Nourish Your Soul With Daily Bread….

Jesus is the Bread of life. Here in John chapter 6, we read of Jesus telling the crowd about Him being the Bread of life. There are so many points to make here, but I will only mention a few. First, Jesus tells the crowd not to be concerned with perishable (earthly/transient) things. Devote your time, energy, and thoughts on eternal things, i.e. people and God. This sets your mind on things not yet received. It gives us hope, something to look forward to. Something that will last, not wasting our time and efforts on things that are insignificant. Secondly, Jesus tells the crowd the only thing God wants from them (us) is to believe in Jesus; to trust Him with our lives. You can’t do anything physically to win God’s favor. Nothing can be done that can “earn” our salvation. It’s all based on our faith, trusting God to do what He says He’ll do. The results are gratitude, hope, peace, purpose, and security. Again this makes us all equal, and sets our priority on that which will never fade away. There is no need to compare, or to take things personally, because we know where our significance comes from. And no one can take that away from us. Third, Jesus tells the crowd that they are wrong about Moses. He didn’t give them the manna to eat while they were in the desert, it was God Who provided. Just as God provided bread to eat to the Jews, He also provides Jesus, the Bread of life, to sustain us, here in our lives. This sets our gratitude on the only Thing worthy of receiving it. It helps us to not get caught up in the now, to see the bigger picture. It helps us prioritize our lives, and not waste time, squandering it away on frivolous stuff. Fourth, and most important, this “Bread of life” feeds our spiritual souls; it sustains us in times of trouble, conflict, and in good times as well. If we do not feed our spirits with this Spiritual food, our spirit starves. We can’t expect to see spiritually, walk with God, and grow in our faith in Jesus if we starve ourselves, by not being in His Word daily. It’s like eating lettuce and expecting it to energize and nourish our physical bodies. It may fill our stomachs, but it won’t sustain our spirit. We need real, solid, calorie rich food. You’ve heard the saying, “starve a fever, and feed a cold”, well if you starve your spirit, it will never grow, because lack of food, kills the spirit. Starving your spirit leads to death of spiritual sight. And lastly, we must always remember, it is God Who draws us closer to Him, not me closer to God. We cannot grow close to God without Him first opening the door. We can’t open the door ourselves. We are not the ones in control. When that door opens, we must enter it before it closes. If we don’t, it may never open again, and we miss the opportunity God has provided. So we depend on God for our salvation. That dependence we all need, starts in prayer, asking Him to reveal Himself to you. Our faith in Jesus’ work on the cross is what saves us. Getting connected with God, sustains our spirit by feeding it daily. The combination of both of these is what living out our salvation is all about. Learning to be independently dependent upon God. Seek Him out today, ask to be fed with Jesus, the Bread of Life. It will sustain you and help you continue to grow in your faith. Starve it by allowing your priorities to be focused on transient, worldly things, and you will develop spiritual blindness, which will lead you around life stumbling everywhere. The moral to today’s insight is this: feed your soul by cultivating your relationship with Jesus. Get into His Word. Talk to Him. You’ll find the peace and joy that people talk about only in Him. Fill yourself up with Jesus. It’s easier to handle life on a full spiritual stomach. When we please God, we please with ourselves as well. It only works in that order.

22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the far shore saw that the disciples had taken the only boat, and they realized Jesus had not gone with them. 23 Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. 24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for Him. 25 They found Him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”26 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with Me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. 27 But 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.”28 They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the One He has sent.”30 They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if You want us to believe in You. What can You do? 31 After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”32 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now He offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty. 36 But you haven’t believed in Me even though you have seen Me.37 However, those the Father has given Me will come to Me, and I will never reject them.38 For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent Me, not to do My own will.39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those He has given Me, but that I should raise them up at the last day.40 For it is My Father’s will that all who see His Son and believe in Him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”41 Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know His father and mother. How can He say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”43 But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said. 44 For no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them to Me, and at the last day I will raise them up.45 As it is written in the Scriptures, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to Me.46 (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen Him.)47 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life.48 Yes, I am the bread of life!49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died.50 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die.51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is My flesh.”52 Then the people began arguing with each other about what He meant. “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” they asked.53 So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. 54 But anyone who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day.55 For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.56 Anyone who eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him.57 I live because of the living Father who sent Me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on Me will live because of Me.58 I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.” John 6:22-58