Sunday, August 4, 2013

The Provider and the Provision

Mark 6:30-44 The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught.  Then Jesus said, "Let's go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile." He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn't even have time to eat.  So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone.  But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them.  Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.  Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late.  Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat."  But Jesus said, "You feed them." "With what?" they asked. "We'd have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!"  "How much bread do you have?" he asked. "Go and find out." They came back and reported, "We have five loaves of bread and two fish."  Then Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass.  So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred.  Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share.  They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish.  A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed from those loaves!

Mark 8:1-10 About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them, "I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat.  If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance."  His disciples replied, "How are we supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?" Jesus asked, "How much bread do you have?" "Seven loaves," they replied.  So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd.  A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to distribute them.  They ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food.  There were about 4,000 people in the crowd that day, and Jesus sent them home after they had eaten.  Immediately after this, he got into a boat with his disciples and crossed over to the region of Dalmanutha.

Mark 8:14-21 But the disciples had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat.  As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, "Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod."  At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn't brought any bread.  Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, "Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don't you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in?  'You have eyes-can't you see? You have ears-can't you hear?' Don't you remember anything at all?  When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?" "Twelve," they said.  "And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?" "Seven," they said.  "Don't you understand yet?" he asked them.

John 6:26-27 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs.  But don't be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval."

Matthew 6:31-34 "So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?'  These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.  "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today.

  • Jesus is not only our provider, He is our provision
  • How many times will it take for us to truly understand who He is?
  • As we grow in our understanding, we grow in faith & trust, and the more we love Him and respond to His Lordship

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