Plentiful Harvest

35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Matthew 9:35-38

Even more so in today’s times than maybe in the time of Jesus; people are hungry and hurting and in desperate need of a Savior! “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few”, will you commit today to join the Lord of the harvest in such a way that you live your life meeting the needs of others, all the while reflecting the love of Jesus Christ who lives inside your heart of hearts? Jesus tells us in another scripture, Matthew 7:13-14 “13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”. The road that leads to life is a life that is focused on other people; the narrow road that brings ultimate fulfillment as well as eternal joy and hope is the road that first and foremost loves God above everything else in this life and then loves others with the same agape love that all who have made the choice to accept Jesus into their heart of hearts have been blessed with forever. “The workers are few”, won’t you be one today as you live your life for the King?

Shamed by Grace

32 While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 33 And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."
34 But the Pharisees said, "It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons."
Matthew 9:32-34

The Pharisees were shamed by grace, so to speak, in that Jesus was gaining the confidence and respect of their followers, not by being “religious” or by carrying out empty “religious” practices or traditions, but rather by letting His power and love flow through to the world. Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, brought sight to the blind, brought healing to the brokenhearted and eventually took evil and sin and separation from God head on by giving his very life in order that you and I could be free and could live forever in Him. Jesus’ ministry was a fly in the ointment to the power hungry, prideful Pharisees who knew a lot about God but never really knew him in a personal way. Heed Jesus’ example today and don’t ever forget that this Christianity thing is not about being religious or about obeying a list of do’s and don’ts in order to try to earn your way into Heaven. No, Christianity is about experiencing God in such an intimate way that His love will flow out of you onto others in order that they too could know Him and experience His love. Let your light shine today as you love others radically by reflecting the awesome love of our Savior who has redeemed you and set you free forever in Him!

Mercy - Faith - Healing

27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"
28 When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"
"Yes, Lord," they replied.
29 Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith let it be done to you"; 30 and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about this." 31 But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.
Matthew 9:27-31

Don’t you know today that drawing to near to Christ as we are doing now corporately as a church in this season of lent takes action on all of our parts? These two blind men wanted desperately to be healed and so they did something about it! They first followed Jesus by finding out where he was, not a particularly easy task for a blind man, huh? Next, they cried out to Him for mercy, they asked Him for healing and finally but most importantly they believed that He was who He said that He was and that He could truly heal them in order that they could see. This experience with God; this touch of our Savior was such an incredible experience for them that even after a stern warning not to tell anyone, these two men witnessed about how the Son of God had healed their blindness all over that region! Are you taking action today in your pursuit of drawing near to God in this season of lent? What is your plan for finding Jesus? Have you cried out to him with your whole heart with your worries and fears and praise in an effort to ask him for healing? Most importantly, do you believe, without a doubt that the power of His Spirit that lives inside of your heart of hearts, if you truly have accepted Him, has the power to heal the brokenness of your life and set you free to live out His love in a very real way today? Seek Jesus today with your whole heart – step out of your comfort zone believing that He will meet you right where you are and you too will experience a touch from our Savior who loves you more than you could ever imagine and who will never let you go!

Laughing with Joy

23 When Jesus entered the synagogue leader's house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, 24 he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him. 25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. 26 News of this spread through all that region.
Matthew 9:20-22

Have you ever been laughed at? I have, in fact, I am sure that years ago if I would have tried to predict all if the incredible things that God has been able to do through me, not because of anything that I have done but as a direct result of me making myself available to the workings of His Spirit inside of my life; many would have laughed with unbelief. I love how Jesus takes the least likely of people to accomplish great things in order that the world around them would know without a doubt that any success has to be the work of a risen Jesus working in and through his or her life. Dream big today! Set your sights high on how God will use you and what He will accomplish through your surrendered heart as He is in the business of turning laughing, unbelieving hearts of doubt into believing, transformed miracles of joy that know Him deeply, are consumed by His love and can be used to make a huge impact on this world for His Kingdom. Laugh out loud today as you live out the miracle of Jesus in you and you live your life for Him!

Healing Touch

20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21 She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."
22 Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.
Matthew 9:20-22

In this season of lent as we strive to draw near to Jesus daily in anticipation of the celebration of Easter, don’t you know that just a touch of His Spirit can heal the brokenness of your life in ways that may seem unimaginable to you today. See, with God there are no boundaries to what He is willing to do for those who trust Him enough to look His way and to reach out for His cloak in an act of faith and surrender. The closeness that comes from laying everything at His feet to do with as He pleases is the only thing that our God wants or desires from you today. He longs for an intimate relationship where you trust Him completely with everything that you are, everything that you have and everything that you ever hope to be. Trust Him today with your illness; trust Him today with your hurt and your anger; trust Him today with your money or your lack of money; trust Him today with your career, with your goals and dreams for the future; trust Him today to heal the broken relationships with your loved ones and your friends and colleagues – reach for His cloak today with your whole heart believing a miracle and a miracle is what will happen in your life as you give it away to the King!

