Give Thanks, Have Faith, Jesus Oversupplies - Matthew 15 Blog
Read in Matthew 15 during my Time Alone With God (TAWG) and the portion of scripture that stood out to me the most was the miracle where Jesus feed over 4,000 people with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. My hope and prayer with today’s blog is to encourage us to: 1. Learn to always give thanks for what we have been given. 2. Have Faith the God can always make a way where there seems to be no way. 3. Recognize that Jesus is the God of more than enough.
Let’s start by taking a look at the section of scripture that stood out to me in today’s reading, “His disciples answered, ‘Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?’ ‘How many loaves do you have?’ Jesus asked. ‘Seven,’ they replied, ‘and a few small fish.’ He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children.” (Matthew 15:33-38).
The very first thing that we see in this passage is that there is a lack. We see a lack of food for the number of people that were there to hear Jesus speak. We also see that the disciples, once again, lack the faith to believe that Jesus can provide enough food to satisfy all of these people. I find this to be a bit ridiculous considering the fact that Jesus had just fed over 5,000 people in Matthew 14 with five loaves of bread and two fish. In other words, the disciples had very recently witnessed Jesus miraculously feeding these 5,000+ people and yet they still lacked faith that Jesus would be able to do that very same thing again.
Now to put this in to the perspective of our own lives. Is there a situation in your life that constantly leaves you in the position of the disciples where you are lacking faith? Perhaps it’s at the end of each month and you are stressing out and worried that you may not be able to pay your bills. You say, Jesus, I just don’t think I’ll be able to make ends meet financially this month, the math just isn’t adding up to enough. Guess what? Jesus is Jehovah Jireh (Our Provider), the God of multiplication, the God of the IMPOSSIBLE, AND He can do ALL things. Simply GIVE your finances to Him and let Him multiply it. The disciples had to GIVE the loaves and fish to Jesus and that’s when the miraculous work began. If you trust in Him and truly put your faith in Him, He will never let you down. Stop stressing/worrying, and start praying and putting your trust/faith in Him as He is faithful. Show Him that you trust Him by lifting it up in prayer and not worrying. Maybe your worry or stress isn’t financial, but this same attitude applies that you just need to lift up the situation to Him in prayer and trust in Him.
We also see that the first thing that Jesus did when the disciples GAVE the fish and loaves to Him is He GAVE thanks. Are you grateful for what God has already given you in life? Perhaps God isn’t giving you more because He is waiting for you to give Him thanks for what He has already given you? That job that you prayed for and were so excited to receive… did you thank God for giving it to you and do you continue to thank God for it? Or, is it a job that you hate now and all you do is complain about it. That spouse that you had been praying for God to give you for so many years and finally God brought them to you… did you thank God for giving you your spouse and do you continue to thank God for them? Or, did you marry them and now all you do is fight with them and complain to you friends about them? That car that you prayed for and received… did you thank God for it and do you continue to thank God for it. Or, do you now no longer take care of that car and you call it a piece of junk that you hate? I could go on and on with examples here folks. All that I am trying to say is that we need to remember to ALWAYS express gratitude toward the good Lord for all that He has provided and will continue to provide. Don’t expect God to bring you more, when you aren’t even grateful and giving thanks for what He’s already given you.
The final two things that we notice in the passage is that: 1. “They all ate and were satisfied.” 2. “Afterward the disciples picked up SEVEN basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.” First of all, PRAISE GOD as this is an incredible miracle. With this miracle, Jesus fed MORE THAN four thousand people as the next verse says, “The number of those who ate was four thousand MEN, besides women and children.” There were four thousand MEN, that does not include all of the women and children that were there too. So, the FULL number of people may have been 6,000 - 10,000 for all we know. ALL these people “ate and were satisfied”. If they weren’t truly satisfied, the disciples had picked up “SEVEN basketfuls of leftovers”, so they would have had plenty more to eat. I draw attention to these last couple of passages to say that your Father in Heaven wants to care for you and wants to see to it that you are satisfied. Not only that, but He wants you to know that if you will stay in His will and plan for your life and be grateful, that He will provide MORE THAN ENOUGH.
In conclusion, let’s make a point each day to show God that we are grateful for all that He has given us. Thank God today that you can walk, talk, hear, see, taste, exercise, etc. Thank God for your job, the roof over your head, the car you drive, the device you are reading this blog on, etc. “Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving” (Psalm 95:2). When you show the Lord that you are grateful for what He has already given you (by not only thanking Him, but actually taking care of what He’s given you), then He will know that He can trust you and bless you with something more. Remember, when you see an area of lack in your life and you feel it will be impossible for it to ever be enough, God sees an opportunity to perform a miracle in your life. Give God a sincere thanks for even the little things in your life and just trust that He WILL make a way where there seems to be no way.
Follow me on my Social Networks:
