Our paragraph topic is: ( Jesus feeds four thousand) Part 1.
They were all in a desert place where there was not much to eat. And the people came to him in the desert. They came from the villages, from the towns, from districts far away. They came into this desert place because the word came to them and told them about the one they heard people talking about. The word told them that they would be healed. The word told them that they would see. The word told them that they would walk. The word was God and God was with the people.
And they came to him that they would be filled, that they would be healed, that they would know the truth of who he was. And Christ had compassion on the crowd. He felt their pain. He felt their sorrow. He felt their love. He knew their confusion, their loss, their fears, their hopes, and their dreams. And he wanted to feed them. He wanted to fill them. He wanted to love them. He wanted to guide them through the tricks and traps that they would face in the world. For they had been transformed by Christ and now they would face a new world with all of its temptations. And Christ had compassion on the crowd. But time had not been fulfilled and the sacrifice had not been given and the absolution was not complete.
So he fed the crowds. He gave them physical food for their bodies. He gave them fish and bread that they would not faint on their return to their villages and towns. And he bade the crowd recline on the ground. Then taking the seven loaves and the fishes, he gave thanks, broke them and gave them to his disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowd. And they all ate and were satisfied.
How do you see a miracle? If you watch closely will you see it happening? If it happens before your eyes will you know that it is? How did the lame walk? How did the blind see? How did the deaf hear? How did the loaves multiply? Christ blessed the fish and the loaves and gave them to the disciples to give to the people. And they eat and were satisfied. But how did it happen? We are spiritual beings living in a physical world. Do we recognize who we are? Do we know that we are spiritual beings in a physical shell? Are we aware of our spiritual nature?
Christ told us in the New Testament how to see ourselves. He told us how we should look. He gave us the words that indicate how we are to know who we are. Yet, we live in a physical world not knowing that we are spiritual beings. We strive for physical things not knowing that they are not eternal. And we are unaware of the spiritual things that are eternal, everlasting, God given. And we ask God to help us in this physical world not knowing who we are. Christ wanted to feed the crowd because he had compassion. He wanted to give to them eternal food that would sustain them in this world, but the time was not fulfilled, the sacrifice was not given, and the absolution not complete.
Today, the sacrifice has been given, the time has been fulfilled, and the absolution is complete. We are reborn in his image that we may share in eternal life with Christ. But how can we share in something that we do not know? How can we share in something that is hidden from us unless we seek it, find it, and know it to be true. The miracle awaits those who seek it. The knowledge awaits those who search for it. The treasure is buried for those who want to find it. And when it is found one will sell all to own it. For Christ has completed the miracle. The food awaits us. Come! Recline and partake of the the spiritual food that will awaken the spiritual life in you.
Come! Know the truth of who you are. Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in!
Our paragraph topic is: ( Jesus has compassion on the crowd) Part 2.
All were cured. All were made whole. All were given sight. All were made to walk. Christ cured them all that were brought to him. They came from the villages, the towns, the districts, from everywhere to see, to hear, and to be cured. For the word spoke to them. The word was alive. The word spread to all that heard, to all who belonged, to all who wanted to believe that their lives could change. And Christ changed all their lives.
And they did not want to leave. They did not want to go. They did not want to return to the life they knew, even though their lives had changed. Christ had compassion on them. All evil had been cast out. And the crowd was like lost sheep, not knowing what to do or where to go. And Christ had compassion upon them. He wanted to feed them. He wanted to guide them. He wanted to show them a way so that they would not be lost. But the time was not right. The time was not fulfilled. The sacrifice was not made and the absolution was not given. So Christ could not give them the eternal food that they needed for their journey. He could only give them the physical food they needed to feed their physical bodies.
Jesus called his disciples together to express his compassion on the crowd. He wanted his disciples to know his feelings and he wanted to demonstrate to them how they should feel for the crowd. But the disciples were unwilling. They wanted to disperse the crowd and did not have compassion for them. For it was a desert place and there was nowhere to obtain food to feed the people. The disciples had nothing to give nor anything to offer. But Christ was unwilling to send them away fasting and hungry for more of what he had to offer. So he called his disciples together. And the disciples said to him, "But in a desert, where are we to get enough loaves to satisfy so great a crowd?" Jesus said to them, ''How many loaves have you?" And they said, "Seven, and a few little fishes."
