They said to Him, We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish. He said, Bring them here to Me. Then He ordered the crowds to recline on the grass; and He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and blessed and broke the loaves and handed the pieces to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
— Matthew 14:17-19
One of the biggest mistakes we can make in life is to focus on what we don't have or have lost and fail to take an inventory of what we do have. When Jesus desired to feed five thousand men—plus women and children—the disciples said all they had was a little boy's lunch, which consisted of five small loaves of bread and two fish. They assured Him it was not enough for a crowd the size they had. However, Jesus took the lunch and multiplied it. He fed thousands of men, women, and children and had twelve baskets of leftovers (see Matthew 14:15-21).
If we will just give God what we have, He will use it and give us back more than we had to begin with. The Bible says that God created everything we see out of "things that are unseen," so I have decided that if He can do that, surely He can do something with my little bit—no matter how unimpressive it is.
Lord, thank You for all You have given me. I ask You to use it for Your glory and to provide all that I need. Amen.
Give What You Have
by Joyce Meyer - posted March 25, 2017They said to Him, We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish. He said, Bring them here to Me. Then He ordered the crowds to recline on the grass; and He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and blessed and broke the loaves and handed the pieces to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
— Matthew 14:17-19
One of the biggest mistakes we can make in life is to focus on what we don't have or have lost and fail to take an inventory of what we do have. When Jesus desired to feed five thousand men—plus women and children—the disciples said all they had was a little boy's lunch, which consisted of five small loaves of bread and two fish. They assured Him it was not enough for a crowd the size they had. However, Jesus took the lunch and multiplied it. He fed thousands of men, women, and children and had twelve baskets of leftovers (see Matthew 14:15-21).
If we will just give God what we have, He will use it and give us back more than we had to begin with. The Bible says that God created everything we see out of "things that are unseen," so I have decided that if He can do that, surely He can do something with my little bit—no matter how unimpressive it is.
Lord, thank You for all You have given me. I ask You to use it for Your glory and to provide all that I need. Amen.
Our Generous and Gracious God
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
Psalm 84:9–11
The heart of Satan’s lure to Eve in the Garden of Eden was the false notion that God was unfairly holding things back from her. If she would just eat the forbidden fruit, then she would have greater spiritual knowledge and be more like God. That lie appealed to Eve thousands of years ago, and the devil is still using the same false promises today. It works because our selfish nature finds it easy to believe that people are withholding things from us, and we wrongly think the same of God.
If we properly understand His nature, we see that He is a good and generous God. In fact, nothing that we have is because we deserve it—every good thing we receive is because of His grace. Our pride does not like to admit that we are not worthy of God’s grace. We prefer to think that He owes us good things and that if we do not receive all that we want, we are somehow being cheated.
In reality, God does not give us what we deserve, and we should be extremely grateful for it. “He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10). Rather than griping and complaining about not getting what we think we deserve, we should be thanking and praising God that we do not get what we really deserve. And when we look at life in that light, we will find it easy to be grateful Christians.
Psalm 84:9–11
The heart of Satan’s lure to Eve in the Garden of Eden was the false notion that God was unfairly holding things back from her. If she would just eat the forbidden fruit, then she would have greater spiritual knowledge and be more like God. That lie appealed to Eve thousands of years ago, and the devil is still using the same false promises today. It works because our selfish nature finds it easy to believe that people are withholding things from us, and we wrongly think the same of God.
If we properly understand His nature, we see that He is a good and generous God. In fact, nothing that we have is because we deserve it—every good thing we receive is because of His grace. Our pride does not like to admit that we are not worthy of God’s grace. We prefer to think that He owes us good things and that if we do not receive all that we want, we are somehow being cheated.
In reality, God does not give us what we deserve, and we should be extremely grateful for it. “He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10). Rather than griping and complaining about not getting what we think we deserve, we should be thanking and praising God that we do not get what we really deserve. And when we look at life in that light, we will find it easy to be grateful Christians.
Today’s Growth Principle:
God’s goodness to us demands our gratitude—He is nothing but loving and kind despite our failings.
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