Tag Archives: trust

It’s more than feeding 5,000 (Luke 9:1-20), Jan 9, 2015

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The background for today’s devotion comes from Luke 9:1-20.

I sent My disciples across the countryside to teach and preach with three simple rules:

  • Travel light
  • Stay in the same house until you leave that city
  • If a town rejects you, shake the dust from your feet as you leave as a witness against them

They traveled in My name and were amazed at the results that came from their work. Using My name, they healed the sick, drove demons from those possessed, and worked miracles among those with whom they ministered. The seventy-two that went out rejoiced at the work they did. They praised My name and gave glory to Me for the work they did.

Shortly after, I gave them an object lesson that let them know I am the Bread of Life. Luke’s description of the day begins to tell the story pretty well. When I saw all the people hungry for what I could do for them that the temple’s rituals had not done, I had compassion on them. I wanted to show them the power of God to meet their needs. Not just their physical needs, but their sin problem as well. But people won’t listen to a sermon when they’re hungry, so I fed them.

As the disciples arranged them in groups of 50 across the mountainside, the different colors of coats and cloaks looked like a flower garden stretched out on the hillside. Each with a particular need for special nourishment. As I blessed the fish and loaves provided by a little boy, who trusted in Me to use what he had, I thought of each person there and the particular need each represented. The food provided was really just the beginning. As I spoke through their meal, each person, man, woman, boy and girl was touched by the particular message I gave that day.

Many came away amazed at the twelve baskets of bread and fish left over after feeding the crowd, but the real miracle happened in the hearts of those whose lives I changed that day. Those who believed I was the son of God and put their trust in Me found an incredible inner peace and freedom from the guilt of sin in their lives. They found hope they never knew could exist. They understood I cared about them individually and collectively.

The miracle of feeding the crowd with the loaves and fish wasn’t so much about feeding a lot of hungry people with a small amount of food. It was about My compassion, My love, My understanding their needs from the smallest to the largest. I knew them and I know you. And if I can feed that crowd with just two fish and five pieces of bread, I can meet your needs, too. Trust in Me!

Ready – Luke 9:1-20
Set – Genesis 24; Luke 9
Go! – Genesis 23-24; Luke 9

Luke9:1-20
Jesus convened a gathering of the twelve. He gave them power and authority to free people from all demonic spirits and to heal them of diseases. 2 He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3-5 These were His instructions:

Travel light on your journey: don’t take a staff, backpack, bread, money, or even an extra change of clothes.
When you enter a house, stay there until you leave that city.
If a town rejects you, shake the dust from your feet as you leave as a witness against them.
6 The disciples left on their journeys from village to village. They preached the good news, and they healed the sick everywhere they went.

7-8 Their mission didn’t go unnoticed. The local official installed by Rome, Herod, was especially anxious about the news because rumors were flying. Some people said that Elijah or one of the other ancient prophets had been resurrected, while others said that John, famous for his ritual cleansing, was alive and preaching again.

Herod: 9 I am the one who beheaded John. So who is this man who is causing such a stir?

Herod was curious about Jesus and wanted to see Him.

10 The emissaries whom Jesus had sent out returned, and Jesus took them away from the crowds for a time of retreat in a city called Bethsaida. They gave Jesus a full report of their accomplishments and experiences. 11 But soon the crowds discovered where they were and pursued Him. Jesus didn’t turn them away; He welcomed them, spoke of the kingdom of God to them, and brought health to those who needed healing.

12 Picture what happened while in Bethsaida, where Jesus and His disciples were spending time with the crowds:

The sun is low in the sky, and soon it will be dusk. The twelve come to Jesus with advice.

Disciples: Send the crowd away so they can find lodging and food in the nearby villages and countryside. We’re out here in the middle of nowhere.

Jesus: 13-14 No. You give them something to eat.

Disciples: Are You kidding? There are at least 5,000 men here, not to mention women and children. All we have are five loaves and two fish. The only way we could provide for them would be to go to a nearby city and buy cartloads of food. That would cost a small fortune.

Jesus: Just do this: organize them in little communities of about 50 people each and have them sit down.

15 They do what Jesus says, and soon groups of 50 are scattered across the landscape.

16 Then Jesus takes the five loaves and two fish, and He looks up to heaven. He praises God for the food, takes each item, and breaks it into fragments. Then He gives fragments to the twelve disciples and tells them to distribute the food to the crowd.

17 Everyone eats. Everyone is satisfied. Nobody goes away hungry. In fact, when the disciples recover the leftovers, they have 12 baskets full of broken pieces.

18 Once Jesus was praying in solitude. The disciples were nearby, and He came to them with a question.

Jesus: What are the people saying about Me?

