I Am the Bread of Life.

John 6:35-40

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.

All whom the Father gives me shall come to me, and whoever comes to me I will certainly not cast out.

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

And this is the will of him who sent me, that of all those he has given me, I lose no one, but will raise them up on the last day.

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him, may have eternal life. And I myself will raise him up on the last day.

Knock at the Door

Luke 11:9

Jesus said, "Ask and it shall be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock, and the door will be opened for you.

For everyone who asks, receives;
and he who seeks, finds;
and to him who knocks, it shall be opened.


Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish?
You will not give him a snake will you?
Or if he asks for an egg? You will not give him a scorpion will you?

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts
to your children, how much more will your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?

Psalm 27:8

"When you said to me, "Seek my face,"
my heart said to you,
"Your face, O Lord, will I seek."

Isaiah 55:6

"Seek the Lord,
While he may be found.
Call upon him while he is near."

Matthew 6:33

"But seek first the kingdom of God,
and his goodness.
And all these things will be given to you."

Matthew 13:45-46

"The kingdom of God is like a merchant
seeking fine pearls.
He found one of great value,
so he went and sold all that he had and bought it."

Puzzled?

From the book, "For This Day," by J.B. Phillips.

"I think of the many unsolved problems and puzzles of this life. It is true that, by the same Spirit, we are given an insight and an understanding into God's ways and workings that we should never have possessed by ourselves. But it is still true that life often baffles and perplexes us, and if you will not think me too childish, what I think we need is a good solid "shelf" on which such things may be left until the time comes for us to know even as we are known.

The "shelf" is, of course, God himself. When we are able to cast all our care upon him, I feel our care may rightly include our unsolved problems and difficulties.

Romans 8:28

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose."

Colossians 3:12-14

As therefore, God's picked representatives, purified and beloved,
put on that nature which is merciful in action,
kindly in heart and humble in mind.

Accept life,
and be most patient and tolerant with one another,
always ready to forgive if you have a difference with anyone.

Forgive as freely as the Lord has forgiven you.
And, above everything else, be truly loving,
for love binds all the virtues together in perfection.

I Am Like a Lonely Bird

Psalm 102

"Hear my prayer, O Lord!
And let my cry for help come to you.
Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress;
Incline your ear to me;
In the day when I call answer me quickly.
For my days have been consumed in smoke,
And my bones have been scorched like a hearth.
My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away,
Indeed, I forget to eat my bread.
Because of the loudness of my groaning
my bones cling to my flesh.
I resemble a pelican of the wilderness;
I have become like an owl of the waste places.
I lie awake.
I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop."

Have you ever felt like a lonely bird on a housetop? I have. Have you ever felt like your heart has withered away? I have. Sometimes I think the Psalms have been written for those who have suffered and felt alone. When David felt that way he told God all about it, and God has made sure these prayers of David and other people were saved for all the ages.

The 102nd Psalm seems depressing, yet the very next chapter begins:
"Bless the Lord O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of his benefits;
Who pardons all your sins.

Whenever David talks about his troubles he ends up praising God for all his benefits. Let's never forget God's gifts to us, especially his presence in our lives.

Wealth or God?

Mark 8:36-37

"For what profit is there for someone who gains everything in the world, but loses his own soul?
For what will a person give in exchange for his soul?"

Someone could have all the wealth and power the world could offer, but what then? When they are dying, what would they give to live forever? What if someone said to them, "You can live healthy, strong and happily forever, but you must give me all you have."

What would the billionaire say? Wouldn't he say yes? Isn't a good life worth everything?

Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."

One of these two things must be chosen by everyone. Money or God, who will we serve? The Bible tells us to give, share, lend and help people in need. If we put money first, will we do these things? Probably not. If we put God first, will we do these things? Probably. That is the difference between loving God and money. It isn't that he wants us to be poor or not have anything nice. He wants our first priority to be helping others. And if we do, he says not to worry about our lives.

"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body as to what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?"

The Passion

Matthew 26:38

Jesus said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with me. And he went a little beyond them, fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as you will."

And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter, "So, you could not keep watch with me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, your will be done." Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And he left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.

The word "Passion", when used in connection with Jesus means "suffering." We have a God who not only understands our suffering, but also suffers.

"We would all like life to be free from suffering, and our love to be free from pain. But there is no true love without suffering. So the highest love of all, the love of Christ for men, showed unforgettably how deeply he must suffer in order to bring men to himself.

'God was in Christ, reconciling men to himself,' wrote Paul. There compressed in a few highly-charged words, is the heart of the Good News.

We have a God who loves.

That means we have a God who suffers."

From the book, For This Day - J.B. Phillips

In Him We Live.

Acts 17:28 "In Him we live and move and have our being."

The excerpt below is from the book, For This Day, by J.B. Phillips

"Let us keep ourselves in the love of God. Tragedy, bereavement, suffering, disappointment, frustration...all these things I see in the lives of people every week of my life.

Often they cannot be explained. Often a kind of mute sympathy is the most that we can offer in the name of the Lord. But how much better if we can somehow, even though it be by a single sentence, suggest that nothing is really beyond the power and purpose of God?

