Tag Archives: John 6

You are what you eat….

Leave a reply

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple… They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

(Ps 19.7&10)

On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine – the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers up all nations; he will swallow up death for ever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

(Isa 25.6-9)

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the son of man will give you… For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world… I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry… If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever.

(Jn 6.27,33,35&51)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

(Phil 4.6&7)

We are broken and beautiful creatures, living in a broken and beautiful world, where nothing is ever completely perfect or utterly reliable, or free from pain and doubt. On this side of glory, we are sure of nothing, except our own craving for security, significance and purpose. As a follower of Jesus, I believe that I am in the best possible place to deal with the uncertainty of life in this world, because I have wisdom, perspective and a reason to hope that I will live in a perfect world, and I am therefore not utterly broken by the disappointments of this life.

In Jesus, I am freely given all I need to persevere in this life, glorifying God and putting my trust in him alone, instead of wasting my energy and breaking my heart over things which will pass and let me down. The question is whether I fully appropriate all that is mine in Jesus – do I make it my own, do I live by it?

In every situation in life, I can choose whether to react by focussing on the unknowns, on the (often valid) causes for anxiety – or to focus on the truth about God, about his power at work for good, and his character of love, faithfulness and mercy. What do I feed my spirit with day by day as I navigate this beautiful, broken world? Do I feed my fear, or my faith?

The bible talks about meditating on God’s word, which means pondering, repeating it to oneself, chewing it over in the same way that some animals repeatedly chew their food. It is a vivid image which conveys the sense that we are feeding on the word, finding nourishment and health, getting all the goodness out of it.

But it can be very easy to feed instead on my anxieties. When I am in difficult circumstances, am I meditating on all the things I can’t understand or control? On the things that I regret, or resent? On the ways I have been hurt or disappointed? On ways that I can take control, create some illusion of authority over my life? Or on the consequences of my actions, those things which may be hard for others? – that kind of chewing is not healthy for me, leads to spiritual weakness, and fear over the future

While those things may be true or real in my experience, I can see that making them the centre of my attention is not going to help me. Instead, I am invited to bring the whole messy bundle of worries and questions to my God, laying them at his feet and choosing a different diet for my mind.

As I choose to meditate on God’s word, on what is true about him, and what he says is true about me then I focus on facts, not unanswerable questions. As I choose to chew over my blessings, the faithfulness of God to his church and to me, then I have reason to praise him and to find hope.  As I choose to worship him for who he is, regardless of what is happening and remember that he is God and I am not, then I remember who is truly in control and find peace. This kind of chewing is healthy for me, it feeds faith and builds resilience, maturity and hope for the future.

Let the consequences of your obedience be left up to God:

Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)

Loving Father, so much of my trouble comes from trying to work out all the details, not only for myself but for others. Let me learn to trust you with all the consequences of my obedience, and to remember that you love my precious people even more than I do, and are infinitely more able to work your plans for their good than I can imagine!

Lord, let me feed faith, by feeding on your word, by praising your greatness, by choosing to look at you and not at myself. Make me stronger, more resilient, a more faithful witness to you as I choose those things that feed faith, and reject those that feed fear. Help me to keep on doing this, day by day and hour by hour, for your glory and the blessing of many.

A strong and relentless love..

1 Reply

O Love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee. I give Thee back the life I owe, that in Thine ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be.

O Light that followest all my way, I yield my flick’ring torch to Thee. My heart restores its borrowed ray, that in Thy sunshine’s gaze its day may brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee. I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain, that morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,I dare not ask to fly from Thee. I lay in dust, life’s glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red, life that shall endless be.

(George Matheson, 1842-1906)

There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides across the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms…Blessed are you, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword.

(Deut 33.26,27&29)

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn and settle on the far side of the sea, even there. Your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for the darkness is as light to you.

(Ps 139.7-12)

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

(Jn 6.66-69)

When I am dazzled by the wonders of the world, by its riches and glories, until I nearly forget that they are only a shadow of what is to come, of what you have in store for your chosen ones…O Love, do not let me go.

When I am bewildered by the disintegration of moral order, by the strident voices preaching a gospel of self-determination and individuality at all costs, O Love, do not let me go.

When I am sinking into a rut, losing my zest for the life you daily renew within me; when my appointed tasks seem dull and pointless and I grow weary of persevering, O Love, do not let me go.

When the violence, evil and cruel indifference of the world to the suffering of millions threatens to overwhelm me, and I feel as though the light is going out, O Love, do not let me go.

When the agonies of my family and beloved friends surge up under the feet of faith until I am like to be thrown down into despair and the temptation to abandon my God’s service, O Love, do not let me go.

When my own years of unanswered prayers mock me, when your promises seem empty and vain, when the evil one is lurking close to steal my peace, O Love, do not let me go.

Your love, my God, holds firm through all my storms of anger, fear and disappointment. The tantrums and sulking silences are met equally with the outstretched arms of love that reach from Calvary to measure the immeasurable, to demonstrate the unimagineable depth and breadth of the love of God in Christ Jesus….even for me.

Your love, my God refuses to entertain the idea of abandoning your children. Your grace and mercy absorbs all that we throw at you, and like struggling toddlers, we are held firmly and lovingly while the storm passes. 

O Love, that will not let us go, we rest our weary souls in Thee. We are tired of fighting, we long for peace in the midst of bitter sorrow, fierce temptation, paralysing prosperity, wearisome warfare against the indifference and even hostility of our culture. We give Thee back the lives we owe – bought by the blood of Jesus, saved for a glorious future – that in closer fellowship and deeper dependence, we might live more fully. 

May we walk in the light of Christ, not by our own feeble, imagined illuminations; may we know his joy, in spite of the griefs that dog our steps; and may we never stray far from the cross, where our new lives began, and by which we receive all the treasures of grace.