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.” For over a week now we have been looking at the story of Simon Peter’s miraculous catch of fish. Along the way I have connected this story to others, like the story of the widow in 2 Kings 4 and Jesus feeding the 5,000 in John 6. This will be the last story about this miracle. On Monday we will move on to the next one. Before I get into my points, allow me to provide a quick recap of the three stories I have mentioned thus far.
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 size of Simon’s faith. Jesus told 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? Two things.
1. God’s vision cannot be funded with routine human effort.
a) Jesus was on the earth to accomplish the will of the Father. (By the way, they same can be said of you). Jesus did what He was sent to the earth to do. He waited 30 years to begin His ministry and He only ministered for 3 1/2 years before He was done. In 3 1/2 years Jesus accomplished so much that John said, “If all the things Jesus did were written down, the entire world would could not contain all the books” (John 21:25).
b) When Jesus was feeding the 5,000, Philip calculated that 8 months wages would barely buy enough bread for each person to have one bite. Philip was looking at the situation in the natural. Jesus was looking at it in the supernatural. Jesus did not have 8 months to wait for his team to “earn” the money. Jesus used his faith. By faith, the answer was provided in 8 seconds and not 8 months.
c) If Jesus waited for his projects to be funded by human effort, His assignment on the earth would have taken a lot longer than the Father wanted. Jesus only ministered for 42 months. He did not have time to wait on natural supply. For Him to accomplish what the Father sent Him to the earth to accomplish, He had to rely on the supernatural. Guess what? Your name may not be Jesus and the time you have to complete your assignment may be longer than 42 months, but the same holds true. You cannot get God’s will done relying solely on human ability. You can’t work hard enough or raise enough money (in the natural) to pay for God’s will. Like Jesus, you must BELIEVE for it!
d) God’s gives you a vision that far exceeds your human ability, power and strength. His vision exceeds your education. His vision exceeds your experience. His vision exceeds your bank account. God does this to force you to rely on Him. God pushes you out there so far that you say, “Okay Father, if you don’t do it, it won’t get done!” God does this because He is not asking you to pay for it. He is asking you to BELIEVE for it!
2. God’s vision requires faith and supernatural manifestation.
a) When God calls you to do something, His call is NOT based on your paycheck. He calls you based on His grace. He already gave you the grace. The resources are already stored up. All He needs from you now is your FAITH!
b) Favor can do more in a minute, than labor can do in a lifetime.
c) One Word of from God, one supernatural manifestation can do more than 50 years of hard work.
d) You can’t earn God’s assignment. God planned your assignment before you were born. He did this by His unearned grace. Your job is to receive it by faith. And just like you can’t earn the assignment, God is not looking for you to “earn” the money to pay for it. He is looking for you to BELIEVE!
e) God is not looking for you to perform to earn His best. Religion is about performance, which is why God hates religion. He is not looking for you to perform, He is looking for you to believe!
Closing Confession: Father, this is a year of Great Victory for me. I am a believer and not a doubter. I walk by faith and not by fear. I believe You! You give me the vision and You have already prepared the provision. You are a God of NO LIMITS! My total trust and confidence is in You! Therefore, I don’t see limits. There is nothing You can’t do, no assignment You can’t complete, no challenge You can’t overcome, and no project You can’t fund. So I enter this day and the rest of my life with my eyes, heart and faith fixed and focused on You! Living this way, there’s nothing I can’t do, because I am not the one who is doing it. It is You Father, living IN me; You give me the words and You perform the work! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
2 comments
Your preaching has really blessed my soul. I have made so many wrong decisions in the past. If God favoured you and you did not recognise the favour from God and you let go of the opportunity, can God still bring back those opportunity you’ve lost.
Hi Rick.
This teaching of Simon is a great blessing to me! My mind got opened up and I now understand a whole range of things when it comes to provision for a new testament believers!
Thank you! I cannot miss even a single article every week day from you! I am being transformed by these teachings daily since the 6th of June last year! I visited the internet in search of some word concerning LANGUAGE OF FAITH that the holy spirit had impressed in me while praying. So I was directed to Today’s Word!