A Broken Life

Matthew 14:17-21

17 And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

18 He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. 20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. 21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

We are all very familiar with this miracle. If you’d be honest, you wish that Jesus would do that in your life and your sustenance. The truth, the Lord wants to do this to you ALL THE TIME…however, there are some things that must be done in order for Him to do it.

Recognize the Need

Verse 15 – 16,  15 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”

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

As the story would have it, the people there are very hungry, so the disciples common sense answer was, send them away, so that they can get food…however, Jesus didn’t want them to leave, He wanted them to be provided for on the spot.

This is the essence of ministry. Why send people elsewhere when God has called you to feed them?

Why do you pray with people on outreach or at the altar, then never see them again? Probably, because you don’t want to feed them or minister to them, but you want ministry?

If we are not careful, we’ll spend hours putting together bible studies, but never minister to people – you have all of this knowledge, but no fruit.

Work with This

Text - 17 And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” 18 He said, “Bring them here to Me.”

God works with what you have, not what you wished you had. Many times we cop out because we say that we don’t have what it takes, when the exact opposite is true…not only do you have what it takes, but it’s more than what you realize.

Do you know how I know? It’s simple; Jesus asks for it! It must be worth something if the Lord has need of it and asks for it.

Matthew 21:1-3

21 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”

Too many have the lottery mentality: ‘Lord if I had a million dollars, I would give…’

The truth is, you’ll probably NEVER have a million dollars, so you might as well give what you DO have! The bible says, ‘…he who is faithful with little…’

Now here’s the great issue and challenge…

When the Lord asks for what you have, WILL YOU GIVE IT TO HIM? Many respond with YES…that’s good, but what the Lord is asking for is YOUR LIFE!!

The bible doesn’t give us great details, but according to Jewish living, the lunch the little boy had was most likely all the food he and his family were to live on for that week…so it is safe to say, this boy gave EVERYTHING.

He trusted these strangers to take it from him and use it for a greater purpose than himself. This is where many of us get hung up.

• The church just wants to use me
• What do I get out of all this?

Not realizing the blessing that is attached to giving our all to Christ.

The Miracle of Reckless Abandon

Verses 19 – 21, 19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. 20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. 21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus took what the boy had, then He broke it.

Can you be broken before the Lord? After you’re broken, can your life be given to others?

Saying yes to this causes a divine multiplication that you can never accomplish on your own!

It went from 5 loaves and 2 fish to 12 baskets full of bread and fish, as well as nearly 15,000 provided for.

See, a broken life can meet the needs of multitudes!

This is where the rubber meets the road…many want to be used, but in order for that to happen, you have to give yourself over to the Lord, and then allow Him to break you!

Some of you may have heard me pray this prayer:

“Lord, I bind envy, strife, jealousy, and discord.” I pray that over our church regularly, because I know what people want most of all is a voice. While on the surface, there is nothing wrong with that – deep inside, are character issues that fight against humility and fading into the background…many are not willing to do this…

If Jesus is going to break you – can He have the right to shut you down? What if the most effective thing you can do in the church is shut up? It allows you to search your heart, your motives, and bring true direction into your life so that you can see the big picture around here.

The miracle happened whenever what was given to Jesus, was broken! Can you survive on the leftovers? According to the Lord, you can!

2 Kings 4:6-8

6 Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.”

And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. 7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

Now, imagine what your life would be like, if you allow Jesus to fill you up, break you down, and distribute you to our city, and then the rest of the world! You and your family can live on the blessing of that for the rest of your Christian lives!