My great-grandmother, Nora Lunigan, if she would have known that her great-great-grandson just did,
what was that song we just did? What a friend I have in Jesus?
She would be jumping pews in glory, I'm telling you.
She was a little Pentecostal woman that prayed for me and Pastor Rick when we were in the womb.
so we didn't have a chance.
We should have give up a long time ago.
That's one thing about them grandmas, right?
They won't shut up, so you might as well give up.
So if your grandma, just keep it on, keep bringing it on.
Well, if you have a Bible, we're going to be in the ninth chapter of Luke,
and we may be there until the Lord comes, not sure,
but I'm going to look at the feeding of the 5,000.
and I've titled the message depending on God.
And I don't know about you, but I need to depend on him because he's dependable.
And so we've been going through this.
And last time we looked at Herod, who had gone too far in his life, it seems, away from the Lord.
Now, I can't stand here and say that Herod's in hell.
but I know this, probably the bottom of his feet got burned anyway.
So, but he had gone too far and he had basically forsaken the Lord and the Lord's ways as John
the Baptist convicted him and he had murdering his heart.
And we move now to where Jesus had sent the disciples out and now they're going to come back
to him and they're going to have a little experience here in Luke chapter 9, verse
verses 10 through 17. And let's read it, shall we? Just seven verses here in Luke chapter 9. And the
apostles when they had returned told him all that they had done. Then he took them and went aside
privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bessera. But when the multitudes knew it,
they followed him and he received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God and healed those
who had need of healing. And when the day began to wear away, the 12 came and said to him,
send the multitude away that they may go in the surrounding towns and countries and lodge
and get provisions for we are in a deserted place here. But he said to them, you give them something to
eat. And they said, we have no more than five loaves and two fish. And unless we go and buy food
for all these people, for there were about 5,000 men. And then he said to his,
disciples make them sit down in groups of 50 and they did so and made them all sit down and then he took the
five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven he blessed and broke them and gave them to the
disciples to set before the multitude and so they all ate and were filled and 12 baskets of the
leftover fragments were taken up by them let's pray Lord thank you thank you that over the years you have been
called Providence, that you are a great provider and you're able to provide. You're able to do
abundantly above all that we could ask or think. Lord, your word tells us that or ask us the question
is anything too hard for the Lord? And as we look at this passage and we realize, Lord, that a total
dependence upon you is necessary for all of us, Lord, knowing that you're the one who administers
every beat of our heart and every breath that we breathe. And so, Lord, would you come,
and be our unseen guest by your Holy Spirit in this place,
teaching us the power of this word that we look at today in Jesus' holy name.
Amen.
So this is this miracle that happens here in Luke chapter 9.
Now there is only one other miracle in the New Testament that is recorded in all four gospels.
And that's the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This is a big deal right here, this feeding of the 5,000.
We read it so often and we just kind of take it for granted.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jesus can increase fishes and loaves.
And back in the 19th century, when naturalism was kind of gaining momentum and drifting into the 20th century,
people were discounting the miracles.
Well, what I want to know is where do you start discounting miracles and where do you stop discounting miracles in the scriptures?
And who gave you or any man the authority to do that?
Right?
Because when you start commenting on God's word and injecting your opinion as though it's fact,
all of a sudden you become the authority.
Right?
You become the authority.
You're not.
I'm not the authority.
God's word is the authority, right?
And he means what he says, and he says what he means.
And that's the power of the Word of God.
And if it's not, if it's not the Word of God,
then we probably should be fishing right now.
Right?
Or playing golf, whatever your deal is,
or trying to kill a big buck or bull or whatever.
But I believe it is the Word of God.
and R.C. Sprole, I listened to his teaching, and I don't know if you guys know who R.C. Sprole is. He's more
famous now because he's dead. But because the rule of thumb in Christendom is, if they're not dead,
they're not red. But if they're dead, then they are red. I don't know. Why is it when people die,
they become more powerful? I don't know.
for some. It seems mainly the household of righteousness, those who die seem to gain more ground.
But this is what R. C. Sproles says. I'm going to read this to you and make a few comments as we go through it.
But if naturalism is all there is, then who cares whether black people or white people set at the back of the bus?
Neither the black nor the white has any dignity whatsoever.
Who cares if we kill 15 million unborn children?
They are just domestic garbage to begin with if we are naturalists.
