Five Lessons... Part 3

Quick Recap: Jesus had gone away with His disciples and the multitudes had followed. It was dinner time and Jesus took charge to feed all the people. In the first post I noted that the first lesson we can learn from this miracle of Jesus is ATTITUDE. In order to be all you can be for Jesus you have to take on the right attitude. With God ALL things are possible. God has put us where we are for a purpose and He has placed large tasks in our lives. We have to take on the correct attitude in order for God to use us and conquer these big tasks. In my last post I noted that the second lesson we can learn is GIVING IT ALL. God has incredible things in store for our lives and He wants to use us beyond our comprehension, but in order to do so we have to give everything to him. Just as the young boy gave all of his lunch for Jesus to use, we have to give Jesus all of ourselves.

Sweet... Let's jump into the scripture. This time we are going to look at Luke's "version" of the miracle~ Luke 9:14-17

(About five thousand men were there.)But he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each." The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

At least 5,000 men were in attendance at this gathering, that is not counting women or children. Wow, now that' s a whole lot of people! Like I noted in a previous post, Bible Scholars believe that was an estimated 10,000 people there all together. For the sake of wanting a number to help get my thoughts across we are going to go with 10,000. It really doesn't matter, but it will help with a little visual!

Now as you recall from previous posts that Jesus had crossed the sea of Galilee with His disciples and they had gone up and sat on a mountainside. Keep that in the back of your head for a moment! Anyway, they had gone up and Jesus decided it was time to eat and the disciples had no clue what Jesus was about to do. A young boy had given his lunch to Jesus and the disciples did not know what He could do with such a small lunch. Jesus told them to sit the people down in groups of about 50, so they did. But I think that they still did not understand what they were fixing to experience... Little did they know that their job was about to begin!

Stop. Soak it in. Think through the story up until this point. Got it? Here we go...

LESSON 3~ Keep On Keeping On.

There are 3 different things I want you to see from this.

#1- Jesus had 10,000ish people sit down in groups of 50. Now by my calculations that means there were roughly 200 groups! Now pull that fact out that I asked you to store a moment ago. They were on a mountainside. That means that they were probably on or around the mountain and Jesus and His disciples were most likely at the top. Jesus blessed the food and began to give it to the disciples to hand out to the 200 different groups of people. 200 groups divided by 12 disciples= 16 trips per disciple with a few trips left over. 16 times the disciples had to get a basket go out and distribute it and come back get another and to it all again. I can only imagine that they were probably playing paper-rock-scissors to see who had to go to group #200 who was the furthest away. WOW... What a job they had. A task that probably seemed like it would never end. 16 trips up and down the mountain just to do what Jesus had commanded them to do. In their minds the still did not understand what was going on. They saw an impossible task before them of feeding that many people. They saw Jesus bless the little lunch to create enough resources to do what He called them to do, but yet they still had to do the work. They kept on keeping on, doing the work that Jesus called them to do. I'm sure that by the 10th or 11th trip back up the mountain they were done and ready to stop, but they didn't. The kept on until everyone had food and they were satisfied. Which leads me to point number 2.

#2- The disciples did not quit. The kept on until the task that they were called to do was finished. The endured through it all and finished. When everyone had eaten and they were satisfied the disciples went through and picked up 12 baskets of left overs. Coincidence? I think not. 12 men who had given it all, they left everything, they had nothing. 12 baskets left over- I think this was their reward. Since they had given up everything and had nothing I'm sure that a basket of food was a huge blessing. They kept on keeping on doing what they were called to do and I believe that they were blessed and rewarded for it. God has called each one of us for a specific purpose. He has called us to keep on keeping on.
Maybe you are in the middle of a situation and you don't know when or how you are going to get out... Keep on keeping on.
Maybe God has called you to do something and you are frustrated and ready to give up... Keep on keeping on.
Maybe the task before you is bigger than you and you're just not sure if you can do it or not... Keep on keeping on.
Maybe God has told you to be patient and just wait... Keep on keeping on.
I promise that if you keep on keeping on God will give you the strength and resources that you need to keep going. I also promise that after you have come through the storm, accomplished the task, climbed your mountain, or whatever it is, a blessing/reward lies on the other side for you. Just as the disciples gained their baskets, God has something incredible for you, it might not be an earthly reward, but I promise there's something for you. This brings me to my favorite insight from this whole passage.

