The Little I Have, Multiplied
This day may be overcast, Father, but nothing can stop the light that pours into me from You! May I shine brightly onto the lives of those I come in contact with today! Amen!
Matthew 14:15-21 (<<click the green)
“…five loaves and two fish…” That’s not much but You took them and blessed them and fed 5,000 men plus women and children! Even if there were just one woman and one child for every man, that’s 15,000 people! And there were leftovers! You took something seemingly insufficient and used it far above and beyond what anyone thought possible.
One of the things I remember distinctly from my teen years was trying to live a more consistent life for You, Lord. I remember lying on the bed in my room in Oney Hall at the West Virginia District Campgrounds and looking back at my life and seeing how You used me in different situations. Then I looked at the relatively big picture and saw that those times were somewhat few in number because I couldn’t seem to stay on track in my relationship with You. It was a struggle. I remember thinking, “If God could accomplish this much with the little I’ve given, then what would He be able to do if I gave Him my all, 100% of the time?”
Even now, several decades later my humanity gets in the way but, because of Your patience and continued work in my life, Lord Jesus, I am used of You more and more. I am so grateful that You take the little I have and have multiplied it beyond what I could ever have imagined.
May 10th, 2018, Thurs, 6:31 am
Compassion Shines Through
It’s been a full day, Father, and I’m taking the time now to sit down and see what You have for me today. May my heart be bent to Your teaching. Amen.
Matthew 14:13-14 (<<click the green)
Lord, a particular incident in Your life comes to mind as I read through this passage. (It is recorded in both Matthew 8:23-27 and in Mark 4:35-41.) You are in a boat with Your disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee and You are so tired that You fall asleep. You are so dead tired that a storm threatening to swamp the boat doesn’t wake You…but the need of Your companions does.
In today’s passage, “as soon as [You] heard the news [of John’s death], [You] left in a boat to a remote area to be alone.” You were exhausted. You were in mourning. Your cousin and predecessor, John was dead. The evils of sin were victorious once more…and John’s life was forfeit.
All you wanted to do was to get away from it all for a bit – You needed some alone time. We all surely do in those times of life. But did You get what You sought after? No… When “the crowds heard where [You were] headed” they “followed on foot from many towns.”
I’m sorry to say that my response would probably have been less than cordial. I probably would have changed course and headed to another area of coastline. I probably would have been perturbed (putting it mildly). But You? You “saw the huge crowd” and “had compassion on them and healed their sick.”
Just like You did on the boat in the storm, You didn’t think of yourself. You saw the needs of others. You, who had every right to put yourself first, stepped back and took care of our needs. You sacrificed so that our needs might be met. You calmed the storms…and You still do. Your compassion shines through – beyond Your weariness and grief – and You heal our sicknesses…and You still do.
Lord Jesus, first of all, thank You for Your unsurpassable love. Thank You for Your sacrifice. Thank You for giving Your all to meet our need. And then secondly, I pray for me. Open my eyes. Soften my heart. May I have compassion on those around me who may not even know their need of a Savior. May I point them to You. Amen.
May 9th, 2018, Wed, 8:22 pm
Spider in the Window
A good night’s sleep is the first of many blessings of this day, Father. May I count them all, one by one!
Matthew 14:1-12 (<<click the green)
The other morning as I sat writing by the bay window at the dining room table, I watched a tiny spider just outside the window glide down a line of web it was spinning. It connected with another line of web I could not see to the right and the swung back to the middle. Out the blue, in zoomed the first hummingbird I have seen this year and that was that for the spider!
Day after day our lives carry on but we never know when they will abruptly come to an end. In today’s passage, John the Baptist was by no means living a life of ease and luxury as he languished in prison. He knew his time would come but probably didn’t realize that it would be the day that it happened.
John was ready. He had lived the life God had called him to. He was faithful. He was by no means timid in proclaiming what God had given him to proclaim. When his own disciples started to notice that people were leaving John to follow Jesus, John had this to say,
“No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’ It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” John 3:27-30 NLT
Lord Jesus, I have no idea when my life here will end but may I be like John. May I “become less and less” as You “become greater and greater” in my life. May I be faithful to calling until I draw my last breath. Amen.
May 8th, 2018, Tues, 9:02 am
Unbelief
Father, thank You for the blessing of my wife. With work schedules and responsibilities of church and family, I truly cherish our times alone together and yesterday was one of those times! Bless her this day and every day. As she and I draw closer to You, I pray that our relationship with each other will do the same! Amen!
Matthew 13:53-58 (<<click the green)
Familiarity with the humanity of Jesus caused the people of his hometown, Nazareth, to be blinded to who He was. They had seen Him grow up. They knew his earthly father was a carpenter. They knew his mother and his brothers and his sisters. They “knew” who he had been all of his life and now miracles? Wisdom beyond his upbringing? Really? Nah! They just couldn’t believe it. And because of their unbelief, He was limited in what He could do for them.
An old proverb states, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” Does that impact the way we think? Often we are hindered by the way things have been and because of that, we are inhibited by the way things could be. Part of the problem with the residents of Nazareth and with the rut we can get in is that we like to compartmentalize life. We think to ourselves, “Jesus, this is Your box. This is the way it’s always been and this is the way it is always going to be.” But the infinite and eternal Christ cannot be compartmentalized.
Lord Jesus, forgive us for limiting what You want to do in our lives because we don’t believe. Maybe we are fearful of what You will do. Regardless we must trust and believe. May we be like the father in Mark 9:24 who “…cried out [with a desperate, piercing cry], saying, “I do believe; help [me overcome] my unbelief.” AMP
May 7th, 2018, Mon, 6:35 am
We Have Got to Dig!
Father, thank You for the good night’s rest. Thank You for the new day, as well. Enable me to be and do all that You need today to spread Your love and compassion to a world that so desperately needs it. Amen.
Matthew 13:52 (<<click the green)
He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things that are new and fresh and things that are old and familiar.” AMP
Then he added, “Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.” NLT
One of the most wonderful aspects, Lord, of being a student of Your Word is that we can never say that we’ve completed our study of it. I cannot begin to count the number of times I have read a passage for the umpteenth time – I know it, I’ve read it before – but, out of the blue, You open my eyes to something I’ve never seen before!
My life is full of concepts of truth from Your Word. I have built my life upon them but just because Your “treasure” contains many “things that are old and familiar” surely doesn’t mean that I won’t find “things that are new and fresh.”
If we are to truly be moving onward and upward in our relationship with You, Lord Jesus, we can’t just be satisfied with scratching the surface – we have got to dig! I’m sure people have found valuable gems that have washed out from their underground hiding places but for the serious seeker, time and energy have to be invested to get down to where the real pockets of gems can be found.
But, Lord, do we bury them once again? No way! We store them in the treasuries of our heart and eagerly share “those new gems of truth as well as old” with all that will hear!
May 4th, 2018, Fri, 6:27 am