The Test

Scripture

So when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where will we buy bread so that these people can eat? ” He asked this to test him, for He himself knew what he was going to do.

~John 6:6-7, CSB

Quote

I have a great need for Christ and I have a Christ for great need.

~Charles Spurgeon

In a sense Jesus lead His disciples into the wilderness [away from all towns] and taught them the same lesson that God taught the Israelites in their wilderness experience and that is–we are to TRUST God for every need. It is God’s will that we live by faith and not sight. God does not want us relying on our resources or our abilities: He wants us to put our trust in Jesus. Jesus gave his disciples an impossible task because He knew they would be tempted to rely on their resources. Of course they could not feed such a multitude. There might have been fifteen to twenty thousand in this crowd and a half dozen Super Walmart’s would not have feed them. The lack of funds was a mute point: there was no place near to buy food. A crowd like this would have overwhelmed any single village or town in the area. Jesus was putting his disciples to the test: would they look to HIM or would they try to feed this horde themselves? The right answer for Philip would have been, “LORD, You know we cannot feed this crowd but YOU can so tell us what to do.”

Our resources are never adequate. In this situation, there was no way possible for the disciples to feed the crowd. They must have felt helpless. You and I face intimidating situations that leave us feeling inadequate and helpless. Andrew found a lad with a lunch but he confessed, “What is this among so many?” But when we put our resources in Jesus hands, He blesses them, breaks them and feeds the multitudes. We are never adequate but He is always, and He, by grace, can even make us adequate. My cousin Karen got very sick back in the Spring. She stayed on the vent for over a month and then on tubes and machines for two more months. I tried to visit her once a week. I have never felt more inadequate in all my life. I simply went in took her hand, had prayer and did my best to encourage her. We didn’t get to laugh together, but we got to cry together and pray together. I visited her last night. She was standing in the kitchen cooking supper. Wow, she is  a walking miracle. She stopped and hugged me and said things to me that I can’t repeat for more than one reason. One being, I can’t remember exactly what she said but I drove away praising God. Evidently, He made me adequate but I sure didn’t feel it at the time. Anyway, I want to praise the LORD for her healing.

 

  • Today is our wedding anniversary: Big Mama has been putting up with me for 47 years. I can tell you right now that I have more, much more than I deserve. God has been good to me and it is all GRACE and that is no exaggeration. Not only did He give me a good wife, he gave me decent kids and great grand kids. He gave me a couple of pretty good son-in-laws but Jeremy has lost ground in the last two or three years. Cory is now my number one son-in-law and Jeremy is second. Any who, we will be out of town for the day, I hope and I’m turning my phone off.
  • God is good. Mrs. Edith Bennich and her friend, Mrs. C. L. Brown along with Wayne and Venessa Brown visited us yesterday at Grace Point but we were still down in number. We need to have more baptisms. We did have several out sick.
  • We did have a $1,000 dollar pledge on a van in response to the sermon. I think I’m going to have to preach a play ground sermon at DBC to get some of the wealthy businessmen, contractors and guidance counselors to turn lose of some of that money they are hording. Oh, yeah, let me throw bankers in the mix. If we could get people to make up their tithes they have withheld since January 1, we could build any kind of play ground we wanted. We don’t have a money problem; we have a giving problem.

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