Bread of Life part 2

     This is a two-part post with part one shown earlier: PART 1

     Okay, now, the question I shall prose is this:

     How was there that much bread left over, but what did they do with the remaining bread?  In tandem, what did we do with the multiplied blessings we received?  While we succeed in the perilous endeavors we commit to with divine intervention, what's important is "what do we do with the newly acquired skill/material/characteristic?"

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     It isn't exactly made clear what Jesus and His apostles did with the bountiful amount of remaining bread, but it can be reasonably said that they didn't use it for selfish reasons.  While we can have an overflow of substance-- an overflow of blessings-- we can use it for a variety of means to bless others even more abundantly.  This idea is still a little new to me, so I'm still thinking about what I could do with an abundance of blessings.  Then, a thought popped up--

Spiritual Investment!

     Like successful businesspeople, when they gain a profit, they don't hoard a whole lot of it to themselves.  Instead, they invest in it-- preferably high interest-yielding, lowest-risk deposits.  In order to make more money, they have to spend it on stuff like that.  Some time later, they get an even bigger return and then the process starts all over again.  If we have blessings in such an amount that we're constantly thanking the Lord and not having any other time to repent or ask for help, that's a sign you need to put your blessings in a financial portfolio.

     Go volunteer in a charitable organization!  Go say that you're happy to see a lone face!  Go feed someone hungry!  Go clothe someone naked!  The world is out there to share what you have that has blessed you and your life.  In an eternal perspective, when Jesus said to gather up "treasures in heaven," to go about doing good is a surefire way to do so (Matthew 6:20).  As the Master Teacher Himself, He was endowed with such powers that He had gone about to share it with His fellow men.

     Whatever God has blessed us with, if we share it, we shall see our faith grow.  For Jesus said, "for whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it" (Matthew 16:25).

Bread of Life part 1

     Reading the Bible like I normally do, I come across a very well-known miracle performed by Jesus  and His apostles.  Lately, after a comment made by a church member, it got me thinking that like most of the things that Jesus taught, His actions are also multifaceted.  So, of two I will explain-- as an inexperienced gospel learner, it has blew my mind.  Here are the references:

  Matthew 14:14-21

Mark 6:31-44

Luke 9:11-17

John 6:3-15

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     Setting: Jesus wanted some privacy with His apostles after His cousin was decapitated.  He sails away to a rather desolate environment, wanting to seek solace from the world.  Unbeknownst (probably not), there are a many people who meet Him on the shore of the desert.  Jesus sees that they don't have anyone else to turn to, He begins teaching them of the doctrines of heaven and healing the sick among them.  As the day comes to a close, Jesus feels sorry for these followers and gathers up what food Him and His followers have and distribute it among all.  All the people are full and all part ways.  The apostles are left with twelve baskets full of bread crumbs.

     Imagine.  Personify and generalize bread.  It's a substance that we cannot live without-- Jesus always makes reference to it as a foodstuffs that sustains us and our health (John 6:35).

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     As Jesus asks His disciples to feed the crowd-- mind you, there were five thousand men there plus women and kids-- the disciples bring out what they have, a tad unsure if the amount of food they had was enough.  Comparatively, it's like feeding a professional football team with a can of spam.  Even so, they give Jesus the five loaves and the fishes.

     This is where the faith steps in.

     The apostles had faith midst the incredulity of the said task, so they gave Jesus what they had.  Jesus blessed the bounty and fed it among five thousand plus people.  Jesus had made up the difference and all were fed well, with more left over than they had!

     This is synonymous with the blessings that we receive.  If we don't have enough <insert fodder for endeavors here> to succeed, we can do all that we possibly can and let God make up the rest.  Of course, this requires effort on our part, but if we put it in, like the bread, God can give us the proper strength to overcome any obstacle-- even to the point of overflowing.

"I always relied on the kindness of strangers"

Best place in the world.

 The title is a Tennessee Williams reference.  I thought it was suiting.

      Some time ago, I was standing in line to check out my usual grocery at a west-coast store called "Sprouts."  This place is kind of like a Trader Joe's but with more variety.  Anywho, while I was there, I was talking to the cashier-- she was apparently a little perturbed by some news with her family or something-- I don't remember the details, but in short, she was just unhappy.  I exchange my twenty-dollar-bill for some change and a receipt and begin walking toward the automatic doors.  I then proceed to tell this distraught cashier tell her that "I hoped her day goes better" over my usual "have a good day."

     There was a confused look in her face-- like it was the first time she'd ever hear those words before!

