See all Devotionals: https://graceforohio.org/category/reading-through-john-devotionals/
Day 36
Have you ever noticed how extremely abundant God’s provisions can be in the Bible? Take the crossing of the Jordan in Joshua 3, for example. It was at the flood stage when He had the Israelites step in and cross over. And then there was the splitting of the Red Sea in Exodus 14 – Pharoah and his men were running full force after God’s people straight into that sea. What about the water not even meant for drinking that He turned into gallons of the best wine ever in John 2? I He could have just turned it into cheap wine. He could have even used grape juice, and it still would have been called a miracle. But God doesn’t do stuff halfway. He is abundantly gracious. It’s just who He is.
That’s why He gave us Jesus.
Well, here in this story, He did it again. Five thousand men plus their families with nothing to eat out in the middle of nowhereland. One little boy with five small loaves of barley bread plus two little fish. Tell me that’s not extreme!
Jesus could have made exactly enough for each person to have a bite. That would have been an amazing miracle in itself. But instead, He let each person take their fill to the point of satisfaction. He let every single one of them enjoy the bountiful feast of His miraculous provision. And when it was all said and done, there were almost enough leftovers to do it again.
I wonder what Andrew thought might happen when he mentioned the fish and loaves to Jesus. What did the boy expect Jesus to do as he handed over his food? I wonder if the disciples had in mind that Jesus was about to feed all those people as they organized them like Jesus instructed, as He gave thanks for the little He’d been given. I believe they did as they started distributing the food, watching it get passed around.
But did they expect the leftovers?
How many times have I let my belief limit what I trust and hope God can do? Have you ever seen Him working at something and then going far beyond what you could have even dreamed up? Is there something you’re praying for even while believing He can do more?
It’s not easy to pray for what we don’t know can be. Like the disciples didn’t know where the food would come from, or that there could be twelve whole baskets full of food beyond what they would need. It’s not easy to trust Him for more than what we can even dare dream. But God loves to give with extreme generosity. It’s just who He is.
What has He given you in abundance? What are you asking Him for? What might He do?
Day 37
Read Luke 9:1-6; John 6:1-15
Why did Jesus choose Philip to test that day? Did He have something in particular He wanted to teach him?
Luke’s version of this story tells us the disciples had just returned from a mission trip for which Jesus had given them specific instructions to take nothing with them except their faith. No doubt the disciples were wholly spent. They were also likely very excited to just get away with Jesus and tell Him everything about their time away.
Now read John 6:3 and try to imagine you’re as spent as they probably felt.
“Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.” It feels like rest, right? Maybe it feels like hope for what you know you deserve because you’ve literally held nothing back from the last days you spent away from your family. Sure, you’re pumped from the excitement of all that you got to see God accomplish through you. But, man are you whooped! You truly have nothing left to give. I mean, in truth, you had nothing to give in the first place.
Now imagine you notice Jesus’ gaze move as you start to hear a rumble of voices in the distance. A crowd of needy people starts to crest the hill, and your hopes for rest are dashed.
“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” (v5)
If you’re Philip, you’re probably thinking about how Jesus had specifically instructed you not to take any money on your trip, so you probably don’t have any with you. Even if you did, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” (v7). That’s how big the crowd is! And obviously that would not have provided nourishment of any sort.
So what kind of test was Jesus giving Philip? And why?
When Philip first met Jesus, he knew exactly who He was. That was why he followed Him. That was why he immediately found his friend Nathaniel and had him come along, too. What if the test was one to remember the beginning of their relationship? What if it was a way for Jesus to give a nod to Philip as if to say, “Remember, I’m the Messiah. Watch this and remember I am everything you need. I am enough even when you have nothing.”
Have you ever felt like Philip? Like Jesus is asking you to give more than you can possibly give when you’ve already given everything? And you had nothing to begin with. What if, like with Philip, Jesus had in mind to bring about abundant leftovers from tiny loaves and little fishes that don’t even come from you? What if He just wants to show you and remind you that He is everything you need? What if He just wants you to see that He is enough even when you’re spent and have nothing?