Or atheists or even agnostics.
At least they admit they don't know.
Atheist claims something they can't prove.
He goes on and he says,
if you are a naturalist, there is no such thing as right.
and no such thing is wrong.
And that's true.
Right?
If we're all just an accident of cosmic goo,
then what is right?
What is wrong?
And according to who?
Seriously.
And yet when you talk to a naturalist or an atheist,
they said,
we believe you should just be good people. Well, what is good? And who defines good? And is there in fact
morality? Or is there just your morality and my morality? And that could be totally different.
Because that's where this whole thinking leads, this so naturalistic, humanistic, atheistic thinking leads.
There is no moral law. Because that's where this whole thinking leads. Because
there's no moral law giver. So who are you or who would I be to say you should be a good person?
Because there's no such thing as good. There's no such thing is right or wrong. There's no such thing.
And it just taps my head that they try to steal these things. They try to steal God's goodness, right,
and the Lord's morality. Well, it's not good to kill.
according to who? God. He's the one to establish that law, right? Thou shalt not commit murder.
And then he tells you what should happen to you if you do. You forfeit your right to live if you commit murder.
That's why capital punishment is so wonderful. It's wonderful capital punishment. Right? No.
Some people are, you know, they haven't decided on that.
But when you look at it at face value, okay, if God is absolutely, you know, just and moral,
and this law comes from him, right, then he tells us what should happen to somebody who breaks
his moral law when it comes to capital crime, that you should die.
And what Kirk Cameron was talking about the other night was, you know, that when our government was established,
it was established and founded on the truth of God's word and that there was a place for justice and there was a place for mercy.
Why? Because that's what God presents in His word, right?
And actually, capital crime actually was met with both justice and mercy.
Because it's a just thing that if I killed somebody, premeditatively murder somebody,
it is just that I die.
That's justice.
But God incorporates his mercy as well.
I can repent before the state kills me.
I can repent before God, get right with God, no longer have to deal with the sins of the flesh of this body,
and I get to go to be with him. That's God's mercy. God lets me in, right? He doesn't have to,
but he's merciful. So I can be a murderer and experience justice and also experience mercy.
That's the great God that we serve, folks. Right? It's incredible and it's powerful.
And it gives us a path to travel.
And I'm so thankful for the Lord giving us his morality.
So R.C. goes on and he says, let's assume just for a minute that on that day in Galilee,
Jesus of Nazareth fed 5,000 people to their satisfaction with five loaves.
and a few fish. What that means, friends, is the radical breakthrough of the supernatural into the
natural. What that means is that Jesus of Nazareth is not a clever ethical teacher. What that
means is that he is he who said who he was, the incarnate son of God. What that means is that God
not only is, but that God cares. God cares that he might dwell among us.
us and that he might deal with our sin and our disappointment and our pain.
What that means is that every human being is made in the image of God and who sits in the
back of the bus does matter and it matters forever.
What it means is that your life matters, not just now, but forever.
That's what that means, right?
And, you know, people who, who,
think that we're just an accident, right? You live, you die, and that's it. You're done. I mean,
who really believes that? I don't think anybody really believes it. They want to believe it because
it excuses their sin, right? They want to believe it. But it's kind of like people who believe that.
It reminds me of a story that I heard about some scientists that actually got to the point where they can create a human being.
Right? They use the elements and with scientific advances, they can make a human being.
And so they challenged God to a human being making contest.
Right?
And the Lord goes, okay, you go first.
So they go out and they scoop up a bucket of dirt.
And the Lord goes, hold on.
Get your own dirt.
So we look at this passage in and the apostles.
And the apostles, right?
So they come back and they was telling the Lord all that they had done.
I think that right there kind of sets the stage for what we're about to look at here with the feeding of the 5,000.
It kind of sets the stage.
They come back and said, Lord, can we tell you what we did?
And it's like, you don't get it, do you?
What you did?
Right?
That Jesus had given them power.
right over demons and over disease,
and they had the authority to preach the kingdom of God.
And they said, Lord, we're going to tell you what we did.
That's kind of like saying,
take a look at this house that the hammer built.
Isn't that a cool hammer?
No, we're just a tool.
Right?
We're all the same.
some might be a more intricate tool than others, right?
I'm kind of like a pair of pliers.
Right, I just scar up everything I touch.
Where a 9-16th, you know, box wrench would be so much better.
