I have Leftovers!

I am not a sandwich girl.  I love leftovers.  This weekend I enjoyed filling my pretty storage containers with the coming week's luncheons.

Jesus used leftovers to attempt to teach His disciples about Life.  There's life, the way the world and the Pharisees viewed it.  And there's Life that Jesus made available to us if we so choose.

Mark 8:1-21 opens with Jesus feeding 4000 men with 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish because He had compassion on the crowd that had stayed through His 3 days of teaching.  The skeptical disciples had forgotten the feeding of the five thousand.  When Jesus told them He was concerned about the people collapsing from hunger if He sent them away, the disciples reminded Jesus that there was no food in the remote setting.

So Jesus showed them again how God provides.  He asked how many loaves of bread they had? He told the crowd the sit down.  He  broke the loaves, gave thanks and had the disciples pass out the bread.  He repeated the process with the fish.  There were 7 baskets full of leftovers.

After Jesus fed the crowd He sent  them home and He and the disciples went by boat to Dalmantha.  The Pharisees showed up and asked Him for a sign from heaven.  He sighed deeply and said "Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign?  I tell you the truth no sign will be given."  Then He left to go back to the other side by boat.

Amazingly, the disciples forgot to bring bread for the trip.   Someone brought one loaf. (Wonder where all those leftovers went?)

Jesus warned them to be careful and watch for the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod. The disciples thought He said this because they forgot the bread. (Even though they did have one loaf and Jesus in the boat!)

Jesus asked

"Why are you talking about having no bread?"

"Don't you still not see or understand?"

"Are your hearts hardened?"

"Do you have eyes and ears and fail to hear?"

"Don't you remember?"

Then He refreshed their memories.  5 loaves for 5000 with 12 baskets of leftovers. 7 loaves for 4000 with 7 baskets of leftovers.  Don't you guys get it?

The Pharisees and our world tempts us to focus on what we do not have and to believe we can earn the abundance of life. 

Jesus came to give us a better life.

Jesus will provide for our daily needs because He loves us, not because we earned it.

Jesus will more than  provide for us.  He offers us Life with Leftovers.

How do I get such a Life?  

Sit down with the Lord. (Pay attention to His teaching and leadership, not the world.)

Remember and offer what I have, (even if a few measly loaves),

Give thanks (for what I have and that He loves me) and

Enjoy the abundance of the leftovers!  (It's my choice to focus on what I don't have or to offer what I do have and realize I have leftovers!)

Not the ears!

"Thanks Mickey, but not the ears!"  Mickey, my male dog, likes to get intimate when he expresses his joy.  If I'm sitting down he will go for my ears and try to give them a thorough cleaning.   He's being affectionate but, really Mickey, I am able to keep my own ears clean!

In Chapter 7 verses 31-39 Mark describes an encounter between Jesus and a deaf man who could hardly talk.  Jesus left Tyre to go through Sidon down to the Sea of Galilee and into the Decapolis region.  Some people brought this man and begged Jesus to place His hands on Him.

Jesus took the man aside, away from the crowd.  He put His fingers in the man's ears.  Then He spit and touched the man's tongue.  He looked up to Heaven and with a deep sigh said "Be Opened!"  At  that moment the man's ears were opened, his tongue loosened and he spoke plainly.

 Again, Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone but the more He told them not to, the  more they talked.  People were overwhelmed with amazement.  They said "He's done it all and done it well."

I am intrigued by Jesus putting his fingers in the man's ears and touching his tongue.  How strange and personal  Jesus made this encounter.  I know He had the power and the authority to heal without touching the man.  I think He touched this man in such a physical way to make a spiritual point.

We each have a personal Savior.  Jesus will take us aside, away from the crowd, and meet our specific needs.  It may feel awkward because I'm not practiced with such intimacy but these verses remind me of the benefits for me.

If I learn to enjoy this intimacy with Jesus, I will be overwhelmed with amazement.  I value my privacy, possibly too highly.  Jesus offers me overwhelming amazement when I deepen my relationship with Him.  He knows everything in me so why be shy?  I have the opportunity to be amazed at Who He is and How He Loves me! 

I'm already amazed that I have this opportunity with such a relationship with the One who has done it all and done it well.  "Done it all and done it well" is quoted from The Message.  I can't think of anyone else I'd want to depend on more than the One who has done it all and done it well!  Who else could top that?

Jesus took a long trip, maybe just to meet this one man.  Jesus paved the way to an intimate personal relationship with me, and you.  Sin separates us from Him.  So He gave His life for my sins and your sins.

Will I say yes to Jesus' invitation to come aside with Him and let Him meet my specific needs?

Will you?

Will others be amazed at His work in my life?

Or in your life?

Will I bring others to Jesus and beg them to accept His offer for such an intimate relationship?

Will you?

Perhaps I should adopt Jesus' words, "Be Opened", for my life today:

 "Be Opened" to the intimate relationship with Jesus. 

"Be Opened" to be overwhelmingly amazed! 

"Be Opened" to the One who has done it all and done it well!

(Today I'd like to express my joy in Jesus with others but stop short of cleaning their ears!)

Crumb Strategy

I have three beggars each with a serious "crumb strategy." 

Whenever Dick eats in the chair in front of the TV, each dog assumes a specific position to gain the optimum amount of crumbs.  Molly, the assertive one, rests her head on his knee keeping as close as possible.  Makena and Mickey patiently sit nearby.  When the plate of crumbs is placed on the floor, Makena, the smallest and oldest, will push in and knock some crumbs off the plates to assure she gets something since Molly is possessive and Mickey is physically bigger.

