NCarolinian

Today, I encourage my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to always be ready to bless somebody - whether they be a believer in Christ or non-believer. We help move someone toward a decision for a life with Christ when we bless the non-believer. We strengthen the Body of Christ when we bless other Christians. We show the love of God in both cases as we do not neglect either. In order to be prepared for these kind of opportunities at any moment, God instructs us to just use what we have on hand to minister one-to-another - be real, be genuine. In the miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand it is stated, "As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, 'This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.' Jesus replied, 'They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.' 'We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,' they answered....

Hindsight is always 20/20 vision. However, that does not stop me from asking God - why now? Or why then? I think it is an understatement to call God's Timing interesting at what seems to be pivotal times in our lives. But we have to trust in God's plan and control for our lives, otherwise we might go crazy sounding like a 4 year old saying "Why" all the time. Jesus has timed His answer to issues at different points along several struggles. Take for example - The Feeding of the Five Thousand ( Matt. 14:13-21 ), Christ Asleep in the Boat ( Mark 4:35-41 ), and the Raising of Lazarus ( John 11, esp. 11:17 ).  ______________________ There was a crowd of five thousand, just counting the men, following Jesus one particular day. He was healing their sick and having compassion on them when evening time was upon everyone. The disciples, knowing that the masses probably knew the lay-of-the-land and where to get a bite to eat, said to Jesus,  “This is a remote place, ...