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Hi, this is Pastor Tom Holliday and I want to welcome you to Daily Drive Time
Devotions. We're beginning a look at Mark chapter 8 today, day 1 verses 1 to 8.
And Mark 8, as we get into this chapter, it's a chapter all about God's
perspective on life.

The way that you look at things makes all the difference in how you live. If I
see a circumstance in my life as just an obstacle, I'm going to treat it one
way. If I see that same circumstance as instead an opportunity to grow, I'm
going to treat it an entirely different way.

If I see a person in my life as just a negative influence, I'll treat them one
way. If I see them instead as a creation of God, somebody in whose life God
wants to work, I'm going to treat them in an entirely different way. In Mark
chapter 8, Jesus' disciples are having some problems with perspective, like I
do, like we all do.

And they teach us some things as we walk through this chapter about the wrong
spiritual perspective and how to change that. And Jesus teaches us some things
about the right spiritual perspective and what he wants to do in our lives. This
chapter begins in verse 1 with Jesus doing something, doing something
miraculous, doing something that might sound familiar in this book of Mark.

Mark 8 verses 1 to 9. During those days, another large crowd gathered. Since
they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have
compassion for these people, for they have already been with me three days and
have nothing to eat.

If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them
have come a long distance. " His disciples answered, "But where in this remote
place can anyone get enough bread to feed them? How many loaves do you have?

" Jesus asked. "Seven," they replied. He 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. They had a few small
fish as well. He gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute
them.

The people ate, and they were satisfied. Afterward, the disciples picked up
seven basketfuls of broken bread that were left over. About 4,000 men were
present.

Now, as I read this scripture, you may have been scratching your head and
thinking, "Didn't we just study this in the book of Mark? " But I thought it was
5,000 people that he fed. Yes, Jesus did feed 5,000.

He also fed 4,000. It's two separate miracles at two separate times. Now, a lot
of people have the question, "Why did Jesus do it again?

" Well, two reasons. One, people's need. Two, the disciples' learning.

He did it again because of the people's need. Don't miss the fact here that the
people were hungry. Why did Jesus again feed this great crowd, 4,000 in this
case, with just a little bit of bread and a few fish?

Because they were hungry. You're facing some needs right now in your life. Maybe
you're not sure about your job.

Maybe you're not sure about the future. This story of the feeding of the 4,000,
as well as the story of the feeding of the 5,000, tells you Jesus cares about
your need. He sees when we hurt.

He sees when we're hungry. And He cares about your need. Jesus did this miracle
again because the people had a need.

He also did this miracle again because the disciples needed some training. It's
a lesson. It's a training for them.

And it's also a lesson. It's a training for us on wrong perspective. You see,
these disciples, as they saw all the people that needed food, they went to
Jesus.

They talked about it. Jesus said, "You need to feed them. " They said, "Well,
there's no way that that could happen.

Where in the world could we get enough bread to feed these people? " And Jesus
says, "How many loaves do you have? " Here's the lesson on the wrong perspective
that you and I can see in the lives of the disciples here.

They were setting their minds on their resources and not on God's resources.
They saw how many people. And they saw there's no way we could meet this need
because they looked just at their resources.

Where will anyone be able to find enough to satisfy these men? With their
resources, it was just impossible. It was totally impossible.

Now the interesting thing to me, and probably you too as you read this, is that
just a few chapters back, they'd learned this lesson. That when they came to the
end of their resources, God had more than enough resources. And here we are just
a few chapters later, and they'd already forgotten God's resources.

Now there's one side of me that thinks, "How could they have forgotten so soon?
" But there's another side of me that thinks, "I forget so soon. How often has
God had to ask the same question in my life again and again and again?

" In this case with the disciples, it's, "How many loaves do you have? " He had
to ask them again. In my case, it's, "Are you going to trust me instead of
worrying this time?

Are you going to let go? Are you willing to see my hand at work in this
situation? " God has to ask me the same question again and again and again.

You see, when I look at these disciples, I see myself, and I can definitely see
myself not learning the lesson because I have to learn the lesson fresh for
every day. And they're learning the lesson here, fresh for a new day. God's
resources are more than enough.

How many loaves do you have? That reminded the disciples of the feeding of the
5,000. And they said, I think a little bit sheepishly, "We have seven.

" They were reminded to take into account the resources of God. And maybe that's
what you need to be reminded of right now in your life. Take into account the
resources of God.