He is. Jesus is enough.
Day 38
Read John 1:1-15; John 1:32-40
The only thing of which there was plenty in this story was the grass Jesus had the people sit on.
There wasn’t enough food to even give each person a bite. Not enough energy within the disciples to go grab them some food or to think up a plan for distribution. But John was clear to point out that there was plenty of grass for everyone to have a seat.
If we pay attention to the adjectives John uses to describe the measure of things throughout this story, we’ll see words like great crowd, more than half a year’s wages, (not) enough bread, each one, small loaves. Clearly the measures were small, and John wanted us to know without a doubt that there was too much need and not enough supply. But he made sure to point out that when it came to the grass, the place for all those people to sit and rest, well, there was plenty of that.
“Jesus said, ‘Have the people sit down.’ “ (v10)
Maybe John wanted to paint a wilderness like picture so we would realize the connection between the bread Jesus provided here and the bread called manna that their ancestors ate as they wandered the wilderness so long before they chased Jesus onto that mountainside. The bread His Father provided long ago. (See Exodus 16.)
The next day they would follow Him across the lake and He would tell them that He Himself is the bread of life. He would reveal to the crowd the secret of the plenty. He would tell them how to sit and rest and take the bread He would give them.
“Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (vv53-58)
It was only in Him, only by believing in Him, that they could have real life. It is only by feeding on, relying on Jesus Christ for our everything, that you and I can live in the real and true way we were created to live and have life. It means trusting Him enough to let Him call the shots. It means sitting in the wilderness and believing He will give us what we need even when we don’t see how.
Like when you get home after a weekend of serving at Kalahari and your three small children need you but you’re exhausted. Or when you gave a generous gift that His Spirit had prompted and then your furnace gives out and your finances are tighter than you are comfortable with.
Feed on His Word. Trust what He provides. Sit down and rest and let Him be your bread. Jesus, the Bread of Life, is enough.
Day 39
Read John 6:1-15
Imagine you are the boy in this story. You’re the one who brought little loaves and tiny fishes to a mountainside gathering you had not planned to attend. You got caught up in a crowd one afternoon.
You’d heard about a man healing people and doing amazing things, so you followed along and ended up in the middle of nowhere on a mountainside with this huge crowd of people. It started getting late, and people started getting hungry. Then one of the man’s friends noticed the bread and the fish in your basket.
Imagine looking up. You see him point you out to Jesus, the man you were all following. He says, “Here’s a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” Jesus then tells His friends to have the people sit down.
Imagine the grass all around, enough grass for everyone in the crowd to relax. So that’s what everyone does. Everyone’s just sitting there watching Him, waiting for Him to perform some miracles, to heal some people who are sick. Instead, He takes your little loaves and your tiny fish, looks up, and thanks God for the meal.
Jesus thanks God for the tiny things you let Him take out of your basket. It had been just enough for you when you left home. It wan’t even close to enough for Jesus and His friends, nowhere near enough for the crowd.
Still, imagine yourself hearing Jesus thanking God for the little you let Him have.
Then He has His friends hand it out to everyone there, and the entire crowd eats all that they want. Can you see it? Can you imagine? Now, imagine there are leftovers. I mean, what in the world happened?!? Can you imagine that the little you let Him have more than satisfied that whole crowd and then some more until there were twelve whole baskets full of leftovers!
All you needed was five little loaves and two tiny fish. But what He made was more than anyone could have ever dreamed up.
Now imagine if you were that boy and you had hidden your food? What if you held back the little you had, knowing it wasn’t enough? What if Andrew hadn’t noticed it or pointed it out to Jesus? What if you held on to the food and kept it for yourself?
Is there a gift you’ve been given that you’re having a hard time seeing as a gift? Are you holding it back or hiding it away, afraid that it might not be enough? Ask God to give you the courage to let Him take what little you have and trust Him with it. Ask Him to make it more than enough and to use it and multiply it like He did with the boy’s small meal.
