{"id":30751,"date":"2024-04-22T22:00:44","date_gmt":"2024-04-23T05:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/john-5_41-47-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-04-02T16:38:01","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T23:38:01","slug":"john-6_1-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/john-6_1-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Give Thanks for What You Have and Let God Use It"},"content":{"rendered":"

John 6:1-15 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is John 6:1-15.\u00a0 I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

John 6:1-5 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias),
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When 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?”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-5: \u00a0Notice that when Jesus sees the crowd, his heart goes out to them and he wants to serve them.\u00a0 When he sees the crowd, he probably envisions fields ripe for harvest and sheep without a shepherd.\u00a0 Also, since verse 4 mentions that the Jewish Passover Feast was near, Jesus probably thought, \u201cLet\u2019s have a party with these people.\u201d<\/p>\n

What do you see when you see crowds in your city?\u00a0Like Jesus may you have a heart for the people around you.\u00a0 Like Jesus, may you desire for God to work powerfully in their lives.<\/strong>\u00a0As we will see in this passage,\u00a0multitudes will be blessed when the hearts of a few willing and courageous individuals align with the heart of God<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

John 6:6-7 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 6-7:\u00a0 Jesus asked Philip a question about where to get bread to feed the crowd, but Jesus already knew what he was going to do (v6).\u00a0 So why did Jesus ask?\u00a0 Once again we see that\u00a0when Jesus asks you a question, it\u2019s not because he doesn\u2019t know the answer.\u00a0 Jesus asks you a question because he wants to reveal something to you that you didn\u2019t readily see yourself.<\/strong>\u00a0 In this case, before Jesus would perform one of his most famous miracles, Jesus wanted Philip to understand the magnitude of the miracle he was about to do.<\/p>\n

John 6:8-11 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up,
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Jesus 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 8-11:\u00a0 Notice that whereas the disciples looked down on what they had, Jesus gave thanks to the Father for what they had (\u201cJesus then took the loaves, gave thanks\u2026\u201d).\u00a0 Jesus put what they had to use, as little as it might seem to others.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the lesson here?\u00a0\u00a0Rather than complaining about the little that you have, give thanks to God for what you have and put it to good use.\u00a0 Others will be impacted when you do.<\/strong><\/p>\n

John 6:12 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 12:\u00a0 I love that Jesus is not one to waste even the leftovers.\u00a0 Rather, he makes use even of the things others would discard or leave behind.\u00a0 Like a great coach who sees value where others don\u2019t see it, Jesus has this way of getting the most out of people and things.<\/p>\n

Also, the little boy who gave away his five loaves and two fish was the unsung hero here.\u00a0 The story of his life is that\u00a0when you give to God the little that you think you have, He can feed a multitude<\/strong>.\u00a0 Also,\u00a0when you give to God first, not only will He use you to help others, but God will also make sure you are taken care of.<\/strong><\/p>\n

John 6:13 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 13:\u00a0 In the Bible 12 is often symbolic of perfection or completion.\u00a0 The 12 baskets of leftovers suggest that\u00a0Jesus\u2019 provision for the people was perfect and complete, perfectly sufficient\u00a0<\/strong>to meet their needs.\u00a0 Likewise,\u00a0when Jesus the bread of life broke himself on the cross for us, his provision for our needs, his sacrifice for our sins, was perfect and complete.<\/strong><\/p>\n

John 6:14-15 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 14-15:\u00a0 While Jesus served the people, notice that Jesus would not let the people dictate his schedule or run his agenda.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus was the servant of all but a slave to nobody.<\/strong>\u00a0 Likewise, may you be humble to serve others, but may you also be careful not to allow yourself to be controlled by people who do not have your best interest in mind.<\/p>\n

Lord Jesus, no one has as big a heart as you do.\u00a0 No one serves like you serve.\u00a0 No one provides the way you provide.\u00a0 May we learn to have a heart like Yours and to serve like You serve.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is John 6:1-15.\u00a0 I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

John 6:1-5 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias),
\n2\u00a0\u00a0and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.
\n4\u00a0\u00a0The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
\n5\u00a0\u00a0When 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?”
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 1-5: \u00a0Notice that when Jesus sees the crowd, his heart goes out to them and he wants to serve them.\u00a0 When he sees the crowd, he probably envisions fields ripe for harvest and sheep without a shepherd.\u00a0 Also, since verse 4 mentions that the Jewish Passover Feast was near, Jesus probably thought, \u201cLet\u2019s have a party with these people.\u201d
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30751"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30754,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30751\/revisions\/30754"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}