Step out and Be Merciful

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Matthew 9:9-13

Dictionary.com defines the word “mercy” as: “compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence.” Jesus calls us as his children to a very high calling. He calls us to be merciful to our friends; to our enemies; to non-believers; to everyone that we come in contact with today. He calls us to show forgiveness and grace in such a way that his unconditional love is reflected through our lives so that the world around us would know that he is God and that he is alive in us. How do we do this? This is how – we step out of our comfort zone and spend time with non-believers – we step out of our comfort zone and spend time with our enemies – we step out of our comfort zone and spend time with other people in the world around us who so desperately need to experience the love and joy that you and I have found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Please heed the example from Jesus today and make a move to intentionally interact with the lost people who are all around you and who are crying out for God’s mercy and love that you have within you to give away. Make a difference today for Him.

Have Faith

1 Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven." 3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!" 4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? 6 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the paralyzed man, "Get up, take your mat and go home." 7 Then the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to human beings.
Matthew 9:1-8

Whenever we see Jesus perform a miracle during his ministry on earth it is always foreshadowed by the recipient having faith in the Son of God to heal the brokenness of their life. I have faith every day that God will somehow intercept his Spirit into the empty words that I write each morning in such a way that they could touch the hearts and lives of Journey Bread readers and point them to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. I have faith that God will come alongside my imperfect efforts in business in order that his excellence and his perfection would be seen through the job that I do every day. I have faith that God will take my feeble attempts to love my wife and friends and colleagues in such a way that his unconditional, perfect love could be seen, even in the midst of my selfishness and brokenness in this life. I have faith and God pulls through, every day, not because of anything that I have done but only as a result of his incredible love for you and for me as his children. Do you want to encounter God in a big way in your life? If your answer is yes then step out in faith today with one more step on your own personal journey of knowing and loving Jesus even more – do this and just see what he will do!

Highest Priority

18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
20 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
21 Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
22 But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
Matthew 8:18-22


Yesterday was a very good day for me business wise as I had three very large business deals that I had the opportunity to help orchestrate with a seasoned member of my team in NY. As I laid my head on the pillow in the hotel room late last night I was tired, worn out and exhausted. I felt a bit empty as I lay in bed and played out the activities of the day. It didn’t hit me until reading this verse this morning why I didn’t have such a feeling of fulfillment and accomplishment at the end of the day. You see, as a Christ follower, business deals are not the highest priority and success at your job will never bring you or me the satisfaction and completeness that come from having an eternal impact on this world for Christ and reflecting his love in a way that changes the world around you. I am embarrassed to say that I am not sure what impact my life had on others yesterday as my relationship with Jesus was not my focus because I got wrapped up in the self centered consumerism mindset of making money. It is clear from this passage above that Jesus longs for our relationship with him to be the highest priority in our life, above any successful day on our job and even above our love for our family and friends. I will do better today as I cling to Christ and let His love be my driving force as I remember the real reason why I am here and I start out on another journey to live my life for the One who gave His life for me.

Living in the Moment

14 When Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.
Matthew 8:14-15

What I love about Jesus is that in the midst of saving the world and at anytime during His ministry here on earth He can be seen living in the moment and caring for other people’s needs no matter what is happening at the time. Here He is arriving at the disciple Peter’s house and before attending to His own agenda for being there, He reaches out and heals Peter’s mother-in law. I don’t know about you but that is the way that I want to live. For me, in this unprecedented business climate through which we are all trying to navigate it becomes much too easy to focus on the task at hand in lieu of living in the moment and noticing how God can use us right now, right here, right in the middle of the lesser important activities that you and I do throughout the day. Just think how God could use you today if you would just pay attention to His prompting on your heart and then take the time to act on the Holy Spirit’s guidance and direction as you reflect the love or your Father in heaven in the smallest of ways today. Live in the moment today, pay attention to the Father’s will; watch out for small acts of kindness you can do that will not take long but can make all the difference in a person’s life and quite possibly could sow the seed of God’s saving grace to a loved one or friend or colleague who might not know Him yet as you do. Draw near to God today as you live your life for Him!

Great Faith

5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, asking for help. 6 "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly." 7 Jesus said to him, "Shall I come and heal him?" 8 The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10 When Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those following Him, "Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour.

Matthew 8:5-13

Today I feel a bit like this Centurion did more than 2,000 years ago as he came to the feet of Jesus and humbly asked for His help. Just like the Centurion felt unworthy of even having Jesus come to his house in order to heal his servant; I feel unworthy and so undeserving of God’s presence and God’s blessing and God’s amazing, unconditional love that He so graciously offers to all who look His way. I feel so unworthy and yet I ask Jesus, once again to perform a miracle in my life today. I humbly come to the feet of Jesus this morning and start the day by asking Him to somehow align His love with the wreck of my life and with all of my imperfections in such a way that the world around me could somehow see Him through me. The overwhelming truth in all of these seemingly empty words is that He does and He will and that Jesus is so unbelievably faithful to all who humbly come on bended knee and as ask for help, knowing, and having great faith that He will answer. Come to Jesus today with the same faith as this centurion did so many years ago and just see how He will respond.