THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

December 7, 2022

LIFE IN THE FOLD

When I was learning how to multiply in school, I found that some were easy and some I struggled with. I particularly struggled with my 7's and 9's. Even today, I have to stop and think for a couple seconds on a couple of them occasionally. Those numbers have never changed over time, but have remained the same ever since mankind began to multiply numbers.

But God doesn't do math the same as man! His multiplication is something that cannot be duplicated by mankind. I have recently been thinking about this truth.

In Matthew chapter 14, we read this story. Jesus was ministering to a huge crowd of people. They were in a remote place and it began to get late. The disciples urged Jesus to send them away to the nearest villages so they could buy food for themselves. Jesus told them it wasn't necessary for them to leave, in order to eat.

The disciples told Jesus that there was only five loaves of bread and two fish. He asked them to bring the food to Him, than told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, and looking up into heaven, He blessed them. Then, Jesus began breaking them into pieces, and they kept multiplying. The disciples distributed the food to the people.

Verses 20-21 says, "They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children."

They ended up with more food than they started with!! That kind of multiplication doesn't make sense!

A similar situation happened again where there was a crowd of hungry people who needed fed.

In Matthew chapter 15:32, Jesus told his disciples, "I feel sorry for these people. They have been here for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way."

A vast crowd had brought to Jesus people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn't speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and He healed them all. The crowd was amazed! They were praising the God of Israel and didn't want to leave and go back home. They didn't want to miss out on being witness to the miracles, so had stayed there for three days. When they left home, they probably only thought that they would be there for the day, so hadn't brought enough food to last for that long. Jesus was concerned for them as they made their way back to their homes, that they would become weak from lack of food.

The disciples asked, "Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?"

Apparently they had already forgotten about Jesus feeding the 5,000; or they weren't at the place spiritually where they believed that the same type of miracle could happen more than once.

Jesus asked them how much bread they had. They replied, "Seven loaves, and a few small fish."

Once again, Jesus asked the people to sit on the ground. He took the loaves and fish, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd.

They all ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. There were 4,000 men who were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children.

Those stories are amazing! But did you know that God taking a little and multiplying it, in order to meet a need, was done in the Old Testament, too?

In 1 Kings chapter 17 we read this story. There was a famine in Israel. God told Elijah to go and live in the village of Zarephath. When Elijah arrived at the gates of the village, he was a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, "Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?" As she was going to go get it, he called to her, "Bring me a bite of bread, too."

She said, "I swear by the Lord your God that I don't have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die."

Elijah told her, "Don't be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you've said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what's left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'There will always be flour and olive oil in your containers until the time the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!'"

So the woman did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her son continued to eat, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers for her to make more bread.

God didn't have people drop by and give her bags of flour or oil that they had extra, in order to feed her and her son. There was a famine and everyone was struggling to get by and have enough. He didn't speak through Elijah and say that He was going to provide so that she could see tangible bags of flour or bottles of olive oil appear in her kitchen and have the assurance that there would be plenty. No! He provided what she needed, one meal at a time. She used up what flour and olive oil was in the containers to make bread, but the next morning, there would be enough in them to make what she needed for that day.

There is another story in 2 Kings chapter 4. One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out in desperation. "My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves."

How scary that must have been, for her to have known that she had no money in which to pay off her debt; and she would lose her two sons if it wasn't paid. If they were taken as slaves, she would likely never see them again. She would have no control over what they were taught or how they were raised. Her husband had died, and now it seemed likely that she might lose her sons, too.

Elisha asked, "What can I do to help you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?"

The woman replied, "Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil."

Elisha told her to borrow as many empty jars as she could from all of her friends and neighbors. Then she was to go into her house, close the door, and pour olive oil from her flask into the jars, setting each one aside as it was filled.

She did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing her jars and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim. She asked for more containers and her sons told her that there were no more. Then the olive oil stopped flowing.

