Blessed and Broken
John 6: 5When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company
come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that
these may eat? 6And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what
he would do. 7Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is
not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. 8One
of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, 9There
is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but
what are they among so many? 10And Jesus said, Make the men sit down.
Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number
about five thousand. 11And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given
thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that
were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 12When
they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments
that remain, that nothing be lost.13Therefore they gathered them
together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five
barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
Try to imagine the following:
1. The multitude as the church
2. The disciples as men of God
3. The loaves and fishes as the disciple's talents/ abilities
In verse 5, Jesus asked Philip (the man of God) how he planned to go
about feeding the multitude (the church). Philip didn't have an answer
and all that Andrew could come up with was five loaves and two small
fish. Now, notice what Jesus did with the food after it was given to
Him.
1. He gave thanks/ blessed the food
2. He distributed the food to His disciples/broke it into pieces
If we are going to do anything for God, two events must take place in
our lives. First, we must be blessed, or anointed, by God and second, we
must be broken, or humbled, by God.
It's easy to get excited about the blessings of God, but nobody wants to
be humbled. Consider the following calculation:
Blessings - Humility = Pride
"Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall."
Satan received many blessings, but he became prideful, and pride cost
him his position in heaven.
God knows the human heart better than any of us. Therefore, in order to
protect us from pride, He has to humble us every now and then. Paul
wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:7, "7And lest I should be exalted above
measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me
a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should
be exalted above measure."
If you're going through some difficult situations in your life, just be
thankful that God loves you enough to humble you, for as it says in
Hebrews 12:6, "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every
son whom he receiveth."
Now, notice what happened after the food was blessed and broken by the
hands of Jesus.
11And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he
distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set
down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 12When they were
filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain,
that nothing be lost.13Therefore they gathered them together, and filled
twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which
remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
If you give your talents to Jesus and allow Him to do whatever He wishes
with them, He can multiply them and use them, through you, to do great
exploits.
Notice that there were twelve baskets of food left over. Allow me to do
one more calculation.
12 baskets of food + 12 disciples = 12 stuffed bellies
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these
things shall be added unto you."
God never fails to feed those who are willing to submit to Him. Just
trust God and believe that "all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
Jordan Mills
Saturday
John 6
