THE RESURRECTED LIFE -- Day 19

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Day 19:  The Lad With the Loaves and Fishes

Jesus had been traveling for quite some time now, performing miracles and signs in the towns He came through.  Though the signs and miracles were designed to lead people to salvation and grace, most of the crowd followed for other reasons.  They wanted to see more miracles.

On this particular day, the crowds had been pressing in, and when Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, they followed Him there to a desolate mountainside as well.  The crowd was immense, five thousand men, not counting their families with them.  It was evening, and it would soon be dark. And no one was making any attempt to go back home.

“The people are hungry,” the disciples exclaimed.  “You aren’t going to feed them, are You?  Just send them away!”  Knowing there were no bakeries around, no “fast food” restaurants, and no homes where food might be fixed, Jesus tested his disciples by saying, “You feed them!”

Looking around for an answer to their dilemma, Andrew saw a lad who had a canvas bag with something in it.  The two made eye contact, and then Andrew looked down at the bag.  The lad’s father, wanting to protect his own evening meal, commanded his son to sit down and be quiet about what was in the bag.  But the lad was compelled to give what he had – two fish and five loaves – to the man looking at him.

How ridiculous it seemed to the disciples.  What could Jesus do with so little?  One look from Jesus told them to bring it anyway.  Knowing exactly what His Father would do, Jesus blessed and broke the bread and began to distribute it.  When all had eaten, twelve baskets of pieces remained.  “Did they get it?” Jesus wondered.  “I am the Bread of Life.”

Surely the young boy who gave the Lord  everything he had, who saw it multiplied to feed thousands, came away with a new and changed heart and a testimony to share with all who would listen.

Does Jesus find us willing to give Him our all?  Our money? Our time? Our relationships?  Our strengths and weaknesses? Our sins?  Are we surrendered to the higher authority, like the young boy was?

THE RESURRECTED LIFE -- Day 9

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Day 9:  Lazarus (John 11: 1-46)

Lazarus was dead.  Now nothing could be done.  “Why had the Master not come?” Mary and Martha questioned in the depths of their grief.  They knew for sure that He could have healed their dear brother.  Why, oh why, had He not come?

Four days after the burial of Lazarus, his sisters heard that Jesus was just a short distance away.  Martha ran to meet Him immediately, and later Mary did as well.  Feeling great compassion for their overwhelming sorrow, Jesus Himself began to weep with them.

Wanting to see where they had buried Lazarus, Jesus asked to be taken there.  Seeing that a stone covered the opening, Jesus asked the men there to remove it.  Such a strange request! Surely there would be a great odor by now.  Yet the men complied, and with a great shout, Jesus yelled, “Lazarus!  Come forth!”  For a moment nothing happened, but then what looked like a mummy stood at the opening.  Lazarus, wrapped in burial linens from head to toe, was standing before the crowd—ALIVE!

Why had these precious friends of Jesus been put through such an agonizing set of circumstances?  If Jesus knew that He would raise Lazarus from the dead, why didn’t He just heal him to begin with?

Often Jesus allows us to experience painful events in order to bring glory to Himself through us.  Sometimes He allows our faith to be tested, and at the same time, brings others to a new level of faith because they are watching God work in us.  God was glorified when He brought Lazarus back to life.  He and his sisters also would return all the glory back to God because they were believers in Him.  Glory came to God when Martha and Mary’s faith was tested and strengthened by this trial, for they had never seen someone be raised from the dead; healed, yes, but not raised to life.  Now they knew Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life!  Their faith was tested, but some of the witnesses of Lazarus’ resurrection believed in Jesus, and came to faith, for the first time. 

Have you considered your trials a way for God to be glorified?  Are you growing in the tests?  Can others clearly see Jesus through your faith?

THE RESURRECTED LIFE -- Day 3

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Day 3 -- Abraham's Test of Obedience

Life is full of tests.  Tests are what lie between the beginning of our faith journey and the day we receive our glorified bodies in heaven.  They are not intended to squash us.  On the contrary, they are to move us toward a greater dependence on God.  Our faith is revealed to God and others by the degree to which we obey, worship and love God.  These three Christian principles of faith are mentioned together for the first time in the Bible in Genesis 22 when Abraham is tested by God.

Abraham already had righteousness credited to his spiritual account (Gen. 15:6).  God told him that One would come from him who would be his heir and would give him many descendants.  Through this Heir, ALL the nations would be blessed (Gen. 12:1-3).  Abraham knew of the Messiah to come and believed God.  Through his child of the promise (Isaac), Jesus would come.

But God tested Abraham’s faith by asking him to take his beloved Isaac and offer him as a burnt sacrifice.  How could Abraham obey that command?  He could obey because he believed the promises that God made to him!  If God allowed Isaac to die, Messiah could not come through that line.  Abraham trusted God to do what He said He would do.  This is how he was able to tell the men with him, “I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” 

Again Abraham demonstrated and acted on faith when his son asked him a difficult question.  “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”   Abraham replied, “God will provide for Himself the lamb.”  Abraham passed God’s test when he followed through on everything God commanded him, binding up the one he loved most, laying him on the altar, and raising the knife to slay him.  Because of such faith, Abraham is a picture to us of true worship.  His actions reveal to us an obedient heart.  No wonder Abraham was called a friend of God!  (James 2:23)

Though he was a man from the Old Testament days, Abraham’s heart was transformed by his love for a Savior who had not yet come.  We have the promises in the Word; we say we believe them.  But do we live a sacrificial life that is proven by our obedience to God’s commands?