Sometimes God puts a specific truth in your midst and it is not only meant for you...it is meant to share. When this happens His word ripples out through the body of Christ and into the world as well. There are times when a truth seems so pivotal that I spend weeks chewing on it...unpacking each word and praying for the Holy Spirit to explain it to me. This happened to me recently.

1Thessalonians 5:16-18 which says "Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."

I have read this many times before, but this time it was being opened to me, illumined by God's spirit as surely as a spotlight highlights the actor on the stage. God was emphasising this word...it jumped off the page and began to work in me and through me.

The first thing that happened was that I ran across a story of Corrie Ten Boom and her sister. Corrie and her sister Betsy had been moved to new quarters in the concentration camps. When they arrived, they were praying, and her sister started to pray 1Thessalonians 5:16-18. Corrie stopped, she refused to be thankful...you see the new quarters were infested with fleas. This was Corrie's breaking point, she could take no more. On top of everything else she was being inundated with flea bites. The fleas were so bad that they visibly covered her face. She batted at them and cried out. Betsy took her aside and reminded her that they were still alive, and that God says to be thankful "In" all things, not "for" all things. Corrie composed herself and the sisters went around their new living space praying thanks over every element, including the fleas.

As the days passed, it became evident that the flea infestation was so bad that it kept the guards away. The sisters were able to openly hold bible study and have prayer meetings and worship God.

Sometimes God reveals the purpose for "the fleas", and other times he doesn't. Sometimes we just have to pray; "Lord I don't understand why I am to thank you for what is happening in my life right now, but I trust you, and that you are going to work good from it. I offer you a simple sacrifice of thanksgiving. It hurts Lord. Receive it as my worship."

I shared this scripture along with Corrie's story as I led worship in my community group from church this week. I shared this story with my dear friend Rebekah in Tennessee when we spoke on the phone the other day. I shared this story with Jenn...with my children...with the elderly woman I work with...with the bible study I run at Artman Retirement Home...with my parents...with secular friends, and yesterday Jenn shared it with our team for the Malawi mission trip. As the week has passed, those that I had shared it with also shared it and as the stories came back to me it seems that an endless amount of people were reached...this profound truth multiplied and spread and rippled outward without stopping!

You see some truths are so fundamental that they have to be shared, like broken bread and poured out wine...truth sustains our spirit. When God gives you something wonderful to eat from His word break it, study it, pull it apart...eat it until you are full, and then bless it and break yourself down to share with others. Share what you have and everyone will be full.

"Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so that they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share. they all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish. a total of five thousand men and their families were fed from those loaves!" - Mark 6:41-44

Jesus is still giving us the bread to distribute to people. Eat as much as you want and share it with everyone you can...and the result could be that thousands of people are fed. We have no idea how far our obedience reaches when mulitplied by the movement of God's Holy Spirit. But we do know that when we share scripture, that God promises it will feed and fill and serve a purpose. We need only to share it...He will do the rest.

"It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. it will accomplish all I want it to, and will proseper everywhere I send it." - Isaiah 55:11

So go and sit at the table and eat. Eat until you are full. Bless the word and thank the Father, then go and share what you have...distribute it until everyone has something to eat and is fed.