Good morning to all on this beautiful Sunday. This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! Whereever this Blog finds you today I am praying God's mercy for you and your family. Our family had a baby shower for Haillie Christine Kong yesterday who is scheduled to come out and play with us in early June. Can't wait to see her; I have met her acquaintance for some time. I had to make rounds on two wonderful babies yesterday at the hospital which made me long for little Haillie even more!
I am continuing my journey in Matthew 14 verses 13-21, "When Jesus heard what had happened, He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed Him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to Him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food." Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered. "Bring them here to Me," He said. And He directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. Amen and amen!
We all know this story however when I read it this morning several things struck me. One, Jesus was mourning the death of His cousin and friend John the Baptist and just wanted some time with Himself to rejuvenate His Spirit. Jesus understood the need to be alone with God so that His own Spirit could be made right. Remember He was like us in the flesh "yet without sin". He felt sadness, He felt hunger, He felt anger, He definetly felt disappointment and yet without sin. Always seeking the will of His Father despite what he felt. Good lesson for us. We will have emotions and "feel" things and yet when we seek the Will of the Father we will not sin. The opposite is also true, when we let our emotions rule us, Satan has a foot hold into us. When we chew on an emotion our thinking becomes cloudy because during these negative thinking period, we are focused on only on what was done to us or what was said to us. What Jesus admonishes is to think about forgiveness and love, the fruits of the Holy Spirit. And although Jesus was in mourning and was meditating a crowd still followed Him. At that moment their need were more important to themselves than the needs of the Master and instead of being upset, the scripture writer says "Jesus had compassion for the multitudes". He had compassion, He understood their need and wanted to help them and us today. Jesus has compassion for us all the time and it is through this compassion all of our needs were met and always met immediately.
Was the miracle the ability of the Creator to take five loaves and 2 fish and feed more than 10,000 people? Or was the miracle His ability to feel compassion on these desciples who had yet to understand His power and majesty? These 12 guys had been with Him from the beginning. They were witness to all His miracles and yet 1) they were still instructing Jesus on what to do, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food" and 2) when Jesus told them to feed the crowd, they responded "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish.". You see I wold have been too through with these folk and would have decided to start over with a new crew but Jesus never skipped a beat, He just continued to instruct and demonstrate His LOVE for His crew and the multitude. Hallelujah! When He picked these guys He knew their hearts and knew that in the end their heats and faith would give them the courage to satnd firm. He didn't get involved with the small stuff; He looked beyoind their faults and saw their hearts.
After feeding the multitude each of the 12 had a basket for themselves. So true will be for us. When we take care of the needs of others, there will be an abundance left for us! To know Him is to love Him, to love Him is to serve Him. To know Him is to love Him, to love Him is to serve You! Be encouraged today and rejoy for all your needs have been handled. Go forth and love and forgive your brother and be blessed.
Stephanie
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