What Do You Have?

You Are Closer Than You Think – What Do You Have?

Main Text: Mark 8:1-21 (AMP)

GOD IS NOT GOING TO ASK YOU TO DO WHAT HE HAS NOT EQUIPPED YOU FOR

GOD IS NOT GOING TO ASK YOU TO DO SOMETHING OUTSIDE OF YOUR ABILITY TO PERFORM

GOD WILL NEVER ASK YOU TO DO SOMETHING THAT HE HAS EMPOWERED YOU TO DO

GOD WILL NOT ASK YOU TO DO WHAT HE DOESN'T ALREADY KNOW THE END OF IT

• What God Has Called He Has Equipped FOR
• Remind Yourself That You're Just A Vessel Being Used by God

Let's Review who you are in Christ:

Genesis 1:26 (AMP) Then God said, "Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority

Psalms 139:14 (AMP) I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.

Psalm 82:6 (AMP) I said, "You are gods; Indeed, all of you are sons of the Most High

John 10:34 (AMP) Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods [human judges representing God, not divine beings]'?

Study the Differences:

Last week we spoke about how Jesus helps feed 5000 people today we're going to see Jesus speaks for thousand people with a different slant. in this story, Jesus will be feeding a different group of people non-Jews will be feeding Gentiles.

Jesus Feeds Four Thousand

Mark 8:1-3 (AMP) In those days, when there was again a large crowd [gathered before Him] and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and told them, "I feel compassion for the crowd; they have been with Me now for three days and have nothing [left] to eat. If I send them away to their homes hungry, they will faint [from exhaustion] on the road; because some of them have come a long way."

• Do you ever feel as though God is so busy with important concerns that he can't possibly be aware of your needs?
• Just as Jesus was concerned about these people's need for food, he is concerned about our daily needs.
• At another time Jesus said, "Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs" (Matthew 6:32).
• Nothing is too large for him to handle and no need too small to escape his interest.

The Disciples' Question

Mark 8:4 (AMP) His disciples replied to Him, "Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this isolated place to feed these people?"

• How could the disciples experience so many of Jesus' miracles and yet be so slow to comprehend who he was?
• They had already seen Jesus feed over 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish (6:35-44), yet here they doubted whether he could feed another large group.
• Don't be like the disciples. Remember what Jesus has done, and have faith that he will do it again.

What Do You Have?

Mark 8:5 (AMP) He asked them, "How many loaves [of bread] do you have?" They said, "Seven."

• Jesus ask the pivotal question? What do we have in our hands

Mark 8:6-8 (AMP) He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and [repeatedly] gave them to His disciples to set before them, and they served the crowd. They also had a few small fish; and when Jesus had blessed them [and given thanks], He ordered these [fish] to be set before them as well. And the people ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over.

• Jesus gave thanks for the food, and he serves as a model for us.
• There is a common theme when God wants to multiple
• Need, sit down, blessing, breaking, multiplying
• 7 baskets versus 12 baskets
• 12 symbolizing the 12 tribes and 7 for the number of completion
• Both times God wanted use of leftovers

Mark 8:9-10 (AMP) About four thousand [men] were there [besides women and children]; and He sent them away. Then immediately He got into the boat with His disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

The Pharisees Demand a Sign

Mark 8:11 (AMP) The Pharisees came out and began to argue [contentiously and debate] with Him, demanding from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him [because of their unbelief].

• The Pharisees had tried to explain away Jesus' previous miracles by claiming they could be attributed to luck, coincidence, or evil power.
• Jesus refused their demand because he knew that even this kind of miracle would not convince them.
• They had already decided not to believe in him.
• Don't cast your pearls on swine
• Just like Jesus identified a waste of time, we need to do it too
• If you respond to your critics you give them credibility
• "A Man Convinced Against His Will, Is of the Same Opinion Still"

Mark 8:12-13 (AMP) He groaned and sighed deeply in His spirit and said, "Why does this generation demand a sign? I assure you and most solemnly say to you, no sign will be given to this generation!" Leaving them, He again boarded the boat and left for the other side.

The Yeast of the Pharisees

Mark 8:14-15 (AMP) Now the disciples had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Jesus repeatedly ordered them, saying, "Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."

• The disciples forgot the bread
• Or did they forget who Jesus was?
• Or did care to bring bread because Jesus always supplied their needs
• Mark mentions the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod, while Matthew talks about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
• Mark's audience, mostly non-Jews, would have known about Herod but not necessarily about the Jewish religious sect of the Sadducees.
• Yeast in this passage symbolizes evil.
• DON'T CONTAMINATE YOUR FAITH
• Jesus then gives them a warning about their conversation
• Leven was not used in the Bible in positive terms
• You sound like you have been infected with the mindset of the Pharisees or the mindset of the Herod
• Your thinking is based on what you believe

Galatians 5:9 (AMP) A little leaven [a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers] leavens the whole batch [it perverts the concept of faith and misleads the church].

Psalm 1:1 (AMP) Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked [following their advice and example], Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit [down to rest] in the seat of scoffers (ridiculers).

• Be careful who you fellowship with, and be careful which fellows you allow in your ship

Stop Focusing on What You Lack

Mark 8:16 (AMP) They began discussing this with one another, saying, "It is because we have no bread [that He said this]."

Stop focusing on what you lack and focus on whose got your back

Mark 8:17 (AMP) Jesus, aware of this [discussion], said to them, "Why are you discussing [the fact] that you have no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?

