Jesus feeds the five thousand

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 “Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people.”  [Luke 9:16 ]

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 Jesus feeds the five thousand

When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.

Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”

He replied, “You give them something to eat.”

They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.”  (About five thousand men were there.)

But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people.  They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

This incident is filled with significance for disciples who are charged with the evangelization of the world. The five thousand represent lost humanity, starving for the bread of God. The disciples picture helpless Christians, with seemingly limited resources, but unwilling to share what they have. The Lord's command, "you give them something to eat" is simply a restatement of the great commission. The lesson is that if we give Jesus what we have, He can multiply it to feed the spiritually hungry multitude.

The world could be evangelized in this generation if Christians would surrender to Christ all that they are and have. That is the enduring lesson of feeding of the five thousand.
The Great Commission

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”





Five Barley Loaves And Two Small Fish

 “Andrew, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”  [John 6:8]

 

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 “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”  [1 Corinthians 15:50]

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 Born Again-Born of the SPIRIT 

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
Nicodemus was recognized a s a teacher among his people.  The Bible does not say why Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. The most obvious explanation is that he would have been embarrassed to be seen going to Jesus, since the Lord had by n o means been accepted by the majority of the Jewish people.
Nicodemus acknowledge the Lord to be a teacher sent by God, since no one could perform such miracles without the direct help of God. In spite of all his learning, Nicodemus did not recognize the Lord as God manifest in the flesh.  He was like so many today who say that Jesus was a great man, a wonderful teacher, an outstanding example.  All of these statements fall very far short of the full truth. Jesus was and is God.
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again”
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.  Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.  You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.
Nicodemus longed for the time when the Messiah would set up His kingdom on earth, when the Jewish people would be chief among the nations, and when all their enemies would be destroyed.
Now the Lord informed Nicodemus that in order to enter this kingdom, a man must be born again. Just as the first birth is necessary for physical life, so a second birth is necessary for divine life (The expression born again may also mean "born from above" or "divine"). In other words, Christ's kingdom can only  be entered  by those whose lives have been changed.
Unless one is born of water, even the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  This spiritual birth is produced by the Holy Spirit of God when a person believes on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you believe in the Lord Jesus as your personal savior, that he died for your sins on the cross? Are you born of the SPIRIT? If not, "now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation."

"Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4:14







Born of the SPIRIT

 “Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”  [John 3:5]

 



 

Good Samaritan

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 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself."  ...Jesus replied, "Do this and you will live.”  [Luke 10:27-28]

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What must I do to inherit eternal life? 

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

The lawyer, an expert in the teaching of the Law of Moses, was probably not sincere in his question. He was trying to trick the savior, to put Him thoroughly to the test. Perhaps he thought that the Lord would repudiate the law. To him, Jesus was only a Teacher, and eternal life was something he could earn or merit.

The Lord took all this into consideration when He answered him. If the lawyer had been humble  and penitent, the Savior would have answered him more directly. Under the circumstance, Jesus directed his attention to the law. What did the law demand? It demanded that man love the Lord supremely, and his neighbor as himself. Jesus told him if he did this, he would live.

At first, it might appear that the Lord was teaching salvation by law-keeping. Such was not the case. God never intended that anyone should ever be saved by keeping the law.The ten commandments were given to the people who were already sinners. The purpose of the law is not to save from sin, but to produce the knowledge of sin. The function of the law is to show man what a guilty sinner he is.

It is impossible for sinful man to love God with all his heart, and his neighbor as himself. If he could do this from birth to death, he would not need salvation. If it could be possible for us to keep the law in all respects and to gain our salvation, Christ has died in vain.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God". Eph. 2:8

Thus Jesus' statement, "Do this and you will live," was purely hypothetical. If His reference to the law had had its desired effect on the lawyer, he would have said, "If that's what God requires, then I'm lost, helpless, and hopeless. I cast myself on Your love and mercy. Save me by Your grace!" Instead of that, he sought to justify himself.

Are you trying to save yourself by your good deeds?






Good Samaritan

 “But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.”  [Luke 10:33-34]

 



God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again...