You're looking at a situation in your life, maybe a financial situation, maybe a
relationship, maybe a health situation. You're looking at that situation you're
facing, and you're looking only at your resources, and you're thinking it's
hopeless. With God's resources, we never come to the end of our hope, and we
never come to the end of God's resources.

There's always more than enough with Him. We're reminded through the example of
the disciples here that we get the wrong perspective when we set our minds just
on our resources, and we don't set our minds on God's resources. Now, God wants
to use your resources, no doubt about it, but He doesn't want you and I to set
our minds just on our resources.

Our resources are just a part of God's resources, and His resources are
infinite. Now I want you to notice something here with me. In fact, it's true in
both feedings, the feeding of the 5,000 that we looked at a few weeks back and
here the feeding of the 4,000.

In both of those cases, there are three things about God's resources that you
and I need to get a hold of. Number one, God's resources are released through
human gifts. Number two, God's resources are distributed through human hands.

And number three, God's resources are more than enough. God's resources are
released through human gifts. There was someone in the crowd, a little boy in
the feeding of the 5,000, who gave a few loaves and a few fish.

In this crowd, there was someone who gave the loaves that they had. God's
resources were released through human gifts. Now, the gifts that they gave were
not enough to meet everybody's need, but the faith that they had was more than
enough to see that everybody's need was met.

God wants you to give something in your life right now. I don't know what it is.
It's the gift of time.

It's the gift of money. It's the gift of the abilities that God has put into
your life. He wants you to give something in your life right now.

When you look at the gift that you can give and you think it's not enough, it's
not going to meet the need, that is not the question. The question is, are you
willing to give what God's asking you to give? Because when you give what God's
asking you to give, that step of faith releases in incredible ways the power of
God in that situation.

Now, could God do it without me saying yes to him? Yes, he could. But he doesn't
usually.

God usually works through our faith. That's what he has chosen to do. He's
chosen to work through our faith because he wants to build our faith, because he
wants to reach a world.

God's resources are released through human gifts, and then they're distributed
through human hands. Not only did someone give a gift, but then Jesus prayed
over that gift, and he gave it to the disciples to hand out to other people.
It's an incredible thing to be a part of God's miracle, and you're a part of
God's miracle As a part of the body of Christ, the church, you see God working
through your life to touch other people's lives and to make a difference, and
you realize this isn't me doing this.

This is just me being a part of what God's doing. God releases his gifts through
something someone has given, but then he gives those gifts back, and he does it
through us as well. That's the love of God.

That's the grace of God that he allows us to be involved in the miracle of what
he's doing. And so, when God wants to bring someone to salvation, he wants to
bring someone to new life, he gives you or he gives me the privilege of sharing
with them the good news, and because we had the privilege of sharing, they cross
the line and they have a new life, a new faith. I got to be involved in it.

God could have chosen to do it without me, but I got to be involved. God does
that because it was love for us. And then a third thing to remember about God's
resources, they are more than enough.

They're not just enough. They're more than enough. In the feeding of the 5,000,
there were 12 baskets left over.

Here there are 7 baskets left over. Now, tomorrow we'll talk a little bit more
about why the 12 and why the 7. What does that mean?

But today, just focus on the fact that there was more than enough. God's
resources are more than enough to do what God wants, because God is more than
enough. He is all-powerful.

Let's take a moment right now together in prayer to talk to God who is
all-powerful and who knows about the needs you're facing right now and wants to
meet that need, who knows about the need that people in your life are facing
right now and wants to meet the need of those people that you love. Let's talk
to him. Jesus Christ, thank you that you're still working miracles today, the
miracle of meeting people's needs.

Help me to see Jesus, a place where I can give a gift, a gift of my time, a gift
of my resources, a gift of my money, a gift of something you've put into my
life, my abilities. Help me to see where you want me to give a gift so that
needs can be met. God help me to see where you want to distribute a gift through
my life and help me to be faithful to do that.

When you say, "Hand out the bread," help me to do it. And God remind me always
that your gifts are more than enough. Give me a new and fresh faith in you
today, that whatever the circumstances of my life or the people that I love, you
are at work.

Thank you Jesus, in your name, in your name, amen. And we'll see you tomorrow.
We're going to talk together about the disciples and how they learn more about
this incredible resource that God wants to give of faith.