But no, you're not getting it here.
It's what God's doing.
It's what God's doing through you.
We're just a vessel.
And Jesus says,
okay, you guys, you guys come along with me, right? Come and it says that they, they went to a,
went aside privately into a deserted place here in verse 10, belonging to the city called Beseida.
It's interesting, the name of this city, anywhere you see Beth in the New Testament, it means house,
right? And so Bessera means house of the hunter or house of the fishermen. And that's what Jesus was
sending the disciples out to do, right? He told them, follow me, and I will make you fissures of men.
And so that's what Bethsaida means, and that's where they were at. And in Mark's account of this,
in verses 31 and 32, Mark chapter 6, he said, and he said to them, come aside by yourselves to a deserted
place and rest for a while. For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have
to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in a boat by themselves. And so he's going, no, come rest.
I think we need rest occasionally. But the sad thing is, as many times we want rest, well, okay,
I'm just going to call it what it. It's laziness, right? I had a lady just approached me right
before service. And she says, why do old men, just do their, their channel clicker, go to the
bathroom, come right back and just keep doing their channel clicker. They don't do anything else.
It's because they're lazy. We're late. I'm lazy. And I have to fight against that.
That's one of them good fights that Paul talked about. We have to fight against our own laziness
and slothfulness. But these guys were needing rest, man. They'd been going at it. They've been doing
ministry. Ministry kicks your tail. I felt it this morning trying to roll my
63-year-old carcass out of bed.
My wife and I had ran down to Gooding.
We do a cowboy church down there once a month.
And so it's usually a long day on,
a long weekend on these weekends.
And getting back, you know,
we got back at about 10 o'clock last night.
And, you know, it used to be no big deal.
But, man, I'm getting older.
It's harder.
And I want to stay in bed.
I ain't got the drive that I used to.
but I need to I need to beat my flesh into submission like Paul said right I need to
buffet it and and keep this thing going till the Lord's done with me lest I find myself getting in
trouble like many of those we find in scripture that thinks they need a little R and R and
they find themselves in a place of sinfulness and getting them and others in trouble and so
he took them aside to rest for a little bit, but all of a sudden, right, all of the sudden,
there in the next verse, it says, but when the multitudes knew it, they followed him,
and he received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God and heal those who had need
of healing. The Lord goes, okay, we've got to set the rest aside, got work to do. Right? And that's,
That's what God calls us to, is to put human need, others' needs, above our own.
Right?
That's a calling of the Christian life.
That's why Jesus said, if you're going to come after me, you have to learn how to deny yourself.
Right.
Put yourself behind.
Right?
And it's so true.
It's true in families.
It's true in the workplace.
It's true in the church.
You've got to put yourself behind and focus on the issues at hand.
and be faithful in that.
And so he was faithful.
What did he do?
He did what they were just continuing to do.
It's just a life, a life of giving of yourself.
He who would become my disciple must deny himself,
pick up his cross daily and follow me, Jesus said.
And so when you see those needs,
when you hear of those things that are out there
and it's within your power to administer to that,
then do it.
I remember that's how I my brother and I got started in the ministry.
I was just thinking back and I was just thinking, wow, we got started in the ministry doing
funerals, right?
Friends and family that knew we were kind of those Bible thumper type people, you know,
Jesus freaks.
Hey man, my grandpa died and we don't go to church.
We don't know what to do.
Would you come do his funeral?
You bet.
Right?
And there was just a need.
so you step up and do it. And I learned very quick in ministry life, if the Lord asks me,
I made a vow to the Lord. I said, Lord, I'll never say no. If I got, if it's within my means to do it,
I think you're not going to say no. If I honestly am depending on you and believing that you're
directing my steps, then do what God puts in front of you. Right? Just step up. It's,
It's not rocket science.
I mean, how many of you have seen needs this week?
All of us probably have.
And so it's just a matter of being ready, right?
And so the multitudes find them,
and this is maybe the event that Paul was thinking of,
you know, when he came up with 2nd Timothy,
chapter 4 2 when it says preach the word be ready in season and out of season convince rebuke
exhort with all long suffering and teaching just be ready be ready to be a minister of the
lord if you know jesus as your personal lord and savior you're a minister of the lord okay you're a
minister of the lord and that's what the disciples were here in the this is where they're first called
apostles. So Jesus receives them. In Mark's account, verse 34 of chapter 6, it says,
and the Lord, when he came out, he saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them
because they were like sheep, not having a shepherd. And so he began to teach them many things.
