MkITN VIII, Verses 1 - 10
1. Not long after this another immense crowd gathered to hear Him, and again the meeting went long...so long, in fact, that it turned into a three-day event. And, as was the case before, they had nothing to eat, because they had not been prepared for the length of the meeting. And once again Jesus called His disciples to Himself and told them,
2. "I really feel for these people...My heart goes out to them...for they have been with Me now three whole days, and have nothing left to eat;
3. I can't send them away hungry, trying to get back to their homes on empty stomachs. I don't want them and their children to faint on the road. For some of them it's quite a journey...many of them have come a very long way."
4. And, even though they had fairly recently seen Him multiply a little bit of food and feed thousands with it, His disciples replied to Him, "How can anyone adequately feed these people with a few loaves of bread out here in the middle of nowhere?
5. And, again ignoring their finite concept of abundance and supply, He asked them, "How many loaves do you have here?" And they very matter-of-factly replied, "Seven."
6. And, as before, He commanded the multitude to spread out on the ground, and then took the seven loaves of bread, gave thanks for what He had to work with, and started breaking them apart. And, also as before, He kept on breaking them, and giving them to His disciples to serve to the hungry people. And as the bread multiplied, they placed it before the crowd.
7. And they also discovered that they had a few small fish there, so He took them, as well. And when He had praised God, given thanks, and blessed them, He ordered that they should also be served to the people, along with the bread.
8. And the crowd ate and all the people were satisfied. Afterward, the disciples took up seven large provision baskets full of the broken pieces left over.
9. This time there were about 4,000 people there. And after He had finished feeding them, He dismissed them,
10. And immediately got into a boat with His disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha, also known as Magdala.
1 comment:
Ah, yes indeed! The Spirit of Miracles in Multiplication! Again, taking what there is and giving thanks for what is readily available, then begin to SERVE with a heart of gladness. We are not required to produce the manifestation, all we are required to do is JUST BELIEVE that God and can will do those things that ONLY HE CAN DO. God multiplies our time, efforts, effectiveness, gifts, resources, and service to meet the needs of many others when we simply offer up to HIM all that we have and ask Him to use us and what we have to give FOR HIS GLORY in the betterment of others. And even in the waiting periods of seeming delays, we must continue to THANK GOD for working all things out according to His Divine Purpose, which will ultimately be for our good and the good of those whom we are connected to.
Though everyone may not have the same giftings, equal resources and skills, when we all willingly and generously offer what we have to GOD (which really shouldn't be such a difficult task anyway because HE deposited into us all that we possess anyhow) and GIVE THANKS to Him, then we too are requesting to be as broken bread and poured out wine and oil in His Hands to feed the hungry, clothe the needy and destitute, and provide hope and housing for the homeless- WITH A HEART OF LOVE, in these things GOD is well pleased, thus multiplying and maximizing our resources in exponential degrees.
Isn't GOD ABSOLUTELY AWESOME in the way that HE does things. For when we only look at what we have and possess as minimal, trivial, and inconsequential and hold back in our giving it to GOD that He may provide the increase, we rob others from receiving the blessing that we could have been, as well as placed limits on our capacity to receive the greatness of GOD. When each of us selflessly offer our "little", then everyone's little is combined with the efforts and resources of others in the hands of God, bring about a phenomenal difference and remarkable change in the lives of people. So, when we begin to hold back and wonder if what we have could / should / would make an impact, just reject the negative thought processes and self doubt and declare "YES, I / WE CAN", for God and I make up the majority--- for great and mighty is HE and I AM IN HIM, HE LIVES IN AND THROUGH ME, so I can make a difference! Thank God, we may not be able to do all things, but we all can do SOMETHING. Begin by rebuilding the wall and cleaning the portions of land and touching the people that are within our reach, one life at a time. As we reach out to touch one, that one has the ability to touch and reach other, and this starts a chain reaction. And later we find that we have made a greater impact than we could ever imagined by simply sacrificing our time, energies, and resources to help at least ONE. Love, Grace, and Mercy are the gifts that keep on giving by way of the Spirit of Multiplication, that comes about by planting the seed / seeds we hold in our hands. A seed must fall to the ground and die to itself in order to take root into fertile soil, breaking through the barriers of adversity, being watered by the Word of God, and produce Overflowing Harvests of more than enough to feed and reach the families, communities, and the world.
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