Disciples: 19 Some people think You’re John the Baptist. Others say You’re the prophet Elijah, or else one of the other ancient prophets who has come back from the dead.

Jesus: 20 Ah, but what about you? Who do you say that I am?

Peter: God’s Anointed, the Liberating King.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

You can pass the test (Genesis 22), Jan 8, 2015

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The background for today’s devotion comes from Genesis 22.

Some people look at My test of Abraham’s faith and decide they could never measure up, so they give up. But they don’t understand Me or what I do in helping My children grow in their trust in Me. I don’t test everyone in the same way. Nor do I want anyone to fail any test I give them. I want to act as a good teacher so all who follow Me learn well and pass every exam.

I knew when I asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son he had a high probability of passing My extreme test of his faith. I watched him through his life and knew his trust had grown to the point of complete obedience to Me. I knew he often didn’t understand what I asked of him, but he followed My will without question. I knew he trusted Me to see him through this task also.

If you look at his conversation with his servants and with Isaac, you see his trust shining through. When he left his servants at the bottom of the mountain, he told them, “We will worship, and then WE (meaning he and his son) will come back and meet you here.” Abraham didn’t know how, but he knew I would make a way of escape somehow.

As Isaac carried the wood for the fire to top of the mountain and helped Abraham build the altar that day, he asked about the ram for the sacrifice. Abraham’s answer, “God will provide.” Again, he didn’t know how I would do it, but he had faith in Me. He trust I would fulfill My promises to him and held on to that truth to the end. Even as he tied his son and placed him on the altar and reached for the knife to plunge it into his heart, he trusted Me.

My test for Abraham was extreme. He was prepared to take an extreme exam. As the patriarch of My chosen people, I needed someone who others could look to that could take such an extreme test. I prepared him for it throughout his life to that point. He was ready. He’d had plenty of practice leading up to it.

I will test you, too. But never past the limits of your ability to handle it. I never want you to fail. You can choose to fail, but you never need to fail. You can ask for My help. My tests are always open book. You can always ask the teacher for help. I will always give you the answers. You may not always like them, but I will give them to you. I promise. Trust Me to the end. It always pays off.

Ready – Genesis 22
Set – Genesis 22; Luke 8
Go! – Genesis 20-22; Luke 8
Genesis 22
After a period of time, God decided to put Abraham to the test.

Eternal One: Abraham!

Abraham: I am right here.

Eternal One: 2 Take your son, your only son Isaac whom I know you love deeply, and go to the land of Moriah. When you get there, I want you to offer Isaac to Me as a burnt offering on one of the mountains. I will show you which one.

3 Abraham did as he was told. Early in the morning he got up, saddled his donkey, and taking two of his trusted servants with him and his son Isaac, he cut the wood for the burnt offering and traveled to the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of the journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place far in the distance.

Abraham (to his servants): 5 Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there. We will worship, and then we will come back to meet you here.

6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and set it on the shoulders of his son Isaac to carry. Abraham himself carried the fire and the knife. The two of them walked on together.

Isaac (to Abraham): 7 Father!

Abraham: I am right here, Son.

Isaac: Look, we have the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?

Abraham: 8 God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.

The two of them continued to walk on together.

9 When they finally arrived at the place God had shown him, Abraham took some stones and built an altar there and arranged the wood carefully on top of it. Then he bound up his son Isaac with rope and laid him on the altar on top of the stack of wood. 10 Just as Abraham reached over to grab the knife that would kill his son, 11 the special messenger of the Eternal One called his name from heaven.

Special Messenger: Abraham! Abraham!

Abraham: I am right here!

Special Messenger: 12 Don’t lay your hand on the boy or do anything to harm him. I know now that you respect the one True God and will be loyal to Him and follow His commands, because you were willing to give up your son, your only son, to Me.

13 Abraham glanced up and saw a ram behind him with its horns caught in the thicket. He went over, dislodged the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14 From that day forward, Abraham called that place, “The Eternal One will provide.” Because of this, people still today say, “On the Mount of the Eternal, all will be provided.”

15 The special messenger of the Eternal One called out to Abraham yet a second time from heaven.

Special Messenger: 16 Listen to the solemn vow the Eternal One has spoken: “Because you have done what I asked and were willing to give up your son, your only son, 17 I will reaffirm My covenant of blessing to you and your family. I will make sure your descendants are as many as the stars of the heavens and the grains of sand on the shores. I reaffirm My earlier promises that your descendants will possess the lands and sit in the gates of their enemies, 18 and from your descendants all the peoples of the earth will discover true blessing. All this is because you have obeyed My voice.

19 Then Abraham returned to the place where he left his trusted servants. They traveled together—Abraham, Isaac, and his servants—back to Beersheba where Abraham lived on for some time.