Jesus took, he was moved with compassion.
You know, walking with Jesus really is walking in love.
And when love is what motivates you, it's not like it's a labor.
Right?
It's not, it's something that you are compelled, right?
You're moved to do it just as Jesus was moved with compassion.
because they were like sheep, not having a shepherd.
And you want to see a pathetic bunch of creatures
see sheep without somebody directing them.
Right? They just mill around.
They're just like they're wandering lost.
My old friend from the old country,
his name was J. Gamdiaga.
He used to tell me,
oh, sheep they were so stupid.
You must give them direction every day or they rock around in circles and they die.
And the Lord calls us sheep.
My friend Don Isham, who raised sheep and lamb sheep, right?
And if he ever got close to cussing it was when he was working with sheep.
He said it is an insult to sheep for the Lord to call a sheep.
An insult to sheep.
But they were like sheep without a shepherd, right?
They were coming to Jesus.
They were looking for someone that they could depend on.
This is truly one of those situations with these people showing up.
It's my motto, actually.
And I sometimes regret saying it, but it's so true.
Blessed or the flexible, for they should not be broken.
Right?
They were going to go rest.
But the Lord knows, no, I'm going to send a multitude to you.
A lot of people are going to come to you right now when you're wanting to rest.
And what are you going to do?
Are you going to minister to them?
Jesus is, at this moment, he's hunting the souls.
He's hunting the souls of men.
Yes, they want to and need rest, but there is a greater need.
Talking about the kingdom of God, sharing the word of God,
is a much greater need than our rest or our comfort.
The old saying is true.
God's more concerned about your character than he is about your comfort.
And so in verse 12, it says,
And when the day began to wear away, the 12 came and said to him, send the multitude away
that they may go into the surrounding towns and countries and lodge and get provisions for
we are in a deserted place here.
Disciples thinking, man, we've done our job, right?
We've shared the kingdom of God with them.
We've healed the sick.
They need to go eat.
And so it's here, and it's here, and it's in this passage where they're first called apostles, right?
But Jesus didn't see it the way they see it the way they saw.
You know, it's getting late.
Everybody's tired.
How about you, Lord?
Right?
Send them away.
and this would have been a really good time to invoke
Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6, right, for the apostles.
It would have been a really good time for them to trust in the Lord with all their heart,
lean not on their own understanding, but in all their ways acknowledge him.
And they weren't doing that.
They were leaning on their own understanding.
How often do we do that?
Way too often.
I do.
Right?
I think I know when I absolutely know nothing.
And the word apostle, you know, it means those sent with authority and a message.
Well, Jesus didn't tell them to go send the people away.
He didn't tell them that.
No, what's he tell them?
But he said to them, you give them something to eat.
You feed them.
really is there anything too hard for the lord their their minds their hearts not any part of them
even thought for a second that they could feed these people notice it says there's 5,000 men
but most bible commentaries believe that there was between 10 and 20,000 people here
because the men are the only ones that are counted that's a lot of people
that is a lot of grub i remember years ago we were at promise keepers at boise state and outside of the
the big uh pavilion there is a big grassy area and there were 2,500 of us or so and they had us all sit
down and it was impressive 2,500 this is 10 to 20,000 talk about impressive
And so he says, you feed them.
And now immediately, right?
They're leaning on their own understanding as he says this.
And they said, we have no more than five loaves and two fish unless you go and buy food for all these people.
For there were about 5,000 men.
He said, we can't do that.
We don't have the wherewithal to do that.
We don't have the grub.
Five loaves, two fish.
That's not even going to feed us 12.
But Jesus had a plan.
In John chapter 6 verses 5 and 6 and says,
Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and seeing the great multitude coming toward him.
He said to Philip, where shall we buy bread that these may eat?
Phil's like 200 years wages wouldn't buy enough bread for these people.
But listen, verse six, but this he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.
Jesus knows what he's doing.
He set these guys up.
He sets you and me up.
How are we doing?
Flunk, you big fat F, right?
Often, often I flunk these tests that the Lord seems to be bringing my way.
But also, he was proven himself.
He was going to prove himself to his apostles, to those who he had called to follow them.
And I'm telling you, if you'll choose to follow Jesus, he will prove himself to you over and over and over and over again.
