Daily Gospel Devotional 2013: Soul food

John 6:41-59…

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. They didn’t understand what Jesus was really saying because their hearts weren’t open. These things are not perceptible by reason, it takes revelation.

And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. Jesus reiterates that He is indeed the bread of life. He contrasts this with the manna of Moses’ day, and how all those who ate of it were now deceased. He confounds the resisters once again by telling them that He is to be eaten, and that eating and drinking Him leads to eternal life.   

How can this man give us his flesh to eat? He is speaking in both physical and spiritual terms. In the physical sense, Jesus is referring to His life and work. The eating and drinking refer to the spiritual aspect of our acceptance of Him and His work. He had referred to Himself before as living water (John 4:10). The point is that whoever believes has eternal life.

For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. The flesh is His sinless life, which makes His blood, in other words His death, the atonement for our sin. If you do not receive His sinless life and believe in His atoning death you will not experience the eternal life He is speaking of. But for those who do believe, who do eat and drink of Jesus, who make Him the substance and sustenance of their lives, they will know that whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.

Jesus, the bread of life, is the only true food for the soul.

The only other alternative is devil’s food cake.

What’s on your menu for today?

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Daily Gospel Devotional 2013: More than manna

John 6:22-40…

You have seen me and yet do not believe. These people were chasing Jesus because they wanted results. Yet Jesus knew they were aiming at the wrong targets. They were looking for Him to give them bread; He wanted them to look at Him as bread.

It is the same with us. We look for Jesus to provide our needs, but Jesus wants us to look at Him as our need. He will provide for us, but He wants us to have the right mindset about it all. We have to ask the right questions, but we must also have the right applications.

It takes a miraculous perception: everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life. This means more than an escape from hell (John 17:3).

It comes by a miraculous presentation: All that the Father gives me will come to me. The Father gives us to Jesus as a treasure. Most people are trying to do everything for God, instead of letting God be everything to them.

It brings a miraculous presence: whoever comes to me I will never cast out. Jesus never lets go of us. We are supposed to work, not to get accepted, but because we are accepted. 

It ensures a miraculous protection: I should lose nothing of all that he has given me. Jesus will not lose any of His treasure; He even protects us from ourselves. 

It is part of a miraculous plan: this is the will of him who sent me… the will of my Father. People that follow their own will are missing the real prize (Philippians 3:8-14).

It culminates in a miraculous promotion: I will raise him up on the last day. Jesus will bring us with Him into eternity. In Christ we are significant, sufficient, and secure (cf. Ephesians 1:3-9).

Jesus means more than manna. He is trying to get us to live for today by having an eye for tomorrow. His is the voice of vision. The question is how are you seeing Him?

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Daily Gospel Devotional 2013: Touching the Master

Matthew 14:34-36 / Mark 6:53-56…

These people recognized who Jesus was. They knew He was powerful, and they knew He was compassionate. They also recognized that they had needs, needs only He could meet.

So they ran to Jesus and for Jesus. They ran to tell others and they ran to catch Him wherever He went to. They finally had something worth chasing.

Then they reached out for Him. Some of these people knew who He was, but many still needed a personal encounter. You can know who Jesus is, but you must have a personal encounter to actually know Him as He is.

Having taken all these steps, they received – Jesus never failed any miracle that He attempted. There were no incurable diseases, cases, or problems that Jesus couldn’t and didn’t deal with (Acts 10:38). In the presence of Jesus is where change happens. But if they did not recognize, run to, and reach out for Him, it was because they did not believe, and so they were not healed. You have to follow along.

Now Jesus isn’t trying to get you to be busy. He isn’t commanding us to follow Him just so that we will lose all our energy. Jesus is not looking to drain you; He is looking to develop you (John 12:26). You lose your life, you stop chasing things that don’t matter, and start reorienting your life to be moving with Him. Then you will have His energy (1 Corinthians 15:10 / Galatians 2:20 / Philippians 2:12-13 / Colossians 1:27-29).

He can be touched; the question is, will we reach out and try (Hebrews 4:14-16)?

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©