#3- In order for the disciples to keep on keeping on feeding the people they had to continually come back to Jesus and get another basket. They would go to Jesus, get a basket, feed the people, come back and get a refill. Then they would go out and feed some more, and then they had to go back to Jesus, over and over again. In order for us to keep on keeping on we have to daily go back to Jesus and get our "baskets" refilled before we can out and serve and feed His people. Daily we have to come to Him in prayer and Bible study in order to be refilled for each new day. You can't go out to serve and feed God's people when you have nothing to serve and you yourself have not been fed to have the energy to keep on keeping on.

It looks impossible sometimes, but with the right attitude, and when you give all you have, and KEEP ON KEEPING ON no matter what, God will use you and bless you far beyond your imagination.

I leave you with these verse from 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Pressing On.

Five Lessons... Part 2

Quick Recap: Jesus had gone away with His disciple and the multitudes had followed. It was dinner time and Jesus took charge to feed all the people. In the last post I noted that the first lesson we can learn from this miracle of Jesus is ATTITUDE. In order to be all you can be for Jesus you have to take on the right attitude. With God ALL things are possible. God has put us where we are for a purpose and He has placed large tasks in our lives. We have to take on the correct attitude in order for God to use us and conquer these big tasks.

Here we go...to the scriptures~ John 6:9-11

"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

Andrew had found a young boy who had brought a meal with him. The young boys meal consisted of 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. Now lets think about this for a second. John tells us that it was a "boy." No age is given, but in my brain (and most others) a boy is a child. Now this boy could have been a teenager or he could of been elementary age, but none the less I believe he was young. With that thought in mind lets think about what this boy was caring. John tells us that he had 2 fish. No matter what size the boy way, we know his fish could not have been too large. Number one John refers to them as "small" and number two if he was a boy we know he was not caring mammoth size fish such as whales. He simply had 2 small fish. As far as the loaves of bread goes, I cannot imagine them being too large. Anyway, the boy was caring enough food for him to enjoy a nice meal. I'm pretty sure that when he or his mom or whoever packed it they thought about satisfying his hunger, not the hunger of over 5,000 people.

As the disciples were trying to figure out how to feed all of these people, the little boy offered a solution. If I would have been there this would not have been the ideal solution. I mean how many people can you really feed with that amount of food? It can't be too many. Although the food did not appear to be enough, the boy still gave it ALL. If I was put in this situation you could bet money on the fact that I would have stuck a loaf of bread and part of a fish in my pocket. It's MY food and I want to make sure that I get what I want. I do not want to go around hungry. However, this was not the mentality of the little boy. HE GAVE IT ALL. Every fish and every crumb of bread, all of it. He kept NOTHING for himself.

LESSON 2~ Give it All

I know in my life there are many things that I want to hang on to. I want to do this or I want to that or I want it my way. So many times we think that if we give God our Sundays, Wednesday nights, a 30 sec blessing before each meal, and a maybe few minutes of reading scriptures then a few prayers thrown out here or there that it is enough. IT'S NOT! God wants it all. Every aspect of our lives, every moment that we live, everything that we do. He wants it all; the good, the bad, and the ugly. He doesn't want 1/2 or a 1/4 or even all of one or two days a week. He wants all of you to be all about Him 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

Does this mean that we have to give everything up and move to a foreign country and talk about Jesus all the time. NO, but it does mean that we have to die. We have to die to ourselves. Each and everyday we have to make the conscience decision to give all that we are to God. We have to empty our hands and put it all in His hands. I'm not just talking about giving our material stuff, I'm talking everything. Our attitude, our will, our desires, our loves, EVERYTHING. Is it easy? No, if it was easy everyone would be doing it.

When we give our whole-self's to God it's then and only then that He can use us to our maximum potential. The boy gave everything he had and God did something extraordinary with it. Just imagine what God could do if we gave Him everything we have and everything we do. Think about the life's that could be impacted. I mean, he fed over 5,000 with a small meal, just think what would happen if 10 "stars" in Hollywood decided to give God their all and live sold out for Him. Think of the amount of people they could reach. God wants you to be all you can be, but in order to do that you have to give Him your all.

