Lord, Increase My Faith

  Matthew 15: 21-28

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

The persistence and faith of the Canaanite woman serve as a solid example to us of how we are to pray. She has a goal and she will not give up until it is achieved.  Her daughter woood not have been healed had she listened to the disciples and Jesus himself, and gone away as they insisted.  She insisted more and won.  What do I want  as desperately a this woman's want?  Can I, will I, approach Jesus as she did?

Bro. Rene 

What Defiles Us

Matthew 15: 1-2, 10-14

The Tradition of the Elders.[a] 1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash [their] hands when they eat a meal.

10 When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

12 Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”

13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

We are inundated with sensational, disturbing, offensive  news daily, so much so that it can "defile" us, make us cynical and drain us dry, We need to counteract this bad news by concentrating on Jesus and the Good News he has brought us. Daily reflection on Scripture, reading a good article or book, conversing with friends who have not been tainted by ;the Godless attitude of popular thought as championed by the media will keep us from becoming defiled.  May God direct us to what gives life and shift us away from what brings death.

Bro. Rene

Jesus Knows Our Needs

 Matthew 14: 13-21

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

The loving, tender. compassionate heart of Jesus comes clearly to the fore as we see him respond to the hunger of this large crowd. He does not panic, he is in control as comes to the rescue in this dramatic way, not only satisfying their hunger, but also giving us a preview of how he will eventually give us the Bread that will satisfy the spiritual hunger of those who believe in him.  Jesus knows our needs and he knows how to satisfy them in ways we never dreamed of.  Even today we can still eat the Bread of Life, which never grows stale n=and for which, consciously or unconsciously, we hunger. May we admit our hunger and satisfy it as frequently as we can. Let us also trust that he will satisfy all our needs.

Bro. Rene