Who is Making Your Plans?

John 6:14-15

After Jesus fed the multitude of 5000 plus people, the crowd was amazed at the miracle. They were so amazed that they thought Jesus must be the prophet they had been awaiting. After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”  Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. (John 6:14-15)

The people were not looking at Jesus for who He was, but rather they saw what He was capable of and wanted Him to fulfill their own expectations. They wanted to force Him to be king. He already was King, but because He didn’t fit their idea of a king they could not see it. Jesus didn’t hang around and try to argue with them or convince them of His ideas; scripture simply says that He withdrew from them. Jesus would not allow them to deter Him from God’s plan for His life. No matter what the crowd thought or wanted, Jesus was not willing to conform to their desires, so much so, that He felt the need to withdraw from them so that He could continue down the path that God intended for Him rather than meet the unrealistic expectations of a people who truly did not understand His purpose.

Even today, Jesus does not force His will on us, nor does He allow us to force our will on Him. He has a plan and a purpose for our lives and His desire is for us to join with Him and follow after Him rather than expecting Him to meet and bless our plans. Consider the words of the Lord in the book of Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

The prophet Isaiah spoke not only of God’s greatness, but also asked the question, “Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor?” (Isaiah 40:13) Surely, no human being living, dead or yet to be born can instruct the Lord!  He is the Creator of the universe, the Alpha and Omega, and we belong to Him, not the other way around.

So how do you approach God? Do you make your plans and ask Him to bless them? Do you get frustrated or maybe even angry when things don’t work out the way you think they should? Do you feel like God has abandoned you? Have you tried seeking Him for His will for your life? Do you think it would make difference if you were following after Him rather than expecting Him to follow after you? May we all seek God and His ways just as King David who put his hope and trust in God.

Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5

Love & Provision of the Father

Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:32-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15

The story is familiar to those of us who spent time in Sunday school growing up; Jesus takes 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish and feeds five thousand people. Of course that head count only included the men that were there that day, and if you added the women and children who were also in attendance the count would have most likely soared to over ten thousand people! It is a miracle of epic proportions recorded in the Gospels. In fact it is the only miracle recorded in all four of the Gospels. When we see something repeated in scripture then it is a clear signal to pay attention. There is something important that God wants us to see, know and understand.

So what is it that God is speaking to us through this miracle? What was He speaking to the people of that day that were there to witness it? The message today is much the same as it was then: God’s ability to provide for our every need is beyond anything that we can imagine. The Gospel of John records a question that Jesus asked of Peter, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”

Jesus did not ask this question because He was looking for an answer that was unknown to Him. Scripture records that He already had in His mind what He intended to do. He asked Peter this question because He wanted Peter and the other disciples to fully understand who He actually was and what He had come to do. Peter’s response to Jesus only confirms that in spite of the time he had spent with Jesus he was still pretty clueless in his understanding.

Jesus had no intention of letting these people leave His presence hungry. He knew that they could not receive the spiritual food He longed to give them if their physical needs were not met. Not only did His plan include feeding the multitude, but His plan also included doing it in such a way that demonstrated not only who He was, but how much He loved and cared for everyone around Him.

After everyone ate, scripture states that Jesus told His disciples to gather up any leftovers. It is hard for us to imagine that 5 loaves and 2 fish could stretch to feed some ten thousand people and pretty much beyond our comprehension that there could be leftovers! The leftovers were not gathered until everyone had their fill. In other words, no one left that day hungry and scripture says that the disciples gathered twelve baskets full of pieces left over from the original meal of 5 loaves and 2 fish. This is not just love and provision, but this is extravagant love. Jesus showed the people that were there that day a love that is more than enough to meet their daily physical, spiritual and emotional needs. And throughout history, He has continued to show us over and over that He is more than enough, and He is all we need!

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Matthew 6:25-26

How Well Do You Know the Father?

John 5:19-30, John 14:6-11

When we look back over the Old Testament the picture we tend to develop of God is one who is angry and ready to strike a person down the first time they make a mistake. Even the Children of Israel pleaded with Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” (Exodus 20:19) When Jesus arrives on the scene, we breathe a sigh of relief in hopes that this kind and gentle Son will somehow protect us from the wrath of an angry God.

If we listen to the words of Jesus we quickly realize that we do not need protection, but in truth, God Himself is our protection and He provides that protection through His Son Jesus. Jesus says of Himself in John 5:19, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” Jesus is not just a representative or a reflection of the Father, but He says He only does what He sees His Father doing. Jesus acts on the Father’s behalf only doing what He has been shown to do. When Jesus heals the sick, then we can assume that is exactly what God desires to happen. When Jesus shows compassion to people, we know by His own self description that is also what His Father would do.

