Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 629 | God’s Math - When Little Becomes Much
Transcript
- 0:07Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
- 0:12Where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus like the woman at the
- 0:16well in John chapter four.
- 0:18Our highest priority is making God real in your life. Whether you are listening
- 0:23in our app, in your favorite podcasting app, or on our website at watwm.org,
- 0:28we invite you to sit down with us as we look to the scriptures to learn more
- 0:33about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
- 1:03We hear people talk about little being much when God is in it,
- 1:05yet many times when our circumstances seem bleak, we just throw up our hands in defeat.
- 1:11Join us in this broadcast of Woman at the Well Ministries as Kim continues to
- 1:15discuss God's presence in our problems.
- 1:18We will see that when God is added to the equation, things change.
- 1:23Things aren't always what they seem because God is not bound by natural laws.
- 1:27He is the law. Hello, and thank you for joining us as we continue talking about
- 1:33God's math. And we're going to come out of John chapter 6, beginning in verse 1.
- 1:38There's a dear deacon in my church that sings a song that I believe tells us
- 1:42about the math of God better than anything I know other than the Word of God.
- 1:47And that is that it took three nails and one wooden cross, and he built a bridge and made us forgiven.
- 1:56And if you look at that a little bit, that's something that we can logically
- 1:59place our mind around. We can see that one plus three equals four.
- 2:03But what we have trouble placing our mind around is that that cross on Calvary and those three nails.
- 2:13Was the place that God chose to hang his son, Jesus Christ.
- 2:20And Jesus said, since there isn't any other way, I'm going to do it.
- 2:25And he voluntarily put himself upon the cross of Calvary after he spoke to his
- 2:30father in the Garden of Gethsemane.
- 2:33You see, it wasn't the centurion soldiers in front of the cross that held him
- 2:38on the tree. It wasn't even the three nails.
- 2:41It wasn't anything except God had fully explained that Jesus was the only payment for sin.
- 2:54And man to this day is still trying to find a way to get there themselves.
- 3:01And in John chapter 14 and verse 6, Jesus says, I am the way,
- 3:05the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me.
- 3:09You can't work your way in. You can't buy your way in. You can't do enough good deeds.
- 3:14He says that all of our works are as filthy rags.
- 3:18He says there's none righteous, no, not one.
- 3:21And the only way that we're going to get to heaven is through Jesus Christ, the son.
- 3:27And that is God's math that you've got to understand. We're going to speak in
- 3:32a few moments about God's math.
- 3:35That's going to allow us to live an abundant life. That's going to allow us,
- 3:40to be pleasing to him as we have faith in him.
- 3:45But my friend, if you miss the understanding that there is only one way to heaven.
- 3:52And you try to get there some other way. You will spend eternity.
- 3:58But it will not be in heaven.
- 4:00My friends, this is important stuff.
- 4:05And I don't think we've all quite understood it. The laws of math are sure.
- 4:11Ask any school-aged child, and they'll tell you that they just can't write anything
- 4:18they want down and make that grade.
- 4:22You can't devise another way. You can't say, oh, Jesus was good for my grandparents,
- 4:28and Jesus was good for my parents.
- 4:31And you know those forefathers, they were just so inward thinking,
- 4:35and they were just so close-minded that that Jesus stuffed work for them.
- 4:42But hey, I'm hundreds of years later and I'm all that and a bag of chips and
- 4:46I don't need that anymore.
- 4:49The Bible tells us that there's nothing new under the sun. You're not thinking
- 4:53a thing new that they didn't think about hundreds of years ago.
- 4:57And that same God that raised Lazarus from the dead is knocking on your heart's door.
- 5:05He's inviting you to leave your trespasses and sin and raise unto life in Jesus Christ.
- 5:13And that doesn't make any sense.
- 5:16It doesn't make sense that God died on the cross once for all of us.
- 5:22And that I don't have to pay a penalty for my sin. Let me tell you what.
- 5:25You borrow money and you owe a debt.
- 5:29And there is only one way that you can get over that.
- 5:33And that's to pay what you owe. But somebody else can come and pay what you
- 5:37owe. But that didn't happen very often.
- 5:39But there's no one willing to die for me to pay for my penalties.
- 5:45But Jesus Christ died for me before I ever was.
- 5:50And he paid a debt I could never pay for a sin he never owed.
- 5:56Now that's love that'll boggle anybody's mind and anyone's imagination.
