The Christian Message

  Jesus Feeds the Multitude (6:1–14) The problem, of course, was how to meet the needs of such a vast crowd of people. Four solutions were proposed.  First, the disciples suggested that Jesus send the people away (Mark 6:35–36). Get rid of the problem (see Matt. 15:23). But Jesus knew that the hungry people would faint on the way if somebody did not feed them. It was evening (Matt. 14:15), and that was no time for travel. The second solution came from Philip in response to our Lord’s “test question” (John 6:5): raise enough money to buy food for the people. Philip “counted the cost” and decided they would need the equivalent of two hundred days’ wages! And even that would not provide bread enough to satisfy the hunger of all the men, women, and children (Matt. 14:21). Too often, we think that money is the answer to every need. Of course, Jesus was simply testing the strength of Philip’s faith. The third solution came from Andrew, but he was not quite sure how the problem would...

  REALITY 2: GOD PURSUES A CONTINUING LOVE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU THAT IS REAL AND PERSONAL.  God created humanity for a love relationship with Him. More than anything else, God wants us to love Him with our total being (see Mark 12:30). He is the One who pursues the love relationship with us. We do not naturally seek God on our own initiative. Everything we are experiencing from God comes in response to His invitation. In fact, He reached out to us dramatically by sending His Son Jesus (see John 3:16). God clearly demonstrated how valuable the love relationship is to Him when He permitted Jesus to die an excruciating death on a cross in order to make a relationship with us possible (see Rom. 5:8).  This intimate love relationship with God is both extremely personal and practical. This is probably the most important factor in knowing and doing the will of God. If your love relationship with God is not as it should be, nothing else will be in order.  God took the lead ...