This morning, we continue our series, “The Miracles of Jesus.” Before we get into the miracle, let’s look at the foundational scripture I will share with you all year.
(Psalm 126:4 TPT)
Now, Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory! May streams of your refreshing flow over us until our dry hearts are drenched again.
This is a season of refreshing and restoring for us. I pray you get refreshed and restored as we study each miracle.
(Read Mark 8:1-21)
We have been covering the miracle of feeding the 4,000 and what happened afterward for a few days. Let’s go back to it again today.
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 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?“
So what does this mean for you today? I will answer this question by focusing on spiritual perception today.
1. Spiritual perception is critical to successfully walking with God.
— Jesus lived His life as an example of what it looks like to live in two realms at the same time. Jesus lived on the earth, but He received His marching orders from heaven. This is the way we are supposed to live.
— There are always two realms in operation. Jesus sometimes seemed like He was not in sync with this realm because He was in sync with God’s realm. When you truly live by faith you are operating off of instructions and evidence that the people of this world are blind to.
— Once you’re Born-Again, you are operating in two realms simultaneously. You’re in this world, but you’re not of this world. Your physical body receives input from this realm (through your five physical senses), and your spirit receives input from God’s realm (through the Holy Spirit). If you live by the Holy Spirit, God can use you to bring both realms together. Jesus was able to bring heaven to earth, and we can do the same when we are led by the Holy Spirit.
— After Jesus taught the parable of the sower to a crowd, He explained to His disciples why He spoke in parables. He said, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside, everything is said in parables so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding.” See, when God is using a human to communicate His thoughts, ideas, and ways in this world, there is a voice behind the voice of the human; there is a Word being communicated that is behind the words flowing from the human’s lips. In order to hear the voice behind the voice and the word behind the word, you must be spiritually perceptive.
— It is often very difficult to receive from God what you fail to perceive in your spirit. Because God is a spirit, and He communicates with us spirit-to-spirit. God is spiritual, not sensual, so He does not often communicate with us through our senses.
— God wants you to develop in Him to the point where you can see, hear and understand what He is doing in this world and in your life.
2. God expects your supernatural experiences with Him to help develop your spiritual perception.
— When the disciples complained about only having one loaf of bread, Jesus was upset about their lack of spiritual perception. They had been through so much with Him that He expected them to be able to perceive by that point. He asked, “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?” He then asked, “Remember what I did before, when we did not have enough bread?” Jesus’ point was that their past experiences should have helped them develop their spiritual perception.
— There are spiritual things happening every day, all around us. But for us to benefit and receive from the supernatural realm, we must be able to perceive it, believe it, and receive it by faith. This is why God wants us to see, hear and understand in the spirit. If you can see, hear, and understand in the spirit, you can be changed by what you see, hear, and understand, and it will position you to experience divine victory in this world.
3. When you are not spiritually discerning, you concern yourself with the wrong things.
— Jesus is a perfect example of what it looks like for a human to be completely submitted to the divine. He only said what He “heard” the Father say. He only did what He “saw” the Father do. This hearing and seeing were not done with His physical ears or eyes. They were done in His Spirit. We are called to live the same way.
— Jesus was frustrated with His disciples because they did not discern what He was doing, nor what He was capable of doing. He was in sync with God’s Spirit, while His team was in sync only with this world. This is why they thought having only one loaf of bread was a problem, while Jesus could not care less about a lack of bread. Jesus knew the Father could and would provide for them, so He was more concerned with the weightier matters of life.
— When you are spiritually discerning, you don’t allow yourself to be concerned with things that are ‘of no concern’ to God.
4. Your ability to SEE or PERCEIVE Spiritually will directly impact what you can accomplish with God and what God can accomplish through you.
— Jesus had the Holy Spirit living on the inside of Him. 50 days after His death, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on believers, and the New Testament church was established. Now, under the New Covenant, when you are Born-Again, God’s Spirit takes up residence inside of you. Once this happens, the Father expects you to learn to be led by His Spirit.
— When you have God’s Spirit, you have access to His mind. The Holy Spirit enables you to read the mind of God (see 1 Cor 2).
— God gave you His Spirit so you could know: 1) The plans He made for you before the world began, 2) What He is thinking daily, and 3) How to accomplish what He is leading you to do.
Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit in all things. I will close with a few verses that drive home the message that we should live the same way:
(Gal 5:16 TPT)
Let me emphasize this: As you yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life.
(Rom 8:5 TPT)
Those who are motivated by the flesh only pursue what benefits themselves. But those who live by the impulses of the Holy Spirit are motivated to pursue spiritual realities.
(Rom 8:14 TPT)
The mature children of God are those who are moved by the impulses of the Holy Spirit.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me!
I have accepted Jesus as my Lord. Your Spirit has taken up residence inside of me. I am born from above. I am a spiritual man. I am a heavenly citizen living on earth.
I am an ambassador of heaven in this world. I receive my instructions for You. I receive daily orders from headquarters.
You speak to me daily and throughout the day. I can discern Your will and accomplish it by faith. I can SEE who You called me to be. I can SEE what You want me to do. I can SEE how to get it done. These are not things I learn; these are things I discern. I live by my ability to SEE in the Spirit.
Living this way, I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME, and You will make a GREAT IMPACT THROUGH ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
