Manna from Heaven

Manna, or bread from heaven represents Jesus.

32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.

37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” – John 6:32-40

What do you do and what do you have when you are in the middle of the desert and there is no natural source you can go to for the provision of your needs? Jesus was the manna that was given to the Israelites.

Jesus Feeds 5,000

There were 5,000 people, plus women and children who needed to be fed with five loaves of bread and two fishes. That was all He needed. Jesus was moved with compassion and had to do something.

First, He healed those who were sick.

13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. – Matthew 14:13-14

Secondly, He told his disciples that THEY were to give them to eat.

15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” 16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

God uses humans to do miracles. If you are expecting God to come and pay your house or an angel to come to your door and tell you where your job is so that you can go and apply for it, it will not happen. All the miracles of Scripture were done through people. Jesus had great compassion for them, He was moved by them. They were hungry so the disciples told Him to send them away. Jesus the Creator wanted the disciples to be a part of the miracle. When you have an experience with miracles, it changes the way you think. Now it went from knowledge to an experience. There are many people who cannot change how they think without first experiencing God.

30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” – John 6:30-31

How did Jesus feed 5,000 people?

17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. 18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.  - Matthew 14:13-21

1. Thanksgiving –releases the supernatural. Every time you complain, you are reducing what you have to nothing. Every time you give thanks, you are multiplying that which you have. You may not have the best car, the best house, the best job, but thank God for it! There will be better but thank Him for what you have; don’t complain for what you don’t have.

2. He gave the bread and the fish to His disciples. Jesus tells you, “YOU get a job,” and we respond, “But where?” He tells you, “YOU open a business” and we respond, “But I don’t have any money.” It is a lie of the devil that God wants you to be without a job for the next two years. You need to learn how to work with God for your miracle.

3. He told the people to sit down. You need to first put things in order before He does anything in your life. How can He give you prosperity if you are stealing your tithes and offering from Him? How can He give you money when you are wasting that which you have already? Stop using your credit card. Forgive those who you have lack of forgiveness toward. Your spiritual life, your emotional life and your money needs to be in order. Check your life. Give Jesus priority in everything you do.

4. He told the disciples to give them the food. Jesus did not give directly to the multitudes; He gave the food to the disciples and all were fed. One translation said they all ate until they were fed up. Every time Jesus does a miracle, He always gives abundantly. They had 12 baskets left! The original translation says the baskets were actually barrels!

29 Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30 Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel. 32 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” 33 His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?” 34 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” 35 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. 37 They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 38 The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan. – Matthew 15:29-39

In the second case, there were 4,000 men, plus women and children and the disciples responded the same way they had before. After we have experienced a miracle take place in our lives, why is it that the next time we are faced with the same need, we go back to the natural? The disciples did not learn from the first miracle that they took part in. Jesus wants us to go back to the supernatural. Jesus did the same thing and yet there were differences between the two miracles:

• The first miracle he had a greater multitude, less food and had more baskets leftover.

• In the second miracle, he had more bread and fish, less people and 7 basketfuls leftover. Furthermore, the 12 baskets were barrel-sized; the seven baskets were the size of little bags.

The revelation of that is this: God operates and works according to our faith and obedience, not according to the resources we have to begin with.

God is looking for your FAITH. You don’t have to have $100,000 in the bank to start your business. You don’t have to have a lot of money to begin evangelizing. If God said it, it does not matter how much money you have in your hands, where you come from or what resources you have at your disposal. It doesn’t matter how big your need is. If what you have in your hand is not your harvest then it is your seed to start the multiplication. If all you have in your hands is $1, then that is the $1 that will multiply. Believe for multiplication of fuel in your car, food in your house, members in your HOP, disciples and money in your bank account.

God wants you to see that He is the One who owns all the silver and gold; HE is your bread. You feed the people with His Word but you need to eat with Him first. When there is any project in the church, the majority of the time there is no money, but God spoke it and, therefore, it comes to pass. We did not have the money in the church to buy the acres of land for the stadium, but God spoke to the Apostle. With the vision, God brings provision. If you want to open a business, make sure God is in it.

As you go and distribute the bread of life to people in your daily life, your house will be filled of goods. You don’t need the resources; you need the One who has the resources. Don’t ever limit yourself because what you have is little. He is your bread of life; He is your miracle. Thank Him for your miracle.

Father, we declare supernatural provision for those reading this. Those who are going through tough times, provide for them now the same way you provided for the multitudes. In Jesus’ name, Amen.