I was thinking about how God has shown up in my life lately. He has. He has shown up and I can’t figure why it’s going on. There have been so many things provided for me when there is no reason it should have happened.
Time spent with the Lord.
Time at home with my family.
New Young Life leaders to invest in young people here in our towns.
Groceries provided when we had no money.
Money to provide for this mission of YL and for my family’s well being – when there was nothing in sight to offer relief, which meant major changes and a reduced salary.
Food from our garden.
Josie Wade Ogle.
Time spent with Wyatt and Boone.
Wyatt knocking it out of the park in his school. Me meeting and seeing friends and other folks from around town when I take him to school.
Blessings.
DVR on our TV is back. Blessing.
I am trying to get in shape. Blessing.
In my time w/Jesus this a.m. I was stopped again…..isn’t that great – getting stopped while reading scripture? I felt like there was something for me in these words….
“When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20And they all ate and were satisfied.”Blessing.
-Matthew 14:14-20 ESV (emphasis mine)
What if you heard from God? I watched a part of this new TV show the other night about a combat medical facility and it’s doctors and nurses. One of the characters is a chaplain who is a woman . She seemed dry and empty as she spoke to the wounded soldiers going into and out of surgery there. Then, she met with her superior officer and told him she would be resigning. She said she no longer believed in God. That the Jesus of the Bible was not real to her and she found no strength in HIs words nor her encouragement to these soldiers – just empty abandoned words with no….blessing..not reality.
Is that you? Has that been a part of your story? No blessing. No reality in God? No truth in those words spoken by Jesus Christ of Nazareth? Can’t find faith to live in or live by. All UNTRUE??? Maybe that has been you. I can relate and I know underneath that mess of lies, which I believe that stuff is, there is a heart and a hope for truth. A hope for connection to God. A hope for being real and feeling alive….to be blessed.
The disciples are always being taught by Jesus – not only by words but by his actions. It seems this is good philosophy in like and teaching and parenting and mentoring, etc. – “More is caught than is taught!” , says a good friend of mine. I agree. I think Jesus modeled this in a great way. They were with Jesus, listening to Him speak of God and His kingdom and ways we are to live and gain true life….and while doing this people continued to bring people to Jesus and His compassion was simply overwhelming. It is something to see someone who is overcome with compassion – it becomes contagious! It is an affectious love that penetrates hearts and lives such that the outcome is CHANGE. That would be nice, change….from God, for God, about Him. Let that simmer….it gets real deep and really real in our hearts after a little bit….stare into the mirror and consider change from God. Yeah. So, the disciples are tired and hungry. They are wanting to connect with and care for Jesus. They do love Him and do appreciate His role in their lives. So, they discuss sending away the crowd to get rest…and get food. They are probably cranky, almost upset and just feeling spent from engaging with people all day.
Have you worked with people before? It can be quite taxing, for sure. Have you reached the point of what AA groups refer to as H.A.L.T. ?? Hungry. Angry. Lonely. Tired. and tried to interact with other people – it gets difficult. Emotions can easily rise. I wonder if this is part of that undertone of the disciples’ attitudes when they approached Jesus. I think it would have been mine. Then he does this great thing since it’s almost “supper time”. He asks them to bring the limited amount of food. He asks them to bring what would never be enough for most of them much less all of the people. Jesus looked at what food was there, He “looked up to Heaven and said a blessing”. This is where I got stuck.
Look up to Heaven. Is it there? Do you sense God? Do you feel His embrace?
It’s hard sometimes. Seeing what can’t be seen. Hearing what can’t be heard. However, God’s spirit exists to be our comfort and to reveal in our hearts and minds what this world cannot see! Jesus connects with God, offers a blessing over this food. God, provides food for all these people. More than enough.
A few weeks ago, when we were out of money and most groceries, I received a text message followed by a knock on the door. When we opened the door, there were bags of groceries. We had no money. We had no foreseen shot of getting any money for two more weeks and would be eating out of our pantry as best we could, as dry as it was. Our salary was threatened to be reduced in significant ways. We were looking to remain connected to God and lean upon Him. It was hard. I opened the front door and brought in these bags of groceries. As I carried them in, I began looking in and it became clear to me…..blessing. BLESSING!! BLESSING! I ran and got Olivia and before I could begin speaking, I couldn’t. I held a paper bag full of food and cried. Earlier in the day Olivia had asked me what we would do and my response was “God will provide….He has to! He said he would.” I never expected that result – maybe I should have…..and when He showed me food more than I could imagine, our family broke down. We then prayed to God and thanked Him. I think the people who were listening to Jesus and the disciples whom were watching and learning from this Man of God…..this fully-man and fully-God of a personality, they were blessed!
What is about this moment? Jesus Christ, looking to Heaven…and saying a blessing. How many times in your life have you heard that, “Blessing”? We ‘say the blessing’ at meals, we speak of how friends and others bless one another over different things in life. Blessing this and blessing that! It is a word that gets tossed around at times but let’s dig in it a minute! Really. Consider what a blessing is. What if the next time you through out a 2-cents blessing at a meal it felt like a real connection to God? What if you had a chance to connect with God and deliver His gift, His blessing to somebody else?? Would that make them feel blessed? Feel connected to God? Feel as though they were not alone? What about you? To not feel alone…to not feel left out or cast away – but to be included in something so much bigger!
What if you got blessed!
I believe all of this begins with taking a look at the man called Jesus Christ.
It begins with Him.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4In him was life,and the life was the light of men.”I experience blessing from my connection to Jesus. Period. I think you will, too.
-John 1:1-4 ESV
Worth a look in the mirror….you think?
Blessings,
-ao
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