God's provisions. "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need" (Philippians 4:11,12). Many of you will know by memory the powerful verse that follows. Think about it first and then click here to confirm or inform!

Just as there is a tendency to overlook the links in a supply chain apart from the preceding link, the same is true in God's supply chain. This chain has both supernatural and natural elements. God may supernaturally supply a need such as the manna in the wilderness or feeding 5,000 with a little boy's lunch.

But God usually works through natural means in His supply chain with people acting diligently, resourcefully, and generously in doing their part. We should not only be an end link in this chain as recipients but we should function as other links as well. Today we consider a quiet man that probably has been a part of the supply chain for many of our readers. Ray works at a company (Val-Co) that manufactures watering equipment for the poultry industry. He assembles a regulator that is a critical component in this system used in both layer houses (eggs) and broiler houses (meat). He has been assembling these regulators since we started in this company in 2007 and many years before that. He has surely assembled hundreds of thousands of these regulators. So, if you've eaten eggs or chicken in the last 25 years Ray very likely had a part in that!

Today let us thank God for His supply chain and consider what part we may have in that chain.


Be encouraged today,


Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, we thank You that in Your perfect design You have work for all of us to do, whether it's at the beginning of the supply chain or at the end. You also skill people to promote or distribute these products so that they make helpful contributions to our daily lives. Whether it's factory worker making equipment, the farmer who raises the poultry, the truck driver transporting the poultry, the employees at the factory who clean and process the eggs or meat, the butchers that safely stores the poultry before purchase, or the person who prepares it for others to enjoy at their dinner table many people have a role in the supply chain. Today we are grateful for the part we have in the work that we are given. May we do it heartily as unto You...for it is You that we seek to please and thereby we bless others as well. Amen.

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"My God Shall Supply" (Philippians 4:19 & Hebrew 4:16)  Video  Scripture Memory Songs

"Our God"  Video  Chris Tomlin

"Family Chain"  Video  The Nelons

Further study: Philippians 4:19 is a rich verse to consider and for those who desire further study see this online commentary compendium.

"Your Heart's Delight"

"Val-Co"

Finally today:
We witnessed a baptism on Sunday and share Ian's testimony with you today. Since the person being baptized is at quite a distance to most in the large sanctuary they pre-record a video of the baptismal candidate sharing his or her testimony. Just prior to the baptism the video is shared with the congregation. We sit near the front and on Sunday we noticed a large group of people we hadn't seen before in the first couple of rows in front of us. It turned out to be the family of Ian Salisbury, the young man being baptized. After the baptism he returned to his front row seat but not before he hugged family members and Ester captured this extended and loving embrace of Ian and his mother from New York, (as we learned afterwards). We asked their permission to post it on our site. See here for Ian's testimony and you'll also see his face.