Jesus has a discussion with a woman about crumbs in Mark 7:24-30.  He entered a house in the vicinity of Tyre hoping to keep His presence secret.  In fact, a Greek woman, born in Syria Phoenica, came to the house and fell at His feet begging Him to deliver her daughter from demon possession.

The two had a curious interchange about children, dogs and crumbs.  Jesus' reply to her request indicated that the children should eat all they want before the food goes to the dogs. (Maybe that meant the Jews should get His attention first since they were His chosen ones.  The foreigners, like her, were "the dogs."  But that is not my point today!)

She countered with   "Yes but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."

Jesus said, "For such a reply, you may go.  The demon has left your daughter."  Wow, Jesus didn't need to see the girl or use mud or spit.  He decided and the demon left. Very cool and only part of my point today.

Today I am impressed that the crumbs are precious.  My pack of dogs think every single drop and crumb are prizes to be to pursued and won.  They each have a plan to gain as many precious crumbs as possible.

I wonder if I think the "crumbs" of God's blessings are precious?  Do I pursue these "crumbs"?

Do I patiently rest my head, like Molly, expectantly waiting for the blessings?

Am I bold and confident, like little Makena, and seize the opportunity of a blessing rather than hoping for non-existent leftovers?

Is my faith big like Mickey who ignores Molly and takes his share?  Do I miss blessings just because I don't try?

I am also impressed that the "crumbs" in these verses were a daughter delivered from demon control.  How good must the food on Jesus' table be if that is considered crumbs?

I don't like to miss out on good things.  At slumber parties, I'm usually the first to succumb to sleep but with the admonition to my friends to wake me if  I'm going to miss something good.  So I'm developing a Crumb Strategy.

Do I ask God boldly?  Am I too proud to ask?  Too embarrassed? Too unconfident?

I see, just like Greek woman, that God's crumbs are precious

C uz He  loves me

R each up to Jesus

U nashamed of who I am and certainly unworthy

M aking plain my request

B oldly approaching Jesus.

(If the dogs licking plates is disconcerting, all dishes go in the dishwasher on the sanitizing cycle and crumbs on our floors are nonexistent.  Three dogs are very efficient floor cleaners.)

Examine the habits

"If I'd known it was so easy I should have done it sooner."  I was on  my way  home with my new phone.  I had dreaded getting a new phone.  My old phone was just the right size for all my pockets.  The new fangled phones were bigger.  My old phone housed hundreds of my photos.  It would take days to transfer or preserve them.  So I held onto my old phone through several technological improvements.  When the phone wouldn't stay charged I knew it was time.  I had to move on.

Yes, my new phone is bigger and doesn't quite fit in all my pockets.  But, the protective case is gorgeous and I love the look.  Now I have a new improved option for accessing and preserving my precious photos.  The new phone even had all my apps. 

Wow!  Why did I wait so long?  I was comfortable and had my own phone tradition.

In Mark 7:1-23 Jesus confronted the Pharisees with their worship of tradition before worship of God.  The Pharisees challenged Jesus' disciples pattern of hand washing and the lack of it.  clean hands were important to the Pharisees.  Jesus came back with the heart of their problem and quoted from Isaiah:  "These people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men."

Jesus pointed out that they forget the commands of God to hold to the traditions of men.  He even  illustrated His point with an example of how their own tradition would nullify God's commands.  Then He turned to the crowd and further made His point that nothing from outside a man which goes into the man makes him unclean.  It is what comes out of the man that makes him unclean.

Later, the disciples asked Jesus about the confrontation. Again Jesus explained that it's not what enters a man from the outside that makes him unclean.  The food doesn't go into his heart, it just passes through his body.  What comes out of man makes him unclean.  Then He listed what comes out of men's hearts:  evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.  Yikes, no amount of hand washing will make a person clean with that kind of heart!

Jesus enlightened those dull disciples.  His message was you need a clean heart to connect with God.  You can't make your heart clean by extra hand washing.  You need a Savior!

The Pharisees thought that proper methods and traditions would keep a person clean.  They thought keeping clean was the priority.  Jesus challenged them.  He reminded them that their heart should be connected to God and the priority in life is to honor and worship God, not to check up on the cleanliness of hands.

I have a confession.  I have wrestled with this section of scripture for over a week.  I think I'm afraid to face my similar issue. 

Do I have traditions or customs that prevent me from honor and worship of God, and not me?

 Do these traditions or comforts keep me from a clear connection with God?

Is my priority for life  preserving my version of my life or does God have a much better way of life as my destiny?

Technology continues to change.  They claim it's an improvement but every so often I long for the simple days of Windows XP.  Technology has us trapped.  We are dependent on it, lost when it fails us.  So we have to adapt.

There  is One Unchangeable in life- God.  Jesus came to give me the opportunity for a clean heart and a  clear connection. 

I need to examine my habits and evaluate if the habit prevents me from honor and worship of God.  

Do I cling to the habit and even worship the habit? My habits may make me feel comfortable but do they connect me to God? 

My habits, customs and traditions have not nor will not make me clean before God.  Jesus listed what a human heart can contain and produce. Only a Savior will make my heart clean before God.  Hallelujah, I have a Savior.