Right?
Versus 14 and 15 as we roll down through here, it says, for there were about 5,000 of men.
and then he said to his disciples, make them sit down in groups of 50, and they did so and made them all sit down.
And many believe that that's why they were so accurate with the number of 5,000 here is because they had divided them up into groups of 50.
So it was much more easily to calculate.
Now, we know that had at least 12 baskets, so we don't really know how the Lord did this.
Other than, he started by this in verse 16.
It says, then he took the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven.
He blessed and broke them and gave them to the disciples to set them before the multitude.
And so they all ate and were filled.
And 12 baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up.
So we know they had at least 12 baskets.
Maybe the disciples just showing up to Jesus and he was filling the baskets.
And they were just distributing it about to the people.
And so they filled people up.
Just kept coming.
And notice that Jesus, when he prays, right?
He doesn't praise, he just, he thanks God for his provision.
that he here provided.
And it's kind of like the Old Testament story.
You remember the woman with the oil?
Right?
And Elijah says, you just go get as many jars as you can.
She had just a little bit of oil,
just a little tiny bit in the bottom of one of her containers.
He says, go to get as many containers as you can get.
And he starts filling.
And he filled until she ran out of containers.
Right?
Just a little bit of oil.
the Lord can do a lot with a little bit, right?
A little bit mixed with faith makes a whole bunch.
A little bit mixed with faith, right, makes a whole bunch.
And that's what Jesus said, right?
If you and I have faith the size of a mustard seed, which is a very tiny seed, right?
You can say to this mountain move, and it'll move.
Warren Weirsby says, this miracle was more than an act of mercy for hungry people.
Though that was important, it was also a sign of our Lord's messiahship and an illustration
of God's gracious provision for man's salvation.
The next day, Jesus preached a sermon on the bread of life and urged the people to receive
him just as they had received the bread.
Isn't that so true?
Jesus is the manna that came down.
God's into feeding people, right?
When you look at the story in the Old Testament,
where the manna would come down every single day,
except for what day?
The Sabbath, right?
Except for the Sabbath.
There would be no bread come down and rain down on the Sabbath.
And when they went out to get it,
they were just to get enough for that day.
They weren't to store it up.
What happens to bread when you store it up?
gets moldy, it gets nasty.
In fact, the manna would get worms in it.
Right?
Maggots.
There's nothing like maggots.
Right?
It would get worms in it.
You weren't to do that.
It was to be something that you depended on every single day.
It just so illustrates our walk with the God of heaven.
Are you guys going to trust me every day?
I know people that they banned.
They bends read scripture.
They do it on benches.
They'll take one day and just read scripture.
And then the rest of the days they don't.
Well, how's that for your spiritual help?
No.
Hear a little, bear a little.
Line up on line, precept upon precept.
Put it in your heart consistently.
How would you do if you bench eight one day a week?
Probably not too well.
but Jesus was proven himself
I'm the, I'm the thing that sustains you.
I sustain your life.
He is our sustenance.
He is the one that we put our hope and trust in.
And so looking up to heaven, right,
He blessed and broke them and gave them to disciples to sit before the multitude.
And God administered this food to every hungry stomach, and they were, it actually, that word
satisfied or filled, it means to gorge, right?
It wasn't like they get a little piece of bread.
No, they were filled up.
Obviously, we knew there was plenty because of the 12 baskets.
I think that was maybe just a confirmation for the disciples as they took the baskets
and filled up all the fragments that were left over.
If they had any questions about who Jesus was, I think they were probably answered as they picked up all the stuff.
He blessed it knowing what was going to happen.
With the five loaves and the two fish sitting there,
That's all there was as he prayed.
And it just, it started happening.
I'm wondering if George Mueller was thinking of this
when he was standing at the table there at the orphanage,
when all the plates and the bulls were empty.
Many of you have been in Christian very long.
You know this story.
But Mueller was a Christian missionary evangelist
and a coordinator of orphanages in Bristol, England.
Through his faith and prayers,
and without asking for money, he had the privilege of caring for over 120,000 orphaned children.
He also traveled over 200,000 miles by ship to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in 42 countries.
This guy was pretty impressive.
So he's at this orphanage, and one morning all the plates and cups and bowls on the table were empty,
and there was no food in the larder and no money to buy food,
and the children were standing waiting for their morning meal.
when Mueller said, children, you know we must be in time for school, then lifting up his hands, he prayed,
Dear Father, we thank thee for what thou art about to give us to eat.
