Fish and Loaves

Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.”… Mark 6:31a

They all ate as much as they wanted.  Mark 6:42

In the space between these verses is the amazing story of how Jesus fed 5,000 men at a place where the apostles were just hoping to get some rest. Sometimes all of us just need to get away. But Jesus comes up with astonishing ways to give us what we need in a way we least imagine.    Imported from phone 796

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The Value of a Day

When we want to know the worth of a diamond we take it to a jeweler who takes his magnifying glass and looks at the color, counts the facets and so forth. If we need to sell a property we first call an appraiser who comes and looks carefully at it inside and out to ascertain its market value. While our practice is to value a thing according to its appearance God sees entirely differently. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. Mark 12:42-43 Consider the story of the widow who gave her two mites. The disciples were quite surprised when Jesus told them that she had given more than all the others. They had clearly seen with their own eyes the two tiny copper coins fall from her hand into the offering box. But what they had seen was nothing in comparison to what Jesus saw of the inner beauty of her love, sacrifice and faith. If we wish to walk with the invisible God we will discover that nothing in this life is as it appears to us. God takes our actions and puts them under the magnifying glass of heaven. He weighs our decisions and appraises them according to their eternal market value. This is the year God has put into our hands. It won’t matter if we give a dollar or a million, what will count with Jesus is the weight of love measured on His scales in heaven. Right now we have an amazing opportunity. God is watching our hearts. What by our invisible faith, will we sacrifice to God today?

A Little of God’s All

Overflowing joy! When was the last time you honestly remember experiencing joy like that? I know for me it has been way too long. Maybe those extremely poor believers who Paul had befriended discovered that just as Jesus had said “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”. Maybe they found that giving all of their little gave them a chance to receive a little of God’s all and it was more than they could have ever imagined!