As the holiday season is upon us, it is important that we reflect on why we celebrate. To most people, the season is about Santa Claus, telling him what we think we deserve, spending as much money as possible to make sure we are able to out do our gift giving from the previous year, and wondering if we are going to be able to survive the new year with the new debt we just created. To others, the season represents the moment that God stepped out of heaven and walked among us.
Regardless of what our focus of celebration is during the season, many of us, including believers constantly struggle with our needs verses out wants. We need good jobs to pay for all the good toys we think we need. We need better and bigger houses in which to put all our new stuff. We need the new diets, the new phones, on and on and on. So our focus, more often than not, becomes worrying about how we are ever going to make enough money to support the lifestyles we believe we need.
"Sometime after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea od 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." John 6:1-6
Those following Jesus had seen Him healing the sick in ways they had never seen. They were enthralled with Him, and those included His own disciples. They were near to Him and had witnessed first hand the power of Almighty God demonstrated thru Jesus. And yet, the question Jesus asks them, He asks only for them to examine themselves and know their own trust in Him. The question wasn't about food, the question was, "Do you trust that I will provide everything you need?"
Jesus knew that the people had need of food, as well as his disciples. He wanted the disciples to search their own hearts to see if they really had faith that God would always provide for their needs. Many of us will get on our knees and pray that God would give us the money we need to pay for our desires. We will pray for God to heal us while we continue to live recklessly. We will pray for God to heal our relationships while we continue doing things to destroy them. The list of prayers that we pray about our desires is endless. God asks us to examine our lives to know what our needs are.
Are you really living a life that is devoted to Christ in every way? Do you trust Him for the things that you really need? Are you willing to give up all you have, including your very life, in order to pursue a life in Him? If you answered no to any of these questions, or if you had to ponder them with doubt in your heart, then the answer is, No, we are not trusting Him for our lives. Our scripture today tells us that Jesus is ready, willing, and able to bless us with what we need to go through this life with Him. If you continue reading todays scripture passage, you would discover that he was able to feed the multitude with only 5 loaves of bread and two small fish. He knew they were hungry. He knew what they needed.
Jesus knows that we have bills, we have health issues, we have relationship issues. Jesus knows everything about our lives. We need to learn that we can trust Him to provide what we need! Most of us do not need tons of money, fancy cars, extravagant lives. God knows that I myself have learned this. But what we do need is a life that is fuller and richer in Him. We need to praise Him for Who He is. We need to rejoice at the fact that He gave us freedom in the death that He died for us. We need to be on our knees thanking Him for loving us as only He can. We need to trust that He lives so that we, too, can live.
I ask you today to search your heart, examine your life, and surrender to Him any areas in you that you have not given to Him. Today, He knows exactly where you are at, and exactly what you need. You can trust that He is willing to provide for you. Seek Him today, while He may yet be found and know that He is there with His arms wide open to accept you, if only you would ask.
Be Blessed Today!
H Trent.
Regardless of what our focus of celebration is during the season, many of us, including believers constantly struggle with our needs verses out wants. We need good jobs to pay for all the good toys we think we need. We need better and bigger houses in which to put all our new stuff. We need the new diets, the new phones, on and on and on. So our focus, more often than not, becomes worrying about how we are ever going to make enough money to support the lifestyles we believe we need.
"Sometime after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea od 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." John 6:1-6
Those following Jesus had seen Him healing the sick in ways they had never seen. They were enthralled with Him, and those included His own disciples. They were near to Him and had witnessed first hand the power of Almighty God demonstrated thru Jesus. And yet, the question Jesus asks them, He asks only for them to examine themselves and know their own trust in Him. The question wasn't about food, the question was, "Do you trust that I will provide everything you need?"
Jesus knew that the people had need of food, as well as his disciples. He wanted the disciples to search their own hearts to see if they really had faith that God would always provide for their needs. Many of us will get on our knees and pray that God would give us the money we need to pay for our desires. We will pray for God to heal us while we continue to live recklessly. We will pray for God to heal our relationships while we continue doing things to destroy them. The list of prayers that we pray about our desires is endless. God asks us to examine our lives to know what our needs are.
Are you really living a life that is devoted to Christ in every way? Do you trust Him for the things that you really need? Are you willing to give up all you have, including your very life, in order to pursue a life in Him? If you answered no to any of these questions, or if you had to ponder them with doubt in your heart, then the answer is, No, we are not trusting Him for our lives. Our scripture today tells us that Jesus is ready, willing, and able to bless us with what we need to go through this life with Him. If you continue reading todays scripture passage, you would discover that he was able to feed the multitude with only 5 loaves of bread and two small fish. He knew they were hungry. He knew what they needed.
Jesus knows that we have bills, we have health issues, we have relationship issues. Jesus knows everything about our lives. We need to learn that we can trust Him to provide what we need! Most of us do not need tons of money, fancy cars, extravagant lives. God knows that I myself have learned this. But what we do need is a life that is fuller and richer in Him. We need to praise Him for Who He is. We need to rejoice at the fact that He gave us freedom in the death that He died for us. We need to be on our knees thanking Him for loving us as only He can. We need to trust that He lives so that we, too, can live.
I ask you today to search your heart, examine your life, and surrender to Him any areas in you that you have not given to Him. Today, He knows exactly where you are at, and exactly what you need. You can trust that He is willing to provide for you. Seek Him today, while He may yet be found and know that He is there with His arms wide open to accept you, if only you would ask.
Be Blessed Today!
H Trent.
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