Waste not, want not

I am struck by Jesus’ command to His disciples in John 6:12. Jesus’ ministry of teaching and healing attracted massive crowds and it seems they followed Him almost everywhere, sometimes even out to the countryside. On one such occasion, the crowds followed Jesus to a hillside to listen to His teaching and it soon became obvious that they needed to be fed. Turning to Phillip, Jesus asked him “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” I like how Jesus said, “we.” The next verse reveals that He was testing Phillip and that makes the “we” even more special. Jesus is always with us in our tests and trials. It’s never simply “me.”  Phillip replied that even if they worked for months they could never get enough money to feed the crowd of 5,000 men – not counting all the women and children. Andrew, overhearing the conversation, piped in to say, “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” Andrew was not helping with Phillip’s test! He was looking with physical eyes instead of spiritual eyes at the dilemma and saw no possible way to feed this crowd. Even though the disciples had witnessed first hand Jesus’ miracles of healing, they still approached the problem through the mindset of trying to solve it based on their own efforts and meager resources. How like them am I! How many times have I seen a problem, encountered a test, or found myself submerged in a trial and tried to solve it myself using my own very meager strength and resources! 

Instead of rebuking their meager faith and feeble efforts, Jesus gave them something to obey. He told them to get the crowd to all sit down. The He took the bread, gave thanks to God, and had His disciples distribute the bread to all the people. He did the same with the fish. Of course, as they distributed the food, it kept on multiplying – never running out. I like what my husband says about this passage. As the disciples kept returning to Jesus to get more bread and fish to distribute, how soon would it be before they realized – “Everything I need for them, I get from Him?” Jesus is the never-ending source of all I need for myself and of all I need to give to others. 

After everyone was full, Jesus told His disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so nothing is wasted.” After the disciples again obeyed Him, they discovered they had 12 baskets filled with bread and fish! Not only does Jesus meet all our needs, He does it in lavish overflowing ways that bring full satisfaction. Yet, I love His concern that nothing be wasted! This is very convicting to me as I think about all the physical resources He has provided that I have wasted, not to mention the spiritual lessons designed for me in the middle of tests and trials that I have not taken advantage of and have thus wasted. A good friend of mine told me, after the sudden death of her young adult son, “Please pray that I will not waste anything from this tragedy that God has designed to increase my faith and make me more like Jesus.” That dear woman taught me much with her wise statement.

So the questions I ask today are: How quickly will I turn to Jesus for all I need and realize in any situation it’s a “we” not simply a “me?” Am I bold enough to ask Jesus that whatever trial or test He allows into my life, I will welcome all the lessons He has for me and not waste a single one?

The Importance of Being Jesus

In John 5:19-30, Jesus clearly explains Who He is and His relationship to God the Father. It is beautiful to behold! Here are the truths from this set of verses:

Jesus always tells the truth.

All Jesus does is empowered by the Father and is a reflection and imitation of what God is also doing.

God the Father loves God the Son.

The Father shows the Son everything He is doing.

It was the Father’s will that Jesus heal and do even greater works to prove His relationship to Him.

The Father gives life to those He raises from the dead and Jesus, likewise, gives life to anyone He wants.

God the Father judges no one – instead, He has given Jesus absolute authority to judge.

Because God has given over all judgment to His Son, everyone should honor Jesus just as much as they honor God the Father.

Anyone who does not honor Jesus is not honoring the Father Who sent Him.

Those who listen to Jesus’ message and believe in God who sent Him have eternal life.

Believers will never be condemned for their sins.

Believers have already passed from death to life.

All who are spiritually dead and yet hear the words of Jesus, listen, and believe, will live.

God the Father, Who has the ability and authority to extend life to all who believe has granted that same life-giving power to His Son.

Jesus has been given the authority to judge everyone because He is not only the Son of God, He is also the Son of Man.

One day, all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of Jesus and when they do, they will rise again. Believers will rise to experience eternal life and unbelievers will rise to experience judgment.

Jesus judges in accordance with God’s will and never acts independently from Him.

So the questions I ask today are: Do I honor Jesus Christ as much as I honor God the Father? Do I consider Jesus as equal with the Father? Do I ascribe to Jesus all the majesty, honor and glory that is due Him? Am I diligent to tell others that what they think about Jesus will absolutely determine their eternal destiny?