• Jesus rebuked the disciples for their hard hearts, which hindered their faith in God and his power.
• Hard hearts have a difficult time believing in those same things.

This causes them to come to conclusions like these:

1. Poverty is always caused by laziness; helping people who are poor only enables them.
2. Worship is best conducted in one way—"my way, which has worked very well my whole life, thank you, and need not be changed."
3. Jesus' command to make disciples doesn't apply to us; people will never change anyway, so we don't need to do it.

• The best way to avoid becoming hard-hearted is to listen to Jesus' questions.
• Don't allow your heart to become hardened.
• Be open to God's truth, which is full of grace, mercy, and understanding, and it will soften your heart.
• Jesus frustrated of their lack of faith

Proverbs 18:21 (AMP) Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.

Do You Still Not Understand?

Mark 8:18-21 (AMP) Though you have eyes, do you not see? And though you have ears, do you not hear and listen [to what I have said]? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?" They answered, "Twelve." "And [when I broke] the seven [loaves] for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?" And they answered, "Seven." And He was saying to them, "Do you still not understand?"

37 Miracles of Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John)

1. Jesus Turns Water into Wine at the Wedding in Cana 2:1-11
2. Jesus Heals an Official's Son at Capernaum in Galilee 4:43-54
3. Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit From a Man in Capernaum 1:21-27 4:31-36
4. Jesus Heals Peter's Mother-in-Law Sick With Fever 8:14-15 1:29-31 4:38-39
5. Jesus Heals Many Sick and Oppressed at Evening 8:16-17 1:32-34 4:40-41
6. First Miraculous Catch of Fish on the Lake of Gennesaret 5:1-11
7. Jesus Cleanses a Man With Leprosy 8:1-4 1:40-45 5:12-14
8. Jesus Heals a Centurion's Paralyzed Servant in Capernaum 8:5-13 7:1-10
9. Jesus Heals a Paralytic Who Was Let Down From the Roof 9:1-8 2:1-12 5:17-26
10. Jesus Heals a Man's Withered Hand on the Sabbath 12:9-14 3:1-6 6:6-11
11. Jesus Raises a Widow's Son From the Dead in Nain 7:11-17
12. Jesus Calms a Storm on the Sea 8:23-27 4:35-41 8:22-25
13. Jesus Casts Demons into a Herd of Pigs 8:28-33 5:1-20 8:26-39
14. Jesus Heals a Woman in the Crowd With an Issue of Blood 9:20-22 5:25-34 8:42-48
15. Jesus Raises Jairus' Daughter Back to Life 9:18
16. Jesus Heals Two Blind Men 9:27-31
17. Jesus Heals a Man Who Was Unable to Speak 9:32-34
18. Jesus Heals an Invalid at Bethesda 5:1-15
19. Jesus Feeds 5,000 Plus Women and Children 14:13-21 6:30-44 9:10-17 6:1-15
20. Jesus Walks on Water 14:22-33 6:45-52 6:16-21
21. Jesus Heals Many Sick in Gennesaret as They Touch His Garment 14:34-36 6:53-56
22. Jesus Heals a Gentile Woman's Demon-Possessed Daughter 15:21-28 7:24-30
23. Jesus Heals a Deaf and Dumb Man 7:31-37
24. Jesus Feeds 4,000 Plus Women and Children 15:32-39 8:1-13

Key for The Day: The Cure for Anxiety

Matthew 6:25-34 (AMP) "Therefore I tell you, stop being worried or anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted) about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow [seed] nor reap [the harvest] nor gather [the crops] into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by worrying can add one hour to [the length of] his life? And why are you worried about clothes? See how the lilies and wildflowers of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin [wool to make clothing], yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory and splendor dressed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive and green today and tomorrow is [cut and] thrown [as fuel] into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Therefore do not worry or be anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted), saying, 'What are we going to eat?' or 'What are we going to drink?' or 'What are we going to wear?' For the [pagan] Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; [but do not worry,] for your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also. "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Discussion Questions

1. Jesus asked the pivotal question: "What do you have?" What resources, talents, or gifts has God already placed in your hands that you might be overlooking?
2. The disciples had just witnessed Jesus feed 5,000 people, yet they doubted He could feed 4,000. When have you forgotten God's past faithfulness when facing a new challenge?
3. Jesus said, "Do you ever feel as though God is so busy with important concerns that he can't possibly be aware of your needs?" How does this passage challenge that mindset?
4. The passage emphasizes "Stop focusing on what you lack and focus on whose got your back." What are you currently focusing on that you lack rather than trusting in God's provision?
5. Jesus warned about the "yeast of the Pharisees"—how wrong thinking and bad influences can contaminate our faith. Who are you allowing to influence your thinking, and is that influence helping or hindering your faith?
6. The quote states: "Be careful who you fellowship with, and be careful which fellows you allow in your ship." How do you discern which relationships are beneficial versus detrimental to your spiritual walk?
7. Jesus asked, "Are your hearts hardened?" What are some signs that our hearts might be hardening toward God's truth and His ability to work in our lives?
8. The feeding of the 5,000 left 12 baskets (symbolizing the 12 tribes), while the feeding of the 4,000 left 7 baskets (symbolizing completion). What does this teach us about God's provision for different groups and situations?
9. Reflecting on Matthew 6:25-34, what specific worry or anxiety do you need to surrender to God today, trusting that He knows your needs?
10. The passage lists 37 miracles of Jesus. Which miracle resonates most with you right now, and why? What does it teach you about Jesus' character and power?

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