Numbers 14:22 (NLT)

"Not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice."

We were given a challenge this morning in worship service to make more time for God and actively listen to what He may be trying to tell us. It made me think..."Do I really listen to God? Do I slow down enough to hear Him speak."

While I was sitting there reading His Word...He opened my heart wide and poured His love and mercy into me.

This very Scripture said it all to me. I don't want to be included in a group of people that test the Lord time and time again...and doesn't believe in all the miraculous signs He performs!

Then God took me to a devotional page in my Bible that showed me the real Love of Christ!

The Promised Land flowed with milk and honey because of the abundance of figs, dates, and nuts there. But the land also contained many imposing cities with tall, thick walls.

Ten of the twelve spies discouraged the people from trying to conquer Canaan. Rather than trust in God's promises, they looked at unfavorable military odds. Though God had promised to be faithful, his people did not believe him.

"Then Jesus took the loaves of bread, thanked God for them, and gave them to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, giving as much as the people wanted." (John 6:11)

When the disciples didn't pray, Jesus prayed. When the disciples didn't see God, Jesus sought God. When the disciples were weak, Jesus was strong. When the disciples had no faith, Jesus had faith. He thanked God.

For what? The crowds? The pandemonium? The weariness? The faithless disciples? No, he thanked God for the basket of bread. He ignored the clouds and found the ray and thanked God for it.

Look what he does next. "Jesus divided the bread and gave it to his followers, who gave it to the people" (Matthew 14:19)

Rather than punish the disciples, he employs them. There they go, passing out the bread they didn't request, enjoying the answer to the prayer they didn't even pray. If Jesus would have acted according the the faith of his disciples, the multitudes would have gone unfed. But he didn't and he doesn't God is true to us even when we forget him.

God's blessings are dispensed according to the riches of his grace, not according to the depth of our faith. "If we are not faithful, he will still be faithful, because he cannot be false to himself." (2 Timothy 2:13)

Why is that important to know? So you won't get cynical. Look around you. Aren't there more mouths than bread? Aren't there more wounds than physicians? Aren't there more who need the truth than those who tell it? Aren't there more churches asleep than churches afire?

So what do we do? Throw up our hands and walk away? Tell the world we can't help them? That's what the disciples wanted to do. Should we just give up on the church?

No, we don't give up. We look up. We trust. We believe. And our optimism is not hollow. Christ has proven worthy. He has shown that he never fails, though there is nothing but failure in us...

God is faithful even when his children are not.

That's what makes God, God. (From a Gentle Thunder by Max Lucado)


So, I am so thankful that He is faithful...even when I am not. I am so blessed by His mercy and grace...when I don't even deserve it. So don't give up...look up...and believe, He loves you more than you could ever imagine! Really, take the time to listen...He will not only tell you...He will show you!

Mama Barb