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 “Then Manoah prayed to the LORD: “Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”  [Judges 13:8]

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"God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again..." 

The Angel of the Lord appeared to the wife of Manoah, and announced that, though she had been barren, she would become the mother of a son. Manoah's wife told her husband,A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.’”

Then Manoah prayed to the LORD: “Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”

 God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.  The woman hurried to tell her husband, “He’s here! The man who appeared to me the other day!”

Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, “Are you the man who talked to my wife?”

   “I am,” he said.

So Manoah asked him, “When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule that governs the boy’s life and work?”

The angel of the LORD answered, “Your wife must do all that I have told her.  She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.”

The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him.







Samson Kills a Lion

 “...suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands ....”  [Judges 14:5-6]

 



...Yet I will rejoice in the LORD

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 “..through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance..”  [Romans 5:2-3]

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...Yet I will rejoice in the LORD 

Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights. [Habakkuk 3: 17-19]

 No Matter what happens, the prophet Habakkuk will trust in God, His strength.

 In the meantime, whatever trails the prophet Habakkuk and his people might be called upon to endure as a result of the Babylonian invasion--or the fig tree does not bud, .. or no food on the table... and there be no herd in the stalls--he would rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of his salvation. He relates it as the result of all which had gone before; such and such was the state of fruit-trees, vintage, harvest, flocks and herds; such was the aspect of all nature, living or inanimate; all was barren, disappointing; all had failed and was gone; and then at last he comes to himself, and I; what is he doing, when all nature and every seeming hope is dead? thus and thus it is with them; and I will rejoice.

Here is the hilarity of faith!-- joy at its best with circumstances at their worst! What a victory! May it  be ours!







Fig Tree

 “Though the fig tree does not bud  ... yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”  [Habakkuk 3:17-18]

 



Dumb Donkey Spoke with a human voice

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 “When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat her to get her back on the road.”  [Numbers 22:23]

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Dumb Donkey Spoke with a human voice 

Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials.  But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.  When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road.

Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path through the vineyards, with walls on both sides.  When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat the donkey again.

Then the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left.  When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff.  Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”

 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”

 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”    “No,” he said.

 Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

In several ways, the false teachers resemble the prophet Balaam the son of Beor. They falsely pose as spokesmen of God. They induce others to sin. But the chief likeness is that they use the ministry as a means of financial enrichment. Balaam was a Midianite prophet hired by the king of Moab to curse Israel. His motive for doing this was money.

On one of his attempts to curse Israel, Balaam and his donkey met the angel of the Lord. The donkey repeatedly refused to go on. When Balaam whipped it, the donkey rebuked him in human language. This was an astonishing phenomenon-- a dumb donkey speaking with a human voice (and showing better sense than its master!). But the miracle did not shock Balaam out of his madness.

Balaam is a fearful example of a man, who was "a  prophet," whom God told what not to do, whom God hindered in his wrongdoing by even letting a dumb donkey speak to him, but who in spite of everything secretly clung to this love for what he thought he could get out of unrighteousness, and so perished."

 God does not rebuke by dumb animals today. But there is every reason to believe that in other ways He often rebukes, to turn to the right way, which is Christ.






Donkey Spoke

 “But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey--a beast without speech--who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness.”  [2 Peter 2:16]

 



The Lord is coming - Believers will not be judged 

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 “Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.  ”  [Jude 1:11]

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Believers will not be judged 

For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.  [Jude 1]

Attacks were being made on the sacred deposit of Christian truth, and efforts were already launched to whittle away the great fundamental doctrines.  God's people must stand uncompromisingly for the inspiration, inerrancy, authority, and sufficiency of God's Holy Word.

 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings.

Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.

 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.  They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

  Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

The prophecy will have a preliminary and partial fulfillment when the Lord Jesus returns to earth after the Tribulation to destroy His forces and to reign as King. It will have its complete and final fulfillment at the end of the Millennium when the wicked dead are judged at the Great White Throne.

Christ comes to execute judgment on all. True believers will not be included. Through faith in Christ, they have been granted immunity from judgment, as promised in John 5:24: "Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life."




The Lord is coming

 “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones  to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”  [Jude 1:14]