You feed them! (Do not underestimate your testimony)

Luke 9:13  He replied, “You give them something to eat.”

They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish-unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14 (About five thousand men were there.)

But he said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

I wrestled a lot with my past, I still do.Theres places I’ve been, things I have done, people who I have been with that I am not proud of.Upon salvation there may be a decision you have to make, to bury the past, walk away from it and start over somewhere else OR you will go back to where you came from, healed, on a mission to help others get free.

In the account of the feeding of the 5000 in Luke 9:13, Jesus commanded the disciples something to get something to eat,The disciples in response told Jesus exactly what they had, they didn’t think it would be enough.They ‘ONLY’ The disciples took what they had and gave it to Jesus, and that which they submitted to Jesus was broken and upon following instructions, the whole multitude was fed.Jesus multiplied that which the disciples had given Him and fed the crowd to a point where they were all satisfied and the left over pieces were collected.

We have a lot of closet Christians in church, we have a lot of people healed but never discuss the very ailment that paralyzed them for years.There are a lot of Christians who God breaks their chains and sets free from a prison and they walk away without every again discussing the prison they were once in.We have a lot of Christians today, with an air of self righteousness that walk around cleansed but never wanting to discuss the filth they were once drenched in.And so the unchurched unsaved start to develop the ideology that Christianity is impossible, because they are still struggling and no one in the church is telling the story of how they once struggled.

We underestimate the power of a testimony.I remember once going to a woman’s conference, and the woman speaking was very transparent, she spoke about her love for the world, her hunger for fame,money and popularity, her failed relationships with guys and her emotional desperation and loneliness even in the midst of a huge group of friends.Her testimony ministered to me.I saw myself in her, in everything she had been through.We had similar stories, and if God could work in her life and bring her from her past, I reasoned God could do the same with me.

I have a past, and struggles, some were very private emotional struggles, and others were very public physical struggles.And sometimes God will lift us out of the pit with His merciful hand, and we walk away from the pit without ever going back to help pull out some of our brothers and sisters in the same pit.

Your past is not a coincidence, neither are your mistakes.God knew the end from the very beginning and there is absolutely NOTHING that comes as a shock to God.God can orchestrate the parts of your past that you are not proud of to not just meet your needs but the needs of others.

The disciples gave God what they had with them,Jesus broke the bread and through what was given to Him, followed to perform a multiplication miracle.Give your past to God, that He may multiply it.There is nothing you have ever been through that doesn’t have a lesson. And the very lessons you have from the past will feed others.

The disciples underestimated the ability of what they had to feed the multitude-and rightfully so.You may be underestimating the power of your story, but something changes when you give what you have to God.You may have battled through alcohol and drug addictions, sexual addictions, pornography strongholds, low self esteem, depression,sexual abuse, physical abuse, verbal abuse,self hatred and harm and you underestimate the power of your story.We are sometimes embarrassed about our past, or we don’t think sharing our stories will make a difference.

Your past is not a coincidence, and if you dare give to God, your past can minister to someone else’s present.The testimony about the very thing that kept you in bondage may be used to set someone else free.The testimony of what the disease you once ailed from can minister to a person battling the same disease and bring healing to them.But the problem is we have a bunch of healed people, covered up in make up, make up of self righteousness, pride or shame that don’t let anyone see the scars they have from their pasts.

There is someone out there that needs your story, there is someone who needs to see that if God got you through it, God can get them through it as well.Your broken pieces can feed someone else.When you give to God that which you have, He can start a multiplication miracle that not only feeds your family, but your friends, your schools and workplaces.

Jesus’ disciples told Jesus in verse 12 to send the crowds away, to go find food and lodging in a nearby village.Yet Jesus simply said: “You feed them”

A lot of times we see people still battling with the things we battled with.You may have been rescued by God from an abusive relationship, you may have been set free from the weight of alcoholism, or depression, yet you may, like the disciples be saying ‘God send them to find food in a nearby village, God send them somewhere else, to someone other than me’ and God simply may be telling you ‘you feed them’ .Your testimony may be what they need to satisfy the hunger they have deep within them for healing.

What are your loaves of bread, what are your fish? What is your past? What do you have with you that through God, can be used to feed others? Give God what you have, let Him use you, your testimony to minister to someone else.Your past stronghold can minister to someone else’s present situation. And I pray that multitudes will be met at their point of need as you begin to share your testimony.Project Cross is over a year old now and it is my sincerest prayer that even as I continue to share my own story with transparency and authenticity and that as I daily give God what I have, the broken pieces I have may be used to feed someone else.