{"id":37051,"date":"2025-08-19T22:00:45","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T05:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=37051"},"modified":"2025-08-13T15:15:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T22:15:06","slug":"mark_8_1-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/mark_8_1-13\/","title":{"rendered":"The Difference Between Having Questions and Unbelief"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark 8:1-13\u00a0 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

\n

Today\u2019s passage is Mark 8:1-13.\u00a0 With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and see what sticks out to you in this passage.\u00a0 Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?\u00a0 After you\u2019ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Mark 8:1-10 (NIV)<\/strong><\/em>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said,
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long<\/em>\u00a0distance.”
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0About four thousand men were present. And having sent them away,
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-10:\u00a0 Like when Jesus fed the five thousand in Mark 6, here we see:<\/p>\n

– It was Jesus\u2019 heart of compassion for the people, not the desire to put on a show, that led Jesus to feed the people.\u00a0\u00a0Out of the heart the mouth speaks, and out of the heart ministry happens.\u00a0 It all begins with the heart.<\/strong>\u00a0 No wonder Proverbs 4:23 tells us to guard our heart, for it is the well spring of life.<\/p>\n

– Jesus involves his disciples.\u00a0 Wise Jesus would rather involve a team than be a one man show.<\/p>\n

– Despite having seen Jesus do incredible things (including an even bigger miracle by feeding 5,000+ people earlier), the disciples still act as though what Jesus is suggesting (feeding a crowd of 4,000+ people) is impossible.\u00a0 Like the disciples, sometimes we can be so slow to learn.\u00a0 We\u2019ve seen God do amazing things and yet we don\u2019t believe Him to do miracles that are even smaller than what we\u2019ve already seen.<\/p>\n

– Instead of focusing on and complaining about what they don\u2019t have, Jesus starts with what he and his disciples have, and he gives thanks for it.<\/p>\n

Mark 8:11-13 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it.”
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 11-13:\u00a0 It is perfectly okay to have honest questions, but having questions and having unbelief are two different things.\u00a0 Unbelief is the refusal to believe no matter how many questions you ask and how many answers you get.\u00a0 What is a symptom of unbelief?\u00a0 You keep asking God for new signs and new evidence even after God has already shown you plenty of evidence.\u00a0 That\u2019s what was happening with the Pharisees.<\/p>\n

The Pharisees had witnessed Jesus do incredible miracles, one after another, but instead of believing in Jesus they just asked Jesus for more signs.\u00a0 Unbelief wants to avoid the personal responsibility of choosing to believe by requiring God or others to do more and more.\u00a0 \u00a0But as we see in verse 12, God will not play that game.<\/p>\n

One day you will need to give an account to God for what you do with what He showed you throughout your lifetime.\u00a0 At that point, \u201cYou didn\u2019t give me enough signs\u201d will not be an excuse (see Romans 1:18-20).\u00a0 The question is not \u201cGod, how about another sign?\u201d\u00a0 The question is: will you look at what God already has shown you, humble yourself and believe?<\/p>\n

Jesus, I pray that I would not be hindered by unbelief, whether it\u2019s my own or others\u2019.\u00a0 Thank You that with You all things are possible.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Mark 8:1-13.\u00a0 With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and see what sticks out to you in this passage.\u00a0 Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?\u00a0 After you\u2019ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Mark 8:1-10 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said,
\n2\u00a0\u00a0“I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long\u00a0distance.”<\/p>\n

On verses 1-10:\u00a0 Like when Jesus fed the five thousand in Mark 6, here we see:<\/p>\n

– It was Jesus\u2019 heart of compassion for the people, not the desire to put on a show, that led Jesus to feed the people.\u00a0\u00a0Out of the heart the mouth speaks, and out of the heart ministry happens.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37053,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37051","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\/37051","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=37051"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37054,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37051\/revisions\/37054"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}