However we may be hurt by life, whatever our mistakes and failures, and even though death itself touches us or our loved ones, we can at all times and in all places say, 'In him we live and move and have our being.'"


Habakkuk 3:17

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord is my strength,
He makes my feet like a deer's feet,
And makes me to walk upon high places.

God Takes Pleasure In Us

Zephaniah 3:17

He will exult over you with joy.
He will be quiet in his love.
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

Psalm 149:4

For the Lord takes pleasure in his people.
He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.

Jeremiah 3:13

I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have drawn you to me with loving kindness.

God Takes Pleasure In Us

Love is the Greatest

Love is the greatest for, without it, there is no worthwhile success and no real security.

Love is the greatest, for men are never transformed at heart, permanently, except by love.

Love is the greatest for, without it, knowledge can become dangerous and destructive.

Love is the greatest, for it persists beyond the confines of this temporal existence.

Love is the greatest.

The life of Jesus is love.
It is the working out, on a miniature stage, of exactly that quality of person that is the power we call God.


"For This Day" by J.B. Phillips

Humility

Paul wrote to the new believers in Phillipi and told them to love one another. He went on to say, "Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not look out for only your own interests, but also the interests of others.

Have the same attitude which was in Jesus who, although he was God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped or held onto, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant and was made into the likeness of men.

As a man, he humbled himself further by being obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him a name above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every mouth will confess that Jesus the Messiah is Lord to the glory of God the Father."

The Children Came

Mark 10:13-16

The people were bringing their children to Jesus so that he might touch them;
But the disciples told them to leave Jesus alone.

When Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them,
"Let the children come to me, do not stop them;
for the kingdom of God belongs to such as them."

"Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all."

And he took them in his arms and began blessing them, laying his hands on them.

Rejoice - What I Have Learned So Far.

On Tuesday, I said I was going to try to rejoice in my problems and trials. I started doing it immediately all through the day and on Wednesday. I have learned some interesting things in two days.

1. I used to say, "Praise the Lord anyway." I didn't like the word 'anyway'. It says,"In spite of all this crap going on in my life, I will praise God anyway.

2. I wanted to rejoice in my problems without a qualifier, but found out there is one after all: Because.

3. "Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn you name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for (because) your reward is great in heaven." Luke 6:22-23

4. Jesus said, "Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the evil spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that (because) your names are written in heaven." Luke 10:20

5. "Let us lay aside every encumbrance and sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for (because of) the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2

6. "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials..." I Peter 1:6 What is the 'this' that we should greatly rejoice about?
Verses 3-5 talk about being born again, having hope and an inheritance in heaven.

7. I woke up this morning, and instead of thinking of how bad my nightmares were or how my legs ached, I said, "I rejoice my name is written in heaven." Not only did that bring a smile on my face, but joy to my heart. I kind of like this rejoicing business!

Made for Love.

"I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness."
Jeremiah 31:3



"God is love."

l John 4:8


"Maybe all the longings we each experience for something more, something just beyond our grasp, are the longings to return to that for which we were made - to love and be loved.

Every one of us longs for this. Not one person escapes this eternal longing. Whether we recognize this longing as a hunger to love and be loved or not, it still remains the same. We may confuse it as a need for money, power, or sex, but it is actually a longing for love. All other pursuits are ultimately empty and leave us hungering. But love satisfies. It quenches."

Finding the Father, by Herb Montgomery

Give Thanks in All Things

I want to let you know I have never reached the Christian maturity involved in counting a problem in my life as a joy. The verse below advises us to do just that. The closest I have come was when my hubby and I were broke, he had just started a new job and we had fifty cents left. I went to Safeway, bought two stale, day-old dinner buns and sat eating them. I said, "Praise the Lord anyway." That is OK, but it is not counting it a joy.

I decided today, after reading the verse below, that I am going to try to see my trials as a joy. I am going to thank God for the trials, and no qualifiers like the word "anyway". I would like to have no trials or troubles at all. I don't care if I learn to endure. But apparently God does, so I will let you know in a month or so how it all works out.

James1:2-4

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials.
Know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance have its perfect result,
so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Sharing Happiness

Photo: Disneyland 1998 - The whole family, grandchildren too.


Years ago, just after our children were grown and on their own, my husband wanted to go to Disneyland again. We had taken the girls twice, but he wanted to see it again with just the two of us.

Off we went and we did have a great time, but we both found ourselves thinking, " I wish the kids were here." There were new rides, new parades and new yummy food, like lemonade slushies. We didn't tell each other we were thinking of the kids non-stop until years later.

The author, Herb Montgomery, in his book, "Finding the Father," said he believes the primary motivation in God's creation of people was to share his happiness of being alive and enjoying the universe. He said it is like a parent wanting his children to enjoy the wonderful things in this world. I think that is a beautiful analogy.

Before sin came into the world, God made a perfect and gorgeous earth for our first parents to enjoy. Then he made a special garden just for them to live in. Some day, when this time of trouble is over, we will live with God himself and share in his happiness.

