Week of January 22, 2023

From Scarcity to Abundance:  The Feeding of the 5000

The person with a scarcity mindset tends to focus on the limitations of a situation seeing mostly the negatives.  As you might guess, this can result in a sense of powerlessness and inaction.  The person with an abundance mindset focuses on the opportunities for growth and improvement.  This can result in inspiration and risk-taking.  Faith in a God of love and abundance can have a great impact on whether we take on a scarcity or an abundance mindset. 

January 23                         Luke 9:10-17

You can hardly fault the disciples for thinking that the situation was hopeless:  they had so little food and there were so many people.  And even though they had seen Jesus do previous miracles, I’m not sure that that their life with him was “another day, another miracle.”  As for example, I think they normally had to find and cook dinner and not rely on Jesus to give them “manna from heaven.”  Yet clearly Jesus wanted to reveal to them again his divine power and to help them see himself as the Lord of abundance.  In what areas of life is God’s abundant provision most evident to you?  What areas are you less likely to see, more likely to ignore?  What leads you to complain about scarcity rather than celebrate abundance?  

January 24                         John 6:1-15

This is John’s account of the feeding of the 5000.  What are the similarities of Luke and John’s telling of the story?  What distinctives does John’s telling provide?  What could be the significance of a boy providing the five loaves and two fish?  How has God astonished you with the abundance of his provision?

January 25                         1 Kings 17:7-16

In the miracle of the feeding of the 5000, Jesus shows that he is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets Elijah and Elisha.  In a drought-stricken season, Elijah heads north to stay with a poor widow.  Even though she is starving, God tells the prophet that she will provide for him.  And she does … even though clearly it is the Lord’s miraculous provision that matters.  How do you think the widow felt as day after day she and her son were provided for?  What has built trust for you over the years in God’s goodness?  What does God provide Christians that is seemingly inexhaustible?   

January 26                         Psalm 36

In this psalm of David, there is a stark contrast between human evil and the amazing goodness of God.  In David’s time as well as ours, it is evident that too often individuals go radically astray and become blind to their own sin and the damage it creates.  But that only highlights rather than negates the faithfulness of God.  He continues to give the abundance of life.  What are aspects of human and natural evil that tend to undermine your faith in God’s goodness?  What for you is the “abundance” of God’s “house” and his “river of delights?  Make a list of the benefits of Jesus’ death and resurrection that are most important to you.

January 27                         Ephesians 3:14-21

The Apostle Paul believes in a God who is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…” (3:20). What builds or undermines your trust in this kind of God of abundance?  What are you trusting God for in this season that is frankly a faith stretch?  What would it mean for you to have your grasp of God’s love fill you “to the measure of all the fullness of God” (3:18-19).

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Week of January 15, 2023