Miracle of Provision

Frequently God's provision will be
preceded by an instruction. When Jesus was getting ready to make five loaves & two fish a catered affair for thousands, He started with an instruction.

He told His disciples to have the crowds sit down. What I noticed in reading John's account was that Jesus never told them what was coming next. He didn't say, "Get them seated, then I'm going to pray, and then God is going to multiply the food & we'll even have leftovers."

Jesus didn't give them the whole plan. He just gave them an instruction. Their provision was ultimately preceded by their obedience. It makes me wonder what if they hadn't done what Jesus asked? Would they have sacrificed their provision by disobedience?

What miracle or provision is God trying to release in our lives that we haven't stepped into because we haven't followed an instruction?

Maybe financial provision is waiting when you follow His instruction in faith to start tithing or to plant that seed you really can't afford but know He's told you to give.

Maybe your healing is waiting for you to make that adjustment in your diet He's been dealing with you about.

Maybe the change you've been praying for in your family is waiting on you to follow His instruction to be a servant in your home.

This isn't some magic formula, but if you'll honor God by your obedience, you position your life where He can meet you.

One of my favorite questions my pastor asks will serve as a great springboard for application: What is the last thing God told you to do? Are you still doing it?

Believers like the wind?

It's amazing to me how often we read Scripture & we just read straight through, never really engaging the content. I was reading a passage the other night, and it hit me as I read it that, although I've read this particular passage numerous times, I had absolutely no clue what Jesus was actually saying.


Here's the passage (John 3:7-9):


⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 
⁹ Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” 


As I was reading, those verses stopped me cold. I realized that I had no clue what Jesus was actually talking about there. It didn't make sense - I mean, I know where I come from. I stayed on those verses til I felt like I had some clarity on what Jesus was saying here.


Jesus said that wind is known not by sight, but by it's effect. How many of us as believers would that characterize? I would dare say not many. By this comparison to wind, Jesus was teaching us that our effect in this world should be so strong that it is felt, but so discreet that no one can see where it came from and where it went.


When we give,  we give radically but quietly. When we minister, we keep the focus so on Him that they forget about us. When we serve, we serve with no focus on getting credit or accolades. If we can get past our own pride & need for recognition enough that Jesus can be seen and not us, the world could be changed forever.


What would the world look like if we focused less on getting the credit, less on being seen or being known, and more on making people feel the effect of our existence? What if people ceased to know us because of what we say and began to know of Him because of the effect our existence has on their world? What if people met Jesus not through our words of introduction, but because of the effect His presence in us has on them? 


Will we ever get it fully right? Of course not. At least the world will be a better place in the trying.

Absolutes

I am a black & white, right & wrong kind of person by nature. I am immensely practical & don't have a lot of time for abstract ideas I can't bring down to real life application. It would make life so much more easy for me if living for God worked that way too, but it doesn't.

I absolutely believe in absolutes. If you start walking toward a brick wall, you can believe it's not there or close your eyes and pretend like it's not, but eventually you will crash into it head on if you don't change your course. The wall is absolute, and nothing you believe or think changes the existence of that wall.

As much as I believe in absolutes, I also believe that by & large we have absolutely no idea what they are. God is infinite & we are finite. God is all knowing & we only know what happens in our limited world. God spoke the universe into existence & we simply exist.

The day you come to a place where you believe you think you know what is right is the day you have stepped into unparalleled arrogance. There is no room in our faith journey for a place of arrival. We will spend the rest of our lives trying to get it right, only to step into eternity and learn how bad we missed it. There is zero possibility that our finite minds can comprehend the infinite nature of God.

The absolutes for me are simple. Jesus died for our sins, He died to restore relationship between us and the Father. That's absolute. You accept that sacrifice & your union with the Father is restored.

I don't have many absolutes beyond that. I have convictions, I have theology, but all of that is open & subject to change. In fact, I wonder how much truth we have rejected in the guise of being "grounded" and having "solid theology".

We see it in different denominations that build entire doctrines around certain Scriptures, while acting as if others have been ripped right out of their Bibles. I just wonder how much we've done that too, because we read the Bible through the lens of what we think we know. How much revelation & truth have we missed and rejected because we believe we know the truth?

I'm not saying we should be a flake & go chasing every wind of new doctrine like it is straight from heaven, because that's a sure fire way to end up in a ditch of error. I'm not saying you reject the whole counsel of Scripture because you find one out of context passage that you can build a theology around to support what you want the Bible to say.

I'm just saying that, as you study Scripture and as you read new things, to stay open to the possibility that what you thought you knew might not be the truth at all. Approach Scripture with an open mind & an open heart, and let the Holy Spirit  be your teacher.