Devotion.al

Feed Your Soul

  • Laying The Bread Down

    Psalm 145:10–18; 2 Kings 4:42–44; Ephesians 3:14–21; John 6:1–21

    It is tempting to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We can look at society and even many churches (in particular, their leaders), and just give up. There is such a struggle against the darkness and against , that it can be overwhelming.

    At the time of Elisha, Israel had a God-worshipping heritage, but it was set up for failure at the beginning with golden calves being placed as the place of . Israel had been the stronghold of Baal and Asherah. God worship had struggled to be strong in the face of royal opposition. It could have been given up. The doesn’t die.

    An unnamed man brings his offering to the prophets of God. There is no place of God to worship in Israel, so the man brought it to the prophets. While it was not “at the ” (a no-go place for the Israelites), it was still a matter of the heart. The man couldn’t bring it to the temple, so he brought it to the next best place.

    Then, there wasn’t enough to feed them. That should cause us to conclude that they were not doing particularly well. If there was such great concern that there wasn’t enough bread, bread was probably an issue, showing that was an issue.

    Their situation was much like the people who were following Jesus. There was not nearly enough food to feed all those people. While we might question Andrew’s faith, there does seem to be something behind that. Andrew apparently knew Jesus well enough to go search the crowd for food. Then, bringing what was found, he concluded that there wasn’t enough for the crowd.

    In both the stories of Elisha and Jesus, logically there wasn’t enough food. God still did something. God did so much that there were leftovers.

    ※Reflection※

    • What does the bread-making miracle of Elisha have to do with Jesus’? Does it matter about Elisha’s when it comes to Jesus’?
    • What situations can you think of that are similar to the man who doesn’t bring his offering to the “right” place, but to the “best” place for him? Do you think God honors that?

    ※Prayer※

    to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could or imagine by his at work within us; glory to him in the and in Christ Jesus for all generations, forever and always. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20, CEB)

  • So Say The Skies

    So Say The Skies

    Psalm 107:1–3, 23–32; Job 37:1–13; Luke 21:25–28 One of the most useful tools invented, and also one of the most irritating is the clock. Humanity has long felt the need to measure time. Multiple cultures used some iteration of a sundial to divide the day. The Egyptians invented a “clock” that used water drops to…

  • Light It Up

    Light It Up

    Psalm 107:1–3, 23–32; Job 29:21–30:15; Acts 21:1–16 Life is full of ups and downs. Psalm 107 starts with such a positive tone. Then mishaps and adventures and trials occur. Then back to rejoicing in God. It doesn’t seem to really matter your place, station, or nation in life, there are ups and downs. Even in…

  • Port Wise

    Port Wise

    Psalm 107:1–3, 23–32; Job 29:1–20; Acts 20:1–16 “Any port in a storm!” From a strictly practical standpoint, that sailor quip makes sense. Yet, the port may have dangers of its own that were unexpected. If, for example, naval ships from opposing sides set anchor in the same bay due to a storm, once the storm…

  • The Fruit We Yield

    The Fruit We Yield

    Psalm 52; Jeremiah 22:1–9; Luke 6:43–45 Have you ever been somewhere with a beautiful bowl filled with fruit, then picked up a piece of fruit, and realized that it was fake? It looks pretty and improves the ambiance, but beyond that, it is useless for living. Christians have a discrepancy (okay, we have many). We…