- 6:01But it's true. and the Bible says without faith it is impossible to please him
- 6:07and that we must believe that he is,
- 6:10that's our first thing we must believe that he is and we do that through faith,
- 6:15and we must believe that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him,
- 6:21and my friend that's where we're going to find ourselves in John chapter 6 the
- 6:26disciples are hanging out with Jesus,
- 6:29Jesus had been over to Galilee,
- 6:31and there was a great multitude that followed him.
- 6:35And he sees the need. Isn't that just like Jesus?
- 6:40That's a beauty of being his child. He never sleeps and he never slumbers.
- 6:45And he knows our needs before we even ask.
- 6:47We are to pray to him because he wants to see where we're placing our faith.
- 6:51He wants to bless us. He's prepared. He's got it already because he sees our needs before we ask.
- 6:59When Peter and the boys were in the boat, they saw Jesus walking. He was already there.
- 7:03You see right here you're going to see jesus perform an amazing miracle,
- 7:09before the people even request because he knows,
- 7:14after these things jesus went over the sea of galilee which is the sea of tiberis,
- 7:19and a great multitude followed him because they saw his miracles which he did
- 7:23on them that were diseased,
- 7:25and jesus went up into a mountain and there he sat with his disciples and the
- 7:30passover a feast of the jews was nigh,
- 7:34when jesus then lifted up.
- 7:37His eyes and saw a great company coming to him he saith unto philip when shall
- 7:42we buy bread that these may eat,
- 7:44he knew that he had been talking to them he knew they'd been following him he
- 7:48realized that they had walked he understood how these people worked,
- 7:54he understood their needs he understood that they had expended,
- 7:59energy and was going to need nourishment you ever think about that in this passage
- 8:05of scripture how beautiful it is that the god of the universe has been
- 8:09doing miracles and he's been changing people's lives and he's been working for
- 8:13the kingdom of god has enough compassion emotion knowledge capability
- 8:20and interest in these people who are following him to
- 8:24see their very basic needs,
- 8:27and you think he can't see yours,
- 8:30you're wrong he knows exactly how much money you have in the bank.
- 8:36He knows exactly how much money you need. He knows exactly how much you've got coming in.
- 8:43He knows exactly the condition of your body. He knows exactly what you're going to need to feel better.
- 8:50He knows exactly how well you need to feel in order to do the task that he's given you.
- 8:56He knows exactly the needs that you have before you even know it.
- 9:02Several years ago, I changed homes, and we moved. And I thought for the life
- 9:07of me that I chose the home.
- 9:10I really had worked at it, and I had prayed about it, and I had looked,
- 9:14and I thought this was the home I had chosen.
- 9:17Nine years after I moved here, I had a need.
- 9:21My mom was unable to get out of the house and go to the doctor anymore,
- 9:26and she was in her last final stages of life, still praising God.
- 9:31Just a few houses down was the physician who was willing.
- 9:39To visit my mom in her home to take care of the needs that she had you don't think,
- 9:45that nine years before that there was a god on a throne and a savior watching
- 9:51over his children who made sure that we were sitting in the very place that
- 9:55we needed to be that we might have the needs that he had already provided,
- 10:01if you can't believe that close the book and walk away,
- 10:06because his grace is sufficient and his knowledge,
- 10:11is unmatched and he knows the need you have,
- 10:15and he's interested in it he was interested that there was going to be a young daughter,
- 10:21who was trying to do all that she could to provide for the mother who had done
- 10:25all she could to provide for her
- 10:27she knew that there was going to be a saint of god who was going to be laying
- 10:31in a bed that was going to need some help from this earth but he had already provided,
- 10:38i didn't even know enough,
- 10:41to have even asked but the day i had to make the phone call he'd already talked
- 10:48to that physician's heart.
- 10:50You see, the problem you face is not unlike the one I did.
- 10:56You've got a problem and you need to understand in order for your faith to be
- 11:00growing and your faith to be strong, you need to know that he already understands
- 11:04it and that he's interested in it.
- 11:07Now, Jesus is busy at this point in Scripture.
- 11:10And all these people are following him.
- 11:14And he's not thinking about doing something big and heroic.
- 11:18He's thinking about feeding the
- 11:19people. He says, where can we get enough bread for these people to eat?
- 11:24This he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do.
- 11:28He wanted to make sure everybody else understood. And I think he wanted me to understand.
- 11:35Yes, I feel that close to him.
- 11:39I think he wrote a lot of things in there just for me. And if you're his kid,
- 11:43you're going to think the same thing.
