We are the only ones who have control over our thoughts.  We are the ‘keepers’ of that part of our vineyard. If we apply Proverbs 24:30-31 to our hearts, failure to keep our vineyard will cause it to become overgrown with thorns and nettles. and our stone walls of truth will be broken down. 

Once we have our first negative thought against our circumstances, others, or ourselves, we can stop it in its tracks. How? Through thanksgiving. Remember the loaves and fishes did not multiply until after Jesus gave thanks.

Expressing gratitude is like taking some pruning shears to our negative thoughts. If we cut them off they will fall to the ground and wither. Their source of life is instantly cut off. However, if we allow them to remain, they will become like a rolling snowball. It careens down the path gathering more negative debris. Cutting off the negative thoughts will allow a harvest of grateful thoughts to flourish.

Numbers 11:4 says, “Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving…” 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits.” We are influenced by those we hang out with. God judged the mixed multitude first. His fire consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.

Numbers 11:5-6 says, “We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”

What provision has the Lord made for you in your trial that you are tired of? We need to take note of how our complaining affects others in our lives. Complaining is the fruit of bitter root judgments. Hebrews 12 15 indicates that when we allow bitter roots to spring up, we defile everyone around us.

I just typed my online devotional for July. I was reminded again of how our complaining displeases the Lord. Our complaints are often rooted in broken expectations. We think we know how a situation should go but our expectations are dashed.

We bury our resentment and forget about it. Then when adversity comes, our resentment surfaces and voices itself through complaining. Numbers 11:1 says, “Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused…”

What was the root of their complaining? Comparison that led to discontent. They looked back to some foods they ate in the past. However, they forgot the fact that they were enslaved to the Egyptians. Once they looked back, their thoughts snowballed into a cascade of negativity. They only saw their lack. They disregarded God’s miraculous provision through the daily manna.

Walking in the fear of the Lord is a spiritual life-skill. Psalm 34:9-10 says, “Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.”

How do we walk in the fear of the Lord? Verses 11-14 answer that question. They say, “Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord….Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” You might also read Psalm 15:1-5.

What we speak in our heart will be expressed through our words, body language, habits, and attitudes. We cannot see into another’s heart ~ only the Lord knows everything in it. 

When Jesus distributed the food, all four gospels recorded that they all ate and were filled. Reading and digesting God’s word fills our spirit. I love Psalm 107:9. It says, “For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.”

We often misunderstand our ‘hunger pangs’ and look for food or other things to fill an emotional need. Emotional fillers can not satisfy an empty void that we misinterpret as lack. Have you ever thought or said, “If only…”?

Our heart is our communication center with the Lord. We can pour out our heart to Him without even verbalizing our pain. Hannah did. Read this carefully. 1 Samuel 1:13 says, “Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard…”

Our way is to bury. Here is God’s way. Psalm 62:8 says, “Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.”

Expressing thankfulness in the face of an impossibility, opens the way for the Lord to work unhindered. I often visit Psalm 78:41. It says, “Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.” Hindered by their complaining. They were stubborn and rebellious. Verse 40 says that they provoked and grieved Him.

Hebrews 13:15 says, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” Psalm 22:3 says that He enthrones Himself in our praises.

Thanksgiving is the fruit of a trusting heart. No matter what we face, we have the assurance that He will bring us through. He was with the three Hebrew men. He walked with them in the midst of the fiery furnace. They were thrown in bound, but His Presence broke the bonds. He is Omnipresent ~ Ever Present. Psalm 46:1.

The miracle of feeding five thousand plus was recorded in all four gospels. When Jesus asked His disciples to feed them, they only saw the obvious ~ five loaves and two fish. What do you see when you are faced with what seems impossible?

In John 6:5 Jesus asked Phillip, “…Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” The question was a test. Verse 6 says, “But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.”

What an assurance for us. No matter what our circumstances, the Lord knows what He will do. We can trust Him to work out His best for us. We gain further understanding from this miracle. 

Jesus held the five loaves and two fish in His hands. Verse 11 says, “…and when He had given thanks…” They were still just five loaves and two fish until after He gave thanks.

The Pharisees prided themselves on being exact in law keeping. Jesus rebuked them in John 5:39-40. It says, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me.”

Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Experiential knowledge comes through intimate communion. There is no other way.. 

John 14:1 says, “…you believe in God, believe also in Me.” When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, John 4:10 says, “…If you knew the gift of God…” 2 Peter 1:3 says that we are gifted through our knowledge of Him, with all things that we need to live in His righteousness. Verse 4 explained how ~ we become partakers of His very nature.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He came to Jesus by night. In John 3:2 he made a statement that the Lord didn’t comment on. He took him right to the crux of his heart. Verse 3 says, “…Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus didn’t understand because he was thinking in the natural. Verse 11 cuts to our heart as well. It says, “…We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.”

When God gives a promise, that promise will be fulfilled by Him alone. We cannot make it happen. Oh we can try. We often work hard through our thoughts to figure out ways, but it is empty effort. Inert. Fruitless. Futile.

The Pharisees knew the law, but they didn’t know the Law Giver. We can read our Bibles, but unless we understand what we are reading we cannot apply it.

I love the story of the widow in 2 Kings 4:1-7. Her creditors were coming to take her two sons to be slaves. In verse 2 Elisha asked her what she had in her house. She replied, “…nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”

In verse 3 he instructed her to, “…Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few.” He was setting her up for abundance. In verse 4 he told her to pour her one jar of oil into all the empty vessels. 

When all the vessels were filled the oil ceased. In verse 7 Elisha told her, “…Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.” We often despair when we only see our lack. John 10:10b takes our vision out of human impossibilities, onto God’s infinite ability. Pour His promises into your empty circumstances and watch Him fill them.