On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

John 7:37-39

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-38

I continue my study of John and today I focus on John 7:37-39, where we see Jesus stand up and cry out for people to believe in Him to be saved and to receive the power of the Holy Spirit (which had yet to come).  Here are my observations using the Sword Bible Study Method. 

• What do we learn from the text about God?: Jesus really wants to save as many as possible - hence we see His plea in v37.  That is why He came - to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).  The promise Jesus makes here is truly astonishing - we will not only not hunger nor will we not thirst again (spiritually) because He is the Bread of Life and the Living Water, we (those that believe) will also - ourselves - have rivers of living water flowing from our hearts. The text lays out that this will be through the power of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts and lives as He makes us more like Him - sanctification. The text also ensures we are aware that chronologically in the Gospel narrative here in John 7, this has yet to happen because Jesus must die on the cross first, then rise from the grave, followed by Pentecost (Acts 2).      
• What do we learn from the text about people?: Since the Fall (Genesis 3) we have been separated from God - with Jesus we (believers) are reconciled to God and He is in our hearts - this is how He will never leave or forsake us.  
• Is there anything from the text God wants us to obey (SPEC: Sins to avoid, Promises to claim, Examples to follow, Commands to obey?): Claim the promise of having Living Water flow from your heart! Abide in Him to bear fruit (John 15). 

Comment and discuss this post

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves and saves and gives the Holy Spirit - Living Waters that flow from my heart.  Thank You Jesus!  Incredible!  I am not deserving.  My sin is great and it continues....daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life[.]

 John 6:22-40

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life[.] John 6:27a

I continue my study of John and today I focus on John 6:22-40 - where shares that He is the Bread of Life. Here are my observations using the Sword Bible Study Method. 

• What do we learn from the text about God?: The crowds fed during the Feeding of the Five Thousand (vv1-15), seek Jesus and when they find Him (v25), Jesus does not directly answer the question they ask.  Instead, once again acting with intention, Jesus cuts to the heart of the matter by sharing in v26 - starting with "truly, truly" to emphasize His authority - that He knows why they seek Him; they seek Him because He provides for their physical needs (food). He wants the people to see that He provides spiritual nourishment (v27).  He wants them to believe in Him for this spiritual nourishment, and they want to know how to believe (vv29-30). They seek a sign to believe Him (v30), and Jesus admonishes them for believing that Moses provided manna to the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness (v32) - He wants them to see how it was the Father who provided the manna. Jesus then wants them to see how the Father is now sending the Son to be the Bread of Life (vv33,35). In v35, Jesus builds on what He shared with the Samaritan woman at the well where He encourages the woman to drink from the Living Water and never thirst again. V36 furthers Jesus' admonishment of the crowd that they have "seen [Him] yet do not believe." Jesus then promises that if we believe in Him, we will never be cast out (v37).  In vv38-40 we Jesus describing how He came to do the Father's will, that He will not lose anything given from the Father to Him, that those who believe in Him will have eternal life, and the Father will raise the Son up on the last day. 
• What do we learn from the text about people?: People often seek help with physical needs from Jesus, when instead we should KNOW that He provides for our physical needs and that it is more important that we have our spiritual needs met. We also see people that seek signs and evidence before they believe in Him.     
• Is there anything from the text God wants us to obey (SPEC: Sins to avoid, Promises to claim, Examples to follow, Commands to obey?): Avoid seeking signs or testing of God.  See Romans 1:20 where creation alone provides enough evidence to at least seek Him. Claim the promise of eternal life and that Jesus is the Living Water and Bread of Life who meets our most important needs - spiritual needs.  Follow the example of Jesus who does the will of God. Believe and trust in Him. 

Comment and discuss this post

My Prayer: Father God You are an awesome God that meets my most important needs - You save and deliver mercies every morning that never cease...and so much more!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such blessings.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength. Please continue to heal Lisa of her caner cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.  

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.

Leviticus 24

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. Matthew 6:53-58

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - wrapping up chapter twenty-one - In God's Presence  - covering Leviticus 24:1-23, looking specifically at the fifth and final theme for the chapter - Christ Fulfills the Tabernacle Perfectly.  Here, the commentary summarizes Leviticus 24 by emphasizing how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament law.  It also looks at key aspects of the tabernacle as described in Leviticus 24 - the menorah (v1-4) and the bread (v5-9) - and how Jesus lives in us, and He is our light and our bread. The commentary refers us to the following scriptures (here and here) to reinforce these key points:

•  Matthew 5:17: Jesus came to fulfill the law, not abolish it
• John 1:14: Jesus became flesh and dwells within us
• John 8:12: Jesus is "the light of the world. Whoever follows [Him] will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
• John 6:35, 51-58: Jesus is the bread of life 
• Colossians 2:16-17, Hebrews 8:1-6: communion and the bread used during communion represents a symbol of taking Jesus into our lives; the commentary states that "[t]he meal is the physical shadow; fellowship with God is the spiritual substance." 

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who is full of grace and compassion for me - You dwell within me and You feed me both physically and spiritually.  You also never leave or forsake me.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such love and grace and provision.  I sin...daily...including worry, etc. Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.  

I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.

 Leviticus 24

 I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. John 6:48-51

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - continuing chapter twenty-one - In God's Presence  - covering Leviticus 24:1-23, looking specifically at the second theme for the chapter - We Fellowship with God Intimately.  Here, as the theme aptly describes, the commentary theme for today emphasizes how we are to fellowship with God in study of God's Word and in prayer.  Using Leviticus 24:5-9 as the scriptural basis for such emphasis, the commentary looks specifically at v8 where it says "[e]very Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange [the bread or fellowship offering] before the Lord regularly," and v8-9 where the priests are commanded by God to offer the bread as a permanent due. V9 also describes how the priests are, once the bread from the day before is removed from the "table of pure gold" and the new bread replaces the old bread, the old bread is to eaten by the priests and enjoyed in fellowship with God within the tabernacle. The twelve loaves of bread of course represents all of the tribes of Israel and the commentary then connects the dots for us by stating that "God invited all His people to fellowship with Him."

The commentary then pivots to the New Testament and how believers are commanded by God to be in fellowship with Him.  1 Corinthians 1:9 and Hebrews 4:14, 16 are provided as scriptural references for how God called us into fellowship with Him and encourages us approach Him with confidence to receive mercy and grace. In John 6:51 Jesus refers to Himself as the Bread of Life.  Acts 2:42-47 describes the new church that formed on Pentecost (specifically Acts 2:46-47) and how "day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people." Both Matthew 6 and Luke 11 describe how Jesus taught us how to pray by asking Him to "[g]ive us this/each day our daily bread."

Comment and discuss this post here. 

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God and You are the Bread of Life!  You feed me in ALL ways and in the most important way - spiritually!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You fellowship with me.  I sin...slander, gossip, worry, etc.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.