This morning, we continue our series, “The Miracles of Jesus,” by looking at when Jesus fed 5,000 with a little boy’s lunch. We looked at this miracle for the past couple of days, and we will do it again today.
Before we get into the miracle, let’s look at the foundational scripture I will share be sharing 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.
(John 6:1-14 NIV)
1 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias),
2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick.
3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.
4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”
6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up,
9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there).
11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”
13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
So what does this mean for you today? A few final things as we wrap up this miracle today.
1. God will multiply whatever You put in His hands.
I taught on this yesterday, but I will drive home this point further today.
— There is a seed for every need. If you have a need and what you have available to you is clearly not enough, then you need to consider whether or not what you have is a seed.
— Anything you give up for God becomes a seed, and He will never be in debt to You. He is the Lord of the Harvest, and He will ensure you reap a harvest on every seed sown.
— God will work with whatever you put in His hands, and He will multiply it.
— God is a God of increase. In the parable of the talents (which were portions of money), the Lord honored the servants who doubled the money and punished the one who did nothing with it. Notice that the man who buried the talent did not lose the money, but he did not multiply it either, and God called him “wicked.” The point is that God wants you to use whatever He puts in your hands and do something with it because that is how He operates. He will multiply whatever you place in His hands!
— The more you give God, the more God will do with it. You cannot beat God’s giving.
— If what you have is not enough in your hands, then get it out of your hands. It depends on whose hands it’s in. If you can’t do what you want with it, then place it in God’s hands and watch what He does with it!
— God is a God of provision and abundance, and He will do what He does with what you place in His hands!
2. While God is a God of overflow and abundance, He is not wasteful.
— God wants us to be good stewards of all He places in our hands.
— Jesus told the disciples to gather up all the leftovers, and there were 12 baskets of food.
— While God will give you overflow, He does not want you to waste it.
— In this season, please take time to consider what God has given you and what He is giving you, and ensure that you are a good steward.
— While God is not pinching pennies, He also does not want you to be wasteful. If you are wasteful, you are devaluing what He places in your hands.
— Just like you want God to honor what you place in His hands, He wants you to honor what He places in your hands!
3. God goes out of His way to teach us His ways because He wants us to use us for His glory in this world.
While God’s ways are far above our ways, and His thoughts are far above our thoughts, He did provide us with His Word and His Spirit. The Bible teaches us God’s character, attributes, and ways. The Holy Spirit, the author of the book, takes it to another level and provides us with revelation concerning what God said (back then) and what God is saying (today). God does all of this because we were created in His image, after His likeness, and with the charge to extend His Kingdom on this planet. So He teaches us how He operates so we can emulate and replicate Him in this world. This is the goal: As Jesus is, so are we in this world (1 Jn 4:17).
So how does this point apply to this miracle? I will explain:
— Jesus was always in teaching mode because He wanted the disciples to learn to do what He did.
— If they were not supposed to operate like Him on this planet, then all the lessons Jesus provided would not matter.
— Jesus had the disciples participate in the miracle. The fish and loaves were multiplying in their hands as they distributed them. They got to experience the power of God firsthand.
— God does this because He wants you involved in what He is doing on this planet.
— Jesus welcomed the disciples to be part of the miracle, and God will do the same with you. He will reveal to you what He is doing in your area and within your sphere of influence because He wants you to get involved. He wants you to be part of advancing His Kingdom.
— God wants the world to know Him, but He wants the world to get to know Him through you.
— The more you get involved in what God is doing, the more you will learn His ways, the more you will experience His power, and the more you will evangelize the world. In the end, remember God is trying to reach the world through you.
4. God uses manifestations of His power as a tool for evangelism.
— People came to God because of the fish and loaves. God knew this, and He was not against it. Remember, the people we are trying to reach are NOT spiritual.
— People without the Holy Spirit are not spiritual people. They don’t have God’s Spirit, and they don’t hear God’s voice. So they are looking for things they can see (things they can validate with their natural senses). When you claim to be a Christian, they look at your life, and they judge your faith by your works. If your life is not “producing” something that the lives of non-Christians can’t produce, then they will see no difference between you and the world. In other words, the world is looking for your life to show them your faith. When you are led by God’s Spirit, your life will produce “works” that will do just that.
— God is not opposed to manifesting His power on this planet because the miracles show people (who need to see things before they believe) that there is a God and He can do all things!!!
— Please open your heart to be used by God at a greater level this year. Remember, it’s not just about you. As you get refreshed and restored to the former glory, and as God uses you in ways that are beyond you, God will be glorified, and He will use your life to draw people to HIM! The goal is for the world to see Jesus and you.
— The crowd had already seen miracles of healing, but when everyone was able to eat enough and get full, the miracles of the fishes in those true even greater crowds, and God was able to reach people through it. Just keep that in mind when God seeks to use you, promote you, increase your business, give you positions of increased influence, etc. In the end, God is still trying to reach the world, and He wants to reach this world through YOU! The reason why He is exalting you, promoting you, and giving you positions of greater influence is so that you can have a greater impact in this world!
— People see God in you by the work you perform. Jesus said that we would be known by our fruit (Mat 7:16). In other words, the fruit our lives produce should help identify us as children of God. Good works are part of that fruit. Miracles were also part of it. People came from everywhere, not because they wanted to know God, but because they were drawn by the fish and loaves. As God uses you to impact this world, just remember to keep Him as your focus. It’s sad to see, but sometimes God blesses people in their business or career, and the people get so caught up in God’s blessing that they fail to acknowledge the God who gave it to them. Please don’t let this be you! Remember, IT’S ALL ABOUT HIM!
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for Your love and grace! I believe this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me!
As I study the miracles of Jesus, my faith is reignited and increased!
You are a God of abundance and overflow. You can do amazing things with whatever I place in Your hands. And because I honor and value all You place in my hands, I will be careful and prayerful concerning what I place in Your hands in this season.
In 2023, I will SOW, SAVE, and SPEND (in that order). I will increase my giving because You will increase me and my household, financially and in every area of our lives.
As we grow in this area and as You give us favor, promotion, advancement, acceleration, and increase, we will use our influence to draw people to You. The purpose of our prosperity is evangelism. We will glorify You in all things at all times. We will fund Your projects around the world and lift up JESUS with our lives and living.
This is how 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!
