BREAD OF LIFE! Consider these words... let them sink in... I AM the Bread of Life! He that comes to ME, will never hunger... and he that Believes on ME will never thirst. Jesus spoke these words over two millennia ago, yet they are as powerful and vital today as the moment that He first uttered them. How so? Because God is a Spirit... He created time, (as we know it in these mortal bodies of clay), but He is in no way limited by time. Jesus, The Christ, is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Not a single one of His words will ever return to Him void, but will accomplish that to which it was sent. These words speak to our inner man... that spirit being within each one of us. Now, even as then, Christ's words fall upon carnal ears and understanding, while the carnal intellect tries to make sense of them. And now, even as then, these same words also fall upon spiritual ears that are hungering and thirsting in this wasteland of sin and misery... ears that can spiritually discern the truths contained in these simple terms. I Am the Bread of Life! Jesus is making a statement of FACT... there is no margin for error here... no 'maybe,' no 'I could be.' HE IS... the 'I AM.' This is the first thing that we need to come to grips with. "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" Matthew 4:4. Forget all of your theological training. Forget all of your opinions and theories. Throw away all of your fancy charts and graphs created by men in an attempt to 'figure out' the 'Plan of God' in a logical, predictable way. We are inundated with the teachings of men, while we are starving for the Life-Giving Bread that is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the WORD. Jesus is the LIFE. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" John 1:14. Hear what Jesus said: "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" John 6:63. "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away" Mark 13:31. "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels" Mark 8:38. If we are to 'believe' what Jesus plainly states here, then we must acknowledge that Jesus IS the Word, and the Word is Christ; we cannot separate the two ... except to our own detriment. In all of the parables, Jesus compared heavenly realities... to mankind's most basic and fundamental points of reference; this fallen world and our fleshly understanding. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to grasp the Gospel of the Kingdom. It is not complicated, nor is it too difficult for even a little child to comprehend. Yet down through the ages, few have found and partaken of this 'Bread of Life.' The reason being, man loves his carnality [forms, rituals, traditions, pre-eminence] more than he loves God. He is satisfied with his own wisdom. He wants to follow after the many and varied lusts of the flesh. God's commandment... "Be ye holy, as I Am holy"... is repugnant to the natural man. The entire concept of holiness is foreign to every fiber of our self-gratifying, self-exalting, self-preserving natures. Yet holiness is God's requirement... He declared it in the Old Testament and HE never rescinded it.... "For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" Lev 11:44. "Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God" Lev20:7. How can we be holy? What hope do we have of ever complying with all of God's commandments... of truly being changed? Paul told us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Do you see the connection between what Jesus stated and what the Apostle Paul declared? We need never hunger or thirst again; we become a new creature... all because we come to Christ, we partake of His life and His death. In our own strength we can do nothing, but in HIM, all things are possible. Jesus said, "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him" John 5:22. And in Revelation 19:11 "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war." The same Jesus that said in John 12:47 "And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world" is also the 'Righteous Judge'... whose judgment will be the very words He has already spoken. We have HIS words, are we receiving them? Are we paying attention? Or are we allowing ourselves to be distracted by the multitude of teachings and interpretations of men? When Jesus came here in the flesh, he disappointed the leaders of that day. They had their own preconceived ideas of what the promised Messiah was all about. Their desire was for him to set them free from Roman occupation; to give his approval to all of their many religious works, and to give them even more power and prestige over the people. There was such an enormous gulf between their expectations and God's divine purpose in sending His Son, that they could not (would not) accept that this carpenter's son could possibly be their long-awaited Messiah. You see, God has His own agenda, and His agenda is the only one that matters. So we would all be well advised to lay down all of our preconceived notions and ideas concerning Christ's second coming, because man today is just as guilty of having it wrong as the Pharisees of old were. "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" John 14:23. He also said: "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" John 15:7. These two verses illustrate keys, or contingencies if you will, to our spiritual walk. If we love God, then we will keep His words. We cannot have one without the other. God will not make His abode with those who are running after the things of this life, while ignoring Christ's words. Contrary to popular teachings, God will not 'pour blessing down from heaven' upon us because we are meeting the criteria of any denominational creed, according to the teachings of any one of the multitude of highly esteemed leaders that are flourishing today. Jesus said "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." HIS WORDS are life... If we are abiding in Him, and His words are abiding in us, then we are experiencing HIS LIFE. Jesus only said and did what He saw the Father in heaven say and do. There is no way to be in Christ, and do our own thing. It is impossible. