Read Luke 5:1-11, 2 Kings 4:1-7, and John 6:1-15
This morning we continue our series entitled, “The Year of Supernatural Manifestation”, with our mini-series on “The Miracles of Jesus.” A few days ago I introduced you to the story of Simon Peter’s miraculous catch of fish. I have share five messages about it thus far. I have at least two more. In this message I will reference two other passages as well. Let’s get to it.
In Luke 5, we discussed the story of Simon the fisherman and how Jesus blessed him to haul in a miraculous catch of fish. We have looked at this story from many different angles. In yesterday’s message we discussed 2 Kings 4, where a widow had a debt, the debtor was going to take her sons and make them slaves, and the prophet told the widow how to get out of debt and raise enough money to take care of her boys. She believed the prophet, God provided oil supernaturally, she paid off her debt, and she and her boys lived off the rest. Earlier in this series we dealt with John 6. In this chapter Jesus saw a crowd of 5,000 men (not counting the women and children), He asked His disciples where they could get bread for all the people to eat, and Philip (the analytical disciple) started crunching numbers. He calculated that it would take 8 months wages to buy enough bread for each person to get just one bite.
Today I am going to ‘pull a thread’ through all three of these stories with a message that contrasts human effort with God’s grace. Remember, before the fall of man, Adam did not work to earn anything he received from God. All his provision came by God’s grace. Working hard to earn his provision is part of the curse, and Jesus died to redeem us from the curse.
In Luke 5, when Jesus was ready to provide a harvest on the seed Simon the fisherman had sown into his ministry, the size of the harvest had nothing to do with the amount of work Simon put in. At that point, the size of the harvest was only connected to the amount of faith Simon had. Jesus hold him to launch out into the deep and let down his “nets” for a catch. Simon did not truly believe anything was going to happen, so he only put down one net. The amount of his faith was the only limiting factor in the size of his harvest. This had nothing to do with human effort or hard work.
In 2 Kings 4 when the widow gathered her pots, and even borrowed pots as the prophet directed, the woman gathered all the pots she could. Once all the pots were in place, the prophet told her to pour the oil from her SINGLE JAR into all the pots. She did, and miraculously, the oil did not stop until she ran out of pots. God’s provision was not tied to her work or human effort. God’s provision was only limited by her capacity to believe. If she had only gathered a few pots, she would only have received a little oil. Thankfully, she believed the prophet, she gathered a bunch of pots, she was able to pay off her debt, and she still had enough money to live off the rest.
In John 6 when Jesus asked Philip where they could get bread to feed the crowd, the analytical disciple did the math and he calculated that it would take 8 months wages to buy enough bread for each person to get just one bite. He was trying to figure out how much WORK (or human effort) it would take to finance God’s will. The Bible says that Jesus already knew what He would do. Jesus knew that He could not accomplish everything He was born to accomplish in 3 1/2 years of ministry, if he had to rely on human effort and hard work to PAY for everything. What Philip said would take 8 months of work was accomplished in 8 seconds of faith.
So what does this mean to you today? A few quick things.
- What God has called you to do is much greater than anything you could ever work to attain or earn in this world.
- If you had to earn the money to pay for God’s vision for your life, you would be too old by the time you raised the money.
- God’s provision is not tied to your work. If it were, God would be limited by your paycheck. NO! God’s provision is tied to your faith. God is limitless and what He wants to do in your life far exceeds your paycheck. That’s why He requires your faith! If you have the faith, He has the resources.
- Unfortunately, many churches don’t understand God’s provision, nor do they understand the Biblical principles of sowing and reaping. As a result, they attempt to fund God’s projects with human ability, power and strength. This doesn’t work and it is never God’s will. You can’t wash enough cars, fry enough fish, sell enough chicken or play enough Bingo, to fund God’s vision. God’s vision is always greater than human effort. That’s why He is not asking you to pay for it. He is asking you to BELIEVE for it!
I will stop here for today and give you one last message on this tomorrow.
Closing Confession: Father, this is a year of Great Victory for me. I am now at a point in my life where You can speak to me freely concerning Your will and I am open to ALL You want to do. I have been freed from the pressure to perform. I know I don’t have to work for it or earn it. I BELIEVE for it. I don’t rely on human ability, power or strength. I rely on You! You are a God of NO LIMITS! Therefore, I refuse to see any limits in my life. Whatever You call me to do, I know I have the grace to do it, and I know it is already paid for. I just need to release my faith and I declare that I do! Living this way I know this year shall be the BEST YEAR of my life! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
