Live near to God, and so all things will appear to you little in comparison with eternal realities. R. M. MCheyne
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63 NKJ)
This morning as my study of the Scriptures brings me to the sixth chapter of the Book of John, I once again am taken back by way the people viewed Jesus. Jesus had just fed thousands of people with a single meal, and they thought if He could do this, that He needed to be made king. Anyone who could perform and bring about miracles like that could surly remove the oppressive Romans off the back of the Jews. Jesus perceived that they were about to take Him by force and make Him king. It was at this point that Jesus slipped away to a private place to pray. I see a lesson in this, when youre the center of attraction, possibly the best thing to do is slip away and pray. The next day when the people found out that Jesus was on the other side of the Sea of Galilee they got in ships and followed Him. It was at this point that Jesus told them that they wanted Him not because of the spiritual miracle that took place, but because they had seen Him produce food and they ate it. It would have been the same today if Jesus had produced money. People today would follow someone who could cause money to appear out off thin air, especially if they gave it to them. Today as I read the apostle Johns account of the miracle I come to realize that Jesus could see that they were only after the material blessings. The next thing that I see as happening is a thinning out of the followers. Jesus gave them some hard spiritual words to digest. He said that He was the Living Bread and you had to eat His body and drink His blood to have life. The Greek word that John uses for life is zoe and it means spiritual life. Of course when many of the people who were seeing only with materialistic eyes heard this they were repulsed. I would imagine that they thought of cannibalism first without thinking of a possible spiritual meaning, and they packed up and left. From that time on many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him (John 6:66). Jesus did give them a hard saying to digest, but He explained it immediately. The problem was that many had formed a first impression and could not get beyond the mental image of cannibalism. That was because they were thinking only in terms of material things. Jesus quickly told them that its the Spirit that gives life, and the flesh profits nothing, so the act of cannibalism profited nothing. He told them that the words He spoke were spirit, but they heard only what they wanted to hear. My desire today is to look beyond the material to the spiritual that I may receive the true Living Bread. I will eat of the Bread of Life and allow God to do for me what I could not do for myself ..JRE
To be attracted toward God and a better life, you must be spirit-guided. There is wonderful illumination of thought given to those who are spirit-guided. To those who are material-guided, there is noting in God or a finer life to appeal to them or to attract them. But to those who are spirit-guided there is strength and peace and calm to be found in communion with an Unseen Lord. To those who believe in this God they cannot see but whose power they can feel, life has a meaning and purpose. They are children of the Unseen Lord, and al human beings are their brothers and sisters.
HAZELDEN .. Twenty-Four Hours A Day
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63 NKJ)
This morning as my study of the Scriptures brings me to the sixth chapter of the Book of John, I once again am taken back by way the people viewed Jesus. Jesus had just fed thousands of people with a single meal, and they thought if He could do this, that He needed to be made king. Anyone who could perform and bring about miracles like that could surly remove the oppressive Romans off the back of the Jews. Jesus perceived that they were about to take Him by force and make Him king. It was at this point that Jesus slipped away to a private place to pray. I see a lesson in this, when youre the center of attraction, possibly the best thing to do is slip away and pray. The next day when the people found out that Jesus was on the other side of the Sea of Galilee they got in ships and followed Him. It was at this point that Jesus told them that they wanted Him not because of the spiritual miracle that took place, but because they had seen Him produce food and they ate it. It would have been the same today if Jesus had produced money. People today would follow someone who could cause money to appear out off thin air, especially if they gave it to them. Today as I read the apostle Johns account of the miracle I come to realize that Jesus could see that they were only after the material blessings. The next thing that I see as happening is a thinning out of the followers. Jesus gave them some hard spiritual words to digest. He said that He was the Living Bread and you had to eat His body and drink His blood to have life. The Greek word that John uses for life is zoe and it means spiritual life. Of course when many of the people who were seeing only with materialistic eyes heard this they were repulsed. I would imagine that they thought of cannibalism first without thinking of a possible spiritual meaning, and they packed up and left. From that time on many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him (John 6:66). Jesus did give them a hard saying to digest, but He explained it immediately. The problem was that many had formed a first impression and could not get beyond the mental image of cannibalism. That was because they were thinking only in terms of material things. Jesus quickly told them that its the Spirit that gives life, and the flesh profits nothing, so the act of cannibalism profited nothing. He told them that the words He spoke were spirit, but they heard only what they wanted to hear. My desire today is to look beyond the material to the spiritual that I may receive the true Living Bread. I will eat of the Bread of Life and allow God to do for me what I could not do for myself ..JRE
To be attracted toward God and a better life, you must be spirit-guided. There is wonderful illumination of thought given to those who are spirit-guided. To those who are material-guided, there is noting in God or a finer life to appeal to them or to attract them. But to those who are spirit-guided there is strength and peace and calm to be found in communion with an Unseen Lord. To those who believe in this God they cannot see but whose power they can feel, life has a meaning and purpose. They are children of the Unseen Lord, and al human beings are their brothers and sisters.
HAZELDEN .. Twenty-Four Hours A Day
..... 
Thx jer