- 11:45Because he knows what you need. And you know what? we need the same verse me and you,
- 11:50we need to know it and understand it we need to live it and apply it and we
- 11:55need to shout it to the mountain tops,
- 11:58my god isn't dead like buddha you can't go visit his grave and find them there
- 12:03like you could confucius or any of the other isms and schisms and crazy religions,
- 12:09no if you go to the tomb where my savior was he isn't there because on that
- 12:15third and glorious morning heroes,
- 12:18and that same god's interested in me he's interested in what i need enough,
- 12:24to plan it nine years ahead i believe he planned things before i was even born
- 12:30and i believe he put me in a family he did that my feet might be where they
- 12:34are that i might do his will and his work.
- 12:39Philip answered, 200 penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them.
- 12:43I mean, he's like, can you see the people following you? How many of us are like that?
- 12:49Lord, there's just not enough you could give me. Get me out of this mess.
- 12:54That evening, no, he says that every one of them may take a little.
- 12:59He's like, I couldn't get 200 penny worth and feed just a little bit to every
- 13:04one of them, let alone try to fill them up.
- 13:06Let alone trying to give them the nourishment that you're talking about, Lord.
- 13:10But one of the disciples i think old simon peter's brother had a clue andrew
- 13:18says hey there's a lad here which has five barley loaves and two small fishes,
- 13:25but what are they among so many you see who he asked the question to,
- 13:30he sees the plight he sees the problem he's got a clue that something could
- 13:35take place they've been following jesus who's been doing miracle after miracle after miracle
- 13:40and all the first guy philip is saying listen if we had 200 pennies which apparently
- 13:45they probably don't have we couldn't buy enough to give these people just a little bit,
- 13:50but now andrew's a little bit clued in,
- 13:53he says there's a kid out there's got a lunch.
- 13:56But what is that among so many? I believe Andrew said that question directly to Jesus.
- 14:03And I believe that in the situation that you're in right now,
- 14:07it may look that overwhelming.
- 14:10And if you add up academically, you may not be able to get any answer that works for you.
- 14:15But I am thankful to God that my problems are not dependent on the laws of earth and nature.
- 14:23I am thankful to God that my problems are not dependent upon my ability to fix
- 14:28them, upon my ability to gain the resource.
- 14:32But my problems belong to him. That's what little David said.
- 14:35He said the battle is not mine. It belongs to the Lord.
- 14:38The Bible says that obedience is better than sacrifice. And that if we ask,
- 14:43we shall receive. If we seek, we'll find. If we knock, it'll be opened unto us.
- 14:46If we live as he has commanded us to live, there won't be iniquity in our heart,
- 14:50and he'll hear our prayers and he'll supply every need and we can do all things
- 14:55in his strength but see that requires living that faith,
- 15:01and jesus said make the men sit down now there was a lot of much grass in the
- 15:07place so the men sat down a number about 5 000 that means there was 5 000 men
- 15:11and they didn't count the children and they didn't count the women,
- 15:15we've got five barley loaves and two fishes.
- 15:22I don't know if you've ever done any fishing and you've ever done any cleaning
- 15:24of fish or you've ever messed with fish at all but they says he's got two small fishes,
- 15:30and i don't care by the time you cut the tail off and time you cut the head
- 15:33off and you kind of you don't have much you know two little fish like two little
- 15:37bluegill or two little panfish isn't even enough for a regular grown man to eat and be full,
- 15:44no matter how you slice it up me or you can't get two small fish to feed a small family,
- 15:51but it wasn't a problem for jesus and jesus took the loaves remember he said
- 15:56i am the bread of life and jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks,
- 16:02you ever think about being thankful for what you have you may not think it's
- 16:08enough oh but he when he's in it it's enough you ever thought about being thankful,
- 16:15for that food you had the widow woman who was making the meal and cruise oil
- 16:22and putting it together for her son and her to eat she gave thanks,
- 16:28maybe you need to stop there for a while and just park and be thankful for the
- 16:33home and the house and the job and all the things that you have,
- 16:39and for this moment that you and i are sharing it's a gift.
- 16:44He distributed to the disciples and the disciples took them to them that were
- 16:49set down and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
- 16:53You ever notice how God just doesn't give you just a little bit to get by? Listen to what he said.
- 16:59He said that he distributed to the disciples and the disciples to them that
- 17:04were set down and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
- 17:09They got to eat their field as much as they wanted. They got to get.
