How Many Loaves Do You Have?

In the familiar story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, is recorded in all four Gospels.  When Jesus asked the question "How many loaves do you have?", the deeper question was whether we are willing to give to God what little we have in order for Him to use it for His miraculous work?   My pastor made an interesting statement, that if we don't see anything in our lives that cannot be explained by practical means, then it may show that we are not letting God do the extraordinary in our lives.

It was also really interesting to realize that there are only two miracles in which Jesus "created" something that was not there - turning water to wine and feeding the 5,000 with the bread (and fish).   The wine and bread in the Lord's supper represent His Blood and Body shed and broken for our sins; and in these miracles, He was display part of Who He Is.

It was a neat Lord's Day, for learning.   Before church, there was an quote I heard on a Christian radio station - happiness is a choice; but joy is a fruit of the Spirit.   To me, that was a reminder that happiness may depend on our circumstances; but, through the Spirit, we can always have joy.

Then, during the devotional to the Worship Team, our assistant pastor shared what he learned from Oswald Chambers, that there is a difference between salvation and discipleship.    Salvation is God's Work, Christ dying on the cross for us; Discipleship is our dying to ourself and following Him.   He hoped that we would live the radical Christian life; and that was a reminder, along with his example of sharing what he learned during devotions; that in order to most effectively serve, we need to be continually walking with Him that He may always be working in us and teaching us.