20/06/2020
Reflections from Matthew 14:13-23-feeding of the Five thousand.
Jesus & His heart for people
From the feeding of the five thousand recorded in Matthew chapter 14, I have drawn out some significant things about Jesus, and I want to share with you today.
Prior and after this miracle, verses 13 and 23 mentions that Jesus went alone; leaving the crowd and the disciples. Why did he go alone? To communion with the father.
The first thing I want to draw from the life of Jesus is ...
1. Devotion to God: After busy ministry during the day, Jesus would often go into the mountains and pray whole night. He would seek the heavenly father for His will and communion with Him.
• It was a special time for Jesus to speak to the father and hear from Him.
• It was a time to renew His strength
• It was a time to be recharged with the Spirit of God.
And He comes in the morning and begins to heal people, deliver the demon possessed, raise the dead and proclaim the kingdom of God. He could do all of the signs, wonders and miracles, because of the time He spent with the father, and his devotion to God.
My dear brother and sister are you tired and stressed out, come to the fountain of life. He will give you rest and refresh your souls. Devote to him in prayer, worship and the word. He will make your feet like the feet of a deer, you shall renew your strength like an eagle, you shall run and not weary, you shall walk and not faint says the Lord. My dear friends devote yourself to God, flee from the pleasures of the world and fix your eyes upon Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.
2. Passion for Souls: Now as he returned Jesus saw a huge crowd who have come from different towns and villages and seeing the crowd Jesus steps out of the boat. This shows the passion for souls. The huge crowd resembles people from many towns, and they came to him with problems and burdens, sickness and disease and there were the blind, the lame and the demon possessed. As he saw them he saw souls bounded by Satan and he wanted to set them free. So he stepped out of His comfort zone and reaches out to them.
Jesus here teaches us that we out have passion for the dying souls. There people in this world bounded by Satan and his spirits. People are looking for breakthroughs in their life; they are looking answers, healing and deliverance. My dear Christian brothers and sisters would you stepped out of your comfort zone and with a passionate heart reach out to their hurting friend, to your neighbor in distressed, to the people dying in darkness.
3. Compassion: Thirdly I see compassion in the life of Jesus. Compassion was the basis of his ministry. The bible says that Jesus was moved with Compassion when he saw the people. Compassion brought him down from heaven, compassion drove him to the streets of Jerusalem and the cities surrounding while he lived on this earth. My dear friend would you pray that God may give a heart of compassion like Jesus. So that people may be drawn to him. May your kind touch transform the feeble and heal the broken hearts.
4. Provision: That evening the disciples came to Jesus and said “this is a remote place and it’s getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go the villages and buy food for themselves. But Jesus said to them, “ that isn’t necessary, you feed them.”
Here the disciples saw a problem and they wanted to get the crowd away, They came up with excuses. They said but we have only five loaves and two fish. They were with Jesus all this while, witnessing miracles, signs and wonders, but now we find their lack of faith in Jesus.
Are you walking Jesus and not able to see a miracle in your life? You need to increase your faith. Get your devotional life right...get rid of the pity excuses you have in your life. Our God is a Big God and he is more than able to do beyond your imagination.
Now Jesus took that little and he looked up towards the heavens and blessed them. The little was now multiplied. It feed more than five thousand and 12 baskets remaining.
When you pray in faith, in your times of need when you lift up your eyes towards heavens and be thankful for the little you shall see a multiplied blessing in your life.
The God who feed Elijah through the raven in times of famine, the God who provided for the people of Israel in the wilderness for forty years, is the same yesterday, today and forever. And he will provide for you today.
The disciples who came up with excuses now picks-- up twelve baskets full of provision. During these tough times, when you have lost your Job, when there is no money coming, when the whole world is paused, God is still in control. He will come through and save you and restore you of the crops that the locusts have eaten and the things that the enemy has stolen.
May God Bless you!
Ratan
for the Day