They only had seven loaves and a few fishes to feed a multitude of people. They did not realize that Christ was the food. Christ was the bread and Christ was the wine that would feed the multitudes of people. But the sacrifice had not been offered and the absolution was not complete. So the physical body was what was fed. Christ wanted to feed the spiritual. Christ wanted to feed the soul. Christ wanted to fulfill the eternal for he had compassion upon the crowd but the disciples were willing to turn them away. The disciples did not understand that Christ through them would feed the sheep of the world. They would provide the people with the spiritual food needed to feed the lambs of the body of Christ.
We call upon our Lord today to heal our wounds. We call upon him to cure our sickness. We call upon him to provide for us and to protect us from harm. And Christ wants to feed us. Christ wants to provide for us, to protect us, to heal us, to cure us from sickness. But we are not willing. We are not ready. We do not know the truth of who we are in Christ. We cling to physical life as though it was meant to be eternal. We ask for protection and turn from our protector. We ask that we are provided for and turn away from the provisions that are given us because they do not come according to our timetable when our God who created the universe provides for us for all eternity and not just for the moment.
Come! Know the truth of who you are. Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in!
Our paragraph topic is: (Jesus has compassion on the crowd) Part 1.
The word spread and all came to see. The lame came to see. The crippled hobbled to see. The blind tapped their way to know. The diseased were brought that they may feel whole again. The deaf came to hear that they may know the truth. All came to see Christ because the word spread and brought them to him. And he sat on a mountain side and waited for them to come. For the crowds gathered from parts of the towns and villages and districts and all parts of the country. And Christ waited for them to come.
And he cured them all. He made the blind see, the lame walk, the cripple were straightened, the deaf heard, the diseased were cured, the possessed freed from their evils. For all came and all were cured. And for three days they remained with him. For three days they sat with him and heard his words. For three days they knew him as they had not known him before. For they were the lowly. They were the downtrodden. They were the outcast of society, the ones that were spurned and looked down upon as society passed them by. They were the beggars. They were the sick. They were the ones in the market place that smelled of order. They were the forgotten of society. And Christ called them. Christ healed them. Christ forgave them. Christ restored them.
And as he sat on the mountainside watching over them, he felt compassion. He had cast out all the demons. He had removed sickness. He had told blindness to leave. He had removed deafness from all who could not hear. He had cleansed the people and he had compassion upon them for they were like lost children not knowing what to do. They were hungry and without food and Christ wanted to feed them. Then Jesus called together his disciples ,and said, "I have compassion on the crowd, for they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat; and I am unwilling to send them away fasting, lest they faint on the way."
Christ had compassion on them. He had feelings for them that they be fed. Christ would not will that they leave without having food and he wanted to feed them. He wanted to give them the bread of life that they do not faint, that they will remember, that they would know that he was the Messiah. Christ wants to do the same today. He wants to feed you. He wants to love you. He wants to protect you against the evil in the world. He wants to heal you of sickness and disease. He wants to open your eyes. He wants to straighten your legs that you may walk upright. But the world distracts us. The world consumes us. The world calls us. The world tells us that it will provide for us. The world tells us it will protect us. The world tells us it will care for us, it will provide for all our needs, it will fulfill all our passions. And yet the world is death.
The world is death to our bodies. The world is death to our souls. The world is death to who we are. All must die. Even the world must die. But we continue to believe in the world and not in the creator of the world. Christ calls us. The word, just as it did in ancient times, calls us today. Many will heed the call. Many will be deaf to the call. Thank you Father for not letting go of my hand when I was in darkness. Thank you Father for not allowing me to die without knowing you. Thank you Father for bringing me back from the clutches of death and restoring me to life. Thank you Father for giving me new life in the Holy Spirit who watches over me everyday, guides me through the traps of the world, and counsels me with its wisdom. Thank you Father for your grace. Who do you give your praises and thanks?
Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in!
Our paragraph topic is: (Jesus heals the suffering) Part 2.