Sometimes I have more questions than answers after reading an account of one of Jesus’ miracles. In the story of the healed lame man found in John 5:1-15, I note the following facts, questions, and a few applications:

Facts:

During Jesus’ day, the pool of Bethesda functioned not only as a gathering place for crowds of lame, blind, sick and paralyzed people, it also, according to tradition, functioned as waters of healing for a select few. Legend had it that an angel would periodically trouble the waters of the pool and they would appear to be bubbling. The first one to reach the water would be healed. Interestingly enough, Jesus never authenticated the legend – He never even addressed it. Instead, He showed up one day at the pool and singled out just one man – a man who had been lame for 38 years and who had been coming to the pool for perhaps that long. When Jesus asked him if he would like to get well, he replied that he had no one to put him in the waters when they became troubled – someone else always beat him to it. The man seemed to be seeking Jesus’ assistance to help him reach the waters first. Instead, Jesus said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” Instantly, the man was healed. As was often the case, this miracle happened on the Sabbath. When the religious leaders noticed the man carrying his own mat – doing work on the Sabbath – they became irate. The man told them the man who had just healed him had told him to pick up his mat and walk. He didn’t even know the Man’s name or Who He was! Right after Jesus healed this man, He disappeared into the crowd – obviously otherwise He would have been mobbed by all the others there who were seeking healing. It’s also interesting that Jesus later sought out this same man again, finding him in the temple, and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you!” Then the man went to the Jewish religious leaders and told them it was Jesus who had healed him. Then the leaders approached Jesus to accuse Him of breaking their man-made Sabbath rules. Jesus’ response incensed them even further – “My Father is always working, and so am I.”

Questions:

Why was that man singled out by Jesus to receive His divine healing? Crowds of other people also needed healing that day as well. Where was that man’s family? Did they just drop him off each day to fend for himself? What had this man done to suffer lameness? Was his affliction truly the result of sin in his life?

Applications:

Jesus can heal anyone of anything instantly.

Jesus chooses whom to heal based on His purposes, not our convenience.

Physical healing is not as crucial as spiritual healing.

Sin can lead to sickness or worse.

Just because we are not healed or our prayers are not answered in our time frame does not mean that Jesus is not working.

God is always working even when we can’t see or feel it.

So the question I ask today is: Am I basing my responses to Jesus on how and when He answers my prayers, or am I choosing instead to trust that He is always working all things together for my good and for His glory?

After His ministry to the Samaritans, Jesus arrived at Cana in Galilee. A government official from Capernaum heard He was in Cana and he traveled 20 miles to beg Jesus to heal his son sick at home, literally at death’s door. Jesus asked him, “Will you never believe in Me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?”(John 4:48)  In response, the official pleaded that Jesus go back home with him to save his little boy. Instead of going with him, Jesus replied, “Go back home. Your son will live.” (John 4:50) The official believed Jesus’ words and acted on that faith by returning home. While on his way back, some of his servants intercepted him with the good news that his son was alive and well. When the official asked the servants what time the boy began to get better, he found out it was the exact time (1 pm the previous afternoon) that Jesus said, “Your son will live.” 

I like seeing the stages of this man’s growing faith. First, he believed enough in Jesus to know He could help his little boy so he traveled 20 miles from home to act on that faith. What a difficult journey that would have been, not knowing if his little boy would die while he was en route! Then, he approached Jesus and begged Him to go home with him to save his little boy. He believed that if only Jesus could see his son and perhaps touch his son that he would be healed. Then, when Jesus told him to go back home and that his son would live, he didn’t argue with Jesus or even question His command to him – he immediately started the long journey home – still not knowing the situation of his little boy. 

I wonder if this official’s faith in Jesus became a saving faith the moment his servants told him the exact hour his boy began to get better. Not only that, he and his entire household believed in Jesus. Thinking back to Jesus’ first words to this official – “will you never believe in Me unless you see…?” He didn’t see his boy healed – he heard about it from his servants. Faith comes by hearing, not just seeing!  Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the good news about Christ.” 

If the official had stood there and argued with Jesus, had demanded He accompany him home, or had left in despair not believing Jesus could heal his son from such a distance – then he would have committed the sin of unbelief. In John 16:9 Jesus said, “The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in Me.” Later on in John 20:29, Jesus told a doubting Thomas, “Blessed are those who believe without seeing Me.”

I know the official’s faith that day pleased and delighted Jesus. Hebrews 11:6 says, “It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.” The official was certainly rewarded for his faith in a huge way as Jesus healed his son. 

So the questions I ask today are: Is my faith in Jesus delighting and pleasing Him? Do I listen intently to His Word each day in a way that increases and deepens my faith in Him? Do I become disheartened when God doesn’t answer prayers in ways I think He should, or do I believe without seeing immediate results, trusting Him to answer how and when He wills?

Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “Anyone who drinks of this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again…John 4:13-14 Later on in the same chapter Jesus told His disciples, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about…My nourishment comes from doing the will of God…” (verses 32 and 34)

We were created with all kinds of hungers – physical hungers, emotional hungers and spiritual hungers. All too often it’s easy to confuse the “hungers.” A friend at church yesterday confided that she had begun to ask God to satisfy her hungers. She confessed her frequency of trying to feed emotional and spiritual hungers with physical food. All she got for her efforts were frustration, guilt and remorse.

Jesus created our bodies to need water and food in order to survive. He also created what one ancient philosopher called, a “God-shaped vacuum” in our souls that only He can fill. Nourishment for our spiritual being was never intended to be found in physical resources such as food and water. I love how Jesus in this chapter clearly described the hungers and also illustrated how they should be legitimately satisfied. Physical water only serves to temporarily quench physical thirst. Eternal living water from Jesus becomes a “fresh, bubbling spring within, giving eternal life.”

It’s interesting that Jesus told His disciples that He had a kind of food “you know nothing about.” He had just told the Samaritan woman about a kind of water she knew nothing about. That tells me that Jesus is the Source and the Distributor of spiritual food and water.

When Jesus’ disciples returned from the village bringing food, Jesus clearly demonstrated another more important and fulfilling food – doing the Father’s will. I like how He linked physical water to spiritual water and physical food to spiritual food, and showed the difference. I wonder if the disciples’ souls were nourished as they witnessed this Samaritan woman and so many in her village believe in Jesus and find eternal life.

It is pure arrogance and foolishness to try to fill spiritual and emotional hungers with physical resources. It’s like pouring salt water into our car’s gas tank instead of fuel – an exercise in futility. Each time I begin to reach for a physical resource because I sense a hollow spot emotionally or spiritually, I need to stop and ask the question, “Am I thirsty or hungry physically?” If not, then I need to go to Jesus and to His Word. His supply is endless and His satisfaction is complete! 

So the questions I ask today are: Am I finding full soul satisfaction and satiety in my identity in Christ and in His provision for me for eternity? If I desire to find nourishment from doing God’s will, how willingly do I follow wherever He leads? Am I taking the time to do a “hunger inventory” to differentiate between physical and emotional or spiritual hungers?

“Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well (Jacob’s well) about noontime.” John 4:6

I am encouraged by this reminder of Jesus’ humanity. He knew what it felt like to be depleted, weary, hungry, thirsty, aching and the entire gamut of human discomforts. After a long day on my feet, sitting down brings such welcome relief. I would imagine that Jesus was relieved to finally sit beside the well to rest His sore feet and weary body. 

“Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Please give Me a drink.’ He was alone at the time because His disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.” John 4:7-8

The Samaritan woman had no idea she had a divine appointment with Jesus that day, but He did. He arrived early at their pre-ordained “meeting place.” She came to the well with the intent and the means to draw her daily water. I love Jesus’ humility in asking her to provide a necessity for Him. He had walked for hours, it may have been a hot day (so many days in Israel are!), and His mouth would have been parched; primed for a refreshing drink. 

So many times in my own life I let pride get in the way when I refuse to even acknowledge my needs, let people know about my needs, or allow them to meet my needs. There’s something so freeing (and humbling!) about letting others know my weaknesses and my neediness. Time and again, I struggle with the prideful desire to be self-sufficient and resourceful. Yet, when I am able to help meet the needs of others I feel so gratified and fulfilled! 

So the questions I ask today are: How can I live more transparently and truthfully by revealing needs others are able to help meet? Will I be quick to recognize and confess the sin of pride when it manifests itself in the form of self-sufficiency?

“But He needed to go through Samaria.” John 4:4

Samaria was indeed positioned between Judea in the south and Galilee in the north, but in Jesus’ day most Jews circumvented Samaria and took a longer route around it when they traveled from Judea to Galilee. Perhaps Jesus’ disciples were expecting Jesus to do the same. They may have questioned His travel route, but they did accompany Him. In Jesus’ day, the Jews looked down upon the Samaritans as half-breeds. If there had been a publicized caste system, they would have occupied the lowest rung. It was well known that Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans. 

Jesus came to earth to do His Father’s will as John 6:38 confirms. It was obviously His Father’s will that He go through and not around Samaria. As we read further in this chapter, we know that Jesus had a divine appointment with a certain woman and her village needed to hear the good news. 

I wonder if traveling through Samaria felt awkward and even wrong to His disciples? I wonder if they, like the majority of Jews, looked down on the Samaritans and did not deem them worthy of engagement? Sometimes doing the Father’s will feels inconvenient, awkward, uncomfortable and discordant with our own agendas or schedules. I love the example Jesus set for us – faithfully and obediently doing His Father’s will, not His own. Like all of us, Jesus wrestled with human will and flesh. In the Garden, He prayed, “Not My will, but Thine be done.” (Matthew 26:39) He may have experienced internal struggle, but God’s will always won 100% of the time! Oh, to be that in tune with and obedient to the Father’s will, no matter the cost!

