Craving Miracle Bread

An interesting thing happened after Jesus fed the multitude with the loaves and fishes. The crowds started tracking Him down like a pack of hound dogs. They were determined to be where He was. 

When they found Him, they were full of sweetness and light. "Oh, Rabbi. When did you get here?" As if they hadn't rowed across the Sea of Galilee at breakneck speed to find Him.

Jesus wasn't fooled. He knew they weren't there to hear good words of truth. They were there to eat bread and fish. He didn't pull any punches.

"You seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Don't work for food that perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life." John 6:26-27

Jesus knew two very important things about the crowds. Their motivation for service and their secret desires.

They weren't impressed when a broken body was restored or a broken life was transformed. They didn't care about the people to whom Jesus ministered or the signs and wonders that set people free. 

They wanted Him to do a miracle that benefitted them, to satisfy their own cravings with Miracle-Bread.

I wonder, sometimes, why we come to Jesus... Do we want the freedom for which He has set us free? Do we want to worship Him because of His goodness and holiness? Do we care about a lost and perishing world? Or do we simply want blessings for ourselves and our loved ones?

What is it that impresses us? What is the motivation behind our service? 

If we care about a perishing world, if we love the King of Kings, if we cherish the freedom He has so dearly bought, we will respond with acts of concern, love, and obedience. We will serve as He served. Love as He loved. Give as He gave. We may not be as effective, nor as whole-hearted, but love will prompt us to serve.

In case you're wondering, if our love for Christ doesn't prompt us to serve, there's something wrong. 

Today, let's ask ourselves a few hard questions and dig for the answers. 

How can the world tell we love Jesus? By words alone or by our actions? 

Why do we follow Him? For the blessings (for ourselves or our children) He can give or because of our love for Him?

If our answers aren't what they should be, let's pause now to realign our priorities with Christ's. Let's ask Him to bind our hearts and minds to His. Let's crave the Bread-Multiplier, and not the bread.

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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Water-Walker in the Night 

#motivation #Jesus

Lessons from the Battlefield, part 21: Motivation

Ezra 3:3 “So they set up the altar on its foundation, for they were terrified because of the peoples of the land.”

Because of their sin, the people of Israel had been taken into captivity. Just as

God had said, they remained in captivity for seventy years, and just as God had said, Cyrus released the exiles to return home if they desired. On their return to Israel, the people committed themselves to repairing and restoring the temple. They began by building an altar and reinstituting sacrifices. 

After all God had done for them, you would think that love would motivate their sacrifices. You might even think that fear of this God who had once again demonstrated His ability to deliver would be a motivator for obedience. Not so. These returning captives built the altar

“because they were terrified of the people around them.” They were not obeying because of their great love for their Lord. They were not obeying because they feared the God who had delivered them. They were obeying because they were afraid of the people around them. They simply wanted what God could do for them and the insurance of His protection from the people around them. There was nothing of love or relationship in their service. 

There are many reasons for service to God. Sometimes we attend church services, give our time and our money, and serve in a variety of ways because it is how we were reared and we've always done it. Sometimes our motivation for service is the community standing it affords. Serving God can easily become more about habit than about love or relationship, and periodically we should do a motivation check. Why do we do the things we do for the Kingdom of God? Does love motivate our service?

The Apostle Paul wrote sobering words about our service, saying that our works will be tried by fire. Only those that remain will merit a reward. 

Read his words here: 

Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:12-15 NASB)

Dear ones, let us so order our heart and our motivations that the service we render is done with a pure heart of love and surrender to our Lord.  May we render works that stand the test of fire and yield a harvest of fruit that lasts. 

Motivation

Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have judged correctly." Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." (Luke 7:43-47 NASB)

Jesus had just told Simon the story of the two debtors who were forgiven their debt. "Which one will love more?" He asked. Today, we begin to look at Jesus's reply to Simon, who had answered "The one forgiven more."  

What Jesus said to Simon must have been hard to hear. Simon considered himself much better than the woman, who was well known as a sinner. Jesus drew a sharp contrast between Simon and the woman that did not support Simon's opinion of himself at all. 

He began by telling Simon what he had gotten right. The one forgiven more will love more. He then moved to what Simon had not gotten right. Simon apparently was proud that he had invited Jesus to his house, and was not at all happy about the woman crashing his party. He had invited Jesus, but he had not done any of the things that would have been usual for a host with an honored guest. He had not greeted Jesus with a welcoming kiss, given Him water to wash his feet with after a dusty walk, or put oil on his head. The woman, however, had done all that with sincerity, heartfelt love, and tender emotion. 

Jesus must have surprised Simon when he said,  "For this reason I say to you, her sins are forgiven." Simon was a Pharisee. He obeyed the law down to the most obscure detail. If anyone's sins were forgiven, it should have been his, or so he thought. Jesus was telling Simon that, though she had a mountain of sin in need of forgiveness, her love was so great that it counted for more than all the sacrifices Simon had given out of a sense of duty. 

Motivation. Jesus clearly took it seriously and He indicated here that wrong motivation can render all the rule-following of less consequence than that motivated by love for Christ. 

What motivates our actions and obedience? Appearances or love for Christ?

Pray today that we and our loved ones will have the kind of love that comes from an understanding of the great gift of our forgiveness and brings forth actions filled with compassion and tenderness

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Link to last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-problem-of-stealing.html