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

You´re Beautiful

Sunday November 30, 2014

Ashley Munroe wrote the message " You´re beautiful" on nearly 2000 notes and then placed one on each locker in her secondary school. Via surveillance cameras, school authorities say Ashley distributing the notes. The principal assumed she was causing trouble and suspended her. Several hundred students, however, signed a petition to help Ashley avoid punishment. Perhaps her best reward was hearing from a girl who had planned to commit suicide that day but did not because of Ashley´s message.

Hezekiah used words to encourage Israelites under his command as they faced an attack by the Assyrians. He began by saying, "Be strong and courageous" Don´t be afraid or discouraged" (2 Chronicles 32:7). Keep in mind that the Assyrian army, led by King Sennacherib, had pulverised their opponents in the past and expected to do so again (v. 17).

The attackers may have had more experience, larger numbers and superior strength, but they did not have divine support. Hezekiah told the Israelites : "There is a power far greater on our side! ..... [the Assyrians] are merely men" (vv. 7-8). In reality the battle was not between two physical armies, but between the flesh and blood of the Assyrians and the invisible influence of God Almighty.

King Hezekiah helped his people to see that they could meet the most vicious enemy with bravery because God was in their corner. The same is true for us as God´s people today. We may not struggle with ruthless warriors, but we may battle illness, discrimination or spiteful people. God is on our side, and He speaks straight to our hearts with messages of encouragement : I made you. I´ll carry your burden. I delight in you. - Jennifer Benson Schuldt.

Read
2 Chronicles 32:2-22
When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to make war on Jerusalem, he consulted with his officials and military staff about blocking off the water from the springs outside the city, and they helped him. A large force of men assembled, and they blocked all springs and the stream that flowed through the land. "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?" they said. Then he worked hard repairing all the broken sections of the wall and building towers on it. He built another wall outside that one and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City of David. He also made large numbers of weapons and shields.
He appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate and encouraged them with these words : "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles." And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.
Later, when Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces were laying siege to Lachish, he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah king of Judah and for all the people of Judah who were there :

"This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says : On what are you basing your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege? When Hezekiah says, 'The Lord our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria,' he is misleading you, to let you die of hunger and thirst. Did not Hezekiah himself remove this god´s high places and altars, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You must worship before one altar and burn sacrifices on it'?

Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of those nations ever able to deliver their land from my hand? Who of all the gods of these nations that my fathers destroyed has been able to save his people from me? How then can your god deliver you from my hand? Now do not let Hezekiah deceive you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your god deliver you from my hand!"

Sennacherib´s officers spoke further against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. The king also wrote letters insulting the Lord, the God of Israel, and saying this against him : "Just as the gods of the peoples of the other lands did not rescue their people from my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand." Then they called out in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to terrify them and make them afraid in order to capture the city. They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world - the work of men´s hands.

King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. And the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with the sword.

So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all the others. He took care of them on every side.

Romans 15:4-5

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus.

Question to Ponder

What words might you use to support someone who is overly critical of himself or herself?

How has God encouraged you during a difficult time?

Through people, His Word, His Holy Spirit?

**Article taken from ODJ (Our Daily Journey with God) Sept - Nov 2014 issue