I trust you will be blessed.
LESSON ONE
‘…the only
begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.’ [John 1:
18]
‘Jesus said,
“Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men
sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus then took the loaves, and having
given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the
fish as much as they wanted. When they were filled…’ [John 6: 10 – 12]
This story
is one of my favourites and one which has so much to say to us who are seeking God’s
heart. If you are a Christian then I am sure that one great thing you are
seeking to know God, to have Him explained. We can see so clearly from the
verse I quoted above that Jesus, ‘the only begotten God who is in the bosom of
the Father,’ He is the explanation of God. He is God visible to us. So if we
look at Jesus we see God explained to us. And the explanation is glory we
behold and full of grace and truth. [John 1: 14]
The story of
the feeding of the 5000 so vividly declares God to us. It is important to know
that the Bible is the word of God and there are no careless or inadvertent
words in the Bible and I rejoice in that. Please see with me a few little
things.
Jesus had
the people sit down. Sitting down is required to receive God’s heart for you.
It doesn’t come through your work or activity. There is nothing you need to do
to receive the Father’s heart for you except to sit down at the feet of Jesus.
Sitting down at the word of Jesus is receiving Him and this is all required of
you that you believe in the One who was sent of God. ‘This is the work of God,
that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’ [John 6: 29] That’s all, nothing
more.
It was a
grassy place. A grassy place is a place of fertility and growth, a place of
abundance. Sitting in the presence of God, resting there, is a place of
abundance. ‘…my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory
in Christ Jesus.’ [Philippians 4: 19]
Jesus took
the loaves and He gave thanks. There is so much to consider here. Yes, I
believe, thankfulness is a key and it is this that I want to share in these few
simple lessons. The fact is though that Jesus took the loaves. Bread in the
making endures the beating as the grain is prepared and then goes into the
fire. Can you see it? ‘But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He
was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon
Him, and by His scourging we are healed.’ [Isaiah 53: 5] Jesus did all that is
necessary for you to sit in His presence and to behold His glory, bathing in
His grace and truth.
Jesus
distributed to those who were seated. He is our distributor and He brings it to
us when we are seated, when we are resting in His finished and complete work.
Yes, another place tells us that He gave to His disciples who distributed to
the people and isn’t that the case? The Lord reveals to His people who bring
His truth to us but Jesus, He is our distributor bringing God’s heart to us.
‘All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of
Mine and will disclose it to you.’ [John 16: 15]
The people
had as much as they wanted and all were filled. You know I believe that this was
the first time many of the people seated there had as much as they wanted. This
was the first time they had ever experienced being filled. What a blessing! Do
you want a filling? Then seat yourself at Jesus feet and there you will receive
the heart of God. God loves you. This is His heart for you.
LESSON TWO
‘Jesus then
took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were
seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted.’ [John 6: 11]
In
Philippians 4: 6 we are encouraged to ‘be anxious for nothing, but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be
made know to God.’ This has always confused me. When we have a request it is
often because we have a need and, frankly, when the need is great there doesn’t
seem to be much to give thanks for! And then we often ask God to multiply what
we have and we ‘tell’ God that He is a god of multiplication, as if He needs to
be reminded.
I have
always loved the story of the feeding of the 5000 men plus women and children.
Imagine all the people sitting down, it is a grassy place, the Bible says.
Imagine the boy putting the packed lunch his Mum made for him into the hands of
this man. I think the boy had an amazing expectation and I would have loved to
be him. And then what does Jesus do? He gives thanks. He gives thanks and then
the miracle of the multiplication occurs as all who are seated (please note, no
active input from them!) are fed ‘as much as they wanted!’ You know I believe
that very few of the people there had ever had a meal where they ate as much as
they wanted!
Question:
What did Jesus give thanks for? As I consider all the stuff that I need and,
believe me, at this moment the stuff that is bearing in on me and my family is
immense it is very easy to be anxious. But will anxious help? No, I don’t think
it will. (This may be speaking to you also.)
What did
Jesus give thanks for? I believe He gave thanks for what He had. What did He
have? Firstly, He had a Father who heard Him – remember how He did that when
standing outside the tomb of Lazarus? And that was a miracle of epic
proportions, was it not? And secondly He had five barley loaves and two fish.
He gave thanks and multiplication occurred, the miraculous miracle of the multiplying
God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Today, we
have a Father who loves us and hears us because a good father always hears his
child. He heard our cry of desperation of our own making and sent His best,
Jesus. Today we have a name of infinite authority that we can declare and as we
declare that name we are bringing great glory to the Father and His love. We
say to the enemy, “You can do your worst but my Father still loves me and
nothing you can do can overcome that!” And today we are blessed. I have the
comfort of a home, I had a good meal last night, I have a family who loves me,
I have a little in the bank…I have… I have much to give thanks for! What about
you?
