Focus: He's All I Need!

Text: Jh.16:24

"Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."

The Lord Jesus Christ takes His disciples apart and gives them His last words, because His time of death has come. It is in that moment that He points out to them the fact that they have never seen the need to ask Him for anything while He has been with them. 

They have never been in need of anything because their Master Jesus Christ has always cared for them and met all their needs. They have no need to ask Him for anything. Jesus Christ did not at any time wait for them to ask Him for a thing before He could provide it for them.

There is always money in the purse to the extent that Judas Iscariot is stealing from it. Even when Peter's mother in-law was sick, Christ went over to the house and healed her. Christ was seeing them as His personal responsibility, and so He was taking care of them. He says to them, "Hitherto have you asked nothing in my name…" Christ is their Shepherd. He is always present and active in their lives. 

At a point, He is asked why His disciples do not fast, and here is His response, "Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is WITH them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast" (Mt.9:15). Christ is with them. He is the Bridegroom, and they are the children of the bridechamber. The disciples found themselves freely and fully enjoying the presence, supervision, provision, and protection of their Master, Jesus Christ. He did not insert a fast into the menu list for economic or religious reasons. He did not say at any time, 'Because of the situation of things and the lack of funds, all of you must fast from time to time.' He did not say, 'Things are really hard. The economy is not good at all for us. So we have to adjust and adapt to the present state of things.' No, no, no! Jesus Christ is always equal to the task of taking care of them. He is their Shepherd.

David says, "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want… Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever" (Ps.23:1,6). YHVH is their Shepherd, and YHVH owns a house, and as long as they live in His house, they shall lack nothing. He feeds and leads. 

Jesus Christ says to them, "Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him" (Mt.6:32). 

Child of God, YHVH knows your needs even before you ask. He has a prior knowledge of your every need. Before you ask Him for a thing, He is already aware of it. Christ is all you need. With Christ in your life, you have no need of anything that He cannot meet. He is the God of abundant resources. Say with me, 'Christ is all I need and all I want. With Him as my Shepherd, I have no lack.'

by Bishop Moses E. Peter