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“I can’t do it, can I? Well, I don’t have the right situation…”

Toward evening the disciples approached him. “We’re out in the country and it’s getting late. Dismiss the people so they can go to the villages and get some supper.”

But Jesus said, “There is no need to dismiss them. You give them supper.”

“All we have are five loaves of bread and two fish,” they said.

Jesus said, “Bring them here.” Then he had the people sit on the grass. He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread to the disciples. The disciples then gave the food to the congregation. They all ate their fill. They gathered twelve baskets of leftovers. About five thousand were fed.

-Matt 14:15-21

We are usually fooled into believing that we don’t have the resources to accomplish the task (whatever that is). Don’t believe it. 

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The kingdom of God, His reign and rule on the earth, through His people, His church, is meant to grow!

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

-Matt 13:31-33

Never resign yourself to the idea that this world is just getting worse, there’s nothing we can do. The people who do bad may get worse, but never fear, the gospel will not fail. We can be salt and light in this world and God will change people’s hearts, we just need to be faithful!

Never give up, never give in, the kingdom WILL grow… Jesus WILL build his church. Count on it!

We no longer live by the rules of the sabbath (see my old post), because something (someone) greater is here, Jesus! He is the temple, He is the sabbath, we are His body and we are a kingdom of priests!

He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, ’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
-Matthew 12:3-8

Therefore, just as this sin entered the world through one of humanity’s own, so death entered the world through this sin. So too in this same way, death passed to all people at the time everyone sinned.

-Rom 5:12

Paul retrospectively draws the picture of Adam as a type of Christ. In the same way that sin came into the world when Adam (actually Eve, but still, Adam is a “representative head”) sinned, it is actually applied to people at the time when they prove to be one of Adam’s own by sinning. Have you sinned? Yes? Then guess what, you’re one of Adam’s.

So too, Jesus’ death on the cross provides salvation for every person, all of humanity, but it is only applied at the time when people accept the free gift of grace. We prove we are one of Christ’s own when we receive Him.

For just as through this disobedience of one of humanity’s own, those who sin were made many; even in this same way, through the obedience of The One, those who are righteous will be made many.

Rom 5:19 

Adam’s sin is not forced on us, but he paved the way for us all. Each and every person has chosen to sin and shows that we are all Adam’s own. In the same way, Jesus’ free gift of salvation is not forced on you, you must choose to accept it. But when you do, you will be made righteous, justified and saved to be a part of the new humanity.

Won’t you stop trusting in yourself, hoping you can be good enough? Make Jesus your Lord, give Him your life, have faith, really believe, and trust in Christ alone for salvation. He is the only way…

We all come to Jesus, even if we don’t believe in Him as Lord, with preconceived ideas. But usually, the Jesus we find is not the one we are looking for…

John the Baptist was no different. He was Jesus’ cousin, had known Him as far back as he could remember, yet he still asks “is He the one we’ve been expecting?” (cf. Matt 11)

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