Raw Material Wanted

We’ve been journeying through the different ways to live a blessed life as a child of God and this week we learnt that God desires us not to take revenge against those who’ve hurt/mistreated us, but to bless our enemies and do good to them.

Yesterday, we saw that Joseph's life was almost ruined by his very own elder brothers who actually should have protected him. At first, they intended to kill him but later they all agreed to sell him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And Joseph had to journey through a tragic phase in life, but there came a time when he was made in charge of the whole land of Egypt and due to the severe famine, his brothers came to him to buy food. He could have taken revenge against them, but instead he provided them with grains, returned them their silver, gave them many gifts, and had them stay with him. Later, when the news reached Pharaoh’s palace that Joseph’s brothers had come, Pharaoh and all his officials were pleased. Joseph told his brothers to return to the land of Canaan and to bring back his father and their families along and they were gifted the best of all Egypt, in terms of land, food and belongings. In this manner, he saved their lives. This is what Jesus also did and we too are called to do the same: If we desire to live a blessed life we must “Repay evil with good”. Although it might not be our character, we must develop such a nature. We must not do anything either.

In David’s time, King Saul tried to kill him but he did not retaliate and instead longed for the king’s well-being and had a covenantal and friendly relationship with King Saul’s son, Jonathan. 

Now, let’s look into some principles of blessing from John 6:5-13 where Jesus multiplied the bread and fed the crowd. 

John 6:5,6 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

Here, Jesus wanted to know how Philip would respond to this situation. In times of crisis, we must remember that God has already planned the way out for us, but He may test our faith and response in such situations. Test comes from God and temptation comes from the devil. 

John 6:7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

Philip, the accountant in Jesus’ team, calculated and replied to Jesus that they required a huge amount and that there weren't enough funds.

John 6:8,9 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
Take note of Andrew’s keen observation and practical way of thinking here. 

John 6:10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there).
There wasn’t enough food, yet Jesus had the people seated in the grass for their meal. This shows the faith of Jesus because He knew what He was about to do.

John 6:11-13 Jesus 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. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
Jesus multiplied both the bread and the fish, and the disciples gathered and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves, after they had all had enough to eat. By doing so, Jesus wasn't close-fisted, but laid the principle of not to waste food.

The heart of Jesus is to bless us and He does the same in an overflowing manner. This is the only miracle recorded in all the four gospels, it was so prominent that it attained the attention of all the four gospel writers. We call this, ‘the Quantity miracle’, and the miracle at the wedding in Can where water was turned into wine as ‘the Quality Miracle’. God can work both ways even in our lives: upgrade our standard of living as well as multiply our resources.

Principles of blessing

1. God does not create anything from nothingness today. He created everything within six days in the beginning, and there was nothing more to be created. And so, He rested on the seventh day, not because He was drained out, but because the work was finished. Thereafter, He created nothing from nothingness. Although He is our Creator and we are His beautiful creation, it all happens through procreation/ reproduction. It ain’t that God cannot create anything from nothing, but He does not create anything from nothingness, just as Eve was created from Adam. Even today, God creates using the raw material that already exists. All that you need has already been created. Just that it comes to you in various figures/forms when you need it. All the miracles in the Bible weren't created from nothingness, but Jesus was reshaping them for His people. 

Jesus is looking for raw material suppliers in order to perform miracles. ‘Raw Material Suppliers Wanted’. Can you become that raw material supplier? If you give what you have, He will bless it, multiply it and make it useful to many and that will become history! Jesus’s question to all who wish to be blessed: “What do you have with you?” Think about it.

We’ll look into the remaining principles in the coming days. Stay tuned. Stay blessed!

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