Bread Collector
To You, O [God] my strength, I will sing praises;
For God is my stronghold [my refuge, my protector, my high tower], the God who shows me [steadfast] lovingkindness. Psalm 59:17 AMP
John 6:28-40 (<<click here to read the passage)
What if you decided that you were going to start collecting bread? You found a way to keep it perfectly whole and as fresh as the day it was baked. You became so obsessed with it all that it came to the point where you were spending all of your resources on bread…but the thing is, you never ate any of it! In your mind, your collection was so wonderful that you couldn’t possibly bring yourself to delve into your collection.
It’s silly to even think about…but isn’t that the way we live spiritually?
Jesus emphatically proclaimed, “I AM the Bread of Life.” v35 He continues, “Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
We talk about Jesus. We go to church. We try to be mindful of how we think and act. In a way we collect “spirituality”, but we can never quite bring ourselves to partake of it.
At my one church, we observed communion by intinction. The congregant would pinch off a piece of bread and dip it in the cup and then partake of it. I found it humorous that on occasion an individual would get a far greater chunk of bread than they had anticipated, and you could tell they were embarrassed. They felt that they had taken too much!
I’ve thought about preaching a sermon on “you can’t take too much of Jesus”. For us to be spiritually satisfied and healthy, we must partake of the Bread of Life! We need to grasp handfuls! We have to spend time with Him – praying without ceasing as it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. That doesn’t mean we pray the Lord’s Prayer over and over and over again. It means we spend time with Him. A decision needs to be made – any decision – and we stop and ask for His guidance. A friend’s name, out of the blue, comes to mind – and we stop and say a prayer for them. We have no idea why they came to mind, but we allow the Holy Spirit to work through us to spiritually lift them up. Throughout our day we bring everything before God, we ask for His blessing on all that we say and do.
Jesus, the Bread of Life, wants us to partake of his blessings and guidance. He gives us what we need to maintain our spiritual health and wholeness. We must faithfully go to Him to satisfy our hunger. Believing in Him will quench our thirst! Oh, Lord Jesus, may it be so!
June 3rd, 2021, Thurs, 6:48 pm
The Right Focus
A very full day Father, and I am grateful that You were part of it from start to finish. Early this morning I thought to “expect the unexpected” and though it didn’t cross my mind again – it’s a start. I felt Your hand upon my shoulder numerous times throughout the day. Thank You, Father.
John 6:28-32a (<<click here to read the passage)
One of the most difficult aspects of following Jesus for many believers is struggling to do all the things that we think we should be doing. For many, it includes a fairly hefty list of things we are not supposed to be doing as well.
Growing up the list of “do nots” was more prominent in my mind than the list of “dos”. (I wrote about my experience with do not go to movies a couple of years back – clink on STAR WARS – My Downfall?) Besides movies, and the Ten Commandments, we weren’t allowed to dance, and early on the list forbade billiards (pool), circuses, wearing jewelry, no pants, or makeup or short hair for women, no long hair for men, boys and girls couldn’t swim together, just to name a few of the many “do nots!
I truly believe that those who came up with these lists were honorable in their intentions. They were trying to place a hedge of protection around followers of Christ. If all those things were shunned, you wouldn’t be exposed to the temptations they could bring. But like many who placed great emphasis on those types of legalism, it led to believers being very judgmental of others who didn’t closely follow their list of “do nots” – believers and non-believers alike.
My Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation as this to say,
Many sincere seekers for God are puzzled about what he wants them to do. The religions of the world are people’s attempts to answer this question. But Jesus’ reply is brief and simple: We must believe on him whom God has sent. Satisfying God does not come from the work we do, but from whom we believe. The first step involves accepting that Jesus is who he claims to be. All spiritual development is built on this affirmation. Declare to Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16) and embark on a life of belief that is satisfying to your Creator.
We surely must shun evil, as it is always lurking about attempting to lure us in with all kinds of enticing appeals. But in the end, the most important aspect of our relationship with Jesus is not about what we do or don’t do…it is about whom we believe.
Lord Jesus, may we truly come to believe that You are the God in the flesh, the Chosen One of the Father. By our sin, we disconnected ourselves from You, but You came here to enable us, by sacrificing Yourself on the cross, to be reconnected to You. May our focus be not on the doing but on the believing and may we let Your working in us take care of the rest! Amen.
June 2nd, 2021, Wed, 9:41 pm
A Shift of Perspective
A day of getting things done…thank You, Father, for the ability – physically and mentally – to accomplish the tasks at hand. I am thoroughly blessed!
John 6:22-27 (<<click here to read the passage)
Some two thousand years later, Jesus’ words still confront us. A goodly portion of adult life – even my time in the ministry – has been about providing for my physical needs and desires. And surely there is nothing wrong with being gainfully employed to make sure there is a roof over our heads, food on the table, and clothes on our backs. But what do I do with Jesus’ statement in verse 27,
“…don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food.
It’s important to take things in perspective, Jesus was making a very pointed statement to those whose main goal was to fill their stomachs. In truth, many who followed Him after His miraculous feeding of the 5000 were hoping for another dinner and a show! And Jesus, by no stretch of the imagination, had not come to earth to simply meet our physical needs of nourishment and entertainment. He had come for so much more. And thus, the challenge…
“…don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.” v27 NLT
And that is where our perspective needs to shift.
Throughout my lifetime how many hours have I spent in a concerted effort to meet the needs of my life here on earth? That would be a pretty big number that I could not even begin to compute but the bigger question is, how would that number line up with the number of hours I have spent in a concerted effort seeking the eternal life that [Jesus] the Son of Man can give you.
I don’t believe my tally in column B would be negligible but, in all honesty, at least in my early years, I would say it would fall far short of column B. I have been a follower of Jesus from my childhood and, yes, I have worked for food that endures [and leads] to eternal life, as the Amplified Bible translates this same passage.
I think one of the things with which we will be confronted at the Last Judgement will be all of the things that we didn’t accomplish that we could have. How much time, the precious commodity that it is, have we wasted? How many hours have we spent on inconsequential things?
I am taking this not as something to tear me down…to knock me down a notch or two…but as an encouraging challenge! The past is the past, and I can do nothing to change it…but I can sure set my heart and mind on a different course as I move forward. I also realize that even as each new day begins, I will not be a master of working for food that endures to eternal life, but I have to begin! And Lord willing, that’s exactly what I will do! Amen!!!
June 1st, 2021, Tues, 7:29 pm
Expect the Unexpected
Father, thank You for those who regardless of religion, race, or creed, gave willingly of themselves to preserve what we hold dear. May You be especially close to those who by no choice of their own, were left behind to pick up the pieces and move forward with their lives. Amen.
John 6:15-21 (<<click here to read the passage)
I have to admit I was challenged as I sat down to write this evening. I read through this passage recalling Jesus’ walking on the water to the overwhelmed disciples attempting to row across the Sea of Galilea. It is approximately 8 miles across and they were about halfway across. And as the sea was want to do, a violent storm had overtaken them. High winds lead to rough seas and high waves. Many on board were seasoned fishermen but even men of experience can be put to the test.
The storm was one thing but what caught them off guard was Jesus’ arrival. That kind of thing would raise anybody’s hackles! They were three to four miles out in the middle of the water and there He was! Verse 19 tells us that they were [terribly] frightened. In Marks Gospel, he communicated that they thought they were seeing a ghost (Mark 6:49).
And as I continued to read the study note for this passage, what it had to say is what I was challenged by…
But if they had thought about all they had already seen Jesus do, they could have accepted this miracle. They were frightened – they didn’t expect Jesus to come, and they weren’t prepared for his help. Faith is a mind-set that expects God to act. When we act on this expectation, we can overcome our fears. *
I believe that God could do absolutely anything that needed to take place at any given time on any given day but when I rise each day, do I expect God to act? Do I live my life in eager expectation of God making Himself known to me or through me, even? Far too often I do not. I believe He could I just don’t expect Him to!
Each day I go through all the motions of life. I’m sure most of us live a pretty mundane life of routine normalcy. On occasion, we are caught off guard by something glorious or, more often than not, something terrifying. But in those moments do we anticipate God making an appearance or do we just hold on, hoping we will make it through?
Lord Jesus, I would pray that I would wake up with a mindset of faith that expects You to act! With You in the lead, I can take on anything no matter how terrifying it may be! May I cling to the exhortation You made to the disciples when they saw You walking to them on the sea, “It is I (I Am); do not be afraid.” AMP
What power and strength are found there! Help me to expect the unexpected! Amen!
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
May 31st, 2021, Mon, 8:02 pm
Diversity of Creation
(Miami Mist, Golden Alexander, Callery Pear Tree)
Father, thank You for the ability to put in some serious walking with Massey the last couple of days – over 13 miles! We both need it and You are providing the motivation to do it!
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I am one to firmly proclaim that we and the world around us are most definitely not a cosmic happenstance! The is far too much diversity. detail, and consistency for it all to come together on its own.
I snapped these pictures on a walk I took last week. Plants were blooming here and there along a paved path that had been a railroad bed years ago. I was making good progress and maintaining a pretty decent clip, but I had to stop and snap a few pictures – a minute representation of God’s creation!
The detail seen in each of these images reflects the creativity and attention given to each one by our Awesome God. And I would dare say that if I walked that same path tomorrow, the blooms if any at all would be left, would be but withered remnants of their former glory.
Yes, they are wondrous things of beauty but, they are also, here today and gone tomorrow. God invested time and energy in His creation even to the minute detail of life. There are portions of our world where beauty grows but no one but God alone ever sees their beauty to appreciate it. But it makes no difference for God needs no praise for those things for Him to call them good as He did “In the beginning…” (Genesis 1:1)
In 1864 Folliot S. Pierpoint wrote a hymn entitled For the Beauty of the Earth. It is a lovely hymn praising our God! Here is a wonderful video for your enjoyment. It is a bit lengthy but well worth the time to listen and enjoy. Praise our Mighty Good for the breathtaking beauty of His great creation!
May 30th, 2021, Sun, 9:19 pm