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)
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?“
The Bible has a great deal to say about the importance of seeing in the spirit (and believing what you see). The Apostle Paul, as an example, certainly knew the importance of being able to perceive the things of God. He could not have accomplished what he accomplished without the ability to perceive in order to receive and perform God’s will. So this was his prayer for the believers in Ephesus:
“I always pray to the great and glorious Father, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that he will give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. The Spirit will let you know truths about God and help you understand them, so that you will know him better. I pray that God will open your minds (other translations say, “Flood your eyes with light”), to see his truth. Then you will know the hope that he has chosen us to have. You will know that the blessings God has promised his holy people are rich and glorious.” (Ephesians 1:17–18; parentheses added).
Paul prayed that believers would be able to “see.” This is absolutely critical because we will never take possession of things we can’t SEE in the spirit. This ability to see or perceive the things of the Father is what separated Jesus from everyone else. But once He died and the Holy Spirit was restored to believers, now we all can live like Jesus lived and like Adam lived before the fall of man.
So what does this mean for you today? Let’s glean a few things from Paul’s prayer.
1. Paul prayed for the believers to have the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God.
— Paul did not accomplish what he accomplished with head knowledge. He accomplished what he accomplished because he had the heart of God. Paul was able to flow with God and allow God to flow in/with/through him. This is how we are supposed to live today.
— The Spirit-led believer is possessed by God and knows it. He/she is led from the inside by the presence, power, wisdom, and revealed truth of God Himself.
— The Holy Spirit can provide divine wisdom and spiritual insight. This gives believers an advantage over those without God’s Spirit.
— God made plans for you before the world began, and part of the role of the Holy Spirit is to reveal those plans to you.
— The Holy Spirit can reveal to you what is concealed from others. This revelation equips you to experience divine success (God’s best for you) on earth so that you can glorify God.
2. Paul emphasized the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
— Paul was unashamed about the role of the Holy Spirit. He said, “The Spirit will let you know truths about God and help you understand them, so that you will know him better.”
— Not only will the Holy Spirit reveal things to you about God, but the more you know God, the better you will know yourself as well. When you truly discover God, you actually get to discover yourself.
— The Holy Spirit can provide both revelation and understanding. This means He can reveal what was concealed and then help you understand what He revealed. Without this revelation and understanding, we will never be able to maximize our purpose and potential in life.
— God Himself lives in you, and you should live like it. God never intended for your post-conversion life to be confined by human limits. Once God Himself (in the person of the Holy Spirit), took up residence inside of you, you became a spiritual being living in a natural world, called to demonstrate the supernatural on this planet. People are supposed to experience heaven on earth when they come in contact with you!
3. The Holy Spirit provides revealed knowledge.
The Holy Spirit can tell us things we need to know when we need to know them, so we can maximize whatever situation we are in. He has provided me with information at critical times, for both personal and professional situations, and this information has helped me produce outcomes that glorify the Lord. So spend quiet time with the Father. His sheep are supposed to hear His voice. Open up your heart and allow Him to speak to you. What you hear will be what you need to hear, when you need to hear it, if your heart is open to hearing.
4. The Holy Spirit provides revealed wisdom.
When the Holy Spirit provides revealed knowledge, it is awesome, but not as awesome as revealed wisdom. Knowledge is information. Wisdom is how to apply it. The wisdom of God will tell you what to do with the information you have. So, not only can the Holy Spirit reveal something to you that you did not know about any given situation, but He can then turn around and give you wisdom concerning WHAT TO DO with the information you just received. This is how we are supposed to live. We are supposed to be led from the inside out. Our daily lives are supposed to be an outpouring of the internal. This is how Jesus lived. This is the life He modeled for us. This is how Adam lived before the fall. Adam never went to school to learn. What Adam did was discern. Adam received both knowledge and wisdom by revelation from the Father. Once you start living this way, you will never go back to living based on human ability alone.
5. The Holy Spirit provides revelation so you can know God better.
Paul said, “The Spirit will let you know truths about God and help you understand them, so that you will know him better.” Did you catch that last statement? Why does the Father reveal truths to you? Why does He help you understand the truth He revealed? Why does He give you revealed knowledge and the wisdom to apply it? Paul gives us the answer: “So that you will know him better.” The goal of everything you do with, in, and for Christ should be getting to know God better. Our God is not a cold, distant, or despondent Lord. He is a loving, caring, and sharing heavenly Father who yearns for a deep and intimate relationship with You as His child.
— The Father does not want you to be afraid of Him. He wants you to get to know Him. He gave you His Spirit so you could know Him intimately.
— Jesus did not die so you could have a cold, rigid, and ritualistic religion. Jesus died to restore to you what Adam had. The Garden was not about rules; it was about relationship. Adam walked with God, and God walked with him. Adam received revelation daily, and that revelation equipped him to exercise dominion and authority on the earth. This is how we are supposed to live today.
— Get to know the God who loves you SO much that He sent His Son to die for you, and He sent His Spirit to live inside of you. Once you do, your life will never be the same.
6. The unrenewed mind will always fight against the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
When you made Jesus your Lord, your spirit was Born-Again; it was made new. But your soul was not. Your soul contains a conscious and a subconscious mind. Both can be renewed (see Romans 12:2). The word used to describe the renewing of your mind in Romans 12:2 is the Greek word for metamorphosis. God does not want you to be changed gradually. He wants you to be completely transformed in your mind so that you can think and act like Him. It is the type of transformation that a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly. If you renew your mind with the Word of God, you will be completely transformed in your soul (the way you think, feel, and make decisions) to the point where your soul will be OPEN to what the Holy Spirit is revealing. Without this transformation, your mind will constantly miss what the Holy Spirit is saying and doing.
To paint the picture of this, all we need to do is go back to the miracle we are studying. Jesus was being led by the Holy Spirit. The disciples, with their unrenewed minds, were being led by their physical senses.
For you to get the point I am making, you must understand the difference between conscious beliefs and subconscious beliefs. What you believe consciously, you are able to articulate. You can tell me what you believe consciously. You can say, “This is what I believe.” But what you believe subconsciously can only be demonstrated in your behavior. What you do reveals your subconscious beliefs. Jesus was frustrated with the disciples because their actions kept revealing to Him what they believed deep down in their hearts. It does not matter what they said. Jesus was looking at what they did. They were arguing over not having enough food, and it drove Jesus nuts!
If you don’t change the way you think with the Word of God, changing your conscious and subconscious minds, you, too, will frustrate the Holy Spirit. He will be speaking, but your internal programming will fight against what He is revealing. The good news is that you can be changed through a steady diet of the Word of God! You can get to the point where your soul is OPEN to receive, believe, and attempt what the Holy Spirit reveals!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me!
I am born from above. Your Spirit lives IN me. I am no longer limited to operating as a mere man. I am a God-man.
Your Spirit gives me revelation and understanding. Your Spirit gives me insight from heaven.
You reveal things to me that I could know no other way. I discern things I could not learn. And You then give me the understanding I need to apply what You revealed.
To make all this work, I must put in the work required to get my mind renewed. I feed on a steady diet of Your Word so my conscious and subconscious minds can be changed to think and act like You!
My mind is renewed, and it is now OPEN to receive all the Holy Spirit reveals!
Living this way, I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