Everything you say (or sing, a choir is just not for show): He's given you the ability to speak/sing why not give that talent back and use it for His glory and honor.

Everything we do: Every action and every reason for doing that action should be about God and His business, not what we want or for our business.

EVERYTHING- thoughts, actions, friends, family, sports, material objects...

Give it all over to God and let Him control what is going on. Let Him be the tour guide and you simply soak up the incredible scenes, adventures, rides, and experiences that God wants to take you through. It's not going to be pleasant at times and the road will get a little bumpy, but everyday give everything to God.

In John 3:30 John the Baptist says that "He must become more important. I must become less important." It's not about me. It's all about Him. God WANTS to do great things with you, but you have got to give Him your all.

Everything... Every small thing... All of it... Hold on to nothing... GIVE IT ALL...

Pressing on.

Five Lessons From Five Loaves of Bread and 2 Fish... Part 1

This summer I did some incredible research on the the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000. As I began the research I really did not think that I would gain much from it because I have heard/read the story hundreds of times and I probably could tell the story without even having to think about it real hard. I'm pretty sure that God just laughed and then opened my eyes to some awesome stuff. Anyway, over the next few days I would like to share five lessons with you that I have learned from this story over the past few months. We'll call them "five things to help you be all you can be for Jesus..."

This miracle of Jesus is the only miracle that can be found in ALL FOUR gospels. (In my world that means it's special!) In my thoughts and lessons learned from the story I will be using the record of it in John 6 and in Luke 9.

Here we go... Lesson 1!

First let's look to the scriptures~ John 6:1-9:

Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

Jesus had been healing people and His "popularity", if you will, was growing big time. Jesus had crossed the sea with His disciples to get away, one would imagine, but it didn't work. As they sat on the side of a mountain multitudes of people surrounded them. Now it was dinner time and if there was a baptist anywhere in the crowd people would be alerted that it was time to eat! Jesus sat there and saw all these people*** Side Note: We are told that there are five thousand MEN there, but scholars estimate that when you add in women and children there could have been somewhere around ten thousand people in attendance. Anyway, this point is irrelevant except for the fact that it just makes what Jesus did even more cooler!*** Back to the real world, Jesus and His disciples were sitting there and Jesus decided to ask what His disciples thoughts were about dinner. Philip was, well, dumbfounded. He was like "where in the world can we find bread for all these people. I mean we couldn't even give everyone one bite if we spent eight months pay on bread." Andrew looked around and found a boy with two fish and five loafs of bread. He came to Jesus and said "Here's what we got, but how can we feed so many?"

Soak that all in...think about it...Here we go!

Lesson 1~ ATTITUDE

Jesus and His Disciples sat on the mountainside and saw a HUGE task before them. Jesus, already knowing what He was going to do, turned to His disciples to test them. First we look at the attitude of Philip. Philip looked at the task and could not believe that Jesus was even thinking about trying to do it. He made excuses and decided that there was no way that the task at hand could be accomplished. Then there was Andrew. Andrew looked around at the task and was a little dumbfounded just like Philip, but he saw something. He saw a young boy with a small lunch. He wasn't sure what could be done with it, but I think he was willing to try.

Now granted, I understand that neither Philip or Andrew showed the kind of faith in Jesus that they should have, but the difference in their attitude towards the situation tells the story.

Attitude~
God has set a huge task before each one of us. First of all I think as Christian's we all have the task of bringing the world to the saving knowledge of Jesus. BUT I also think that God sets before each one of us our own unique tasks. For instance: God might have laid a project, a mission trip or a friend/family member that you need to share the Gospel with, on your heart and that is your huge task. You might be looking at it with the attitude of Philip and saying "God, this is bigger than me, I can't do it." What kind of attitude is that? You have a task sent just to you from the Creator of the Universe and you don't think He is big and powerful enough to supply everything you need to get it done... Or you can look at it with the attitude of Andrew and say, "God, I really can't see how this can happen, but here is what I have. Take it and let's see what you can do."

