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January 30, 2015

Just Believe

God is waiting to show you the Way.

God is waiting to show you the Way.

7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father, too. But now you do know him, and you have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.” 9​ ​Jesus answered, “I have been with you a long time now. Do you still not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. So why do you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say to you don’t come from me, but the Father lives in me and does his own work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or believe because of the miracles I have done.—John 14:7-11 (NCV)​​
​Sometimes, even when you know what someone thinks of you, it hurts to hear them verbalize it. After three years of being with the disciples, I wonder how Jesus felt when he heard Philip say that he still needed to see the Father to believe that Jesus was who He said He was. You can almost hear the disappointment in His voice as He asks; “Do you still not know me, Philip?” If you can’t believe what I say, at least, believe because of what you have seen me do. When we have walked with Jesus for years and then we deny Him by our words or our actions, I imagine He feels the same hurt and disappointment that He felt then. I think if we could see His face at that very moment, it would bring tears to our eyes and us to our knees in repentance. Still, we are forgiven, just as Philip was that day. ​We can rejoice in the knowledge that His great love for us will never allow anyone or anything to take us out of His hand.
12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.–John 17:12 (NASB)
​He is still holding onto each of us that God has given Him to keep.
24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees.—Romans 8:24 (NASB)
​So, just believe!​
Post 01-30-2015

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November 23, 2014

They All Ate All That They Wanted

God is waiting to show you the Way.

God is waiting to show you the Way.

8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. 9 “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”​
10 “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. 12 After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.—-John 6:8-1​3​ (NLT)
​We​ can’t be quite sure how many people Jesus fed that day with five loaves and two fish. But we can be sure that what they had was more than enough. Everyone ate their fill and there were plenty of leftovers. Think what a blessing this was for the young boy and his family, five loaves had now turned into twelve baskets. What an amazing thing Jesus had done! Thousands upon thousands had been filled to overflowing and there was more left than when He started! When Jesus asks us to participate in His Kingdom work, we need to remember that He is the one who will accomplish the results, we are just the seed sowers. Jesus never sees us as lacking anything to do His work. He doesn’t see us as unable. When we, like Moses, procrastinate, complain and ask “what if…”, God has one question for us. The same question He asked Moses: “What is that in your hand?” (Read Exodus 4:1-5). Whatever we have will be more than enough. In fact, there will be so much, we will need to be careful not to waste the leftovers.
Post 11-23-14