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 Jesus feeding the 4,000 and what happened afterward for a few days. In yesterday’s message, I talked about the importance of establishing altars and how sometimes we must look back in order to look forward. Today’s message will flow in that same vein. Let’s get into it.
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?” Jesus made a direct connection between the experiences of their past and the expectation of their future. This is what I will focus on today. I am calling it “experience-based expansion.”
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. God wants you to experience Him, not just read about Him.
— I am convinced that far too many Christians are more focused on the God they experience in church on Sunday than the God they are supposed to walk with once they leave the church. The church is not the experience. While it is true that you can experience God in church, the church is supposed to be the “huddle.” No one goes to a football game to see the huddle. No one wants to watch the team come together and talk about plays. They want to see the team LEAVE the huddle and actually GO RUN THE PLAYS! When you come to church, you are coming to the huddle. You are supposed to LEAVE THE CHURCH and RUN THE PLAYS!
— Reading about God is one thing, but in order to truly LIVE by faith, the Father requires you to experience what you read. You have to go from classroom teaching to hands-on Labs (in real life).
— Godly experiences take you UP to God’s level. Humanity has a tendency to want to bring God DOWN to our level. But God, in His infinite wisdom, knows that something powerful happens when we have an experience that takes us UP to His level.
— The disciples were part of the miracles of the fish and loaves. The fish and bread multiplied in their hands as they distributed it. It was supernatural. It was amazing. It was beyond human. It was God. But somehow, their experiences with God was not resulting in a true life change. After feeding 5,000 with two fish and five loaves of bread and 4,000 with seven loaves of bread, the disciples were concerned about what they would eat when they boarded a boat with only one loaf of bread. Here’s the point: you must make your relationship with God personal. You must see His love and power as something that He wants to share with YOU!
— Your experiences WITH God must influence your expectations OF God.
2. Your past experiences with God are supposed to influence your future expectations.
— Jesus was frustrated with His disciples when they complained about only having one loaf of bread. The issue was not that one loaf was not enough for 13 people. The issue was that they could not believe God to multiply the loaf. Even after seeing the 5,000 and the 4,000 fed supernaturally. Even after being part of the miracles. Even after watching the fish and loaves multiply IN THEIR HANDS. They still got to a point where they had a need, and they did not believe God. Don’t let this happen to you!
— Your experiences with God are supposed to help you expand your capability to believe Him!
— God wants you to believe Him. He wants you to expect the supernatural. He is not upset when you make a demand on Him to do what only He can do. He is actually disappointed when you don’t!
— Going to church and reading your Bible is great, but those things should lead to real experiences with the God you were learning about. And God expects your experiences with Him to influence your growth in ways that simply reading about Him never could.
3. The Apostle Paul had encounters of the God kind.
Most Christians are familiar with Paul’s famous declaration that he could DO ALL THINGS through Christ (Phil 4:13). Let’s read the verses leading up to this statement to get the proper context.
The Apostle Paul said, “I have learned to be content with what I have and with whatever happens. I know what it is like to not have much and to also I have plenty. I have learned the secret of how to live through any kind of situation—when I have enough to eat or when I am hungry, when I have everything I need or when I have nothing. I can do all things through Christ, for he is the one who gives me the strength I need to do whatever I must do.” (Phil 4:11-13)
— Paul’s famous “I can do all things” statement is not a statement of confidence in his own abilities. No. It is a declaration of faith in his confidence in God. Paul knew he could do all things because he was not the one doing it. It was God, living in Him and through Him. How did Paul get to this revelation? It was through experiences.
— The secret to Paul saying that he could do all things is found in the opening part of his statement. Here is the secret: Paul said, “I have learned to be content with what I have and with whatever happens.” Paul learned, through experiences, that God would see him through whatever challenge he faced. When Paul had more than enough or not enough, when Paul was struggling or striving, he kept his eyes ON Jesus and his confidence IN Jesus! But this did not happen overnight. Paul had to LEARN some things to get to this point. And how did he learn them? Through experiences!
— Thank God for all you learn while reading His book (the Bible), but your learning turns into living through encounters!
4. God must be experienced.
— It is unfortunate, but many believers just know God from a book. God does not live in a book. He lives inside our hearts. However, many fail to truly experience Him or even welcome the experiences.
— The Bible is not a textbook to study; it is a LIFEBOOK to live. Your learning must turn into living.
— If you don’t know God through experiences, then I would venture to say that you don’t know him at all. Open your heart to experience God today and every day.
— Walking and living by faith is exciting. When you start opening your heart to see the invisible, believe the impossible, and attempt the improbable, you will experience God in ways that exceed your humanity, and this is the way we are supposed to live!
— If you never attempt anything that is beyond your ability, power, or strength, then I would tell you that you are not walking by faith yet. Faith will call you beyond your limits into the realm where, if God does not do it, it won’t get done. This is the way we are supposed to live.
— Jesus wanted His disciples to say, “Oh man! We left the food behind. We only have one loaf of bread. But that’s no problem. The same God who multiplied two fish and five loaves for 5,000, and multiplied seven loaves for 4,000, will take this one loaf and multiply it for us! God is our source! We trust in Him. We shall lack nothing! We have nothing to fear!” While this is what they should have said, as we know, it is not what they said, and Jesus was upset about it.
— Will you please God today with your faith, a faith that continues to expand with every experience? Or will you frustrate Him with fear, doubt, and unbelief because you only know Him from a book?
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me!
You made plans for me before the world began, and You are ready to manifest those plans in my life. This is where my experiences come in.
You allow me to experience You in ways that are truly supernatural. When I do, my experiences take my faith to a higher level.
Reading about You and Your power is one thing. Seeing You work in the life of someone else is great. But experiencing You for myself does something for me that is hard to explain.
Thank You, Father, for going out of Your way to allow me to experience You on a consistent basis.
My experiences with You help feed my faith and starve my doubts. I have seen too much, been through too much, and experienced too much to doubt You now!
I walk and live by faith, and my faith is strong because I have experienced You along the way. 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!
