IS YOUR BREAD GOOD ENOUGH?

We are all familiar with the story in John chapter 6 and verses 1-9, of how Jesus Christ feed the multitude was a little boys lunch of 5 barley loaves and two small fishes, and have probably heard about it most of our lives.  In fact, after I had taken a 13 year hiatus from preaching, one of the first messages I preached after recommitting myself to the Lord was from this passage and it was a message titled “Gather up the Fragments that Remain that Nothing Be Lost.”  And though there are some great titles I could have used for this thought today, like “What are They Among So Many,” or even “Little is Much When God is In It.”  But today I want to focus on one simple thought about that little boys lunch and ask you the question “Is your bread good enough?”

The obvious question would have surely been, “Was the little boys 5 barley loaves enough to feed the multitude?”  But I want to go deeper and ask not only if it was enough, but “Was it Good Enough?”

Now, I never really considered this before, but I was doing a little studying on the types of foods that they ate in Jesus day.  And as I was studying, one of the shocking discoveries I made was this – the people in Jesus day, didn’t eat bread that was made of Barley.  In fact, only the poorest of society would eat Barley Bread.   Most people used Barley to feed their livestock, to feed the animals.  They didn’t eat it!

So this tells me something about this little boy that I never realized before.  So stay with me here.  I believe there were all kinds of people that came out to see Jesus.

• All ranks of society;
• All levels of income;
• I believe there were probably Doctors in the Crowd – if for no other reason than to see this Great Physician who caused the blind to see, the deaf to hear and the lame to walk;
• I believe there were Scribes and Pharisees in the crowd, if for no other reason than to find something to accuse Him with later;

Now picture Andrew as he’s going through that great multitude asking if anyone had anything they could give to help feed that multitude.  He passes by those who have so much, yet they give nothing.  Then he comes to this little boy, and I think it is safe to say that he came from a poor family and didn’t have much.

And can’t you see that little boy looking at those Doctors and Lawyers, Scribes and Pharisees and thinking to himself, “I Know I don’t have much, and I hate to offer it because I know what I have would insult these people.  They don’t eat bread made of Barley – they feed that to their animals.” “Why they’d be offended by what I have to give.”

Wouldn’t it have been easy for him to slip away and never have to deal with the embarrassment of offer his Five Barley Loaves and two small fishes?  Don’t you know it would have been easy for him to say “WHAT I HAVE IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.”

Isn’t that what Satan does to you and I today?

• He tries to convince us that we’re not good enough;
• He tries to convince us that we don’t have enough;

And the truth in, in ourselves, we’re not!  BUT, in HIM we are!

You know what folks, when I was 16 years old, I felt the call of God on my life to preach.  I got scared, I rebelled and ran away and I said to myself:

• There is no way God can use me;
• I came from a poor family;
• I didn’t have enough education;
• My momma and daddy were divorced.
• I just wasn’t good enough.

I just couldn’t see how God could use someone like me.  I was just a poor bus kid – a nobody in the eyes of most.

When my home fell apart 15 years ago, I found myself in a place where the Devil came and said, “God can never use you again.”  “You are finished in the ministry.”

Folks, Joe Moore, in and of myself – I’m just a barley loaf.  I’ve been broken and shattered, I didn’t feel like I amount to anything.

But listen to me, it is through my brokenness, and the fragmented pieces of my life that God has enabled me to pick up the pieces and use them for His glory.  Had I not been where I’ve been and experienced what I’ve experienced, I could never minister to the people God has placed in my life.

• You see folks, God Takes our Weaknesses and uses them for His Glory!
• He takes our faults and our failures and uses them for His Honor!

Was it good enough?  Well, it wasn’t good enough in his hands.  But when he put it in Jesus Hands, not only was it enough – it was ADEQUATE, IT WAS GOOD ENOUGH!

• I didn’t read anywhere in here where anybody got offended;
• I didn’t read anywhere in here where anybody turned it down;
• In fact, the Bible says “They all ate until they were filled.”

Was it good enough?  It was when it was in Jesus’ hands.  And I’ll go as far as to say it will always be good enough when you put it in Jesus’ hands!