{"id":24393,"date":"2015-02-13T00:25:12","date_gmt":"2015-02-13T05:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=24393"},"modified":"2015-02-12T21:30:49","modified_gmt":"2015-02-13T02:30:49","slug":"feed-sheep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2015\/02\/13\/feed-sheep\/","title":{"rendered":"Feed My Sheep"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"encouragementbloggraphicromans15\"<\/a>When they had all had enough to eat, He said to His disciples,
\n‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’
\nJohn 6:12<\/p>\n

America, the land of the free. \u00a0Also the land with plenty, so much that there really shouldn’t be so much hunger and poverty. \u00a0We don’t have to cross oceans to see hunger and poverty, although the levels are definitely different. \u00a0Not only is the world suffering from lack of food, there’s a lack of Jesus. \u00a0And because God doesn’t want to see anyone perish, He gave each one of us a spirit hungry for more of Him. \u00a0Before we go any further, I want you read John 6:1-15…a familiar story I know but we need to be reminded. \u00a0So read on:<\/p>\n

\n

Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed Him because they saw the signs He had performed by healing the sick. \u00a0Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. \u00a0The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
\nWhen Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, \u201cWhere shall we buy bread for these people to eat?\u201d \u00a0He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
\nPhilip answered him, \u201cIt would take more than half a year\u2019s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!\u201d \u00a0Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter\u2019s brother, spoke up, \u201cHere is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?\u201d
\nJesus said, \u201cHave the people sit down.\u201d There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). \u00a0Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
\nWhen they had all had enough to eat, He said to His disciples, \u201cGather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.\u201d So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
\nAfter the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, \u201cSurely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.\u201d \u00a0Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by Himself.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

You know, Jesus knew what these people needed before they did. The crowds had followed Him to hang on His every Word, and the disciples were trying to protect their Master and get Him away, but Jesus wanted to feed His sheep. \u00a0His people were hungry, not only for food but for His wisdom. \u00a0And today, there are multitudes who are hurting too, and can’t voice it…but we can. \u00a0We must spread the Word of Salvation to the lost. \u00a0We must teach His Word, because He entrusted it to us.<\/p>\n

\n

Over one billion people call themselves Christians, and not all are really born-again, God-fearing, Bible-reading and Bible-believing Christians. \u00a0Just as God knows every hair on their heads, He also knows which ones actually call Jesus ‘Lord,’\u00a0and He has made them ambassadors of Christ Jesus, commanding them to offer to all people in all nations the Bread of Life. \u00a0But how can a few reach so many?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the story above, in verse 5, Jesus asked Philip, as they were faced with feeding so many people,”Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” Of course Jesus knew the answer, He was testing him. “He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do” (verse 6). \u00a0Doesn’t Jesus sometimes place a question in our minds to make us seek Him for the answer? \u00a0Today our question is this: “How will you obey Me and reach out to my people<\/span><\/em>?”<\/p>\n

I know I am like Philip…I often feel ill-equipped, outnumbered, without confidence, and intimidated. \u00a0Sometimes the task at hand seem so huge that you don’t even know where to start! \u00a0And let’s be honest: sometimes we don’t even try. \u00a0But aren’t we to do it the same way it was done in John 6? \u00a0Miraculously…every time any one offers to anyone else the hope they have in Jesus, something miraculous happens. \u00a0Even if you feel like you don’t have anything to give, if you give it all to Jesus, He can do wonders with what you do have to give.<\/p>\n

The boy in the story only had five small loaves of bread and two small fish and look what Jesus did with it!! \u00a0Because this little one was willing to give Jesus all he had, He multiplied it into all He needed. \u00a0You are all He needs…you can reach His people and you can change someone’s life. Whether you share your Jesus or your food, God can and will use you. Surrender all that you have. The world is needy, in all kind of ways, and God created us to do His work.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0\u271e \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0* <\/span><\/p>\n

Do you know Him? \u00a0I urge you to read more of John’s Gospel and learn Jesus’ heart. \u00a0And pray this prayer with me:<\/p>\n

Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. \u00a0I need forgiveness. \u00a0I believe that Jesus is Your Son and He died for me. \u00a0I want You to come into my heart and be my Lord. \u00a0Walk with me. \u00a0In Jesus name, amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When they had all had enough to eat, He said to His disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’ John 6:12 America, the land of the free. \u00a0Also the land with plenty, so much that there really shouldn’t be so much hunger and poverty. \u00a0We don’t have to cross oceans […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6228],"tags":[8408,338,8410,425,589,8409,938,1547],"class_list":["post-24393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement-2","tag-john-61-15","tag-encouragement","tag-feed-the-multitudes-spread-his-word","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-kim-spring","tag-loaves-and-fishes","tag-scripture","tag-sinners-prayer","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-6lr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24393"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24403,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24393\/revisions\/24403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}