Tue, Aug 19th - 3:25PM

 29: And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there.
   30: And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them:
   31: Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.
   32: Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.
   33: And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?
   34: And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.
   35: And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.
   36: And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
   37: And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.
   38: And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.
   39: And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala,

Once again Jesus feeds a multitude of people and once again his disciples doubted when he ordered them to feed them.  They had seen him performed this miracle before so why were there still doubt in their hearts?  It is easy as humans to try to solve all of our problems in a physical manner.  They seen a physical problem and were looking for a physical solution instead of trusting in Jesus.  As the Bible says all things are possible with God.  When the big problems arise in our lives God wants us to bring our problems to him.  As the Bible says cast all of our cares upon him because he cares for us.

Mon, Aug 18th - 5:01PM

 21: Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
   22: And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
   23: But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
   24: But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
   25: Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
   26: But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.
   27: And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
   28: Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Jesus brought his message first to the Jews.  Only after his rejection and death by the Jews was the disciples directed to bring the message to the Gentiles.  The Jews were God’s chosen people but again and again they had rejected God.  You can see this over and over again in the Old Testament.  The Jews reject God, God punishes them by allowing another country to conquer them, they turn back to God and God saves them only to have his people reject him again once they are saved and no longer need him.  Once the Jews had rejected his Son God selected a new group of people to call his chosen people.  They are the ones who have accepted his Son Jesus as their Savior.

Sun, Aug 17th - 3:18PM

1Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,

 2Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

 3But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

 4For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

 5But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;

 6And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

 7Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,

 8This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

 9But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

 10And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:

 11Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

 12Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?

 13But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.

 14Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

 15Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.

 16And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?

 17Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?

 18But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

 19For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

 20These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

The Pharisees put on a big show of following the traditions of the Jewish nation and put on a show of following the law but in reality their heart was not with God.  A lot of church services today are more ritual lead then Spirit led.  They go through the motions of having Sunday services, of singing the same old songs, saying the same old prayers, and delivering a message that is safe and non-offensive.  They have no zeal for God or any type of real relationship with God.  They are spiritual dead.  They are the blind leading the blind.  They don’t truly know God so how can they lead anybody else to God.  God doesn’t care about following some old ritualistic service, he cares about where our heart truly is.  You might fool man but you can’t fool God because God knows our heart.  If your heart is dark that is want is going to come out.  If God is in your heart that is what is going to come out.

Sat, Aug 16th - 4:53PM

22And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.

 23And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

 24But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

 25And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

 26And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

 27But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

 28And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

 29And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

 30But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

 31And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

 32And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

 33Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

 34And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.

 35And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;

 36And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

This is the story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water.  Jesus was able to walk on the water because he was the Son of God and had power to do so.  Peter walked on the water because he had faith in Jesus that he could until he took his eyes off of Jesus and sank.  Peter was doing fine until he looked around and saw the wind and waves around at which time he became afraid and sank.  Peter was doing fine until he took his eyes off of Jesus at which time fear entered in.  Peter was in the presence of the Son of God he had no reason to fear but when he lost focus on Jesus the human thoughts crept in telling him he is just a man.  A man can’t walk on water, look at those waves you are going to die.  It is in when we take our focus off of Jesus that Satan is able to slip in those thoughts of sin, doubt, and fear.  That is why we taught over and over again to keep our focus on things above not on earthly things.  Satan uses the things of the world and the distraction of everyday life to try and keep us from focusing on God.

Fri, Aug 15th - 10:47PM

13: When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.
   14: And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
   15: And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
   16: But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
   17: And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
   18: He said, Bring them hither to me.
   19: And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
   20: And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
   21: And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
   22: And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
   23: And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

To us it would seem impossible to feed so many people with so little but with God all things are possible.  As humans we see the world through human eyes and it is hard to understand these things with human knowledge that is where faith comes in.  For the God that created all things nothing is impossible.