So the questions I ask today are: Does God’s will win in my life? Am I willing to feel awkward, uncomfortable, inconvenienced or even pain if those accompany doing God’s will? Or am I so conditioned to seeking my own cushioned comfort that His will is muffled or even stifled?

John 3:25-30 “John’s disciples came to him and said, ‘Rabbi, the Man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the One you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to Him instead of coming to us.’ John replied, ‘No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. You yourselves know how plainly I told you, I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him. It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success.  He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.'”

Ministry jealousy. John the Baptist’s disciples began to notice that more people were flocking to Jesus to be baptized by His disciples than to John the Baptist. It’s so easy to look around at other ministries and ministers and feel jealousy. They speak to larger crowds, they churn out bestseller after bestseller, they have larger spheres of influence and on and on. John got it so right! Any valid, God-honoring ministry at all, no matter the size or scope, is only possible because of God’s grace and His gifting. John knew his role and his calling with crystal clarity and focus. He was solely in ministry to prepare the way for the Messiah. He may have been the front runner on the relay team but he flawlessly and selflessly passed the baton on to Jesus. And he did it with great joy! John knew the secret to lasting contentment in ministry was to become less and less so that Jesus could be magnified more and more.

Whenever jealousy rears its ugly head, it’s always because our focus is selfishly inward. One of the hardest tasks we face in this life is to continually reduce our craving for fame, recognition, acclaim, affirmation, and validation; while at the same time seeking avenues for Jesus to be magnified, glorified and honored by our words, attitudes and actions.

Life offers myriad opportunities to put this into practice! For example, we’ve been blessed with two amazing sons and two wonderful daughter-in-laws. However, I know my place as a mother-in-law of two girls will always be second compared to their own mothers. Just glancing through their Facebook photos confirms this fact! A good friend once told me before our first son married that my role should be to wear beige and be silent. The day was all about the bride and her side of the family. How very true! So I chose my response ahead of time. I asked the Lord to help me be joyfully supportive and sensitive in everything I said and did; to be content to take a back seat and cheer from the sidelines. John set such a great example and I love how he used a wedding context! I could really relate to that!!!

So the questions I ask today are: Will I set aside jealousy and selfish ambition in order to cheer on others whom God has greatly gifted and given visible platforms of ministry? Am I joyfully squashing my self-serving desires in order to make Jesus shine brighter in my life?

John 3:18-21 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.  But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

Believers are free from condemnation and exempted from judgment only because they have taken that crucial step of faith to believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation and a relationship with the Father. Believers are the only group of people who not only welcome the light, but embrace it. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus encourages believers to “let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” 

But sometimes believers live compartmentalized lives – practicing secret sins under cover of darkness or in solitude. They may be trying to hide their deeds, but all the time God’s light is still shining on them and they are fully exposed under HIs spotlight. Nothing can ever be hidden from Him. Just like unbelievers prefer the cover of darkness and live in fear of being exposed – believers who choose to harbor sin will cringe in the light. 

In my own walk, I try to remember that not only does God see and know all I do, but I am continually surrounded by an invisible cloud of witnesses who have gone on before me. Job’s life and his responses to all God allowed him to go through, played out on a grand arena with untold spiritual witnesses. My life is on display whether I want it to be or not! 

So the questions I ask today are: Is there anything I am doing day or night that I would never do in the light or if anyone were watching me? What am I doing today that I want others to notice for the sole purpose that God would be glorified and others would want to know and praise Him?

 

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:17

God in love sent His Son. Jesus in love offers salvation. As sinners, we are already born under condemnation – we need rescuing, we need saving, we need to be redeemed. When someone is already under condemnation, the last thing they need is more condemnation. 

Without the offer of salvation through Jesus, this condemned world has no hope. As believers, we need to offer this hope and show God’s kind of love to those living under the death sentence. Being judgmental and condemning only serves to further alienate. 

I love what Romans 2:1-4 says about this: “everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?  Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”

It is His kindness that leads to repentance – not His harsh condemnation! So why do we sometimes go around judging and condemning instead of showing compassion, kindness and love? Because it’s often easier to be judgmental than loving. I confess my first thoughts, my initial responses are not wrapped in compassion, kindness and love. I forget it’s not my job to judge, it’s God’s alone. Yes, I’m to be discerning, but that’s different than being judgmental. Oh how I long for compassion, kindness and love to be the hallmarks of my life as I relate to those around me! 

So the question I ask today is: Am I willing to leave the judging to God and instead ask Him to give me His compassion, kindness and love to those in desperate need of salvation?