Evil Schemes and Generous Plans
The enemy has spoken lying words to those caught in his scheme. He has told them they don’t matter. He has made them believe they are all alone in their suffering. He has deceived them into thinking their situation will never change.
Continue Reading ›Are You at the End of the Line?
But if I’m going to follow the Jesus I claim to serve, I don’t have a choice. I’m going to have to stop judging and stop ignoring. I’m going to have to stop trying to be at the front of the line.
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Talking to Strangers
“Aah,” we say, “isn’t that great of God to take care of the poor and oppressed. I’m off the hook, because it’s God who is the defender of the defenseless, provider for the fatherless and widow. I don’t have to worry about it, because that nice God is on the job.”
You Give Them Something to Eat
It seems we, as humans, are always passing the buck, or bucking the responsibility.
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. — Matthew 14:16-17, NIV
Jesus saw the multitude and that the multitude was hungry. His attitude was not to leave their well-being up to someone else. He took responsibility and He wanted His disciples to assume this responsibility as well.
His disciples, however, could not see past their own limitations.
“We don’t have enough food for all these people” and “we don’t have the money to buy food for all these people” were the excuses Jesus heard.
The disciples wanted to send the hungry people away to fend for themselves, passing the responsibility of feeding the hungry back onto the hungry themselves.
Jesus, however, was not deterred by the physical limitations of the situation. He had bread the disciples didn’t understand. He understood the limitless nature of God’s provision, a provision not encased in the physical reality around us, but in the supernatural reality of God.
Is our response not much the same as the disciples when we are confronted with the need of the hungry? (more…)
