Encouraging... Day After Day
A fresh word of encouragement to uplift your faith for action today.
- He Always Knows What He Intends To Do
“And this He was saying to test him; for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.” - John 6:6 NASB
If you’ve been a believing Christian for very long, you have probably experienced times where you were having trouble discerning the voice you were hearing in your head. Is this me? Is it Satan or one of his evil, oppressive spirits? Is it the Lord?
Today, I want to share an encouraging insight with you that I believe will help you discern that voice and will encourage your faith to believe bigger. I had been taught, somewhere, that when you’re facing a challenge, that voice that you hear that says, “What are you going to do about this problem?” is mostly likely the devil just trying to get you to fix things in the flesh, by your own efforts. Now I’m not denying that the enemy of your soul isn’t trying to get you out of faith in God, so that you will follow his fleshly suggestions. This does happen, and we should be aware of his tactics. In fact the book of Proverbs has many warnings regarding this and helps us identify what this voice sounds like. First, it calls this voice “the man who speaks perverse things” – (Proverbs 2:12). So, we know that when this voice starts talking to us, it will sound like a slight perversion of something that God would say. The book of Proverbs refers also to this voice as “the strange woman, from the adulteress who flatters with her words.” - (Proverbs 2:16) Remember, that an adulteress will try to lure you away from the one who loves you using flattery and persuasion. One of the descriptions of the devil’s voice is “boisterous” – (Proverbs 7:11). His voice is meant to be loud & clamorous, to allure and entice you with suggestions that do not agree with the Word of God. He doesn’t give up easily, so his voice will be constant and repetitive until you submit to it; annoying & vexing.
Now, notice this fantastic description of the thoughts that the devil brings to your mind…
“For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. But in the end she is as bitter as poison, as dangerous as a double-edged sword.Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave.For she cares nothing about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it.
So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say:Stay away from her! Don’t go near the door of her house!” - Proverbs 5:3-8 NLT
Wow! So, the devil’s words can seem very good; sweet as honey and as slick as oil. The problem is that any of the devil’s suggestions, if not countered by the true Word of God, will end up hurting us or others in the process of trying to solve our own problems. I’m seeing some concerning words here, like bitter poison, dangerous, double-edged sword, death, straight to the grave. These do not sound like encouraging results from suggestive words that come across as sweet as honey. This is why the average Christian struggles to know where the source of their thoughts are coming from. Does this at all strike a chord with you? I know that I have been in this perplexing thought pattern before.
Now, we all want to recognize the source of our thoughts. We certainly don’t want to be listening to the deceptive, yet boisterous, thoughts of the devil. But what if the questions in our mind are coming from the Lord? What if the Lord, Himself is asking us “What are you going to do about this problem?” What if it is not your flesh making suggestions, but the Lord actually giving you an opportunity to rise up in faith? Does Jesus actually speak to us like this? Yes! Yes, He does! Let me prove it to you.
We are going to turn to the story of the Feeding of the 5,000. All of the four Gospel accounts tell of this miraculous story. We are going to tune in to John’s account in John, chapter 6…
“After this, Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Sea of Tiberias).
A large crowd was following Him because they had seen the signs (attesting miracles) which He continually performed on those who were sick.
And Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down there with His disciples.
Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was approaching.
Jesus looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming toward Him, and He said to Philip, “Where will we buy bread for these people to eat?” - John 6:1-5 AMP
This was no small crowd that had followed Jesus. Jesus crossed over by boat, yet the people followed Him around the sea on foot. Matthew’s Gospel account reveals that they had been there all day with Jesus and evening had fallen. The Bible records that there were approximately 5,000 men at this event, “not” including their women and their children. This could have been a huge problem if the people had nothing to eat to energize them for walking home, or to continue on to the places where they were lodging. Only John’s Gospel account records Jesus’ question to Phillip… “Where will we buy bread for these people to eat?”
As I was meditating in this passage of Scripture about the miraculous Feeding of the 5,000, it dawned on me that Jesus’ question sure sounded a whole lot like the questions I have heard in my head before… “What are you going to do about this problem?” Suddenly, I realized that Jesus was the author of this question, not the devil. When a circumstance is too hard for us to handle, when the bill is too much for us to pay, when the illness or physical challenge is impossible for anything in the natural to solve, when the need is simply too great… Does Jesus actually ask the “What are you going to do about it?” question and expect us to have an answer? Well, it seems obvious to me, from this passage of Scripture, that He does.
So, Friend, before you discount those questions that pop into your head as coming out of your flesh or straight from the pit of hell, before you say, with Phillip, “Two hundred denarii (200 days’ wages) worth of bread is not enough for each one to receive even a little” (John 6:7), stop for a moment and consider whether Jesus may be asking you the unreasonable questions in your very impossible situation, and inviting you to apply your faith in the God in Whom “nothing is impossible!”
“For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.” - Luke 1:37 AMPC
Friends, when Jesus invites us to have faith in God, to consider the impossible, it is because He already knows what He is going to do to help us solve our problem. He is the Savior, after all! I hope you will let this Scripture sink in deeply…
“And this He was saying to test him; for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.” - John 6:6 NASB
Whatever your big, scary thing is, Jesus already has a plan in place. It is a plan of blessing. It is a plan of increase and abundance. It is a plan that consists of more than enough. We can trust Him to give us wisdom in the answers He seeks from us, simply by asking in faith (James 1:5-6). The Lord’s plan always comes with leftovers. He already knows what he intends to do. His plan is always going to be supernatural, because He is God! Let that encourage your heart today.
“Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted.
After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.”
So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.” - John 6:11-13 NLT
Now that, Dear Friends, is grace!
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