Give thanks
for what you have and it will be multiplied…rather than bemoaning what I don’t
have, seeing the lack, maybe I should give thanks for what I have and sit and
watch 5000 plus people eating as much as they want from my little packed lunch
that my Mum made for me! By the way, my Mum is Grace, but that’s a lesson for
another day.
LESSON THREE
‘Be anxious
for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let
your requests be made know to God.’ [Philippians 4: 6]
When I was
back in Australia I was thinking and meditating on thankfulness. One day I
walked into my messy office and there was a book lying open on my desk and out
of a whole page of words my eyes just happened to fall on thirteen words. They
said…‘The more you thank Him, the more His peace reigns in your heart.’
Immediately
I thought of a conversation I had just had with two dear friends where one
spoke of losing their peace and how it appears that we so often lose our peace.
I then thought of the counsel of my dear brother, Samnang, in Cambodia who said
to me, ‘Make sure nothing steals your peace.’ How do we not allow anything to
steal our peace?
Philippians
4: 6 goes on, there is a verse 7 which says this, ‘And the peace of God which
surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus.’ When we lose our peace our hearts and minds become unguarded and the
result is anxiety. How then do we retain our peace and avoid anxiety? By
thankfulness!
Let me tell
you a great story. It is found in the Bible. There was a king, his name was
Jehoshaphat. He was king of Judah. Two big armies were approaching with the
single purpose of destroying Judah and Jehoshaphat with it. Jehoshaphat was
afraid and very anxious and went to the Lord. The Lord sent a messenger who
said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Go out and meet the enemy, you will not need to fight,
just stand still and see the might of My salvation.’ So Jehoshaphat and Judah
went out to meet the enemy. Jehoshaphat decided upon a strange strategy and put
those that sang at the front and as they went out they sang, ‘Give thanks to
the Lord for He is good, His hesed, His lovingkindness, endures forever.’ This
is what they sang. This was their victory call, their song of the Overcomer.
The enemy turned on each other and destroyed themselves and it took three days
for the people of Judah to collect up the spoils. Question…can you see Jesus?
Thankfulness.
As we bring our prayer and supplication let’s bring thankfulness for what we
have. Once God said to Moses, ‘What do you have in your hand?’ Moses had a
staff. Only a simple thing but what a mighty deliverance did God bring to pass
as Moses lifted up the staff! Lift up our Staff, JESUS, and give thanks to the
Lord for He is good, His love, His mercy, His grace, His peace endures forever.
LESSON FOUR
‘Indeed, the
very hairs of your head are all numbered.’ [Luke 12: 7]
Sometimes
when I am speaking in Cambodia I ask if there are any who are parents in the
audience. There are always many. So I ask, “Do you love your children?” The
answer is “Yes.” So I ask, “How many hairs are there on your children’s head?”
No one ever knows. And I joke with them, “But I thought you loved your children
so much!” It is a wonder to me that the hairs of our heads are all numbered. It
is even more amazing to me that God knows when one hair falls (this happens all
too often to me!) and when another grows (not so often for me sadly!) I love
the little new growth hair on our children but God He knows and counts every
one of those wispy little hairs that spring up on our beautiful children.
What about
sparrows? The verse I quoted also speaks of sparrows. There used to be so many
but you don’t see so many these days. Not sure why. The Bible says you can get
two for a cent [Matthew 10: 29], that’s half a cent per bird. Then in Luke 12:
6 you can get five for two cents! These are discounted! For two cents you get
one sparrow thrown in for free! What is Gods point? A sparrow is not worth a
lot but there are many of them and you are worth more than them all. ‘Do not
fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows [Luke 12: 7].
In Matthew 6
Jesus speaks of birds. He says they don’t sow or reap or gather but God feeds
them. And He speaks about clothing and points to the lilies in the field who
don’t toil or spin but are clothed in a finery that shouts of the glory of God.
He then points out that if our Father feeds the birds and clothes the grass and
that you are far more valuable than either then why would we not expect that He
will care for us? I hear you. I don’t see it in my life. Jesus says the barrier
is worry, anxiety.