20 After this happened, Abraham was informed that Milcah had also given birth to many children by his brother, Nahor. 21 Uz was the firstborn, then came his brother Buz, Kemuel (Aram’s father), 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23 Bethuel fathered Rebekah. Nahor, Abraham’s brother, had eight children in all by Milcah. 24 Not only that, but Nahor’s concubine (whose name was Reumah) also gave birth to Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Trust Me! (Genesis 12), Jan 5, 2015

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The background today comes from Genesis Chapter 12.

Monotheism, worship of Me, grew up from Abram, whose name I later changed to Abraham. The Hebrews, Christians, and Muslims all came from his progeny. Too many people look at Abraham as someone with a special dose of religious power and give him much more credit than is due him. Abraham was like most of the other men of his day with one exception. He, like Noah, did what I asked him to do, even when it didn’t make much sense to him.

I had a plan for him. I started the plan with his father, but his father stopped his travels before he crossed the barren territory to the land I wanted to give a chosen leader. Abraham continued that journey when I called him out of Ur to a land he didn’t know. A land he would never own personally. While alive, Abraham traveled its length and breadth, but never settled in it to own more than the gravesite of his wife Sarah, the cave of Machpelah.

As you study Abraham’s life, you’ll see he feared for his life and lied to the Pharaoh, allowing his wife taken into the Pharaoh’s harem. He didn’t trust Me to give his wife children so he bore children through Sarai’s maid and later through concubines. All those children became enemies of Israel. Abraham sometimes lied. Sometimes lost his temper. Sometimes failed to listen to Me. Sometimes failed to trust Me. Sometimes did things you would consider abhorrent sins. Yet over time, Abraham grew to become one of the most revered leaders of all the monotheistic religions.

So what was it about Abraham? Why do we think he is so special? I think there are xx reasons.
– He is the patriarch of the major monotheistic religions
– He was the one with whom I made My covenant through which to bless all nations
– He wasn’t always right, but he always made things right when he failed Me
– Mostly, Abraham believed I would do what I said I would do; he had great faith in Me, more than in himself

That’s what made Abraham great. Trusting Me more than man. Trusting Me more than himself. Like Noah, Abraham believed in Me and did what I asked him to do, despite the opposition or the ridicule it brought him. He trusted Me with his possessions and with himself.

Ready – Genesis 12
Set – Genesis 12; Luke 5
Go! – Genesis 12-14; Luke 5

Genesis 12
One day, the Eternal One called out to Abram.

Eternal One: Abram, get up and go! Leave your country. Leave your relatives and your father’s home, and travel to the land I will show you. Don’t worry—I will guide you there. 2 I have plans to make a great people from your descendants. And I am going to put a special blessing on you and cause your reputation to grow so that you will become a blessing and example to others. 3 I will also bless those who bless you and further you in your journey, and I’ll trip up those who try to trip you along the way. Through your descendants, all of the families of the earth will find their blessing in you.

4-5 Without any hesitation, Abram went. He did exactly as the Eternal One asked him to do. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. He took with him his wife Sarai, his brother’s son Lot, all of their possessions, and all of the persons they had acquired for their household while in Haran; and they all set off toward the land of Canaan. When they reached Canaan, 6 Abram kept going through it to a sacred place called Shechem where the oak of Moreh stood. (At this time, the Canaanite people were living on this land, so Abram could not take it as his own.) 7 There the Eternal appeared to Abram.

Eternal One: I am going to give this land to your future generations.

So, out of honor and respect, there Abram built an altar table to the Eternal One, who had appeared to him and spoken these words of promise. 8 After that, Abram traveled on to the hill country east of Bethel, and there he pitched a tent and made a home for himself and his family between Bethel in the west and Ai in the east. Here Abram built another altar table for the Eternal One, where he called upon the name of the Eternal frequently. 9 Then Abram journeyed south toward the Negev region.

This is the southernmost part of the land God promises to give Abram. One day his children will possess it.

10 Now at this time, there came a severe famine in the land of Canaan. Food was scarce, so Abram made his way to Egypt to live there for a while as a foreigner. 11 As Abram was about to enter Egypt, he pulled Sarai his wife aside.

Abram: Sarai, you are a very beautiful woman, and I am well aware that 12 when the Egyptians see you, they will say, “Look, she’s his wife”; then they will kill me and let you live so they can have you for themselves. 13 Tell them you are my sister so that nothing will happen to me because of you. In this way you can save my life.

14 So when Abram came into Egypt with Sarai and his family, the Egyptians did indeed see that Sarai was very beautiful. 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they told Pharaoh just how beautiful she was. So Sarai was taken into Pharaoh’s house and made part of his harem. 16 She pleased the Pharaoh, so he treated Abram very well, giving him gifts of sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 17 But the Eternal One was not pleased and began afflicting the Pharaoh and his household with skin diseases because of what was happening to Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram to come before him.