Everything was empty.
There was a knock at the door at that moment.
The baker stood there and said, Mr. Mueller, I couldn't sleep last night.
Somehow I felt you didn't have bread for breakfast, and the Lord wanted me to send you some.
So I got up at 2 a.m. and baked some fresh bread to have it brought to you.
Right?
Mr. Mueller thanked the baker, and no sooner had he left when there was a second knock at the door,
and it was a milkman.
He announced that his milk cart had broken down right in front of the orphanage,
and he would like to give the children his cans of fresh milk so he could empty his wagon and repair it.
Right? That's how God works. That's why we call it faith. You can't see what he's going to do, but he's going to do it. The Old Testament says that God speaks about things that aren't yet as though they were. God speaks about things that aren't yet as though they were. That's why we look at God's scripture and we're in awe of the prophetic word that we see.
Now, over the years, I've shared with you people who are kind of prophecy buffs and kind of
have their thumb on the pulse of what's going on in the world and stuff.
And just recently, I've been watching a guy by the name of Don Stewart.
Don is a very reputable guy.
He's a Calvert Chapel guy that goes way back.
He's been to this city several times sharing God's word and the prophetic word of what's
going to happen in the future.
And it's going to happen.
Just like these 5,000 people, 20,000 people, who whatever it was, just like they ate.
Jesus knew what he was going to do.
And he was going to prove himself powerful and enough to do it.
But I've been listening to Don, and Don has listed all the things that are coming in the future,
that the scripture says are coming, the prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled yet,
that are coming in the future.
And he's got publications that are free.
you can download them.
It's incredible.
To watch God's Word say this, and then it happens.
To watch God's Word, say this, and then it's going to happen.
Right?
Like Isaiah said, can a nation be born in a day?
In fact, May 14th, 1948, a nation was born in a day.
Just like God says.
Can you take him in His Word?
We can.
We can take him.
at his word.
Somebody has rightly said that when Jesus blessed
before the meal, he wasn't blessing the food,
he blessed God for supplying it.
The idea of praying before a meal isn't to bless the food.
It's to bless that is to thank God for blessing us with the food.
That thankful heart.
We're command.
right to do with everything in everything with thanksgiving give thanks to god and so some think that
jesus may have have prayed a jewish prayer that was very familiar to the people before a meal
blessed art thou jehovah god king of the universe who brings forth bread from the earth
right? Because all of it comes from him.
Now, this is interesting that as the people were filled, they were impressed.
But they weren't impressed to follow Jesus and to walk by faith.
They were impressed to make him their king.
Ha! We'll never go hungry again! Look at we got a great king that's a breadgiver.
In fact, in John chapter,
chapter 6 verse 15, it says, therefore when Jesus perceived, listen, that they were about to come
and take him by force to make him king. He departed again and went to a mountain by himself alone.
They're thinking, yeah, we got to make this guy king. Right. Nobody can feed us like him. We'll
never have to worry about going hungry again. In that culture, I'm sure I've been in third world
countries a lot of time they don't know where their next meal is coming from this would be a good
deal to find a guy like this they were going to make him king for the bread's sake
not because he was the one who gave them life and who could direct their steps and who could save
them from the the judgment that was to come
It's almost like they were trying to store up manna.
Faith, you can't store up faith.
You walk by faith.
Right?
It's always in front of you.
You're always moving toward it.
You don't stop and store it up.
It's kind of like riding a bicycle.
You quit pedaling and you fall over.
It's a simple walk every.
day. That's what he's calling us to. And he will sustain us and he will provide for us. Our job is to
depend on him to do that. To make him our Lord. Many people want Jesus as Savior, but few more
want him as Lord. They don't want him direct in their life. They want him to save them and then
they want to be able to do what they want. It doesn't work like that, folks.
if he's your savior he should also be your lord
and directing your steps and us showing
our faithfulness to him
and so walking by faith is just the expectation that you're walking every day
expecting the lord to do something
your life. And I just get excited about it. I mean, even sometimes when I get a flat tire and my
routine gets interrupted and I got to do something else. I go, oh, Lord, what are you doing?
Right? Years ago, I remember Pastor Chuck telling the story. He'd come, ran home from church. He had to
get something. He ran in and he grabbed it and he ran back out and he went to start his car and the
keys weren't in his car. He's going, what? Where's some key? What do with the keys? Goes back in the
house takes him like 25 minutes to find his keys and back out he goes and he's in a hurry and he
right before he starts his car he thinks lord were you keeping me from something so he starts his car
he gets down the road about a mile from his house right in the track where he would have been there was like a
five car pile up six or eight people were killed he's oh god's doing stuff guys in spite of us right
God does not work according to your plans.
In fact, I think he does it just on purpose sometimes to go against your plans.
I had a guy tell me the other days in his 50s, he said, I planned for retirement way too well.
What does that mean?
He has no idea what he's going to do with him so.
Right?
I think he's trusting in his retirement portfolio, right?
his stipend that he's going to get for the rest of his life. But now what? What would a prophet
a man if he gained the whole world and lost his own soul? What are you chasing after? You know,
the Bible tells us, if you'll chase after Jesus, you'll get everything you need. Right? Matthew 633.
Seek first.
The kingdom of God and His righteousness.
All these things will be added unto you.
I'm not saying you're going to have an abundance and an overflow
and not have to pray about your car starting.
But sometimes we get so blessed.
Got a new car.
I don't have to pray for this thing to start.
It fires up every time.
No, maybe you need to go get an aunt one that you've got to pray for it to start.
Right?
we're all on the same playing field folks some of we're just in this this mindset some of us got it
made and some of us are still down here i'm i kind of like down here i mean i'm i'm kind of bent
towards trailer trash anyway right that's just my kind of people uh but god sees us all right we're
all at sea level. That is interesting. We're all at sea level because in the book of
Revelation, when the beast rises, where does he rise out of? The sea, the sea of humanity.
See, the sea of humanity lays down pretty level. We're all the same. It doesn't matter if you're
at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or if you're at your address is 666 Bone Road.
Some of you've been out to bone.
It's not good to go out to bone this time of year
because you might get snowed in, you just never know.
God's not no respecter of persons.
But Jesus is for everybody.
He's for the multitudes that would come to him.
What separates us is when we depend on him.
Right?
It makes us different from the world.
Because the world is depending on the world.
And I've learned the world isn't very nice.
Right?
Just the elements.
Here in Idaho, you want to give yourself to the elements?
Is that what you want to do?
Have out it.
Because the elements will kill you.
somebody said the elements you know nature is not it's not hostile it's indifferent it doesn't care if it kills you or not
and even with the temperature today if you're in the right spot you could die of exposure
but do you depend on him do you depend on him because it does take faith
my life verses Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6
that without faith it's impossible to please God
and those who would come to God
must believe that he is
and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him
and that's where you'll find eternal life
right as you diligently seek him
may we depend on him this week
right for our very breath just thank god sometimes lord thank you that this thing's still
ticking lord thank you that i can breathe uh because i think we too often take these little simple
things that god gives us for granted thinking they are our own when they are a gift from him
let's all stand shall we i'm going to invite the prayer team to come up
and maybe you just want to go deeper in your faith with the lord i'm just going to invite you
to just walk up here with them.
Just walk up here with them and have them pray for you.
Or if you need to stand in for somebody that's in your family that just needs,
your heart's broken with what's going on in their life,
come and stand in the gap for them and have these guys pray with you.
Or you got an ailment.
They got some oil up here.
They can anoint you.
The Bible says, call for the elders, have them pray for you,
and you'll be healed.
And so as we pray,
you just feel free. Just make yourself available to these guys and they'd love to come take you before the
Lord. So let's pray, shall we. Father, we thank you so much for this life you've given us, Lord. It is a wild ride,
Lord. We just thank you for it. We praise you, Lord. You hold our breath in your hand, Lord. You
know the number of our days, Lord. You know what's going to happen tomorrow, Lord. And we just want to be in step with you, Lord.
And so I just, I pray for us as a body, Lord, that we would be tight-knit and just close one with another,
Lord, realizing that we're bound together in the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord, I pray that you would minister to all the needs,
Lord, that are in this room, Lord, whether it's a lack of faith or it's a desire for deliverance, Lord,
and you're able to do all those things and everything in between.
And so we trust you, and we put our dependence totally upon our God, specifically.
the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in your name, Lord, we pray. Amen. God bless you guys. Have a great week in Jesus.
Feel free to come pray.