He had no place to lay his head. He had no money to by food. He had no job to pay for his clothing. But he gave what he had to give. He gave to the lame, he gave to the blind, he gave to the sick, he gave to the crippled, he gave to to all. He walked this earth to experience this life. He suffered the emotions that we all suffer, pain, joy, sadness, love, happiness. He was human. He came to suffer the punishment for our sins. He was Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
How do you believe that you will be cured of cancer? How do you ask for something that you can not imagine? How do you have faith that your prayers will be answered when you have not had them answered before? How do you understand that you can move a mountain and it will cast itself into the sea, if you have not seen this done before? How do you see in your mind the power of the devil when you do not believe that he has power?
How do you know that there is a God , there is a heaven, when you have no experience of its existence? Is this fiction? Is this something that you can believe? Is this something that you can rely upon to be real? We say we believe. We say we know that there is a heaven. We speak of it as though we understand what we say. Yet we cling to life here on earth as though it was the most precious thing in the universe. The things that are of God are not the things that are of man. We marvel at a miracle and say that we believe.
The crowds marvelled at Christ and the miracles that he brought forth. So that the crowds marvelled to see the dumb speak, the lame walk, and the blind see. And they glorified the God of Israel.
They all glorified the God of Israel. They did not belong to the Jewish faith. They were not the chosen children of Israel. But they knew of the God of Israel and they gave glory to his name. They saw with their eyes the miracles. They felt with their hearts the change that was in the air. For so many were cured, so many were made whole, so many were rejoicing who had no joy in their lives. Joy was in the air. Happiness was on the mouths of the people. And they gave glory to the God of Israel. They all marvelled.
Be watchful. Be vigilant. Be rejoiceful that the God of Israel and our God is with us. Marvel at the his miracles and not the miracles of man. For the world wants you to sleep. The world wants you to rejoice in its miracles, its joys, its happiness. The world wants you to forget the marvels of God . The world wants you to become immersed in the day to day workings so that you forget to marvel at the miracles of God.
Be not conformed to this world. Be vigilant. Be watchful of going to sleep in this world. For its riches, its desires, its passions, its love, its sin will engulf you and lead you down the path to destruction. Wake up from your slumber and know that Christ died that you may have eternal life, everlasting, in heaven and not on this earth. Do not be fooled. Seek the wisdom of the Lord and you will know the truth.
Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in!
Our paragraph topic is: (Jesus heals the suffering) Part 1.
The Canaanite woman was healed and her daughter was cleansed of the demon that possessed her. Jesus then departed that place. He followed a path that led him along the sea of Galilee. And the news spread of his whereabouts. The word was alive. The word took root. The word of God was spoken in the villages, in the towns, in the market place where all could hear of this man called Christ who was called a prophet. The word spread of this man called Christ who performed great miracles. The word was alive. And some called him the Messiah that has been spoken of for many years.
And they came. They came from the villages. They came from the towns. They came from the market places. They came from the temples and the synagogues and from the places of worship. For the Christ had come and many wanted to see. Many wanted to know. Many wanted to touch that they may be healed. For the lowly came. And the down trodden came. And the cripple came, and the lame, and the blind, and the deaf, and the lepers came. All came because they had been cast out. They had been set aside as outcasts. They were the scourge of society and no one thought of them as people. But they came to Christ who saw them as children. They came that he might heal them and make them whole.
And when Jesus had departed from there, he went along the sea of Galilee; and he went upthe mountain and sat there. And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the dumb, the blind,the lame, the maimed,and many others; and they set them down at his feet and he cured them.
The word had no Ipad in those days. The word had no Internet. The word had no Facebook, or YouTube, or Twitter to spread its message. The word only had itself and how it affected those who heard it. The word only had itself and how it moved those who saw it in action. The word only had itself and how it transformed those who knew it to be the truth. And the word spread throughout the land and brought great crowds to Christ who sat on the mountain side and waited for those to come who were rejected by the world.
Hear the word today. For the word is on Facebook. The word is on YouTube. The word is on twitter. And the word will spread to those who hear it. The word will spread to those who know it. The word will spread to those who seek it. For the word is truth. The word is knowledge. The word is wisdom. The word is not of this world but it will lead you down the narrow path of salvation for those who follow. Will you follow? Will you seek to know? Will you desire to find the one truth in life that will bring you to the truth of who you are in Christ?
Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in!
