"Misplaced Baskets"
Pastor Albert Almore
“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.””
Matthew 14:15 NIV
“Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said.”
Matthew 14:16-18 NIV
“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.”
Matthew 14:19 NIV
“They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.”
Matthew 14:20-21 NIV
If I would’ve been there, I would’ve messed this whole scene up. The moment Jesus would’ve lifted the food to pray over it, I would’ve been on the side like, "Pssss…..pssssss. Jesus. JESUS!! I don’t want to interrupt your prayer time Jesus, and I don’t want you to be embarrassed around all of these people, BUT I’VE BEEN THINKING AND I DON’T THINK THIS IS ENOUGH!
I can see Jesus now, all so graceful, all so loving, in this moment of truth. "You’ve been thinking huh, and you don’t think this is enough?”
Me: "That’s right Jesus, think about it.”
Before I can get the rest out, Jesus so gently says, "Beloved, that’s your problem right there. You think too much.”
You think too much about what you don’t have, instead of thanking God for what you do have.
📝 Stop THINKING so much about what you DON’T HAVE, and start THANKING GOD for what you DO HAVE.
📝 THANKSGIVING is greater than OVERTHINKING.
“I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with THANKSGIVING.”
Psalms 69:30 NKJV
“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with THANKSGIVING…
Psalms 95:1-2 NKJV
“Enter into His gates with THANKSGIVING, And into His courts with praise. Be THANKFUL TO HIM, and bless His name.”
Psalms 100:4 NKJV
THANKSGIVING is greater than OVERTHINKING.
NOW I better understand Matthew 14:19 where it says…
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.”
Matthew 14:19 NIV
This wasn’t the only time we saw Jesus do this. In another very similar occasion Mark 8:1 says,
"During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, 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.”
Mark 8:1-2 NIV
“If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.” His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?””
Mark 8:3-4 NIV
““How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied. He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and GIVEN THANKS, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so.”
Mark 8:5-6 NIV
“They had a few small fish as well; HE GAVE THANKS for them also and told the disciples to distribute them.”
Mark 8:7 NIV
What are you doing Jesus? This isn’t enough. I know son but…
📝 Instead of THINKING about what’s missing, THANK GOD for what’s present.
What are you doing Jesus? This isn’t enough. I know son but…
📝 Instead of THINKING ABOUT what’s wrong, THANK GOD for what’s right.
“The people ate AND WERE SATISFIED. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were LEFT OVER. About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away,”
Mark 8:8-9 NIV
📝 The key to MORE is being thankful for what YOU HAVE.
The key to being CONTENT, not complacent, is THANKSGIVING.
After all of this happened, the story goes on to say in Mark 8:14…
“The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.””
Mark 8:14-15 NIV
“They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.” Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?”
Mark 8:16-17 NIV
“Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, HOW MANY BASKETFULS of pieces did you pick up?” “Twelve,” they replied.”
Mark 8:18-19 NIV
““And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, HOW MANY BASKETFULS of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand?””
Mark 8:20-21 NIV
Jesus said HOW MANY BASKETS FULL of pieces were there? The second time he said in one translation, HOW MANY LARGE BASKETS FULL of pieces did you pick up? Mark 8:18 again…
“Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? AND DON’T YOU REMEMBER?”
Mark 8:18 NIV
HOW MANY BASKETS FULL…
HOW MANY LARGE BASKETS FULL…
I want to talk to you from this subject today….
MISPLACED BASKETS
God is good. Life is hard.
THE STORMS OF LIFE HAVE A WAY OF BLOWING AWAY OUR BASKETS.
So here’s what you have to do…
📝 Weigh your baskets down with stones of THANKSGIVING.
That’s what Samuel did in 1 Samuel 7:12,
“Then Samuel took a A STONE and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “THUS FAR THE LORD HAS HELPED US.””
I Samuel 7:12 NKJV
“Samuel then took A LARGE STONE and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “UP TO THIS POINT THE LORD HAS HELPED US!””
