God's Math

Mat 14:19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
Mat 14:20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
Mat 14:21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

I don't know how many times I have said, "God's math and my math are not the same." He does so much more with the 90% tithers have left over than they could have done with 100% if they would have disobeyed Him.

When I would try to pull the wool over my dad's eyes as a kid, he would say, "It just doesn't add up." Though the Lord isn't bound to the rules of classroom math, the sum is always correct. Additionally, there is usually a remainder.

We have tried to make a budget, but we always end up tossing it out because of the amazing ways He blesses beyond our means. He is so good at taking our few loaves and fishes and multiplying them beyond the need. We end up having several baskets full of leftovers.

I love His amazing math. Now, if I never had to help my kids work an algebra problem again, I would be thrilled!

Where He Leads, He Feeds and Where He Guides, He Provides.

Mat 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

The above "platitudes" are much more than that. They are a reality for the Christian. You can always trust the Lord to bring you through what He brings you to.

It was the Spirit of the Lord that led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

We pray, rightfully so, to be led not into temptation, but to be delivered from evil. But there are times when we have to face adversity so that we can learn complete dependence on the Lord.

The leading of Jesus into the wilderness included much discomfort and deprivation. It was a desolate place. He had no food, no fellowship and much evil.

But God had reasons for Jesus' discomfort. His victorious stand against temptation and evil is an example and encouragement to us today. We know we have a high priest who was tempted in every area, like we are, yet He did not sin. Therefore He is able to help us as we face such temptation.

Look to the Savior for example and for the power to resist evil. If He brings you to it, He can bring you through it.

John, a Great Preacher

Mat 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, etc.

Jesus, in Matt 11:11 says that John the Baptist was the greatest man ever born. What made him so great?

1. He was willing to preach where conditions were difficult. He preached in the wilderness. He didn't have the advantage of a prestigious pulpit. He didn't even have a name of import. When he was born, his dad wrote, "his name is John," and everybody argued. Yet, that is what God chose.

2. His message was straightforward, "Repent!" There was no pussyfooting with this preacher. He laid the axe to the root of the trees and let the chips fall where they may. He was more than just a preacher, he was a prophet.

3. He preached Jesus, not himself. He demanded that he must decrease and that Christ must increase. He was not the hero of his own stories, but Jesus was lifted up.

4. He was humble. He told all of his admirers that he wasn't even worthy to untie Jesus' sandals. He felt unworthy to baptize the Lord.

5. He was simple. This evangelist had no Lear jets, no grand mansions, and no flashy clothes. He subsisted on locusts and honey and dressed in a scant camel hair girdle.

6. He wasn't afraid to call sin what it was. He gave it to the religious crowd and to Herod. He didn't go easy on the soldiers either. In the end, he lost his head for his straightforwardness.

7. He had a voice that carried enough for hundreds, even thousands to hear. Now that's lifting up the voice like a trumpet.

8. He was obedient to the Lord. Vs 15 says "he suffered him," meaning, he did what Jesus told him, even though everything in him went against it.

9. He had a key part in pleasing the Lord. 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

I can think of a few more reasons John was a great preacher: He was a Baptist preacher. He was an honest country boy. He had a relationship with Jesus. (They were cousins).

If Jesus were to sum up our lives and ministries, would He also find such kind words for us as He did for John?

Thirsty?

Isa 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

What are you thirsty for?

Appetites are cultivated. We are told to train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it. That verse teaches us to develop their appetites for the right things. If a baby's palette is trained to appreciate veggies, guess what? They will enjoy them later in life.

I drink diet colas. Some people just can't stand the aftertaste, but I am used to it. My thirst for sodas used to mean about 400-500 calories per day. Since I have begun my new habit of diet sodas 17 years ago, I have avoided over 3 million calories that I would have consumed by drinking sugared pop.

I know, I know, no pop is good for you. Just please allow me to revel a bit in my avoidance of sugar in liquid form!

It is summertime now. The heat is oppressive and the thirst is excessive. A guy/gal has to stay hydrated while working outside or he's/she's in for a world of hurt.

So, what do you grab when you are thirsty? Good old fashioned water? Pop? Tea? Gatorade?

How about your thirsts in life? What do you grab when you need some soulful satisfaction? Is it truly satisfying or are you left with an even greater thirst?

Jesus said “blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

Perhaps your palette hasn't been accustomed to desire righteousness. TV, entertainment, pleasure and the like are such a part of life in our culture that we long for them to quench our thirst, but alas, they leave us high and dry, longing for something more satisfying.
Jesus is offering you an invitation to come and freely drink of satisfying
soul water. There is no cost. He asks us why we would spend our resources
for that which can never satisfy.

Thirsty? Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Not Forgotten

Isa 49:14 But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
Isa 49:15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
Isa 49:16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.

The older we get, the more forgetful we tend to become. We need reminders. The calendar application in my Droid keeps me abreast of important appointments. I also have a voice recorder application and a post it note application, both of which are invaluable in keeping me appraised.

Notes pinned to the refrigerator by magnets keep us aware also.

You remember having notes pinned to your shirt by the teacher so your parents could be made aware of important notice?

And then, there was the ribbon or the rubber band applied to your finger so you wouldn't forget something.

God never forgets, yet, just to assure us of His enduring attention, He tells us that He has engraved our names on the palms of His hands. I guess we could say that He keeps our names "handy."

What, were you thinking God has forgotten you as you face your present trials? Not hardly! Feeling forsaken in your struggle for worth and recognition? Bah! As one writer said, if God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. Oh, how mindful He is of His kids!

Nothing to Fear

Isa 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Isa 41:13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

By reading the book of Isaiah, we find there is much to fear for the unbeliever. Chaos and destruction are sure to come, and shortly so.

But for servant of the Lord, called to be His own, we are comforted by these words, "Fear thou not!"

As an umbrella shields from the elements, as a shade tree protects from the harshness of the sun’s rays, so the presence of the Almighty defends His chosen from the calamity to come.

He bids us "be not dismayed." That is, don't become bewildered at what is and is to take place.

He is our God, our Provider of strength and help. He is able to keep us secure in the time of trouble.

The Lord backs up this promise by assuring us that it is no less than His right hand of righteousness granting us needed security.

Did you need a verse of promise to help you though today's difficulties? Hold to God's unchanging hand.

Sovereign Friendship

Isa 41:8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
Joh 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

I pray that I am not guilty of much presumption as I pen this thought.

We worship Almighty God, Who stands alone above the universe, yet is transcendent to our mortal existence. He, Who needs none other has called us into a blessed and personal relationship with Him, allowing our pusillanimous souls to become one with His omnipotent Being.

He has sent His Spirit into our loathsome hearts that we may relish the privilege of crying out to Him, "Abba, Father!"

He has adopted our wretched souls into His glorious family, calling us sons, and has made us heirs of His majesty.

But then, strictly by His sovereign will, He has chosen to call us friends.

Oh my! What a miserable friend I am! I am as dispassionate, uncaring, neglectful and disloyal a friend as any could ever have. Yet He claims me, a lowly worm as His compatriot. This, on the sole merit of faith, not even my own, but the faith given to me from above, the same faith which called Abraham, high father of all the faithful, into this unbalanced yoke of friendship with the Divine.

How undeservedly blessed I am to be called the friend of God, to be counted along with David and Abraham as one of God's consorts.

May I never take for granted my disposition as an unlikely friend to the best Friend with Whom anyone could ever hope to keep company.