The Miracles of the Loaves and Fishes

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

September 30, 2019

The Miracles of the Loaves and Fishes

Page 129-130

Matthew 14:13b-23; Mark 6:30-46;

Luke 9:10-17; John 4:6-17a

Jesus fed a multitude with a few loaves of bread and a few fish. This miracle offers us two compelling opportunities for deeper meditation. The first concerns the miracle; the second concerns the response of the people.

In Luke’s version, Jesus “kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people” (Luke 9:16). He gave a piece of the bread to the disciples, they distributed it to as many people as they could, then they came back to Jesus and got another piece of bread. The disciples kept coming back to Jesus. Our natural tendencies are to try to solve our problems the best we can. Perhaps we pray first and ask God to bless our efforts, or maybe even ask God for wisdom, but then we launch into trying to fix whatever it is that is broken. This miracle gives us insight into making the life in Christ our way of life.

While there are some practical, logical things I can and should do, like Jesus organizing the very large group into more manageable parts, I don’t want to forget that I am called to live by faith. Living by faith means exercising diligence in prayer and in studying God’s word to discern God’s supernatural presence in meeting my needs. God does not intend for me to go it alone. Seeking the God of miracles is as much a part of the life of a disciple as is seeking to be a good, moral person. Living by faith means going back to Jesus, over and over and over again, so he can give me more bread. 

Secondly, God’s Messiah is a specific person with a specific mission. The miracles of Jesus were not just signs of his superhuman powers. They were signs that he was the Messiah, announcing the Kingdom of God was breaking through to the world. When people are only looking to Jesus for what Jesus can do for them, for Jesus to take care of their fears, pain, and discomfort, they are not seeing Jesus as he is: the Messiah. The Apostle John said when he saw Jesus as he is, “I fell at his feet as if I were dead” (Revelation 1:17). When you see Jesus as he is, you can no longer be self-centered. You become Christ-centered.

My Takeaway: When I am self-centered, my loyalties can be turned in any direction that offers less pain, less fear, more perceived abundance. When I am Christ-centered, my loyalties are firmly established in God’s Kingdom. When I am self-centered, I seek God’s blessings. When I am Christ-centered, I seek to Glorify God by being a blessing to others.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Death of John the Baptist

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

September 27, 2019

The Death of John the Baptist

Page 125-126

Matthew 14:1-13a; Mark 6:14-29; Luke 9:7-9

To accept Jesus as the Messiah, to give your allegiance to God’s Kingdom, could put you in harm’s way. Jesus reveals that danger by describing the martyrdom of John the Baptist.

If Jesus’ campaign to establish the Kingdom of God was handled by a PR firm, like those that manage today’s politicians, I don’t think they would include the warnings of persecution in their training manual for campaign operatives (apostles). Such warnings would have a negative effect on recruitment. Nor would they include details about the assassination of their leading advance man (John the Baptist). Such information would negatively impact operative retention and volunteerism.

However, if the campaign managers truly shared the Messiah’s passion for the coming Kingdom, they would not fear being completely honest in their campaign materials. Such honesty defuses claims of manipulation. More importantly, such honesty reinforces the foundation of the campaign announced by John the Baptist: “A man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me’ (John 1:30). Because of this truth, we can take encouragement from John’s death, even though it pointed to the coming crucifixion of the Messiah. In God’s Kingdom death doesn’t get the last word.

My Takeaway: 

Though he was God,

    he did not think of equality with God

    as something to cling to.

 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;

    he took the humble position of a slave

    and was born as a human being.

When he appeared in human form,

     he humbled himself in obedience to God

    and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor

    and gave him the name above all other names,

 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:6-11

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

I Sent Out the Twelve

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

September 26, 2019

I Sent Out the Twelve

Page 120-122

Matthew 10:1a, 5-11:1; Mark 6:6b-13; Luke 9:1-6

The disciples are given the title apostle as Jesus sent them out on their missionary journey. The word apostle means the ‘one who is sent.’ All of the followers of Christ are apostles, in that we all have been commissioned by Christ to “go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Jesus puts much emphasis on the apostles proclaiming the Good News of God’s Kingdom to those who want to hear. They are not trying to manipulate or intimidate their listeners. They are to trust in the Holy Spirit to prepare the hearts of those they will encounter.

Portions of today’s reading seem to suggest there is only one opportunity to receive the Good News and that there is harsh judgment of those communities and people who do not welcome the apostles and their message. However, to reach that conclusion you have to discard just about everything you have learned from Jesus thus far. I hear Jesus using a bit of hyperbole in making two points. First, when we are engaged in sharing the Good News, we are engaged in something that is vitally important. Second, to reject the faithful witness of the Good News is a dire loss, a most regrettable missing of the treasure of living in the Kingdom of God.

We have already learned that the values of the Kingdom of God are altogether different than the ways of the world. In the conclusion of Jesus’ discourse, he makes it abundantly clear that those who follow the ways of the Kingdom of God will face serious persecution. Jesus said his followers would be singled out, harassed, ostracized and cut off from their families and society. This prophecy was fulfilled in the first century and is still being fulfilled throughout the world in the twenty-first century.

My Takeaway: Revelation 19 teaches us that the Christian witness for God in times of persecution is the most powerful witness for God in the world. The faithfulness of God’s people in standing firm on the Word of God is crucial to the defeat of the forces of evil. The followers of Christ have been commissioned to speak God’s Word and God’s truth into this present darkness. We are called to remain diligent in our responsibility to honor God as we wait for Christ to come in final victory.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Blind Saw and the Mute Spoke

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

September 25, 2019

The Blind Saw and the Mute Spoke

Page 120

Matthew 9:27-34

All of us are familiar with operating systems (OS) such as Apple, Windows, and Android. These, and several others, are the brains in our personal computers and smartphones. Most people don’t have a particular preference for an OS; they just want to be able to click their mouse and check email or push a button and make a cell phone call. All people also have their own unique OS that determines the way information is received, processed and conclusions are reached. As with their PC or cell phone, most people just want results and would be hard pressed to articulate how their particular OS works. However, we all would do well to heed the Ancient Greek aphorism, "know thyself". The two blind men in our reading for today demonstrated this virtue.

Jesus said it was because of their faith that he could make the men see. These men revealed their faith in two ways. The first was in the way they addressed Jesus: Son of David and Lord. These titles indicated that Jesus was the Messiah and that they were acknowledging his authority. Secondly, “They went right into the house where he was staying” (Matthew 9:28a). Their faith was active, and I suspect the Apostle James could have used them as an example of “be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22a).

Within their personal OS, these men had processed all they had heard about Jesus and reached the conclusion that he was Son of David and Lord. “But the Pharisees said, “He can cast out demons because he is empowered by the prince of demons” (Matthew 9:34). The Pharisees not only heard about Jesus, with their sight they actually witnessed the blind receiving sight and the mute speaking. However, they had a different OS and they reached a different conclusion about Jesus.

As in the case of Jairus and Veronica, the blind men and the mute were driven by desperation. Jesus was their only option; therefore they were compelled to consider that Jesus was in fact who he said he was. The Pharisees weren’t limited in their options for life. Since Jesus went around knocking down all their neatly laid boundaries, their OS couldn’t conclude he was the Messiah.

My Takeaway: Jairus and Veronica, the blind men and the mute were who Jesus had in mind when he said, “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs” (Matthew 5:3.) I count myself in their company.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.