Day 40
Read John 6:14-24
It was just another miracle, just another moment in the life of the Savior. Jesus walked on top of water to get to the Twelve, and they were the only ones who witnessed it. They didn’t need the signs that the crowd from the day before had been searching for, His friends already knew who He was.
They’d been rowing through the dark across the rough waters of the sea, trusting He would meet them on the other side at some point. But instead of meeting them on the other side, Jesus walked through the dark, stormy waters in the middle of the night, for the express purpose of being with His friends.
What an amazing privilege it must have been to be in such a close relationship with the Savior of the world, the One who could reconstruct the physical properties of water, the One who would conquer the certainty of death. The love Jesus had for them was so deep and evident, so intimate and real, that He walked miles across a sea just to get into a boat with them and show them He was who they knew Him to be.
Jesus has always had a way of showing Himself to those who know Him. How has He shown Himself to you? Take a minute to write down just one way you’ve seen God show up in your life already this year. What is one way He has shown you that He is who He says He is? Now take two minutes and praise Him for it.
Day 41
Read John 6:27-59
Do you wonder what that bread tasted like? Did it taste like the barley that it had come from? What do you think it means to feed on Jesus as the Bread of life? How do you feed on Him and live?
Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life.” In fact, He is the only bread we will ever need. But I wonder what tasting this bread entails? It means taking Him for all He says He is and all He says He will do. It means believing Him absolutely. Living like we believe it. Living out His definition of living, according to the Bible. Not looking for satisfaction and joy in what doesn’t last.
In order to know that definition, Jesus’ definition of life, we need to know more of what He said. And we need to obey it.
Jesus didn’t only come to fulfill our deepest, most intimate, humanly-unmeetable needs. He also came to show us the real definition of living. Because “eternal life” is not only living forever, but is also living for real.
In verse 27, Jesus said, “Don’t waste your energy striving for perishable food . . . Work for the food that sticks with you, food that nourishes your lasting life, food the Son of Man provides.” In verse 40, He said, “This is what the Father wants: that anyone who sees the Son and trusts who he is and what he does and then aligns with him will enter real life, eternal life.” (The Message)
Do you trust who He is? Do you trust what He does? Or are you striving for food that won’t keep you full? Have you aligned yourself with Jesus? Are you feeding on the Bread of life and letting Him nourish you?
Day 42
Read John 6:26-71
The crowd followed Jesus across the lake because they liked the food He served on the mountainside. Thousands upon thousands of people chasing Him around the Sea of Galilee because they wanted more.
Trouble was, Jesus’ food was unlike any they had ever eaten, and many of them only thought they wanted it because of what He had done the day before.
The food these people thought they wanted filled their bellies temporarily. But the food Jesus offered would fill their whole beings, if only they would believe Him and take what He offered.
He who feeds on this bread will live forever (v58).
That’s why Peter said what he did at the end of our reading today. When so many didn’t like what they heard Jesus saying and walked away for the temporary bread, Jesus asked the Twelve,
“Do you also want to leave?” (But) Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life (v68).”
It was like the crowd had never tasted steak so they passed it up for fast food.
But Peter and the Twelve wanted real food. No more junk food for them. They knew that only Jesus Christ could satisfy them truly. Spirit food is the only kind that counts for anything that matters (v63).
So often I work for food that doesn’t last and forget the real food of God.
Instead of looking to Him to nourish my soul I frantically settle for the less-than-true nourishment. Maybe you’ve done this, too. It’s so easy to mistake pleasure for satisfaction and waste an entire evening scrolling Instagram instead of building true connection, doing life with other people or finding rest in the truth of God’s Word. And it’s tempting to start crossing off to-do’s in lieu of seeking God’s face in the wake of a busy morning. But true nourishment is what our souls need.
Where do you find that nourishment? Jesus is the only true Bread that will never spoil or run out.
See all Devotionals: https://graceforohio.org/category/reading-through-john-devotionals/