Matt 14:13: When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. (NIV).
I've been reading the book of Matthew lately and I've come to this familiar portion of the Bible that I bet we all have heard before. Jesus fed 5,000 people with just five loaves and two fish. But for some reason, verse 13 really stuck out at me, especially because of the beginning. Why did Jesus withdraw himself to be alone? If you get a chance to read the chapter, you can see that the verses before this whole miracle occurs is the story of how John the Baptist was killed. In case you don't know, that was Jesus' cousin.
Now think about this for a second. You just hear the news about a tragedy in your family. Not just any family member, but a very close friend. What do you do? How would you react? Often times in our lives, we deal with problems, heartache, frustration, and sadness in so many different ways. Jesus Himself just wanted to go away and be by Himself as we read in the verse. The crowds on the other hand, didn't really cooperate with this plan; so they followed him anyways.
Put yourself in Jesus' shoes at that moment. All you want to do is be alone, but thousands of people still crowd around you, not leaving you alone for one second, bringing their problems, frustrations, and burdens to your feet almost without any regard to what you are personally going through. Doing youth ministry for about 5 years now, that would drive me nuts. Not that I am some big expert on helping others, but I try to be there for my friends whenever they need me. But if I was going through a low point in my life, I would find it EXTREMELY hard to forget about my current circumstances and just focus on others. We are human after all.
But look at how the heart of Jesus is so different from ours. He was moved with compassion so much that when His people would come to Him, He couldn't even stand to send them off without eating. He didn't think about Himself but took the time to heal the sick who came to Him. Even in the time of despair, He still showed compassion, mercy, and love to 5,000 people.
At a time where most of the world is celebrating Easter weekend, and this might be the only time you might see some friends, family, and coworkers actually attend church, this story symbolizes what Jesus was sent to Earth to do. Having a selfless attitude, He constantly gave Himself for others, never once thinking about His own benefit. By being an example for us and showing us that even in the times of trouble and despair, compassion and love should overcome everything. To me, that is the biggest miracle of all.
God bless,
Jobbin
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Time
I'm feeling very down. Maybe it was meant for me to be late on the blog this week, so I can write about something that has been hitting my heart for awhile now, and has once again hit my heart today...
In a world so busy and filled with the chaos of our busy work/school schedules, our study habits, and the need for chilling with our friends... we have become soo conformed to the act of "pencil-ing Jesus in"... we say, "Oh... prayer? We'll see." OR "I'm not sure if I have something else going on, but I'll let you know..." OR (in my opinion, the worst response) needing to make up some other excuse to cover-up our "not wanting to actually come into the presence of God together, and just pray"...
Our ministry has begun on prayer, and I commend the efforts thus far of those that gather together "just to pray"... (and no, I'm not bragging at all, but I AM speaking truthfully) because in all honesty, it's not "just to pray". It's about coming into the throne room of God, seeking His grace, feeling His comfort and warm embrace. It's about getting to know who He is, so that we too can become like Him. It's about meeting with Him, and possibly, just possibly, seeing Him face-to-face - the thought of it just brings a chill to my spine.
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." - Romans 12:12 (NIV)
We may not look at this verse and consider the possibility of conforming to "pencil-ing Jesus into our schedule," but it's evident in our lives, and it is, in fact, conforming. How often do we pencil things into our schedule that we are not sure we can commit to? That is what the phrase is used for, isn't it? For events or things in our lives taht we can't exactly commit to, just yet? But then we pray to God - "change our Lives, change our City, change our Hearts" - ever realize that most of the time we pray for things from God that would essentially fill-up our schedules more and deter us from spending time in His presence? LOL, it's actually pretty funny - it's a responsibility - it's our duty to pay our due regards to Him.
He gave us soo much!! He's worth our time - (that sentence in itself is ridiculous to say, as though our time is something that's even of worth in comparison to Him!)
This isn't a shot at anyone in particular. This is that truth that each of us that claim to be committed to God, that claim to be Christ-followers should acknowledge and apply in our lives. God knows our hearts, and He sees our devotion - Let's give to Him what we can, not just our tithes/offerings, not just our services, but also our time. He wants to use you, He wants you to experience what it means to be at his threshing floor, He wants to meet you at that well and converse with you... I suggest it's about time we go out and meet with Him, as well.
God Bless!
PS. here's a link to a video a friend of mine made (randomly!) at the same time I was writing this blog... I must say, it's funny how God works so amazingly sometimes to inspire people's hearts with the same message.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2fmRAQnjIQ
In a world so busy and filled with the chaos of our busy work/school schedules, our study habits, and the need for chilling with our friends... we have become soo conformed to the act of "pencil-ing Jesus in"... we say, "Oh... prayer? We'll see." OR "I'm not sure if I have something else going on, but I'll let you know..." OR (in my opinion, the worst response) needing to make up some other excuse to cover-up our "not wanting to actually come into the presence of God together, and just pray"...
Our ministry has begun on prayer, and I commend the efforts thus far of those that gather together "just to pray"... (and no, I'm not bragging at all, but I AM speaking truthfully) because in all honesty, it's not "just to pray". It's about coming into the throne room of God, seeking His grace, feeling His comfort and warm embrace. It's about getting to know who He is, so that we too can become like Him. It's about meeting with Him, and possibly, just possibly, seeing Him face-to-face - the thought of it just brings a chill to my spine.
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." - Romans 12:12 (NIV)
We may not look at this verse and consider the possibility of conforming to "pencil-ing Jesus into our schedule," but it's evident in our lives, and it is, in fact, conforming. How often do we pencil things into our schedule that we are not sure we can commit to? That is what the phrase is used for, isn't it? For events or things in our lives taht we can't exactly commit to, just yet? But then we pray to God - "change our Lives, change our City, change our Hearts" - ever realize that most of the time we pray for things from God that would essentially fill-up our schedules more and deter us from spending time in His presence? LOL, it's actually pretty funny - it's a responsibility - it's our duty to pay our due regards to Him.
He gave us soo much!! He's worth our time - (that sentence in itself is ridiculous to say, as though our time is something that's even of worth in comparison to Him!)
This isn't a shot at anyone in particular. This is that truth that each of us that claim to be committed to God, that claim to be Christ-followers should acknowledge and apply in our lives. God knows our hearts, and He sees our devotion - Let's give to Him what we can, not just our tithes/offerings, not just our services, but also our time. He wants to use you, He wants you to experience what it means to be at his threshing floor, He wants to meet you at that well and converse with you... I suggest it's about time we go out and meet with Him, as well.
God Bless!
PS. here's a link to a video a friend of mine made (randomly!) at the same time I was writing this blog... I must say, it's funny how God works so amazingly sometimes to inspire people's hearts with the same message.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2fmRAQnjIQ
Friday, March 19, 2010
This is our God
I was about to fail and go on my old ways of addiction but I didn't want to. I want to fight on and charge through the tempation. I went to you tube and randomly clicked on a song by Hill song called " This is our God". Basically, the song talks about how Jesus who gave up his own life for us. This was an act of love for us and forever he is glorified. This song reminded me Jesus died on the cross for my sins and that I shouldn't go my old ways. It touched me and gave me strength and I hope it reminds you that we're here by no accident but because he loved us so much.
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