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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for collecting daily manna), make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Monday, July 10, 2017
Today's Passage : Today's Passage: Subject:The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few Bible Verse:Matthew 9:35-38 (ESV) "And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”" Message:
After the recounting the events at Capernaum, Matthew tacks on a general paragraph to fill in an unknown period of time. Jesus goes about the area, probably the general vicinity of Galilee, teaching and healing. We must remember that Christ was human, as well as divine; and it makes for difficulty in understanding him, sometimes, because at times he acts in “human mode”. Here, for example, he has a human emotional response to a markedly human perception.
fishers of men, Simon Peter Andrew
His reacts, in other words, like a person. He observes that the number of people who need help is enormous; and he thereby becomes concerned that the number of trained disciples who might help them be sufficient. He instructs his disciples to pray to the Father for more “laborers” — that is, disciples of great faith who have been taught and trained sufficiently to care for all the lost and helpless people; for his ministry had attracted a great multitude.
Our understanding is that God is omniscient; he knows everything. He would have known a billion years earlier exactly how many lost souls would be on earth at any time and how many disciples his Son would need to help them. But Christ does not seem omniscient in this passage; he reacts like a human being, learning of a situation and becoming concerned.
Many Christians tend to treat Christ as if he were identical to God the Father; but, at least during his time on earth, he was not. For one thing, like other people, he prays to the Father. For another, there were limits to his knowledge, e.g., Mark 13:31-32 or Matthew 24:35-36. Jesus was, in a sense, God who had limited himself in ways, so that he might be fully human.
As for the direct meaning of the passage, Christ's words should lead us to consider our own responsibilities. First, he tells us as he told his disciples to pray to the Father for more Christian leaders, to bring people to Christ and to minister to their needs. We might well observe that now, as then, there seem to be a lot more confused, helpless lost souls crying out for help than there are people to help them. Christ is speaking directly to you and me.
But as well as praying for “laborers”, we also must consider our duty to provide the labor ourselves; to train ourselves to help others find Christ and to apply our talents, time and resources to the job. For we are still in the midst of the harvest.
Meditation : Prayer : May God Almighty send me his light and truth, to keep this day and all the days of my life. And may His mighty hand protect me, and all my brothers and sisters who have joined me in prayer this day, blessing our homes and our lives...Amen |
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