Melissa Garcia's Podcast
I am a follower of Christ ready and willing to send the message of the gospel to all who will hear and listen. Faith comes by hearing the word of God!
Melissa Garcia's Podcast
Recognizing Daily Miracles: Delving into the Book of Mark, Understanding Jesus’ Compassionate Miracles, and Nurturing a Relationship with Him Through Prayer
Do you often find yourself missing out on the little miracles that occur daily in your life? We're delving deep into the book of Mark, unraveling stories of Jesus' miracles – from the feeding of the multitude with five loaves and two fish to His exceptional control over nature. We'll try to understand how Jesus, through his compassion and power, involved his disciples in these miracles, and what lessons he taught them on faith and unbelief.
As we journey through the second half of our discussion, we'll be exploring how to initiate a relationship with Jesus through prayer. Drawing strength, courage and refuge from the meek and humble Jesus, we'll explore how a commitment to Him can guide our lives. Expect to be enlightened, inspired, and to feel a deeper connection with God. This episode promises to be a spiritual banquet that will not only feed your soul but also leave you pondering about the everyday miracles that God performs in your life.
https://audio.com/melissa-garcia/Godoverall
Hello everyone. I hope everyone is doing well. Sister Melissa here, and I am back with a message that is going to cause you to realize that our God performs miracles over miracles, because that is who our God is. The miracles that God does in our lives, they are enumerous. There is no way we could ever count the amount of miracles God does for us in one day, because they are many, and because they are many every single day, we ought to give God praise, because he is the only one who can perform those miracles that no man on this earth could ever try and counterfeit, because the only one who has the power to do miracles is God Himself. And so this morning, as I was reading, I started to realize something that a lot of the times when we are going through trials and we are going through hard times, we miss the mark of the miracles that God really, truly does in our lives. Miracles don't necessarily mean they have to be massive. A miracle could be something small, but mean so much. And every single day, god is doing millions of miracles in our lives. Take our bodies, for instance. Every single second, something is going on within our body, whether it is physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, there is always something going on. But if we miss the mark of those miracles and we don't give God praise for them, then we truly miss what it truly is to serve our God, to know and understand that we are in this life because of a miracle that took place at conception. God is so amazing in everything that he does. God is so true to His Word and God cannot lie.
Speaker 1:This morning it is 10 am November 9th 2023. And I'm going to be reading from the book of Mark. I'm going to be going through different verses within the chapters we will be reading. I truly believe that this Word is going to bless our lives because Jesus wants us to know that, even though we don't truly fully recognize the miracles that come into our lives, we, beyond the shadow of a doubt, can always count on the Holy Spirit to let us know my God is forming and not against me. So the Word of God is found in Mark. We are going to go to chapter 6, starting with verse 30, and the Word of God reads like this then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told them all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.
Speaker 1:And he said to them come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile, for there were many coming and going and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. But the multitude saw them departing and many knew Him and ran there on foot from their cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him and Jesus, when he came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things.
Speaker 1:When the day was now far spent, his disciples came to Him and said this is a deserted place and already the hour is late. Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and by themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat. But he answered and said to them you give them something to eat. And they said to Him shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat? But he said to them how many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they found out they said five and two fish. Now we are going to go to 41, which says. And when he had taken the five loaves and two fish. He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to His disciples to set before them, and the two fish he divided among them all so they all ate and were filled, and they took up 12 baskets full of fragments and a fish.
Speaker 1:Now we are going to go to verse 45, which says immediately he made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, tibet, sida, while he sent the multitude away. And when he had sent them away, he departed to the mountain to pray. Now, when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea and he was alone on the land and he saw them straining at rowing for the wind was against them. Now, about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea and would have passed them by. And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost and cried out, for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately he talked with them and said to them be a good cheer it is, I do not be afraid. Then he went up into the boat to them and the wind seized and they were greatly amazed in themselves, beyond measure, and marveled, for they had not understood about the loaves because their heart was hardened.
Speaker 1:Now we are going to go to chapter 8 of Mark and we are going to begin with verse 1. In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, jesus called his disciples to him and said to them I have compassion on the multitude because they have now continued with me three days and have nothing to eat, and if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come from afar. Then his disciples answered him how can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness? He asked them how many loaves do you have? And they said seven. We are now going to go to verse 7. They also had a few small fish and having blessed them, he said to send them also before them. So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. Now we are going to go to verse 11.
Speaker 1:And the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, testing him. But he sighed deeply in his spirit and said why does this generation seek a sign? As surely, I say to you. No sign shall be given to this generation. And he left them and, getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.
Speaker 1:Now, the disciples had forgotten to take bread and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. And they reason among themselves, saying it is because we have no bread. But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive, nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets full of fragments did you take up? They said to him 12. Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up? And they said seven. So he said to them how is it you do not understand?
Speaker 1:Father, we praise your holy name, we thank you for your word. We know, lord, father, god, that your word, lord, is for the edification of our soul and our spirit in our hearts. So, father, god, we praise your holy name in this very moment and we thank you for the many miracles that you perform in our lives. We thank you, lord, and we ask that you also forgive us, father, for the miracles that you have performed that we have forgotten about. And so, lord, father God, I just pray that you bring back to remembrance the miracles that you have performed in our lives, lord, father, god, that we may continue, lord, in the hope that is within us, the hope that leads us and guides us every single day. And his name is Jesus Christ. He is the one who always goes above and beyond measure to do what only you can do, father God, and that is a miracle in knowing that, if you are for us, then who could be against us? That if you are fighting our battles for us, then there is nothing that can take us away from your calling on our lives, and we thank you, father God. In Jesus' name in Christ, we pray Amen and amen. Wow, I know it was long, I know there was a lot in there, but there is a reason and a purpose why God led me to do this podcast the miracles that God does in our lives.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, without a doubt, unbelief can take place when we make our storms bigger than our God, and this is exactly what was happening with the disciples. As you can see, in the beginning the disciples came to Jesus and had explained to them what they had done in his name and the things that they had taught. Now, previously, they were called two by two, the disciples, by Jesus Christ, to go into the surrounding areas and to preach the word of God and to perform miracles. And so isn't it ironic that they come back and tell Jesus of what they did and what they taught. Yet, in the moment that they were to encounter a miracle from God, they do not perceive that God, in that moment, was trying to do and say something to the disciples, and God would use the multitude to cause a miracle to take place in that time frame. And the miracle that took place in that time frame was God multiplying the bread and the fish, and the disciples not only did they see this miracle happening, but Jesus also used them to serve the multitude as well. And so, when the disciples not only saw this miracle taking place, also they were to be a part of the miracle taking place in serving the four and the five thousand.
Speaker 1:But when there arose a tempest in the sea, jesus performed three miracles, and the three miracles that Jesus did for the disciples was one they were surrounded by darkness and from miles away. Jesus knew that they were in trouble, and so Jesus saw them from afar, in the darkness of the boisterous tempest that arose on the sea. The second miracle that Jesus did for them was Jesus walked on the water, and they saw Jesus walking on the water. Jesus was walking towards them, almost passing by, but the third miracle was that he was able to come the storm that was raging. And so them watching those miracles.
Speaker 1:The Bible says that they still could not understand it. Why? Because of the hardness of their heart. Sometimes, and most of the time, when God does perform miracles, whether it is in a multitude setting or whether it is in a private setting, sometimes we become a hardened of heart. Now, I don't know why this happens, I cannot tell you why this happens, but it does happen, and so it happened with the disciples.
Speaker 1:And so again, we see that the multitude in the hallelujah was following Jesus and Jesus taught them. But there came a moment where the disciples wanted them to go to the surrounding areas and dismiss them, to get something to eat, mind you, they had already saw Jesus feeding the 5,000, and so they want to disperse the multitude, and they wanted them to go into the surrounding areas. One thing that caught my eye is that in the second of the feeding of the 4,000, he says something so interesting that they were like sheep without a shepherd. And so, as they were a sheep without a shepherd, he had compassion on them. And so he tells the disciples, or he asks the disciples, how many loaves of bread do you have? And so the disciples once again let Jesus know how many bread and how much fish they had. And once again Jesus performs a miracle. But this time around, jesus tells them beware. After the multitude was fed.
Speaker 1:Then Jesus goes on, because now the Pharisees had come to dispute with him and they were seeking a sign from him. But Jesus tells the Pharisees this generation will by no means see a sign. And so Jesus goes on to tell the disciples as they got into the boat, and he says to them beware of the Pharisees, beware of the Pharisees and beware of Herod. Now, mind you, before that the disciples had forgotten to bring more bread with them, so they only brought one loaf of bread on the boat. They were in the physical realm, they were not thinking in the spiritual realm, so they thought that Jesus was talking about bread. They still had not comprehended that.
Speaker 1:It's not about the bread. It's about who rises up against you and against me. It's about what is going on in the supernatural realm. It's about us being mindful that the enemy is going to try and cause us to not believe in the miracles that we see and, in turn, not believe that God is the one performing all the miracles, because, as you can see, the Pharisees were looking for a tangible sign. But this is not about seeking a tangible sign. This is about believing and understanding that with a heart and heart, you will never be able to see the miracles because, when they happen, you still will be blocked from understanding because of a heart and heart. And this is the reason why Jesus said to his disciples do you not understand, after seeing miracles upon miracles upon miracles, do you not comprehend that with a heart and heart, it will block you from seeing and understanding that the miracles that are being performed is so that your faith will increase and when your faith increases, you will be able to go beyond measure and continue fulfilling your purpose on this earth. This is the reason why God will still continue in his mercy to show us miracles upon miracles, because there has to come a time where we are going to understand that, as God performs the miracles, god also wants us to leave our heart and heart in unbelief and start walking in belief and start walking by faith and knowing that if God did it then, then God will do it again. He will continue to do it over and over and over again.
Speaker 1:We need to understand something here that as God spoke to his disciples, he spoke to them because he loves them. He spoke to them this way because he wanted them to fully comprehend that we need to be aware of something that we cannot have a heart and heart. We cannot walk like the Pharisees, we cannot walk like Herod. We need to walk in the fullness of knowing and understanding that we are a spirit in a body. We are not a body with a spirit. God says that no one can please God if not coming to him by faith.
Speaker 1:And when we come to God by faith, then he is alleluia the one who blesses us when we truly start understanding that the miracles that are set before us are to allow us to understand and comprehend that God is with us, that God will multiply, that God will sustain us in, whatever we are facing, god will have compassion and God will see us through to the other side, no matter what. Let us start counting the miracles that God has done for us and I guarantee you you will lose count, because the number of times God has saved you, god has saved me, are enumerous, and the many times that God has provided for us. There is no way to measure that. God is amazing and he wants us to know and understand that we cannot walk with a heart and heart. It will block us from truly understanding what God has already established in us, what he is doing in us and what he will continue to do in and through us when we walk, knowing that the one who has performed a miracle then is getting ready to do it over and over again. Hallelujah.
Speaker 1:Now I can't leave this podcast without inviting you, if you do not know, jesus to come into your heart, because with Jesus, you have eternal life. Without Jesus, the Bible says that you will be eternally condemned, forever and ever. But Jesus died and rose again on the third day so that you would believe in your heart that he is Lord and Savior and that you would confess your sins and that you would become a child of God, your name would be written in the Lamb's Book of Life and you will have eternal life with Jesus. And one day you will see Jesus face to face. So I invite you to open your heart right now. If that is you, this is your moment. Open your heart, invite Jesus.
Speaker 1:You can never go wrong with inviting Jesus into your heart, because he is the truth, the way and the life, and no man can come to the Father if not through Jesus Christ. So I encourage you now bow your head and close your eyes and repeat after me God, I come to you in this moment and I realize that I have sinned against you, and only against you, and I invite you into my heart and I make you my Lord and Savior of my life, because I believe that you died for me on Calvary's cross and you rose again on the third day to give me life, and life in abundance. And so, father, right now I accept the calling that is on my life and I will follow Jesus from here on out. I thank you for making me a child of God and for writing my name in the Lamb's book of life. Thank you, father. I pray this in Jesus name, amen and amen, hallelujah.
Speaker 1:If you have said that prayer, welcome to the family of God. I encourage you to start in the Bible with the books of the Gospels Matthew, mark, luke and John. This will give you a more profound relationship with Jesus, to know who he is, that he is faithful, he is humble, he is meek, but he is also our strength and our courage, our shelter and our refuge. When times get hard, he will see us through because he is the maker of heaven and earth and that is where our help comes from Heaven and he helps us here on earth Until the next time, bye, bye for today.