Faith that remembers

Miracle of the Loaves - by Alexandre Bida

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 9:1-20

TO CHEW ON: "So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere …. So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover  fragments were taken up by them." Luke 9:6,17

Put yourself in the place of Jesus' disciples in this passage. The things they experienced over the course of the events we read about must have rocked their view of life.

• Jesus sent them out without provisions and supplies, yet their needs were met.

• They were successful at preaching and healing.

• They were part of the miraculous multiplication of five loaves and two fish so that 5,000 ate and twelve baskets of fragments were left over.

And yet Judas later betrayed Jesus, they all fled when the soldiers came to arrest Him, Peter denied Him, and Thomas demanded proof that He was risen. Their humanity, that so readily forgot the signs of God's reality and power in the past, reminds me of my own.

It seems we people quickly forget God's history with us and sink, like the exodus Israelites and these disciples did, into unbelief and panic.

I don't want to be like that. I want to have a faith that remembers.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, help me to remember that You are the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). May the way I live my life reflect that I believe that. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotes are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.