Read Mark 8:1-21
This morning we continue our series entitled, “The Year of Supernatural Manifestation”, with our mini-series on “The Miracles of Jesus.” After walking through all the miracles Jesus performed, I am using the last miracle I covered, the feeding of the 4,000, as a launching point from which to discuss the importance of spiritual perception. We have been looking at this miracle and this concept for days. Let’s do it again.
In Mark 8 Jesus fed 4,000 people with seven loaves of bread. Later He and His disciples boarded a boat to head to the other side of the lake. Once in the boat, the disciples realized that they only had one loaf of bread. This caused an argument about who was supposed to bring the food. Jesus said, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see? Are you not able to understand? Do you have eyes that can’t see? Do you have ears that can’t hear? Remember what I did before, when we did not have enough bread? I divided five loaves of bread for 5000 people. How many baskets of food were left over?” The disciples answered, “12 full baskets.” Jesus continued, “And when I divided seven loaves of bread for 4000 people, how many baskets did you fill with the leftover pieces?” They answered, “Seven full baskets.” Then Jesus said to them, “You remember these things I did, but you still don’t understand?”
Jesus often seemed like He was in another world, because in a way, He was. He was in this world, but He was receiving His daily “marching orders” from heaven. He was not driven by the urgency normally associated with the goings-on of this world. If there was ever any urgency behind His actions, the urgency came from the spirit, not from this world. Incidentally, I know people like this. People who are so in-tune with God that they sometimes seem out-of-tune with this world. When the world puts pressure on them to provide an answer to a problem, it’s like they slow down even further, relying completely on God, and only moving when God says, “move”. These people are not moved by the human pressure to perform. They are only moved by God’s Spirit. Guess what? This is the way we are all supposed to live.
In yesterday’s message I said, “Jesus was frustrated with His disciples because they did not discern what He was doing, nor what He was capable of doing. He was being led of God’s Spirit and they were being driven by the circumstances of this world.” If we would be honest, the sad truth is that most days, many of us look more like the stumbling, bumbling, worrying disciples, than we do the confident, submitted and Spirit-led Jesus. This is what keeps me going. It is the frailty of my humanity that keeps me on my knees and at Jesus’ feet.
So, with all of this as the backdrop, allow me to give you a few more thoughts this morning about the importance of spiritual perception.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. The unseen realm is the superior realm.
a) Living by faith means you are living your life based on a reality you cannot see (with natural eyes) or validate (with sense realm evidence).
b) Living by faith is living on the earth in sync with heaven.
c) Just because you cannot see something with your natural eyes, it does not mean it’s not there. Actually, everything you can see in this world came from the world you cannot see. The writer of Hebrews said it this way, “Faith helps us understand that God created the whole world by his command. This means that the things we see were made by something that cannot be seen” (Heb 11:3).
d) The opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is natural sight. Which is why Paul said, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor 5:7). Jesus was living His life by faith. The disciples were living their lives by natural sight. This is why they were alarmed when they only had one loaf of bread and Jesus was not. They were focused on the seen. Jesus was focused on the unseen. The question is: what you are focused on?
2. Jesus paid too high of a cost for you to live a life that you could have lived without Him.
a) We are not called to live only by earthly limitations or information alone. What fun is it to live a life that is completely human? If you are never going to believe God for, or even attempt, the supernatural, then why do you think Jesus died?
b) Jesus did not die JUST so you can live the same way you were living without Him.
c) The blood of Jesus is too high a cost for you to remain the same. The cost of the cross must call you into seeing the invisible and attempting the impossible!
Closing Confession: Father, this is a year of Great Victory for me. I walk and live by faith, and not by sight. I spend time peering into the unseen realm by faith. The unseen is more real to me that what I see every day. When I see healing in the unseen, I am not moved by sickness in the seen. When I see provision in the unseen, I am not moved by lack in the seen. When I see victory in the unseen, I am not moved by opposition in the seen. I choose to live in-sync with You, even if it means I am out-of-sync with people down here, because this is the only way Your will is going to be done, ON EARTH, as it is in heaven. It will be done BY YOU, THROUGH ME, for Your glory! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
