trbccoffeebreak

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

Why do we get up each day, get ready and head to work? Why do we look for a paycheck at the end of each pay period?”

If you are like me, you work because you need to earn a living, which means doing whatever we can to ensure our survival: having food on the table, having routine medical checkups, paying for transportation, which could mean taking a bus, subway or owning a car.  We also separate part of our wages for tithes, education, leisure, clothing, and unavoidable emergency needs such as surgeries or vehicle repairs. All these things require money, and we must work and depend on our wages, i.e. paychecks.

Now imagine Jesus by the Sea of Galilee, surrounded by a multitude of 5,000 people who, followed Him around to listen to His teachings and partake of His healing. Though that multitude was being fed spiritually, however, there came a time when they also got physically hungry.  You can probably imagine that it’d be very hard to get a caterer to deliver by the Sea of Galilee, especially if you take into consideration that a camel’s back is not even close to being the most suitable vehicle to carry food, because it entails a very slow and bumpy ride.

Jesus asked one of His disciples, Philip, where they would buy food to feed the hungry people. He knew exactly what the answer would be, but He asked anyway, because those people were about to see a miracle. Philip didn’t even hesitate to say that in order to feed those people, it would take more than half a year’s wages. So, incidentally a young boy, probably a street vendor, appeared with a basket holding five small loaves of barley bread and two small fish.  Jesus took that food, blessed it, and passed it on to His disciples, who, in turn, passed it on to the people and they all ate to be satisfied. Oh, yes, but not only that!!! They collected 12 baskets full of leftover food after everyone was done eating.

Are you living dependent upon a paycheck? Are you worried about how you will pay your bills each month? Give it up to Jesus. Ask Him to bless the work of your hands. Follow His lead and you will see your prosperity grow and multiply because our God provides.

“Lord, thank You for being our Jehovah Jireh.”

For His Glory

Luska Suzano
TRBC Women’s Life

“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”  Jeremiah 32:27 (NIV)

I enjoy reminiscing about my children’s growing years and the many adventures we lived as a family. Some of the memories are good reminders that we have a God who is always watching over us, as some people will do silly things that could ultimately cost them their lives and yet, they come out unharmed to tell the story later.

My middle son, Andre, was always a daredevil in his childhood. Oftentimes, his creativity and lack of fear called for emergency room visits.  In the small East Texas town where my boys spent most of their childhood, members of our family were known on a first-name basis by the ER staff and doctors. One of the experiences lived by our fearless lad was that he took off the brake pads from his roller skates and ventured down a very steep concrete path at the Stephen F. Austin State University football stadium. This sent him zooming down that path like a lightning bolt, and landing under a chain-link fence, which had him trapped to the ground for what seemed an eternity.

I was panic-stricken, and my mother’s heart thought for sure my child would have a punctured lung or something like that.  I found myself completely impotent, unable to raise the metal screen to free my boy. As I called out to Jesus, some friends on their afternoon walk rushed to the rescue and released Andre from his temporary trap.

Life is full of little “surprises” that sometimes scare the daylights out of our minute, doubtful minds. Yet, when we remember that God is all-knowing, all-present, all-able, we can be like the prophet Jeremiah. He bought a field in a time when his homeland was being possessed by the Babylonians based solely on a promise made by God that one day that land would return to His people, and he, Jeremiah would be able to reclaim it.  Nothing is too hard for our God.

“Lord, when we call on Your name, You listen. When we pray to you, You act. May we always remember that there is nothing impossible for You.”

For His Glory

Luska Suzano
TRBC Women’s Life