Isaiah 65:17
Be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing
And her people for gladness.

Isaiah 43:4
You are precious in my sight,
You are honored and I love you.

Matthew 24:23-31

Jesus said, "If anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ,' or 'There he is,' do not believe them. For false Christs and false prophets will come and show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead even the faithful. Remember, I have told you in advance.

So if they say to you, 'Look, Jesus is in the wilderness,' do not go out to see, or 'Look, he is in this room,' do not believe them.

For just as the lightening comes from the east and flashes to the west, so it will be when I come back.

Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the people of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.

And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together his people from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other."


I Thessalonians 4:16-18

Paul: "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of god, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."

Our Treasure

Matthew 6:19-21

Jesus said, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth where moth and rust consume them and thieves break through and steal.

But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Luke 6:38

"Give, and it shall be given to you. It will pour into your lap, a good amount - pressed down, shaken together and running over. For by your standard of giving, it will be given to you in return."

Are You Disappointed with God?

This is an excerpt from the book, "For This Day" by J.B. Phillips. It helped me a lot.

A Disappointment?

"The people who feel that God is a disappointment have not understood the terms on which we inhabit this planet. They want a world in which good is rewarded and evil is punished - as in a well-run kindergarten. They want to see the good man prosper invariably, and the evil man suffer invariably, here and now.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with their sense of justice. But they misunderstand the conditions of this present temporary life in which God withholds his hand, in order, so to speak, to allow room for his plan of free will to work itself out.

Justice will be fully vindicated when the curtain falls on the present stage, when the house-lights go on, and we go out into the Real World.

There will always be times when, from our present limited point of view, we cannot see the wood for the trees. Glaring injustice and pointless tragedy will sometimes be quite beyond our control and our understanding.

We can, of course, postulate an imaginary God with less good sense, love and justice than we have ourselves. And we may find a perverse pleasure in putting blame on him.

But that road leads nowhere.

You cannot worship a disappointment."

Our Enemies

Matthew 5:44-48

"But I say to you, love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.

For he causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good,
and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

For if you love those who love you,
what reward will you have?
Do not even bad people do that?
And if you greet only your brothers,
what more are you doing than other people?
Do not even unbelievers do the same?

Therefore you are to be perfect in this area,
as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Hear Me Lord

Psalm 130


Out of despair I have cried to you, O Lord.
Lord hear my voice!
Let your ears hear my requests.


If you, Lord, remember our sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you.
That you may be feared.



I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait.
And in his word do I hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchman for the morning.
More than the watchman for the morning.



For with the Lord there is lovingkindness.
And with him is abundant redemption.
And he will redeem us
From all our sins.

Jesus and the Woman

John 8:3-11


The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such a woman; what then do you say?"

They were saying this, testing him so that they might have grounds for accusing him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground. But when they kept on asking him, he straightened up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

When they heard it, they began to leave one by one, beginning with the older ones and Jesus was left standing alone with the woman.

Straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?"

She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you either. Go, and from now on do not sin again."

I have read some scholars say they believe Jesus wrote the men's sins when he was writing on the ground. They were probably frightened Jesus would expose their sins and so left the woman alone.

Seek the Lord

Isaiah 55:6-9


Seek the Lord while he may be found,
Call upon him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts.
Let him return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on him,
And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.





For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
Neither are my ways, your ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are my ways higher than your ways,
And my thoughts than your thoughts.

The Woman at the Well

A woman of Samaria came to the well to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." The woman answered, "How is it that you, a Jew, would ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? (for Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans)

Jesus said, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked me and I would have given you living water."

The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water:"
Jesus answered, "Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

The woman said to Jesus, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."
Jesus said, "Go, call your husband and come here."
The woman answered him, "I have no husband."
Jesus said, "You are right in saying you have no husband, for you have had five husbands and the man you are now living with is not your husband. You have told me the truth."

She said, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and the Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship"

Jesus answered, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father... The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

The woman said, "I know that the Messiah is coming; when he comes, he will show us all things."

Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he."

John 4:7-26

Abide in My Love

John15:9-14

Jesus said, "Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love; just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. And this is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

Greater love has no one than this,
that one lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends,
if you do what I command you.

The Most Important Commandment

Mark 12:-34

One of the teachers came and asked Jesus, "What commandment is the most important?"

Jesus answered, "Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength"

"The second is this, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." There is no other commandment greater than these."

You Know Me God

Psalm 139 1-12


Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up.
You understand my thoughts from afar.
You watch my path and my lying down.
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

Even before I speak, you know what I will say.
You are behind me and before me.
Such knowledge is to wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot reach it.


Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
If I make my bed in the grave, you are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I swell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there your hand will lead me.



If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night."
Even the darkness is not dark to you,
And the night is as bright as the day.

Love

1John 4:7-10

"Let us love one another, for love is from God;
and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

By this the love of God is shown in us,
that God has sent his only Son into the world
so that we may live through him.

This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son to take the place of our sins.

If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.