The God Factor - John 6:5

Welcome to Weekly Wisdom, an inspirational series hosted by Pastor Jeff Schreve. Each week, Pastor Jeff illuminates different sections of the Holy Bible, meticulously extracting pivotal themes and life lessons that can enrich and uplift your daily life. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
John chapter six, beginning in verse five. Jesus, therefore, lifting
up his eyes, and seeing that a great multitude was
coming to him, said to Philip, where are we to
buy bread that these may eat? And this he was
saying to test him, for he himself knew what he
was intending to do. Philip answered him, two hundred dinarai

(00:21):
worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone
to receive a little. Let's pray together, Father, We thank
you that you are God alone. You are worthy of
all our praise, for there is nothing too difficult for you.
Help us, Lord to walk by faith and not by sight,
and keep us green and growing in our walk with Jesus.

(00:44):
For we pray in Jesus's name. Amen.

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Speaker 1 (02:03):
Well, thanks for listening to another episode of the Weekly
Wisdom Podcast. I'm pastor Jeff Shree from Texarkana, Texas, and
today I want to talk to you about the God factor. Now.
In John chapter six, we read of the extraordinary miracle
known as the Feeding of the five thousand. Now, the
crowd around Jesus was extra large that day. We say

(02:26):
five thousand. There were five thousand men plus women and children.
It was roughly a crowd of about twenty thousand people,
and they were on the hillside listening to the Lord's
word and receiving healing from his hand. And as the
afternoon began to dim, the disciples asked Jesus to call
it a day and send the multitudes away so that

(02:48):
they could go and get dinner. But Jesus didn't want
to send them away. He wanted to feed them, so
he asks Philip, one of his disciples, about a place
to go buy bread so that they could feed the
massive crowd. It was an important question because it was
a test, and Philip's answer was accurate. Oh, Lord, not

(03:09):
even two hundred and anari worth of bread could begin
to satisfy this hungry mob. But Philip missed the point.
He failed the test because in all his figuring, he
forgot to factor in the Lord Jesus was going to
take a little kid's sack lunch, five little cracker type biscuits,

(03:30):
and two sardines and use it to feed the masses.
The food was going to be so abundant that there
would be twelve baskets full of leftovers. Now, Philip forgot
to factor in the miracle working God, how often do
you and I do the same Now when Moses killed

(03:52):
an Egyptian in Exodus chapter three. The scripture says, so
Moses looked this way and that, and when he saw
that there was no one around, he struck down the
Egyptian and hid him in the sand. Moses looked all around.
He looked to the left, he looked to the right,
but he failed to look up. There was someone watching,

(04:14):
and his name is Yahweh. Philip did the very same thing.
He looked at the crowd, he looked at his calculator,
and he looked at the cost of a loaf of
bread in Israel. He looked all around, but he failed
to look up. He failed to factor in the power
of the Lord. Hey, could you be guilty of doing

(04:34):
that very same thing in your troubles and trials? See
every question the Lord asks us is a test. He
never asks a question for information because he knows everything.
He asks questions to get us to start looking at
our problems and challenges through the eyes of faith. So
much of what we face in life is beyond us,

(04:57):
and it is purposely beyond us. We can't rise to
the occasion, just like Philip couldn't buy enough bread to
feed the multitude. The Lord places us in those predicaments,
to get us to look up, to learn to factor
him into every equation. King Jehoshaphat in the Old Testament,
he was king in Judah and there were three enemies

(05:19):
coming against him, and he didn't know what to do.
It didn't look good for the people of God. It
looked like they were going to be wiped out. So
Jehashaphat and the people fasted and prayed, and this was
his prayer, Oh God, will you not judge them, for
we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming
against us, Nor do we know what to do, but

(05:43):
our eyes are on you. I love that prayer. I
love it because it's so honest and so filled with faith.
As Jehashafat looked this way and that way, he saw
that there are armies all ready to destroy him. His
goose cooked, but he chose to look up. He factored
in God, and God responded with a great, miraculous victory.

(06:08):
So in your life and in your trouble, always remember
to look up and factor in the God who made
heaven and earth. Every trial is a test. God has
not lost his ability to work miracles. He's simply waiting
for people like you and me to say with King Jehashaphat,
but our eyes are on you. Hey, impossible is really

(06:33):
I'm possible with God. So let's pray. Father, how exciting
it is to know that you are God alone who does,
exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think. Help
us to always factor you into every problem and every
trial and challenge. You are the God who can part

(06:54):
the red sea. You're the God who can bring water
from the rock. You're the God who can feed a
multitude with five loaves and two fish. We can rest assured,
Lord that you can meet our needs even in the
worst of our problems. So Lord, we put our eyes
on you, and we thank you in advance for what
you're going to do in our problems. We cast our

(07:17):
burden on you, and we patiently wait in Jesus' name. Amen. Well,
thank you for listening to this episode of the Weekly
Wisdom Podcast. A Pastor Jeff Shreeve and I would love
to connect with you. Visit my ministry website at Fromhis
Heart dot org for resources and materials to help you
grow in your faith, for more wisdom to last a lifetime,

(07:39):
and to make prayer priority in your life, download Theprey
dot com app, and if you enjoyed this podcast, please
share it with someone in your life who might also
be encouraged by it. Thanks again for listening, make it
a great week, and God richly bless you.