- 17:13God doesn't skimp on his blessings my friend god gives over in abundant press
- 17:18down mash down and running over god supplies your every need in abundance,
- 17:24our cups are just so stinking small that we can't get it,
- 17:30because they're so crammed full of the world so crammed full of the doubt,
- 17:36He supplies abundantly. When they were filled, he said unto the disciples,
- 17:42Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
- 17:49Two fishes, five loaves of bread, five thousand men, not counting women and
- 17:56children, eating their full.
- 18:00And then the Lord said, Boys, you go pick up the fragments,
- 18:05that nothing be lost you might feel like a fragment hey that's all right with
- 18:12me i can be a fragment because just as the 90 and 9 were safe and he went for the one,
- 18:20he stayed and picked up the fragments making the statement in his own words,
- 18:27that nothing be lost you're important to him the fragments were just as important,
- 18:35as the full mill deals he set out.
- 18:38Oh my friend that's god mass you know what the world says you're worth 30 billion,
- 18:46have a big list people's names on it i never look at the list to see if mine's
- 18:51on there i know it's not but one day,
- 18:54i'm not gonna have to look to list in heaven either,
- 18:59because he's gonna call my name,
- 19:02and he's not gonna be shocked when it's me that stands there because he knows
- 19:05me by name and he's gonna look in that big old book of his called the lamb's
- 19:10book of life and my name's there,
- 19:14and glory be to god that blows my mind because that's math beyond degree.
- 19:20I have nothing to give to an almighty God, yet he gave all to me.
- 19:28I don't care if society thinks I'm a fragment, because he said that nothing be lost.
- 19:38He said, I'm no respecter of persons. So when I stroll all over heaven with you,
- 19:45you'll never know whether I
- 19:47was one of the 5,000 or whether I was the fragment that couldn't be lost.
- 19:54But I'll have a home not made with hands eternal into the heavens,
- 19:58ever to live with my Savior. How about you?
- 20:03He wants to gather you in his basket of love.
- 20:08He wants to provide for you the life-giving nourishment of his sin-forgiving
- 20:14blood but you've got to believe how about that problem you have.
- 20:22You really think it's too big for god he paid the penalty for your sins before
- 20:27you were even in existence now that's god math that he could flow enough blood,
- 20:33you see but one drop of his blood covers all of our sins.
- 20:38That's God, man. And he can slice up two fishes and five loaves and feed a multitude of people.
- 20:48But the ticket was they were following him. And when Andrew talked about,
- 20:53could this be, it was him he was speaking to. He didn't look to himself.
- 20:57He didn't look to the fellow disciples. He didn't look to the left,
- 21:01to the right, to the north, to the south. He looked unto Jesus.
- 21:06From which cometh his help and it was jesus,
- 21:10who had already taken care of their needs jesus has provided,
- 21:16therefore they gathered them together and filled twelve baskets with the fragments
- 21:20of the five barley loaves which remained over and above unto them that had eaten
- 21:24then those men when they had seen the miracle that jesus did said,
- 21:30some of you have seen the miracle that Jesus has done in your life?
- 21:34Seen two plus two equal 12. You've seen one man forgive the sins of many.
- 21:42You could write me or call me or talk to me and tell me just as many or more
- 21:49or the same. We could talk for days about how God's math has changed and ruled our lives.
- 21:56But some of us are keeping quiet about it.
- 21:59And today, I just want to tell you, when they saw the miracles that Jesus did, then they said.
- 22:07So as God continues to work his miracles in your life and touch your situations,
- 22:15I encourage each of you, tell others about it.
- 22:18And I beg of you, tell me about it. I want to see God's hand in your life and my life.
- 22:26I want to see the things he does because without faith it is impossible to please
- 22:31him and you must believe that he is that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
- 22:35seek him and I know in whom I am persuaded,
- 22:39I know in whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that,
- 22:43which I have committed unto him against that day may God have his richest blessing,
- 22:49in your life today and always.
- 22:53Thank you for joining us for today's podcast. You can find quotes and scripture
- 22:58references from this episode in the show notes.
- 23:01We pray today's message has been a blessing. If it has, please consider leaving
- 23:05a rating or review on your podcast platform.
- 23:09Your feedback helps others discover the truth of God's Word.
- 23:13You can connect with Women at the Well Ministries through our app at watwm.org
- 23:19and on Facebook and Instagram.
- 23:21While you're there, learn more about Bible Bits, Kim's daily devotional delivered
- 23:25Monday through Friday by text message, and the Bible Bit Podcast.
- 23:30Thank you for your prayers and support. Remember, Jesus loves you. You are loved.