The way we react to the words and actions of others matters. When we face a person whose actions or words hurt us or anger us, our response is critical. Our reaction to the hurt says more about ourselves than hurtful words and actions reveal about others. This is because our response reveals our character, our maturity, our willingness to receive truth or our ability to brush off offense with dignity and grace.

Why does God test us? God tests us so we can see and understand ourselves clearly, that we may respond to God rightly. So on the verge of producing a stadium sized miracle, one that is reported in all four gospels, Jesus takes the opportunity to put his disciples and us to the test. From this test Jesus desires us to know that he is the bread of life, to trust in his provision and to act confidently under his authority and join with him in feeding the crowd.

Will you hear this word of God and know that you are more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. It is one thing to feel good about your faith. It is one thing to hear these words and say, "okay this is true." It is another that when life gets hard, you feel tired that the heat turns up and you still say, "God is for me and nothing can separate me from the love of Jesus. "

This parable is about repentance. It is not a parable strictly about obedience but instead of our position our facing towards God. You can do all of the right things and have a rotten attitude, you can say all the right things and fail to act. Jesus is calling each of us to change our mind about who we are and how we follow God. I forgot to add my usual benediction so please, "Go With Jesus."

Jesus is telling us that some of us are more receptive than others, and I would propose that each one of us at different times in our lives are more or less receptive to the word of the kingdom. But here is the rub, I have always heard in this story a message about realizing which of the four soils I am or you are and then figuring how to transform into the fourth soil which is the good soil, receptive. If you listen carefully to what I just said you will hear that I have read into this parable about what effort I must do to adequately receive the word of God. Jesus is pointing out that we need to be receptive to the word, but he does not put the work in our hands, only the willingness to receive.

Today we have a psalm in which David declares the importance of having a life that worships God and remembers who God is. We are then called to make our own declaration that we will worship the Lord in every way possible and pass our remembrance of what God has done from one generation to the next.

To receive the best of life we must be willing to obey when Jesus commands us to “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk!” We must also be willing to endure trials by those who are offended by Jesus.

We are living in stressful times and I want to take a moment today to remind you to laugh. God, our Creator designed us to laugh. God wants us to laugh. When you are facing hard times, remember to laugh. Laughter is a blessing from God, laughter can bring relief to your soul and spill over into others.

God knows our predicament, far better than we do, he knows what we need, far better than we do, and he has administered the solution, far better than we ever could. This text promises us that if we have faith in Jesus, we can have peace with God. God also gives us a prescription for how we take the peace of God into our lives: Rejoice in the future promises as good as they are, and we are to rejoice in our present circumstances however difficult they may be.

Every time we see someone's discomfort we see their spiritual thirst. 2020 has taught us the whole world is thirsty. Jesus offers the only water that can cure our thirst. Church will you take this water to the world?