Words of Life

Sunday March 8, 2015

Sitting on my back porch in the waning daylight, I enjoy watching as patches of grey, red and blue flit through the air. Busy wings then grow still as the birds gather on my newly acquired feeder. A few years prior, thieving squirrels thwarted my efforts to feed these feathered wonders. Moving its location and even oiling the pole was not enough to keep the wily rodents from robbing the birds of the seed. Then, a friend introduce me to a spring-loaded feeder that closes if anything heavier than a bird lands on its ledge.

Like a bird feeding at a never-ending supply of seed, the apostles came to experience - in every sense of the word (1 John 1:1) - that Jesus was the "bread of life" (John 6:35, 48). Others who were initially fascinated with the Messiah´s ability to meet their physical needs were all too willing to walk away when Jesus called them into intimate relationship with Him (vv. 58. 60. 63-66). But Peter, when given the same challenge, responded by saying "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life" (v. 68).

Like thieving squirrels, the things of this world can strip men and women of their God-intended destiny. From false philosophies to personal criticism aimed at the heart, people look for life giving provision in the words they hear around them - only to find that they have been robbed of hope (Proverbs 18:21, 26:28).

Jesus came offering words of life. Words of hope. Words of love. As representatives of His kingdom, we´re commissioned with offering the same to those we encounter. Life will always bring moments of frustration, but whether we´re speaking to close family or perfect strangers, we must take up the challenge to be life givers, bearers of the seed of truth. - Regina Franklin

Read
John 6:45-63
It is written in the Prophets: "They will all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. You forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life."

Isaiah 55:8-13
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth : It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn bush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord´s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed."

Question to Ponder
Who speaks life giving words to you on a regular basis?
How those words influenced the way you see yourself or your circumstances?
How can you speak words of life to others?

**Article taken from ODJ (Our Daily Journey with God) March 2015 - May 2015 issue