Pharaoh: What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me this woman was your wife? 19 Why did you say she was only your sister, so that I felt free to take her to be one of my wives? Here she is—take your wife, and get out of here!

20 And Pharaoh gave his men orders to make sure Abram went on his way along with his wife and all of his belongings.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

How to survive (Genesis 6), Jan 3, 2015

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People often wonder why I would destroy My creation. When I spoke the world into place it was good. I made it so. I created humankind in My image in several ways:
– Humankind has the freedom to choose right from wrong
– Humankind has creative power
– Humankind can reason
– Humankind has dominance over every other part of creation
– I made humankind with an immortal spirit. Your spirit will never die!

Everything I did for humankind was very good. But in giving humankind the freedom to choose, man also could choose to defy me and his ego did not want to take second place to Me, his creator. And so, Satan enticed man to disobey my command and eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

From that day until the flood, men and women continued to choose to elevate themselves rather than Me. They continued to worship the created instead of the Creator. I allowed them to choose, but from the first sin, they chose wrongly thinking they knew best. They didn’t.

My most noble creation decided to follow their own path and ran from Me. They failed to listen to Adam and Cain and those who had gone before them and learned the painful lessons sin brought into life as a result of disobedience to My plan for them.

One person pleased Me in all of humankind. Noah. He did it simply. It wasn’t always easy for him in the community in which he lived. He often felt the sting of humiliation at the hands of his neighbors. Others misunderstood him and ridiculed him for his actions. Many mistook his kindness and assistance to those in need as weakness. Often others took advantage of his gentle, humble spirit. Noah never had much in the way of material goods, but his heart was large. Everyone in the community knew Noah, at least by reputation.

How did Noah please Me? Simply by doing what I asked of him. Noah listened to Me and did everything I asked him to do. That’s it. Pleasing Me isn’t complex. In fact, it’s very simple. As I mentioned, it isn’t always easy in the society and culture you live in. You, like Noah, will face ridicule, hardship, maybe humiliation, even persecution. But doing what I ask you to do will always result in something so much better than what you could imagine.

Ready – Luke 4:1-30
Set – Genesis 9; Luke 4
Go – Genesis 9-11; Luke 4
Genesis 6
As human beings began to multiply and spread across the surface of the earth as God commanded, they had lovely daughters. 2 The sons of God saw how beautiful the humans’ daughters were, and they decided to take any daughters they wanted as their wives.

Eternal One: 3 My life-giving Spirit will not sustain human beings forever because they are, after all, made of flesh. Therefore, I will put a limit on their lifespan of about 120 years.

5 The Eternal One saw that wickedness was rampaging throughout the earth and that evil had become the first thought on every mind, the constant purpose of every person. 6-7 At that point God’s heart broke, and He regretted having ever made man in the first place.

Eternal One: I know what I’ll do. I will wipe humanity, My special creation, from the face of the earth—humans, animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I ever made them.

8 But there was one person whom the Lord could not let go of—Noah—because this man pleased Him.

9 Here is the account of Noah and his descendants. Noah was a good man, a right-living man, the best man of his generation; and he walked closely with God. 10 Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11-12 They lived at a time when the world had become vile and corrupt. Violence was everywhere. God saw that the earth was in ruins, and He knew why: all people on earth except Noah had lived corrupt lives and ruined God’s plans for them. He had to do something.

Eternal One (to Noah): 13 Noah, I have decided to wipe out all the living creatures I have made because they are spreading violence throughout the earth. Watch! I will destroy them with the earth. 14 I want you to build an ark. Build it out of cypress wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with tar. 15 Here’s how you will do it: build the ark 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16 Put a roof on the ark and leave a gap of 18 inches below the roofline for air to circulate. Put the door of the ark in its side, and build it with lower, middle, and upper decks. 17 Look! I am going to unleash a torrent and flood the earth to destroy all flesh under the heavens which breathes the breath of life. Everything that is on the earth will die.

18 But I will make a pact with you, Noah—a covenant agreement. To survive, you and your family—you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives—must go into the ark. 19 And, out of all the living creatures I have made, you must bring two of each kind into the ark with you, to keep them alive. Bring one male and one female of each kind. 20 Bring all kinds of birds, all sorts of animals, and all varieties of creatures that creep on the ground in pairs, so that each species will survive. 21 Also, you must bring food with you. Bring every kind of food that may be eaten, and store it all inside the ark. That way, you and all of the creatures will have enough food to eat.

22 So Noah listened to God, and he built the ark. He did everything God asked him to do.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.