     I left that Sprouts and I still keep thinking about that conversation.  It wasn't because she was going through that time; nor was it for the amount of groceries I got for twenty bucks [NOT an endorsement for the store]!  Rather, I still keep thinking about why she made the face that she did to me!

     I'm Korean and I was born in the US.  I served in the Korean program for most of my mission, yet I felt some small disconnect with Caucasians at that moment-- do white people appreciate me saying such things?

     So while kind of being haunted by that thought, I realized some important things about life.  It doesn't matter who you are, if you know you're being cared about by other [random] people, you feel a lot better about yourself.

     Except for me.  I'm just weird.

     However, the main point is that probably 99% of the world is struggling right now.  This very instant.  In one form or another.  Even if you're not a missionary (or if you are, better on ya!), you can pitch in your benefit toward society with even just a simple act of kindness-- the easiest and most effective of them all is that of listening.

     Do it with your ears.

     Do it with your mouth.

     Do it with your hands.

     Do it with your eyes.

     There's a ton of different ways to do it, but to make a person feel loved is absolutely paramount in just about any situation where you're engaged with someone else in an intercourse of words.

     Honestly, I don't know what that cashier would have thought about my words, but I know that she probably wasn't made even more aggravated.  So, play your part!  You'll get brownie points in heaven and perhaps even a small act of kindness may just turn into a giant snowball that'll crush all evil in its path, being one step closer to the utopia that we may know heaven to be-- on Earth!

"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up." -1 Corinthians 13:4

Manly Men

     I despise arm wrestling with a burning passion.  In very few instances, I do come on top, but for a great majority of the time, the result isn't too exciting.  While engaging in this so-called epitome of masculinity, I lock my hands with the opponent's hands.  The conflict starts off steady, but in less than a couple of seconds, my hand is inches from hitting the table.  The funny thing is, I stay in this "verge of losing position" for a great long time.  For whatever inexplicable reason, the opponent cannot simply just finish me off.  I have to be extremely exhausted and ready to just give up for me to completely lose.  When I do finally lose, I don't really see it as a loss, because I put in everything I have to stay afloat and give that hand a fighting chance to possibly win.  I see it as a fact that I've persevered; I've fought a good fight.

Life is tough.

     I thought to myself in such an instance.  Isn't this a spiritual thing too?  In a way, I believe it is.  The adversary has so many resources and is incredibly strong in diverting us toward the wrong path-- the path to sin and iniquity.  We are only human, fallible to many things.  Satan is a bodiless spirit who has known the world since the era of Adam and Eve.  As we were born on the Earth, we were weak and vulnerable.  Sad to say, we still are.  Slowly, though, we are able to build experience to thwart a good lot of the things that Satan throws at us.  However, with millennia-old experience versus a less than a century's worth of experience, it's no real contest on who will trump the other.


     We remain afloat in a very troubling world filled with demonic influence.  The adversary is plenty in number and definitely very, VERY strong.  Every day, we struggle to hold on our virtues, our faith, and our dignity.  We can magnify the strength of holding on, enduring to the end, through the choices we make and the path that we follow.  If we choose to be righteous and faithful, that hand will gain strength.  It will hold us for a little bit longer.  If we cannot be righteous until the end and if the adversary does take hold of us, eventually defeating us in sin, all is not lost.  You're going to be sore for quite some time, but remember that the reason why it's so sore is because the muscle on your arm is repairing itself and making itself stronger.  If treated right, with repentance and condition, the next time you're arm wrestling that person, you'll be a lot stronger than you were and with faith in a loving Heavenly Father, you may even triumph!

With His grace, we can breeze through the adversary

     No one likes an easy loser.  There's fun and also a lot of effort in a competitive matchup.  The fact that we hold on and endure faithfully shows the fact that we are not quitters.  Life is just that.  If we quit too early, there's really no point in living it.  If we give up against the opponent while we arm wrestle, there was no point in having challenged him in the first place.

     I strongly believe in the fact that we all live in a verge of losing state-- the adversary does all that he can to make us lose completely.  As pessimistic as that sounds, I also believe that we may be able to overcome that state.  With a strong and lasting testimony in Jesus Christ, understanding why He had died for us, we can have a friend's hand hold ours up and slam the adversary's hand on the other side of the table.  As frail and incomplete as we are, God isn't.  With His help, we can endure to the end.  The Lord can make us bear our [heavy] burdens with ease.  We just really need to submit to what He wants us to do.






     Oh, and one random life hack: when you're in an arm wrestle, bring your arm (and the other person's arm) closer toward your body.  Then put down the person's arm.  You'll have more momentum than the other guy and you'll be surprised how much of difference it'll make!