SCRIPTURE: Mark 6
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith. [Mark 6:5-6]
Why do some people experience miracles, and others do not?
I believe miracles are happening all around us, but not everyone sees them (many do not).
If we do not expect them, if we are not open to them, if we rationalize everything that doesn’t fit our understanding, we will not experience them.
In the end, it is a lack of faith!
Don’t misunderstand me.
I am not saying that a sick person who prays to get well and doesn’t, did not have enough faith.
THAT miracle may not occur, but miracles will happen around them still – just not the ones they wanted or expected.
God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine [Ephesians 3:20-21], and I think He usually does – more than we ask or imagine.
We want what we ask or imagine, but He does more.
And despite what we think, His answer is better.
Mark 6 is filled with the ordinary and the extraordinary!
Jesus can’t perform miracles in His hometown, for some reason they are not open to Him.
His disciples heal people and cast out demons (wow!).
John the Baptist cannot get free from prison, but is beheaded instead (lack of faith?).
Great crowds are fed with limited bread and fish (more than the disciples asked or imagined!).
The disciples cross the sea by boat, Jesus by foot.
Crowds gather to be around this amazing, unusual, unpredictable miracle worker.
I believe Jesus can do so much more than I ask or imagine.
The problem for me is not Jesus’ limitations, but mine.
I limit Him to what I ask or imagine.
I refuse to see the miraculous all around me – God moments, chance encounters, coincidences (or God-incidents), unexpected gifts, heart changes in others, unplanned circumstances.
I forget to see His hand behind these things.
How many miracles have I participated in, yet not understood or appreciated?
They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened. [Mark 6:52]
Do we limit the God we love?
Do we disregard all that He does, only focusing on what He did not do?
Could He do so much more, if our hearts were more open to Him?
PRAYER:
Lord, I love You, and I limit You. I want to see more, to appreciate what You do all around me. May I see more miracles today!
In today’s reading, two things hit me.
In the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, after they ate and were satisfied they collected 12 basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. Why was this mentioned? Leftovers? Emphasis on the miracle? More than we started with? Or I need to be careful of the resource that the Lord God has given me? God does supply all my needs. I have more than enough. He gives me my daily ‘bread’. And more. What do I do with all that He has given me? Am I a good steward by being a blessing to others for He has truly blessed me?
‘their hearts were hardened.’ It is a refrain that I remember from the OT and here it is in the NT with the disciples. They had been with Jesus and had seen the miracles and yet – they did not understand; their hearts were hardened.
He walked on the waters and calmed the storm and saw the miracle of the fish and the bread – but they did not see Him as the bread of LIFE and the GIVER of all good gifts.
Thank You Lord for my daily bread. As You have fed me may I also feed others by my walk and talk. Help me to be a living letter to all around me so that they may see You in me. My PowerSource. SpiritDriven. DailyBread. JesusFed.
My Jesus, My Saviour,
Lord there is no one like you,
All of my days, I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love.
My comfort, my shelter,
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You.
Chorus:
Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing,
Power and majesty, praise to the King!
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar,
At the sound of your name!
I sing for joy at the work of your hands,
Forever I’ll love you, forever I’ll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.
Repeat verse
My Jesus, my Saviour,
Lord, there is none like You
All of my days, I want to praise,
The wonders of your mighty love
My comfort, my shelter,
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You
In today’s reading, two things hit me.
In the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, after they ate and were satisfied they collected 12 basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. Why was this mentioned? Leftovers? Emphasis on the miracle? More than we started with? Or I need to be careful of the resource that the Lord God has given me? God does supply all my needs. I have more than enough. He gives me my daily ‘bread’. And more. What do I do with all that He has given me? Am I a good steward by being a blessing to others for He has truly blessed me?
‘their hearts were hardened.’ It is a refrain that I remember from the OT and here it is in the NT with the disciples. They had been with Jesus and had seen the miracles and yet – they did not understand; their hearts were hardened.
He walked on the waters and calmed the storm and saw the miracle of the fish and the bread – but they did not see Him as the bread of LIFE and the GIVER of all good gifts.
Thank You Lord for my daily bread. As You have fed me may I also feed others by my walk and talk. Help me to be a living letter to all around me so that they may see You in me. My PowerSource. SpiritDriven. DailyBread. JesusFed.
My Jesus, My Saviour,
Lord there is no one like you,
All of my days, I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love.
My comfort, my shelter,
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You.
Chorus:
Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing,
Power and majesty, praise to the King!
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar,
At the sound of your name!
I sing for joy at the work of your hands,
Forever I’ll love you, forever I’ll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.
Repeat verse
My Jesus, my Saviour,
Lord, there is none like You
All of my days, I want to praise,
The wonders of your mighty love
My comfort, my shelter,
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You
In today’s reading, two things hit me.
In the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, after they ate and were satisfied they collected 12 basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. Why was this mentioned? Leftovers? Emphasis on the miracle? More than we started with? Or I need to be careful of the resource that the Lord God has given me? God does supply all my needs. I have more than enough. He gives me my daily ‘bread’. And more. What do I do with all that He has given me? Am I a good steward by being a blessing to others for He has truly blessed me?
‘their hearts were hardened.’ It is a refrain that I remember from the OT and here it is in the NT with the disciples. They had been with Jesus and had seen the miracles and yet – they did not understand; their hearts were hardened.
He walked on the waters and calmed the storm and saw the miracle of the fish and the bread – but they did not see Him as the bread of LIFE and the GIVER of all good gifts.
Thank You Lord for my daily bread. As You have fed me may I also feed others by my walk and talk. Help me to be a living letter to all around me so that they may see You in me. My PowerSource. SpiritDriven. DailyBread. JesusFed.
My Jesus, My Saviour,
Lord there is no one like you,
All of my days, I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love.
My comfort, my shelter,
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You.
Chorus:
Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing,
Power and majesty, praise to the King!
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar,
At the sound of your name!
I sing for joy at the work of your hands,
Forever I’ll love you, forever I’ll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.
Repeat verse
My Jesus, my Saviour,
Lord, there is none like You
All of my days, I want to praise,
The wonders of your mighty love
My comfort, my shelter,
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You