1 Samuel 7:12 NLT
📝 Weigh your baskets down with EBENEZER STONES.
Ebenezer Stones Are:
Stones of Who He IS.
Stones of Who He WAS.
Stones of Who’s TO COME.
““I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “WHO IS and WHO WASand WHO IS TO COME, the Almighty.””
Revelation 1:8 NKJV
Jesus said HOW MANY BASKETS FULL of pieces were there?
📝 Every basket serves as a trophy for God’s FAITHFULNESS.
This is why the enemy wants you to misplace your baskets.
Every basket helps you to live out Lamentations 3:21…
“This I RECALL TO MY MIND, Therefore I HAVE HOPE.”
Lamentations 3:21 NKJV
Baskets help you to recall. Baskets produce hope. Hope is a big deal!
📝 Your MEMORY and HOPE are in Kingdom business together.
Out of all the things that could’ve been listed, 1 Corinthians 13:13 says,
“And now these three remain: faith, HOPE and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV
In other words if all else fails, these big 3 must remain in your life. Faith, Hope, and love. Right in the middle of the big 3 is HOPE!
This is why the enemy wants you to misplace your baskets. He wants you to lose hope!
When the winds begin to blow telling you this isn’t enough. When the winds begin to blow telling you this is how life is always going to be. Whatever you do, don’t allow the wind to misplace your baskets! Whatever you do, don’t allow the storms of life to misplace your baskets. Whatever you do, don’t allow the what ifs of life cause you to misplace your baskets! To lose sight of your baskets, is to lose hope! To lose hope is to lose faith. And to lose faith is to lose sight of God’s love for you in the midst of the storm.
I charge you today to…
REMEMBER RIGHT.
DON’T ALLOW THE STORMS OF LIFE TO INVOKE SPIRITUAL AMNESIA IN YOU.
Weigh your baskets down with EBENEZER STONES.
Stones of Who He is.
Stones of Who He was.
Stones of Who’s to come.
Stop THINKING so much about what you DON’T HAVE, and start THANKING GOD for what you DO HAVE.
Philippians 4:8…
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and WORTHY OF PRAISE.”
Philippians 4:8 NLT
THANKSGIVING is greater than OVERTHINKING.
To this Jesus says in Matthew 6:25,
“Therefore I say unto you, TAKE NO THOUGHT for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?”
Matthew 6:25 KJV
“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by TAKING THOUGHTcan add one cubit unto his stature?”
Matthew 6:26-27 KJV
“And why take ye THOUGHT for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
Matthew 6:28-29 KJV
“Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”
Matthew 6:30 KJV
“Therefore TAKE NO THOUGHT, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?”
Matthew 6:31 KJV
“(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”
Matthew 6:32 KJV
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Matthew 6:33 KJV
“TAKE THEREFORE NO THOUGHT for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
Matthew 6:34 KJV
Take no thought this… Take no thought that…
WHAT’S TAKEN OVER YOUR THOUGHTS?
I’ll leave you with the remedy. I Thessalonians 5:16-17…
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,”
I Thessalonians 5:16-17 NKJV
“IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS; FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD in Christ Jesus for you.”
I Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV
IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS…
WHERE HAS LIFE PLACED YOUR BASKETS?
One of the most beautiful prayers one can ever pray is…
📝 LORD, EVEN IN THIS—I GIVE THANKS.
IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS…
As we worship, I charge you to today, to REGATHER YOUR BASKETS. As we worship, I charge you to today, to not just REGATHER YOUR BASKETS, BUT TO ALSO PLACE EBENEZER STONES IN THEM.
Stones of Who He IS.
Stones of Who He WAS.
Stones to remind you of Who’s TO COME.
“IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS; FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD in Christ Jesus for you.”
I Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV
LORD, EVEN IN THIS—I GIVE THANKS.
I GIVE THANKS.