Psalms 8:1, 31:1-3, 123:1-3 (Write a bridge incorporating verse 3).
My Shepherd met me in His green pastures laying down in Luke 23 and resting my soul. I considered His challenge to Pilate: “Thou sayest it,” and the weeping women to whom He said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck” (Luke 23:29-30). I thought to the women who weep for themselves, but not their children, and wept for both.
But it did not seem to me the Spirit bade me share with you, here, my thoughts regarding the Clancy aberration, the unnatural alienation of a mother’s affection for her children, devilish wantonness, mirroring the Barbie Movie thesis. Instead, I think He desires me to return and take up the second meditation from yesterday’s devotions:
Matthew 16:7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.
Matthew 16:8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?
The disciples noticed they had forgotten to take bread for their trip across Galilee to the other side (Matthew 16:5). Jesus, still thinking about His earlier encounter with the Pharisees and Sadducees warned His disciples to beware of the “leaven the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6). They thought He was talking about where to buy their bread.
Along the still waters, I reflected on how often I find that His thoughts are somewhere else. I’m thinking about my “daily bread” and He’s thinking about the dangers of false doctrine. Much of my mornings are spent bringing my thoughts into alignment with His.
And another thing occurred to me: often i find that a clear understanding of what the Spirit is saying to me in Scripture is missed because my mind is otherwise engaged.
Jesus diagnosed the problem as a lack of faith: “O ye of little faith,” he said, “why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?” (Matthew 16:8).
He broadened the context of their reasoning. They were fixated on the immediate concern: “they had forgotten to take bread.” You are thinking about your immediate needs? He widened, broadened the context within which they reasoned to include what great things GOD had done about the need for bread before their eyes: He fed 5,000+ with five loaves, with 12 baskets remaining (Matthew 14:14-21; 16:9); He fed 4,000+ with seven loaves with seven baskets remaining (Matthew 15:32-39; 16:10). Sometimes we miss what Jesus is saying to us because we reason within the confines of our immediate, physical needs, rather than within the broader context of the revelation of His power as witnessed in the Scripture record, and experienced in our personal lives.
Faith sets the boundaries of our reason. “Little faith” makes for little space available to correctly understanding His revelation. Deepen your understanding by broadening your faith. And remember, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 19:17).
First, reason within faith. Second, increase your faith to increase your powers of reason that you might rightly apprehend His revelation.
In the valley, kneeling at the foot of His Cross, I gazed upon the risen Christ, the power and wisdom of GOD (1 Corinthians 1:24), and prayed for the “spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him” (Ephesians 1:17). He pointed to the path that leads to the desired destination: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
At the table, He anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup, intermingled with His grace, to overflowing. Goodness and mercy followed me as I followed Him into His harvest.
Praying for revival! 🙏
Going live asap:
0 Comments