Jesus is the Bread of Life by Ann Broughton

“Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35 NIV).

   Have you ever run out of gas? I was mowing today and the mower ran out of gas, which was frustrating since I had to go to the gas station to get gas for it. Our mowers and cars etc. need gas for fuel or they just will not go. We as humans need fuel in our bodies in order to keep functioning. If you stop eating, you will not live. We need this to live and most of us are pretty faithful with filling our body with this kind of fuel. 

    Just like our vehicles and our bodies need fuel, so does our spiritual life. Actually, it is even more important to keep fueling our spiritual life.  “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (Romans 12:11 NIV).  Jesus said that those are blessed who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew: 5:6) It is so easy to get so busy that praying, reading the Bible, going to church, and helping others gets put on the back burner. But if you continue this pattern you will find yourself someday feeling empty inside and yearning for a closer relationship with Christ. That is when you will be aching for the true bread of life.

    Jesus is our bread of life. We must feed on His love in order to sustain us during the storms in our lives. Some people say they can’t read the Bible because they don’t understand it. Pray before you read and ask God to enlighten you. The Holy Spirit inside of you will help you understand the scriptures better. Jesus said, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, who the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said” (John 14:26 NIV). We all need to worship every week and talk to our Christian friends. Fellowship is so important because we all need encouragement. Jesus wants us to have a close relationship with Him, but we must take time to do it in order to be the kind of Christian he wants us to be.

Dear Lord,

I know that I need to take time to feed on your love for me. Help me to take time every day to study your word, pray, and reach out to others with your love.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen

Crave the Lord by Ann Broughton

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God” (Psalm 42:1 NIV).

    Have you ever been extremely thirsty? I know I have felt this way when I am in the hot sun for awhile. Without water a person cannot live for long. I read that dehydration when you are overheated can happen within an hour. The reference above is related to how we are to thirst for the Lord’s influence in our lives, just as we are driven to drink water when we are thirsty. The need for Him and His presence in our lives should be what we pursue more than anything.

    I have just read a book that is so wonderful for those of us who have issues with craving certain foods (sugar for me). It is called Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst. She stated that we are to crave the Lord more than we crave anything and that if anything else takes first place instead of God, then it is not good. I happen to be a stress eater so whenever I get stressed I head for chocolate, cookies, etc. The book made me so aware that I need to be seeking the Lord’s help when I am stressed and not rely on food to self-medicate. Maybe you have this problem too, so I hope you will be inspired to not view food as something to help you with emotional issues. One verse that is helping me is, “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and finish his work” (John 4:34 NIV). Doing the will of the Lord has always been my purpose, and knowing that food has become a stumbling block has convicted me to really put God first in my life in everything.

    Is it hard for you to walk away from certain foods? If you said yes then you are being ruled by food on some level. We are truly supposed to eat to live and make healthy choices so that we can be healthy to do His will in our lives.

We are the temple of God and we each have a mission from God. It is so important to keep our temple healthy so we can finish the work God has prepared for us.

Dear Lord,

Help us as we strive to put you first in our lives. Help us to long for your presence more than anything, and turn to you when we are in emotional crisis instead of something that will only gratify us for a little while.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen