Month: May 2012

Sunday 5th August 2012 – Bread of life 2

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The Word This Week:

Thoughts on the Word:

John 6:24-35

So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”

Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

This week we continue our journey through the 6th chapter of the Gospel according to St John. We see something extraordinary in this reading, Jesus actually refers to himself as the bread of life! However I want to start by examining what Jesus tells us in the first portion of the Gospel reading… “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life…” Now we must understand here that Jesus isn’t advocating that we all give up our jobs and go on the dole.  He isn’t saying that we shouldn’t work to feed ourselves or our families. What he is saying to us is that these material things should not be our focus, they are a necessary thing, but not where our heart should be set.  It is something that I myself have lost track of in the past – my focus was on work, money, paying the bills, ensuring that we had all the best of everything that we could get.  Where this led me was to a dark place, where my focus on these matters of material needs and wants was all I could think about, and when things got hard and the pressures of this world came to bear – as they inevitably do, I didn’t know where to turn.  I was a Christian at the time, but I just didn’t have my mind and my heart focused in the right direction.  It didn’t occur to me that I had my priorities wrong and that by turning my attention to Jesus rather than focusing on the material problems, I may be able to see some light through the darkness.  No for me the focus was on just ‘coping’ with the issues as best I could …

When I finally realised the problem was that I had my priorities wrong, and changed my focus to Jesus, I finally began to truly understand the meaning of passages of scripture like this one.  At the very beginning of John, we learn that Jesus is the light of the world, he shines in the darkness and the darkness will never overcome him! When we place our focus on Jesus, we are focused on the light, and as a result we can see clearly, we will not stumble.  It is when we turn away from him that we find ourselves stumbling around in the dark.  Likewise when we spiritually  hunger and thirst, there is one we can turn to for solace, and be fed.  Jesus fulfills all of our spiritual needs, he bridges the gap for us to the spiritual perfection that we as a species were designed to live in.  While we cannot live in that perfection in this life due tour fallen nature, we can however experience it through our relationship with Christ, and we can move towards that perfection through sanctifying ourselves in obedience to him. 

We should also understand that just like the Israelites wandering in the desert, we will be provided with this bread from heaven, even when our movement towards sanctification stumbles through sin.  The Israelites were provided with Manna even when the were less than appreciative, we to will always have access to the bread of life, even when we stumble. Our own virtue is not a prerequisite to receive a this nourishing food, but through feeding on it we move closer to God, and thus further away from the darkness that causes us to stumble.

As we move into the week, let us ask ourselves where our focus is.  Is it on fulfilling only our material needs and wants – or are we focused on fulfilling our spiritual hunger through eating of the bread of life?

I’m A God Girl….How I became one of those people who keeps talking about God.

For me to become a Christian, I really didn’t have any big hurdles to jump.  I was raised in a Christian home.  I grew up regularly attending a church.  I went to church camps.  I was familiar with the buildings, the language and the general practice of Christian life.  Hubs and I have both significantly grown in our personal relationships with Christ since we married, and we’re raising our 3 children in a Christ centred house.  But it is only recently that I have been really comfortable talking about the things God is doing in my life. 

As I was growing up, I spoke with many people in various stages of their walk with Christ.  Some decided not to continue on that path.  Others inspired me.  You know that feeling you get when you know you’ve just met a Christian even though the topic didn’t come up?  The people who just radiate with peace.  Or the person who not only sees the cup as half full, but also can’t help but tell you about how God was involved in something.

As I left the park after the kids had a play date recently, it struck me.  I’ve become the latter of those two people.  I couldn’t help but tell them about how God had bought us to this town.  How Hubs feels called into ministry and I feel called to study so that I can have a supporting role in his ministry.  How when I pray about these things I keep being challenged to think outside of my comfort zone (an easy days drive to our parents) and when I start to pull back I get a very clear message ‘It’s not about your comfort.’  It’s exciting to be so in touch with God!

It’s easy easier to be open with people who you think will be happy to hear what you say.  God has been working on my resistance to sharing with non-believers too.  Recently I’ve been given two friends to encourage.  Previously I would fumble and stumble my way out of the conversation with some flippant comment which probably would leave the other person wondering what could possibly be appealing about being a Christian.   I was lukewarm when it came to sharing my faith.  Jesus doesn’t like lukewarm faith.  I prayed about this.  Over many years.  Many prayers were said, asking God to help me be a better witness to his Kingdom.

The big change in me occurred when I realised that I was caring way too much about what people thought of me, and not enough about what Jesus thought of me.  I was too worried about offending people and the possibility that they wouldn’t like me anymore.  I was still a little girl in the playground trying to gather up and keep friends.  It wasn’t until I took a good long look at the life of Jesus that I realised that I had it the wrong way around.  Sounds simple now!  Jesus wasn’t worried about offending people, his popularity or his comfort.  He was worried about YOU!  With that in mind, it’s become a lot easier for me to step out of my comfort zone and care a lot more about the eternal life of people I meet.  I’m still no Billy Graham/Joyce Meyer/Insert great speaker here!   I’m not sure that God wants me to be like them.  I just know that He’s making changes in me.

If you feel like you’ve been sharing a lukewarm faith and would like to change that, there are a few things you can do.  Firstly, pray specifically and expectantly.  Ask God to help you change the things that need changing.  It may be a distorted perspective, like mine.  You may feel like you just don’t have the words.  Or you have the words, but a stutter stops you getting them out.  God can work out anything that needs work.  Secondly, ask others to pray with or for you.  The prayers of others can be very powerful, and God listens to all prayers.  And thirdly, ask God to give you opportunities to share your faith.  Once you take the step of actively asking for opportunities, you will find yourself seeking them.  Don’t beat yourself up if you let one go, or if it didn’t go as well as you’d hoped.  Just add it to your prayers and keep going.

If you have any questions or if you would like me to pray for you, I’d love you to contact me, either in the comments, or via the Contact Us page.