Even though the disciples were with Jesus every day, they still had doubts when needs arose. Perhaps they were looking at the wrong thing! What do you think?
Even though the disciples were with Jesus every day, they still had doubts when needs arose. Perhaps they were looking at the wrong thing! What do you think?
Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Dona Watson Show. I'm your host, Dona Watson. I'm just an average American Patriot who loves God, her family, her country. I try really hard to listen to God's voice. Sometimes I write stuff. Come with me, together let's explore this crazy experience we call life. Welcome to the show. Hello, everybody. Welcome to podcast 16:"What's your focus?" I was reading in Matthew 14 and 15 this morning, and I always found it kind of interesting that in Matthew 14, Jesus feeds 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. And in Matthew 15, Jesus feeds 4,000 people with seven loaves and a few fish. Just to recap a little bit, in the first account in Matthew 14, the disciples came to Jesus when it was evening. And they were saying, you know,"This place is really deserted. It's already late. We need to send these people away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves." And Jesus told them,"They don't need to go away. You give them something to eat." They came back and said,"but we only have five loaves and two fish." And Jesus said to bring them to him. And that's when he commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass and he blessed the food, he broke the loaves, gave them to the disciples. The disciples distributed it to the crowd and everyone ate and was satisfied. And they had leftovers. The account says that there were about 5,000 men plus women and children. So what I find interesting is in the next chapter of Matthew, we have this very similar story and Jesus teaches all day, and He called the disciples and he said,"I have compassion on the crowd because they've already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry, otherwise they might collapse on the way." And the disciples said to him,"Where could we get enough bread in this desolate place to feed such a crowd?""How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked them."Seven," they said,"and a few small fish." So Jesus basically does the same thing he did in the previous chapter. He commands the crowd to sit down on the ground. He took the seven loaves and the fish he gave thanks to God. He broke them, gave them to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the crowd. Everyone ate and were satisfied and they had seven large baskets leftover. There were 4,000 men who had eaten plus the women and children.
:What I find intriguing about this story, that it comes so close and that it was so similar. But in my mind, I'm wondering, should it have had the same outcome? The disciples saw Jesus feed the people. They're faced with a similar situation and they don't know what to do. They still doubted, even though they had already seen the Lord solve this problem before.
Speaker 1:So what was their focus? In chapter 33, I mean, I'm sorry. In Matthew 15, verse 33,"The disciples said to him,'Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to feed such a crowd?" They still doubted. They were focused on what they could see, what they could touch. They weren't looking with eyes of faith to what the answers would be. They only saw the problems. When I think of this, it challenges me. I think, you know, what's, what's my history? What have I seen Christ do for me in the past? When I look at problems that are facing me, at challenges ahead, am I looking at only what I can touch and feel? Or am I rising to the challenge and looking at the situation with eyes of faith, remembering that Christ has come through for me before? I'm sure he will come through again.
:Galatians 2:20 reads,"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." So my question for you today, what's your focus? Do we have our eyes on Christ? Are we living in faith based on his promises and what he's done? What, how he's already proven that he will come through for us again and again? Or do we forget? Do we get our eyes on ourself? Do we look only at what's in the bank account? What's in the cupboard? And that's when I have to stop and say,"Lord, please forgive me for not keeping my eyes on you. You've never failed me. And I know you won't now." So that's the challenge I put before you today. Remember, where's your focus?
Speaker 1:That's all I have for today, you guys, I hope you have a good day. Remember, God loves you. He cares for you so much, and he has your best interests in mind. He will provide, he will take care of you. Until next time. Talk to you later. Bye.