We have been
thinking together of the antidote to anxiety, the remedy for worry, the
catalyst for receiving the multiplying grace of our Father - thankfulness for
what we have from Philippians 4: 6 - 7. One thing - please don’t think our blessing
is based in our ability to be thankful, that’s not it. Our blessing is based in
the One who loves us with a Father’s love, who values us more than all the
sparrows of the world and based in the Name who He has emblazoned over our
lives and written on our hearts – JESUS, our Way, our Truth and our Life.
‘Finally,
brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any
excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.’
[Philippians 4: 8]
Lately we
have been thinking about thankfulness. God asked Moses what he had in his hand
and while Moses could see a staff God saw more. God looked at Abram and saw
more and called him Abraham, the ‘father of many nations.’ God looked at Jacob
and saw Israel. Peter’s name was Simon, which means ‘reed’ but Jesus saw more
and called him Peter which means ‘rock.’ God looked at Saul a firebrand of zeal
for law and saw Paul the apostle of grace. God looks at you and me and He
doesn’t see what you see in the mirror each morning but sees differently
because ‘God…gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist
as though they did’ [Romans 4: 17].
I find it is
often the case that I look at myself or my circumstances and call it less than
honourable, less than right, less than pure, less than lovely, less than good
repute, less than excellent, less than praise worthy. But what does God see?
What does God see when He looks at you? If you believe in Jesus, and my fervent
prayer is that all will know Him, then as God looks at you He sees honour,
right, pure, lovely, good repute, excellence and He sees worthy of praise. How?
Because He sees as they will be not as they are. He calls life and life is what
is created. Jesus called Peter, the rock, but He didn’t immediately get Peter
but still had lots of Simon, the reed, but did that make Jesus wrong. No way!
Jesus called life, He called that which did not exist as though it did and it
did when Peter stood up and unloaded the gospel on the day of Pentecost and
3000 people got saved. Moses looked at Moses and saw all sorts of reasons why
it couldn’t be but God saw different and called life and a Moses that didn’t
exist as though it did and Moses lifted up what he had in his hand and the sea
rolled back! The Bible is full of people called by God who became so much more
than what appeared to exist. We have a lot to be thankful for!
Today don’t
dwell on what may appear to be but dwell on, greatly rejoice in, what God sees.
Receive promise and give thanks, dwell on it, rejoice in it and step into the
life giving realm of God where things which do not exist are called as though
they do. Breathe God words over your life and circumstance and LIFE will be. It
was in creation and it is in my life. We have much to be thankful for so I give
thanks to the Lord for He is good, His lovingkindness endures forever.
Think of
Abraham.
‘…yet, with
respect to the promises of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in
faith, giving glory to God…’ [Romans 4: 20]
First of all
God gave him a massive promise and then He changed his name. You see God said
Abram would the father of many nations and then He called him ‘father of many
nations’ which is the meaning of Abraham. (Interestingly, God did the same for
Sarah, Abraham’s wife, so the promise was for Abraham and his family.) So,
whenever anyone said to Abraham, “Excuse me sir, what is your name?” Abraham
would answer, “Father of many nations.’ And when Sarah called him in for a cup
of coffee she would call, “Father of many nations; coffee!” Every time Abraham
said his name or heard it spoken the promise was declared.
But then we
read Romans 4. It says that Abraham contemplated himself and saw ‘good as dead’
and he looked at his wife, beautiful as she was, and saw a womb characterised
by deadness. Human eyes saw lack. What did God see? He saw the father and
mother of many nations and He made sure Abraham declared it.
Many times a
lack of faith has been held up as the reason why people don’t see the blessing.
This is entirely contrary to scripture which amply declares that the size of
faith isn’t an issue because a mustard seed amount can move a mountain, so put
that thought aside. Gather up this with me instead. The verse I quoted says
that the faith of Abraham grew. Would you like a growing faith? Yes! I
certainly would! So, how was it that Abraham grew his faith? I asked the Lord
and He said, “Read the verse!”Aaah! Abraham grew his faith by considering the
promise (even though it was not yet fulfilled) and by giving ‘glory to God.’ We
have the promise, His name is Jesus; do we really believe that God, our Father,
would give His best and then withhold His promised blessing? No way! I can’t
believe it. I won’t believe it. Speak your blessing name (you don’t have a
blessing name? I have one but that’s another post) and give God the glory and
watch your faith grow. Give thanks for what you have. Abraham thanked God he
and his wife were alive and were immensely blessed and he believed the promise
and he glorified God; he gave thanks. He did that for a long time and his faith
grew and grew and when Abraham was one hundred years old Isaac was born!
Give thanks;
give God the glory, for He is good. His lovingkindness endures forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment