Hosanna Restoration Church

After this, because, later on, and other such phrases in the Bible are always signals to me to see what was before. In this instance, Jesus had just given a lesson on the shortcomings of religion that refused to believe in Him. He told the religious leaders that He was the key to eternal life, but they were so bogged down in religion that they could not see what the very words they studied really meant. May God help us to always be open to His voice and not close our ears revelation knowledge when he pours it out.

So then, what did Jesus do after this? He crossed over the Sea of Galilee. He moved on. He did not spend more time trying to convince them of something that they would not believe. He left them with plenty to think about and moved on.

He did not need to convince them. He had a huge crowd that kept following Him wherever He went, because they saw His miracles as He healed the sick. Jesus moved on because He knew there were more miracles ahead. He moved on because He wanted this crowd that was following to know what to do next in their lives.

I think that many people stall in their faith because they fail to go on to what comes next. Instead of continuing to seek the Lord, we want someone else to tell us what to do next. Often times God will make it very clear through a word preached, spoken, or read, but because it is not what we want we stop.

We have a tendency to want to see the whole picture and God wants us to walk by faith. All Jesus wanted those folks to do was simply believe that He was the One that the scriptures were referring to. Those who believed found out it was true and followed Him, those who refused were left on the other side of the sea. And because they did not follow, they missed the next miracle. Instead of seeing Jesus feed a crowd that had five thousand men and many women and children with just five loaves of bread and two fish, they only got to hear about it. And of course because they did not see it themselves, many of them would still refuse to believe.

Have you ever missed an opportunity to experience something wonderful from God simply because you allowed the enemy to keep from a time of prayer, a church service, making a phone call, or some other thing, when the Holy Spirit was urging you but you just would not do it? I am sure that we all have.

Are you tired of only hearing about what God is doing? Are you hungry for more of Jesus? Are willing to walk by faith expecting miracle after miracle. This huge crowd kept following Jesus because they saw His miracles. They were convinced that more were ahead and they did not want to miss them.

Well, there are still more ahead. What will you do after this? Follow or stay behind?