Fishes and Loaves

This post may not be for everyone. It’s important for you to take this back to the Lord and confirm with Him that this is for you. If you do not have a prayer life, there’s no better time to open one up. This should not be the first time you are hearing about this and if it is, take the wisdom and invite Jesus in to further speak to you about who He is and who you are according to His will. If this is for you it should serve as confirmation and give you understanding. Glory be to God!

In this post I am going to talk about a lot of things that I only understand based on personal experience, the Word of God and revelation I have received through the Holy Spirit. I will show you where to go in the Bible to gain further understanding and I hope that if you are reading this and you resonate, you would be willing to do the work. I can’t do it all for you. When the Lord started speaking to me of my assignment, He told me I would be speaking to many people about their own assignments and stands. He showed me that I would serve Him and others and I had no idea what to think about it. He showed me I would be assisting Him. At first— my pride reacted. “Oh, I am chosen, I’m important, I have a purpose— I’m not like everyone else.” All of those statements are true, but my heart wasn’t. I was saying them from a place of comparison, believing that these things were true about me as opposed to others. I was corrected— those things were true about me but not in the way I thought. I am chosen, important, unique and filled with purpose because of who He is— not because of who I am. I don’t deserve it any more than anybody else and neither do you. Before you get put on assignment— while you’re being trained— He’s going to make sure you understand that Jesus died for Barabbas too.

Being chosen is a call to a life of selflessness. I’m not talking about a life of people- pleasing I’m talking about a life of sacrifice according to the will of God for the greater good of all. First God tells you about who He created you to be, then He shows you who you currently are and it’s your choice whether you accept the training, correction and direction it takes to get from where you’re at— to where you need to be in order to fulfill the call on your life. Are you willing to look yourself in the mirror, confess your sins, repent, submit and take accountability? The Lord can renew your mind but are you going to let Him? The Word of God says in Romans 12:2 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” It’s that word “let”— by definition it means “not prevent or forbid; allow.” Some of us are angry because we know we are chosen and that we desire Gods will for our lives but we are forbidding him from renewing our minds by claiming characteristics that do not align with what He says is good and perfect. “That’s just who I am” doesn’t work in the Kingdom of God. You have to allow the Lord to have His way— if you want to walk into His will.

Now that we have that understanding I want to step into a word the Lord gave me recently when I was reading in Mark 6:30-43, the section is titled “Jesus feeds the 5000”. I encourage each of you to grab a Bible and read it for yourself but for the sake of this post I’ll give you a brief overview. The apostles of Christ had just finished some ministry work and came back to Jesus to report what they had done and taught. They were tired and hungry and so was Jesus so they went to go find a place to rest and be alone together. They got on a boat and started moving forward with the intention of relaxing but as they were traveling many people recognized them and ran ahead of the boat desperate, trying to stay close to them. Jesus had compassion for them and he started to teach them as soon as he stepped off the boat. It’s interesting here because I noticed in the Word, the title of the “apostles” changed to “disciples”. Later that evening after Jesus had been speaking to the people the disciples were ready to turn them away so they could go off and get food elsewhere— but Jesus had other plans. Jesus assigned the disciples to feed them. These disciples responded with questions they said, “With what? We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!” But Jesus didn’t ask them for anything other than what they already had. They gave everything they had to the Lord. He blessed it to multiply— then gave it back to them to feed to His people. That day 5000 men and their families were fed from just five loaves of bread and two fish and afterward, each of the disciples took an entire basket filled with fishes and loaves for their own families.

Jesus loved the apostles and suffered with them, He understood what it was like to be tired and hungry yet he still stepped off the boat and put the people first, He sacrificed His own needs for theirs. Jesus loved the 5000 and offered them compassion and taught them in their desperation because He understood that they were only lost and seeking guidance. Jesus loved the disciples and gave them everything they needed to fulfill the assignment He called them to, despite their doubts and complaints. When they received the assignment they had no clue how they could make it happen and for a moment I wondered if they forgot who it was that they serve— because when God calls you to an assignment there is nothing that you need outside of yourself. He takes what you have and He blesses it to multiply and feed His people. If He asks you for it, there is a purpose that you might not understand at first. When you question your ability to fulfill your calling who is it that you are questioning, truly? If it was Jesus that called you to it— then it is of His power that you will get through it so I circle back to what I said earlier. “Oh, I am chosen, I’m important, I have a purpose— I’m not like everyone else.” — and I meet you with this, whether you are the apostle tired and hungry, the disciple worried about the how or the when, or the 5000 desperate for guidance and understanding, Jesus will meet you where you’re at and no one is above being taught. He loves us all the same. Give him your fishes and loaves. I love you guys and pray this blesses you the way it blessed me. Glory be to God and I’ll see you in the next one.

Xoxo

Ari.