From God

“Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.”                                                           John 7.17

The Jews questioned how Jesus had such learning when He had never been taught. Jesus’ response was that His teaching came from God. Furthermore, anyone resolved to do God’s will would recognise this.

Jesus lived to do the Father’s will. There was no question of self-glory seeking with Him. His mission was to reveal the Father’s glory, and He knows that all those who similarly live to do the Father’s will would recognise the genuineness of His appeal.

This verse reminds me again of the union with Jesus that exists for the true believer. There is a like mind, which of course, makes sense for, as Paul reminds us, we have the mind of Christ. But the union is not limited to the mind and to the intellectual understanding of what Jesus teaches because we share the common intent of living to the Father’s will. The Holy Spirit is also present in this union and communion.

The Spirit complements the mind, but it does more. The mind, however able, will limit me to the natural and the finite. The Spirit releases me, and leads me into the infinite and the supernatural. If I am to truly be one with Jesus and share similar relationships with the Father and the Spirit, then I must embrace the supernatural. I need to look beyond the finite to the infinite wonders there are in Him.

Lord Jesus,

I have a resolve to do God’s will. And, whilst my resolve does not always find fulfilment, I look to join with You in the unity that is offered to me.

I ask for the fullness of the Spirit as You knew it. I seek release into the supernatural and the infinite. I embrace all of Your teachings and ask You to lead me into the fulfilment of Your promises in my life. I give myself wholly to You.                Amen.

An offer

“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.”            

                                                                                                                John 6.56

I have struggled in the past with this passage and its suggestion of cannibalism. But this comes from my human thinking, and not from God’s divine intent.

What I believe Jesus is offering me here is mutual indwelling, an acceptance of Him as surely as if I had physically taken Him into me. This reality needs to sit in my mind and heart; it needs to grow in me. I therefore seek to open myself up to the fullest revelation of His words and His amazing offer to me.

He is offering me a union with Himself of the order of His union with the Father. I am invited to commune with Him in the deepest, all-embracing, perpetual relationship. This is not simply a Redeemer-redeemed connection. This is God Himself, in all His glory and majesty, justice and mercy, grace and love, abiding in me, consuming me in divine union with Him. I am not my own, I am with Him and in Him, and with Him in me.

Am I ready for this? Am I willing to give over the whole of me into this glorious relationship? I hope so! I will give over the grotty parts of me to His cleansing and release. I will live, not for myself or for any selfish ends, but I will practice the life that is truly in Him.

I will need to remind myself of His constant and continuing presence with me. I am one with the Living God.

Jesus, Precious Lord,

I come to You in all of my taint and incompleteness. I am a sinner, but a sinner redeemed. I want to enter into the fullness of union with You, an ongoing existence of mutual indwelling.

I pray for the presence and guiding of Your Holy Spirit to bring me to that place of constant awareness of You in me and me in You, of who I am in You, and our relationship and life together. Thank You, Lord.                    Amen.

My book “God Talk” is available through major Internet booksellers.

A taste of the book's content can be seen in the You Tube clip

(Search: Peter Francis - "God Talk").

Hunger and thirst

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”                       John 6.35

Hunger and thirst point us to the essentials of life. Hunger and thirst indicate a lack of food and drink, necessities of daily living. Jesus tells us we will never again hunger and thirst if we are with Him, and believe in Him.

I hear Him talking of basic, everyday things. He is there for me every day. I can receive from Him at any time. And I will receive all that I need.

But there is more. He says He has come to earth to do the will of the Father who sent Him. Then He says, “This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.”

                                                                                                                             (v40)

He is everything. I am assured of Him in my everyday living, for I will never hunger or thirst in Him. But He is with me, and He will lead me beyond this present life. On the last day of my life here on earth, He will raise me up into eternal life. He is here with me now and He will be with me then, guiding me and leading me into the Father’s presence, and into all of eternity. Hallelujah!

Lord Jesus,

You are here, and I am with You. I give myself into the fullness of life with You. I embrace You today and look to You to lead me through this day. As we travel together may I see all that You would show me or teach me. I pray that we will draw closer to each other as we journey on.

And when this life’s journey is done, I have the joy of knowing that You will lead me into eternity. You will raise me up, and into the Father’s presence.

I rejoice in the totality of life I have in You. I thank You, and praise You with my whole being.                     Amen.

True bread

Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.”                                                                                                                      John 6.32

The crowd had pursued Jesus to Capernaum looking for more of the miracle they had experienced the day before. Jesus cautioned them about not looking for food that perishes but for that food that endures for eternal life. In feeding them the day before, He had given them a sign, an indication that they need never hunger so long as they looked for, and followed, the true signs that were given to them.

They questioned him further, asking for a sign and citing the example of the manna in the wilderness, given to their forefathers.

I discern from Jesus’ words to them that His reply is in further substantiation to his earlier caution of perishable food against that which lasts for ever. The manna was a temporary fix. It certainly kept them alive, but only for the simple purpose of getting them through the wilderness. Manna, in itself, held no promise for eternity. The true bread, however, has lasting effect. It feeds now, and also into all time, and beyond. Jesus is urging them to go for this bread, a sign of provision for all time.

I note also the verb tenses that Jesus uses in this verse. The giving of manna is a past tense. It was an action that happened, and was finished. But the true bread is given in the present tense. It is given now, and continues to be given.

Yes, I seek the bread that lasts, the bread of life that feeds me into all eternity. I look for it now, and always!

Gracious God,

I thank You for the manna of old, and I thank You for those more modern times when I need, and receive, manna from You – sustenance to keep me going in the here and now.

But I seek true bread. I hunger for that which will give me eternal life and relationship with You. Only this will satisfy my appetite. This I clamour for.                                                                                                                        Amen.

My book “God Talk” is available through major Internet booksellers.

A taste of the book's content can be seen in the You Tube clip

(Search: Peter Francis - "God Talk").