On the other hand, when we see Jesus clearing out the money changers in the temple, He was not in there politely asking them to leave. Scripture says that he made a whip, overthrew tables, scattered their coins and drove them out. (John 2:15) We also see Him as he dealt with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. They used the law to abuse people, yet valued themselves above others and Jesus did not hesitate to speak plainly to them. Over and over again, He called them hypocrites and even referred to them as white washed tombs ~ beautiful on the outside but full of dead man’s bones and everything unclean on the inside. (Matthew 23:27) We can also assume that these words and actions are exactly what God has instructed Jesus to do.

If we want to know the Father, we must know Jesus! By examining the Gospels and the life of Jesus, we not only learn about Jesus, but we also get a clearer picture of our Father. God’s desire is for us to come closer to Him, to know Him, to spend time with Him, and to trust Him with our lives. God’s very own words to Moses while on Mt. Sinai are a beautiful description of who He is and how He loves us as His children. Now, doesn’t that make you want to know Him better?

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Exodus 34:6-7

Do You Want to Get Well?

John 5:1-14

Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem and while on His way He stopped at the Pool of Bethesda. Surrounding the pool was a group of disabled people who believed they could receive healing if they were able to be the first in the water when it was stirred.

There was a man lying by the pool who had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him, He asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

Why would Jesus ask such a question? Wasn’t the fact that this man was lying by the pool proof enough that he wanted to get well? After all, he had been that way for 38 years; would he not want to be healed? Would he not want the change in his life that a physical healing would bring?

Not necessarily, and that is why Jesus asked the question. If, as scriptures say, this man had been an invalid for 38 years, then this was a life to which he had become accustomed. The man had learned to adapt to his circumstances and his life was familiar to him, after all it was his life. Healing would bring about dramatic change in his life. Was he ready for that?

The man does not answer Jesus with a simple “yes” or “no.” He explains to Jesus that he has no one to help him get in the pool when the water is stirred.  Jesus takes that as a “yes,” and tells the man to “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Scripture says that at once the man was cured. In an instant, this man’s life was forever changed!

And that is what it is like to come face to face with Jesus! Our lives can be a mess. We can be so familiar with our own mess that it becomes a place of comfort to us. We can complain about it, say we don’t like it, but still do nothing to change it or make it better.  Change means stepping out of our comfort zone, letting go of all that is familiar and allowing Jesus to heal our broken and wounded hearts. There is so much that He wants to do for us if we just let Him. He still stands at the door of your heart and asks, “Do you want to get well?”

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.  Matthew 7:7-8

Will You Give Me a Drink?

John 4:1-26

The Gospel of John relates an encounter that Jesus had with a Samaritan woman.  Jesus and His disciples were traveling through Samaria and they stopped in the town of Sychar to rest and eat.  While the disciples went into town to buy food, weary and worn from His travels Jesus sat down by a well known as Jacob’s well.

A Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water.  Jews hated Samaritans!  They considered them half-breeds and the Samaritans knew it.  It was unusual for Jews to even travel through Samaria, as they would often cross over the Jordan River to avoid Samaria altogether and therefore avoid any contact with the despised peoples.  Yet, here was Jesus sitting at the well right in the middle of a race of people His race was supposed to hate, and He turns to ask the woman a question.  

 “Will you give me a drink?”

Jesus has actually spoken to this woman which in His culture was wrong on so many levels.  First of all, she was a Samaritan.  Second of all, she was a woman and Jewish religious teachers did not have conversations with women, especially in public.  And now He has asked her for something to drink.  For Jesus to take water and drink from any vessel that she would have offered Him would have made Him ceremonially unclean.

Regardless of the prejudices and at the risk of becoming “unclean,” Jesus asks her for a drink.  Was He really so thirsty that He was willing to push aside all societal propriety just to have His own thirst quenched?  I do not doubt His physical thirst, but I believe there was so much more in the question He asked than just a request for a drink of water.  Wrapped in that simple question was Jesus’ immeasurable love and total acceptance.

While scripture does not give us the circumstances, it does reveal to us that this woman has had 5 husbands.  I suspect that she had experienced great rejection and abandonment in her life.  She may have even felt that she was exactly what the Jews said of her: a dirty, half-breed.  With His actions and His words Jesus proclaims that she is none of that.  He asks to receive a drink of water from someone who is considered completely unworthy and unclean and thereby extends His love and acceptance of her regardless of who she is and what she has done. 

Jesus was not constrained by the social norms of His day.  He did not allow society to dictate to Him who He engaged in conversation with or how He should behave.  Later on in John’s Gospel Jesus explains that He can only do what He sees His Father doing.  Jesus came to give us a clearer picture of the Father.  He came to break down the barriers that man had created that served to separate people according to class, race, sex, social standing, financial success, etc.  Jesus did not come for some, but He came for ALL!

Jesus is not concerned with our “packaging,” nor is He concerned with our past.  Jesus is concerned with our hearts and if our hearts are a broken mess, He wants to make them new again.  Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for a drink, but what He really wanted was to GIVE her Living Water.  And that is His offer to us today ~ to take our brokenness, our pain, our anger, our disappointments, our failures and fill up all the emptiness with His Living Water.

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8