Give Your Gift: Yahweh Will Use It (Miracle of the Loaves & Fish)

GIVE YOUR GIFT: Yahweh WILL USE IT
The Story of Five Loaves of Bread and Two Fish

By Jennifer Edwards

On a beautiful spring day, a young boy, carrying his picnic
lunch, was skipping along the soft grass along a dusty road. He
saw many people gathering on a hill by the lake just up ahead.
So, being curious, he took his small sack lunch and decided to
join them. His mind was racing with questions as he darted in
and out through the crowd trying to make his way to the front so
he could see just exactly what was happening. "What's going on?
... I wonder why there are so many people here... Is it a big
party?" were some of the questions going through his mind.

He breathed in and scrunched himself as small as possible to
squeeze through the thick of the crowd. He nudged people to the
left and right, and occasionally stumbled over someone's foot as
he scrambled through the throng, but he finally made his way
to the front where he discovered the reason for the huge
gathering. A man named Yah'shua and some of his friends had
arrived in a small fishing boat. The crowd of people was
clamoring to get a good look at him.

Seeing the great multitude, Yah'shua and his friends decided to
stay in the boat. Yah'shua stood up in the little boat and welcomed
the people. He knew they had come to see him and he wasn't going
to disappoint them. The people in the crowd were edging themselves
closer and closer so they would to be able to hear what Yah'shua was
saying. Minutes passed and even hours, but the people didn't grow
tired of listening to Yah'shua. They had never heard anyone as
interesting as this man. He had so many wonderful stories to tell,
and they were hanging on to his every word.

As evening drew near, one of the disciples turned to Yah'shua and
asked "Shouldn't we send them away now? It is getting late, and
none of them have eaten anything the entire day."

Much to his surprise, Yah'shua answered him, "No, do not send them
away. You find food to feed them."

Looking around at the crowd that had continued to grow larger
and larger, and hungrier and hungrier, the disciple was a little
confused and bewildered. "But Yah'shua", he exclaimed, "There is
*no way* we can feed this many people! It would take about EIGHT
MONTHS to get enough food to satisfy this large crowd!"

As the disciples looked around the crowd wondering how they
would ever be able to follow Yah'shua' wishes, one of the disciples
saw the small boy with his lunch. The disciple knelt down and
asked kindly, "Would you be willing to share your lunch?"

The boy jumped up and down in excitement and joyfully answered,
"For Yah'shua, I will gladly give it all!"

The disciple took the sack to Yah'shua, and said, "I found a little
boy who was willing to give us his lunch. It is small, but here
it is."

Another disciple spoke up, "There is only five small loaves of
bread, and two tiny fish in there! How is that supposed to
feed all these people?"

Yah'shua didn't take time to explain. He wanted each person to see
for himself what was going to happen next. Yah'shua simply took the
lunch; he broke the bread and fish into pieces, and he blessed
it. Then he gave it to the disciples, and told them to feed the
people. Even though they knew there wasn't going to be enough
for everyone, they also knew it was better to obey Yah'shua than to
try to argue with him.

They scattered themselves around the crowd and started passing
out pieces of fish and pieces of bread. They walked and walked
stooping down to hand the food to the hungry people sitting on
the hillside. They were so busy, that they didn't even notice
that their baskets were not getting empty. Finally when everyone
had eaten enough to fill them up, and it started getting very
late, they crowd started dwindling as people began to go back to
their own homes.

Yah'shua told his disciples to pick up baskets and collect all the
leftovers so that nothing would be wasted. The disciples were
startled as they stared at the sight before their eyes. As they
gathered the leftovers there was a buzz of excitement. "How
amazing it is that Yah'shua could take a small boy's lunch and
fill all these HUNGRY people!" one exclaimed.

"Yeah, and I've already picked up a WHOLE BASKET of pieces
over here!" another yelled back.

"My basket is almost full also!" said another with awe.

When they finished, they took it all to Yah'shua and began to
count. ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE,
TEN, ELEVEN, TWELVE. TWELVE Baskets leftover!!!!! Wow! What
a miracle Yah'shua had performed right there before their very
eyes! Two little fish and five small loaves of bread had fed
over FIVE THOUSAND people with plenty of food to spare!

Eight-year-old Kelsey enjoyed helping others. She really wanted
to do something that would make a difference. She wasn't very
big and she wasn't very strong; so many people didn't think
there was much she could do. Some tried to discourage her and
told her she had good intentions, but she should just wait until
she was a little bigger.

Kelsey didn't like that idea at all. She didn't want to wait
until she was bigger. It wasn't that she was impatient; she just
saw so much that needed to be done and she wanted to help. She
saw people to feed, and yards to clean. She saw needs nobody
else seemed to notice. She saw sad people that she just wanted
to make happy. But all her friends, family, and even teachers
said that she was too small. It wasn't like she wanted to go
around the world! She just wanted to help the people she saw
everyday. Oh, but the thought did occur, that if she had the
chance to go around the world, she wouldn't even have to stop
and think! She was out of there!

At church on Sunday, she heard a missionary speaking of all the
needs in a country far away. Kelsey was sad as she heard him
speak because she was sure there was nothing she could do. Then
she heard the missionary say something that made her bolt
upright and listen with joy. "If you give just one dollar in a
month, you could feed TEN people in another country far away."

A big grin spread across Kelsey's face, as she understood just
what she could do. "I CAN do that, and nobody can stop me!" Now
her thoughts were not rebellious, just excited that she COULD
finally do something and make a difference. Every month for many
years Kelsey took her offering to church to help feed hungry
people in a far away country. Plus, she always prayed for the
people she was feeding halfway around the world. Kelsey was so
happy and almost always had a smile on her face. She learned
that she didn't have to be big to help others, helping made her
feel REALLY BIG in her heart.

Do you ever feel like the little girl in the story? Do ever feel
like you want to help, but aren't good enough, or big enough?
Well, Yah'shua wants you to know that it doesn't matter how big or
how small; He wants to use all of you in an awesome way. Not
just when you're big, but right now! So why don't we pray and
ask Yahweh to show you what he wants you to be doing for him right
now?

THINK!

Why did the crowd gather on the hillside?
Why did the disciples want to send the people home?
What was in the little boy's lunch?
What did the disciple ask the little boy to do?
Did the little boy want to share his lunch?
How many people shared the little lunch?

REMEMBER!

You are never too young to offer your gift to Yahweh.

A VERSE TO LEARN

"And Yah'shua said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that
cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth in me
shall never thirst" (John 6:35).

LET'S PRAY

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Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for giving each
of us something that we can give back to you.
Help us to give cheerfully knowing that, no matter
how small our gift may seem, you can turn it into
a miracle. In Yah'shua' Name we pray. Amen.

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CAN YOU FIND THIS STORY IN THE BIBLE?

John 6:1-15 and Luke 9:11-17

You can view this Bible story in full color with pictures and
resources to go along with the story at
http://www.childrenschapel.org/biblestories/5000.html

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