So what is your attitude going to be like? Are you going to have the attitude of "This is impossible. I see no way that it can happen" or are you going to take on the attitude of "God, I know I can't, but here's what I have. Show me what you can do."

To be all you can be for Jesus you have to have the right ATTITUDE...

Pressing on.

One Touch...

The whole faith concept and practice has become a prominent focus, study, and unfortunately, it has been somewhat of a issue in my life. Moving away from everything I have known for 22 years has been a somewhat difficult thing to do. It is taking everything in me to keep my faith in God and remember that He is in control and His way is perfect no matter if it makes sense to me or not.

Back in June I did something I have always wanted to do, but never thought I would. I got a tattoo on my right foot of an icthus with the Greek word for faith on the inside. It can be seen here where my grandfather blogged about it! Anyway, not only do I think that it's cool, but it also serves as a reminder/declaration to walk by faith. In the midst of the tattoo and having my faith stretched by moving I heard Nicole C. Mullens song on the radio entitled "One Touch". After hearing the song I decided it was time to revisit the story of the woman with the issue of blood and see what God had to show me.

As I began to read in Mark 5 I was blown away simply by her faith. Wow, such a "low" woman on the social status took a huge risk, basically risking her life, just to see if she could be healed. It wasn't a done deal that if she touched Him she would be healed, but with her faith she knew all things were possible and she was willing to take the risk.

Here's where God stepped in and showed me something new... After she touched the robe of Jesus, He stopped and asked who touched Him. Now, Mark says He was in a large crowd and they were pressed against Him.

Let me put a visual to this, Below is a picture of the busiest crosswalk in the world.This crosswalk is located in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, Japan. It is estimated that 5,000 people cross it at each changing of the light. Now I have walked this crosswalk several times and let me tell you, It is impossible to walk across it without being touched. Now, this might be a little out there, but I want you to have a visual of a crowd and how many people were around Him.

Hundreds of people touched Jesus, but He only stopped at the touch of one. Why? Because He felt the power leave His body. The woman's faith had healed her... Wow, amazing, but here is what I saw as the cool part...

Time out, soak in the fact that many people had touched Jesus while in the crowd...

Here we go. Hundreds of people had touched Jesus, but only ONE received the power and was healed. Likewise, hundreds of people "touch" God today and they do not come away any different. Some people read His word and are changed, but some aren't. Some people spend time in prayer and worship and draw closer to Him, but some don't. Some pray and receive the strength, but some don't. Each time what the people did outwardly was the same. They worshiped, prayed, ect the same way outwardly or physically if you will, but the inward actions make the difference- Faith. Many times we go through the motions and get nothing because we expect nothing, we are just doing it because we are supposed to. It's when we believe, have faith, and confidence in God and His powers that we receive the power and come away different after "touching" Him.

Join me in approaching God with faith and confidence during prayer, study, and worship times and come away different. I leave you with some of the lyrics to"One Touch."

I had to touch the Hem of His garment
And i know I've been made whole
And how I had pressed my way through this madness
And His love has healed my soul.

Then with one word He touched the hem of my garment
And you know I've been made whole
And somehow He pressed His way through my madness
And His love has healed my soul.

Pressing On.

Open Doors Aren't Always Meant to be Walked Through...

Being in church all of my life I have often heard many people talk about how they can see an "open door" in their life. People see a new or open opportunity and automatically think that since the door is open, if you will, that they are supposed to walk through it. They do not stop and take the time to take it to God, compare it to scripture or spend time meditating on what God's will exactly is. They simply see an opportunity and assume that it is God's will. Well, in the words of a friend "You know what assuming does!?!"

One of my favorite things in the world is to read a chapter of scripture that I had read hundreds of times before and get something new out of it. This happened to me back in July with Acts 16. I was studying through the book of Acts and was searching for a short devotion to share in staff meeting the next day. I rolled my eyes and when I got to Acts 16 simply because it was a story I knew by heart and I heard it year after year in Sunday School since I was a small child. As I began to read God opened my eyes to something new and exciting and it has been fresh on my mind the past few days because I have been struggling with what to do with my life.

