Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”
Our Bible verse for today: “… when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward Him, He asked Philip, ‘Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?’ He asked this to test him, for He knew what He was going to do. Philip answered, ‘Two hundred denarii worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.” John 6:5-7 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “God has all the resources He needs to achieve what He wants.”
Are you familiar with the story of “The Fish and the Loaves”? It appears in all four Gospels. In this scene a huge crowd has gathered to listen to Jesus. As the day wore on the massive crowd grew hungry. But since they were in a remote region, there were no provisions available. The nearest McDonald’s was many miles away.
To test the depth of faith and understanding his disciples had of Him at that point, and to teach them a valuable lesson, Jesus asked Philip where they were going to get enough food to feed all these hungry people. As we see in John 6:5-7, Philip essentially said that it was impossible, they couldn’t do it.
As the story unfolds, Andrew, another of the disciples, brings to Jesus a young boy who happened to have five small loaves of bread and two fish. That’s all the food the disciples were able to round up in that big crowd. Undaunted, Jesus blesses the food and then miraculously turns it into a feast that fed twenty thousand, with baskets full of leftovers.
The moral of the story? Jesus isn’t restricted by physical limitations. Jesus can take a little and turn it into a lot. Jesus can take nothing and turn it into everything. Jesus can provide breakfast, lunch, and supper, along with a midnight snack, and then He can pay your rent for you too. Jesus is really cool and He can do anything.
When Philip answered Jesus’ question he was thinking in terms of the economy of the world, not the economy of God. Philip was thinking about what men could do, not what God could do. But Jesus wanted His followers to begin thinking in terms of God’s rules of economics rather than in man’s rules of economics. Had the outcome depended on what Philip and his buddies could do, everyone would have gone home hungry. But with God, all things are possible.
This is a lesson we need to learn too. We tend to look at our physical circumstances (especially our financial circumstances), in terms of what’s possible and achievable in the physical realm. But God doesn’t operate based upon what’s possible in the physical realm. God’s kingdom operates based upon what’s possible in His power and with His resources. That’s a game-changer. With God nothing is impossible. Everything is achievable.
That doesn’t mean that God will suddenly shower you with piles of money for your own use and personal enjoyment. But it does mean that God has all the resources He needs in order to achieve any outcome He desires. And if you and I are in the center of His will, doing the things that He wants us to do, He is fully able to provide the things needed in order to accomplish what He has ordained.
God’s economy is different from man’s economy. God has all the resources He needs to accomplish whatever He wants done. We will spend the rest of the month exploring this great truth and learning how it plays out in the daily lives of God’s people.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 