When she told Elisha what had happened, he said to her, "Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left over."

There is no way that a small amount of bread and fish can feed thousands of people, with leftovers.... except for God. There is no way that enough flour and oil to make a last loaf of bread can continue refilling themselves, until after a famine has ended.... except for God. There is no way a small container of olive oil can keep flowing and pouring out into empty containers, filling them to the brim.... except for God.

He can take something very small and continue multiplying it, until the need is met. Nothing is too difficult or impossible for God to do!! What He does doesn't have to to make sense to us and we don't have to figure it out; but what we can do is be grateful and give Him thanks.

Three times in the past couple months or so, God has multiplied the gas in my car. I don't know how He's doing it, but I give Him thanks and get excited each time I see it happen. Our car has a gauge that shows how many miles are on that tank of gas when we fill up, then subtracts as we drive the car. The first time, I had driven a total of 241 miles and the car only showed 119 miles driven. Two other times, the gauge would start going down as I drove, then I would get into the car and the miles left had multiplied. I know this is correct and not an error, because the gas gauge is staying full and not going down as it should.

Why is God choosing to bless us in this way? I don't know, but I am so grateful! What I've noticed is that each time it has happened, it's been when I've been driving to do something for someone else. The first time I was meeting my nephew to pick up meat for us and another nephew and his wife. The other times, we were driving Jon's mom somewhere or I was picking up my nephew's kids from school. I think perhaps God is repaying me for the fuel I use to help others, by putting extra gas in my tank!

I believe that God blesses and multiplies in our situations much more than we even know or give Him credit for. He does it because He loves us and is a good, good Father! We can trust Him to take good care of us. We don't have to fret and worry about situations or needs look impossible; but can trust Him to provide and care for us. God can multiply in ways that makes no sense or in ways we cannot possibly comprehend. Trust God and know that nothing is too hard for Him!

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

I've heard people try to explain the miracle of feeding thousands of people away. They try to make it sound like it wasn't really a miracle, but all these people gave food they were hiding, or something like that. But the only way for that many leftovers would be if almost everyone was hiding huge amounts of food. That isn't realistic, and isn't what happened.

Some people want to think God's miracles are really just something natural so they can think supernatural doesn't happen. Some want to think like that so they can explain why they haven't seen a miracle when others have. Some just don't want to believe God is real.

Whichever case, it is very sad. And very selfish to want to take away others' faith to satisfy themselves.

God does things that can't possibly happen in the natural world. He does miracles and supernatural things. Tough.

It isn't natural for that much food to be eaten and that much to be left over, no matter how many people might have been hoarding. And it isn't natural for Jesus to have known a tiny bit of food would feed thousands, no matter how it happened.

It isn't natural for a tiny bit of oil and flour to produce meals for 3 people day after day for months (or years?). And it wasn't natural for Elijah to know it would.

Again and again, the Bible tells not only of miracles happening, but prophets knowing ahead of time they were coming. Accept it and give thanks.

ON THE MENEWE:

Macaroni and Tomatoes

(My mama used to make this when I was growing up and it wasn't my favorite.

I ran across this recipe recently and it reminded me of my childhood.)

Cook macaroni according to directions. Make sure you salt the water before adding the macaroni.

Boil the noodles until the water is almost gone. Don't drain the water out. (If there is too much water, drain some.)

Add both cans of tomatoes, bacon grease, sugar, salt and pepper to taste.

Bring back to a low simmer.

Serve with crusty cornbread.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

My sister was talking on the speaker phone with her daughter-in-law and her two 4-year old children. The little boy said, "Grandma! You have presents on my porch! (His mom has been ordering Christmas presents online, so has been getting deliveries on their front porch.) I can't tell you what it is, because it's a surprise!"

His mom laughed and said, "He can't tell you, because he doesn't know what it is."

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Don't let a bad church experience stop you from going to church.

We've never let a bad restaurant experience stop us from eating out. - unknown

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org