Paul and Silas were in prison for simply casting a "spirit" out of a young girl. They were severely beaten and then thrown into jail. They did not sit and moan, but they prayed and sang praises to God. In the middle of the night an earthquake came and the prison door was opened and their chains were loosed. They had an open door to leave, but they didn't. When the guard realized what was going he went to kill himself because he figured all of his prisoners had escaped, but Paul and Silas had not. Because they stayed, the scriptures tell us that he and his whole family came to the saving knowledge of Christ.

Soak it in and hang with me...

Many times in our lives opportunities arise. Sometimes a "door opens" and it can serve as a bail out for us to get out of things we do not want to be apart of anymore. Time after time I feel the desire to quit, to give it all up, to get out of the ministry in which God has called me to enter. The pressure, the people, the stress, and even the world makes me so mad that I am just ready to get out! If an opportunity arises why not bail out? I mean it is "God opening the door" anyway right? WRONG! Paul and Silas had an open door... It made all the sense in the world for them to get out of that jail, but the didn't. Why? I have no clue, but I suspect they did not because they knew they were exactly where God had called them to be. They stayed when it didn't make any sense and I'm sure they didn't want to stay. I mean who wouldn't want a get out of jail free card? But they didn't, they stayed where God wanted them to be and look what happened... The prison guard and his ENTIRE family came to the saving knowledge of Christ. WOW, all because they did not walk through the open door.

I say all of this to simply say this: Stick with it. God has put you where you are for a reason. Yes, God might be opening a door for you to go somewhere else, but don't give in or up because you are sick and tired of doing whatever God has called you to do. 2 Cor 4:16 says "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." In the Message Translation (I know, just bare with me) towards the end of Acts 16 in verse 34 it says that night was "a night to remember."

My challenge to you is that God has you where you are for a reason... don't bail out, don't give in, stick with it. Although it might not make sense and there is a chance to get out, stay with it... God has you where you are, doing what you're doing for a reason... Your night to remember is coming!

Pressing On.

Before the Moment Comes Preparations...

I am ready for the moment. You know... the moment... the moment in your life where you are ready. Ready to: go for it, to run and not look back, to count it all as lost, to dive in and discover new territory, to jump even though you are not sure where you are going to land...

The past few days I keep telling myself that I am ready to do the BIG vision that God has called me to carry out. However, I have no clue where to start or what to do. I was ready, but I could not get any direction from God about it. I told myself that I was ready, at least that's what I thought...

I just finished studying the book of Exodus and I have moved on to the book of Joshua. Yesterday morning I was reading Joshua 5 and it's the chapter before God gives Joshua the instructions to take down Jericho. When I started to read the chapter my excitement was little to none because the headline for the chapter was "Israel is Circumcised". But as I began to read I realized something that I have never noticed before...

You see in Exodus chapter 3 God calls Moses via a burning bush. Before God would give him any instructions and before He revealed His plan for the exodus He commanded him to take his sandals off for he was on Holy ground. Everyone knows that story, but most do not realize, just as I didn't, that Joshua had a similar experience. In chapter 5 a Commander of the Lord appears to Joshua and tells him to take his sandals off for he is on Holy ground. After each of their encounters they rid themselves of their shoes and then God went on to give them their "big assignment" if you will.

This new realization got me to thinking... The ground itself is not Holy, it is only Holy because God is there. The ground is also uncommon ground, not for just any old Joe Blow. God specifically brought them out of their "zone" to a different spot, a spot to where He was present. However, these two men could not fully be on the Holy ground because something was there separating them... their sandals.

Soak it in and hang with me...

I know that God has something BIG for me to do for Him and I know that He has something BIG for everyone. I am ready to go and do it, whatever it is, but before I can do it I have to go to God and stand with Him on Holy ground. He just wants me to get where He is and be with Him, but in order for me to do that I have to take off my sandals. I have to rid myself of whatever is in my life that is keeping me from being in perfect fellowship with Him. Whatever it is that is between me and Him that is keeping me from plainly standing on Holy ground. It's then, when I am where God is at and there is nothing hindering our relationship, that God can give me my instructions to go and do the BIG thing for Him!

My challenge to you is to join me: go out of your "zone", get with God, take off sandals, and see what incredible things has for you...

Pressing on,
MER