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" Philippians 2:6. Paul fully grasped the ramifications of being a 'follower of Jesus Christ.' The early Church had no illusions of avoiding all pain and suffering in this life. Quite the contrary, for many of them just to give ear to these new teachings meant immediate persecution. Their families, Synagogues and communities rejected them. They were tortured, imprisoned, stoned, all because they believed that Jesus was the 'Son of God.' Because they had the audacity to believe that He is the 'Bread of Life' ... in flagrant rebellion against their religious leaders. Two thousand years have not tempered man's resistance against God's ways. This 'lifetime' is a battleground for our souls. We can remain in the quagmire of this flesh, slaves to its lustful demands, or we can bring it into subjection to the indwelling Spirit of God. Paul exhorts us to 'work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.' Peter had a very similar admonition for them that would believe... "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" 1 Peter 4:18. Why would those who were closest to our Lord give us such strong warnings, if it were not needful? Religion is mankind's most valiant attempt... to comply with God's commandments. Today, the evidence is plain throughout the world... that man's best attempts have failed miserably. Jesus did not call us to join-up with organized religion, nor to attach ourselves to any branch, sect or offshoot thereof, nor to follow after any person. He called us to come to HIMSELF! To partake of the 'Bread of Life!' "He that Comes to ME, will never hunger... and he that Believes on ME will never thirst." If we would believe, then we are assured that we will never spiritually hunger or thirst, no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" Matthew 5:6. "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" Romans 12:2. "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us" 2 Timothy 2:12. "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" 1 Corinthians 2:14. There are more than ample warnings and admonishments throughout the scriptures. We should pay close attention to each one of them, and apply them to our own spiritual walk. But above all else, we should especially contemplate all of Jesus' words. His words are the keys to life. The difference is laid out in John 10:10 "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." We can be partakers of "abundant life'... in Christ Jesus. In the opening verse, Jesus declared: "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." The 'Church' is totally unprepared for what is coming. We have been so deceived by those we thought surely we could trust, that to have our eyes opened and see the truth of the matter can very nearly shatter our world. And well it should... if our trust and confidence are based on the things of this world, or the perceived wisdom and abilities of another person. Jesus alone is the Bread of Life. Judgment is already at the door, have we really prepared our hearts to receive Him? "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever" John 6:53-58. "Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" John 6:60-63. "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth" 1 John 5:6. Following Christ is not an easy road to walk. Taking up our cross will bring about the crucifixion of our flesh... 'self' must die if we are ever to live by the power of the spirit, and walk as Jesus walked in this earth. Many of Jesus' words are very difficult to comprehend, and some are offensive to our way of thinking. There is only one way to be an overcomer, to walk in victory through this 'vail of tears.' And that is to do it, not in our own strength, or our own understanding... but in the power of the Holy Spirit residing within our hearts, renewing our minds. We must come to Christ with an honest heart. We must be willing to lay down everything... and follow Him. That is the only way. But if we are willing, the rewards are beyond anything our wildest imaginations can conceive of. "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world" 1 John 4:17. "...He that eateth of this bread shall live forever!"... Amen & Amen
Our Ministry Building is ready and waiting for US and is a CASH SALE!
We are ready to get in there and Paint...put in upgrades and Carpet as well as some Home touches to make them feel Welcomed and LOVED!! WE need approx 190K or less to BEGIN!
Is anything to hard for the Lord? We need Love in action because it IS an ACTION Word!
Please HELP us in this Hour...THE TIME IS NOW! No more sitting on the sidelines faithful ones.
We NEED YOU!! You are the Kingdom of God and YOU make the difference!
Let us continue to begin this phase and we will gladly show you the progress being made as this story unfolds all for His GLORY to See! Pictures WILL BE POSTED SOON! Amen
If you would like to HELP send your requests to Sharon.n@live.com
We need someone from the body or someone who needs to repent and get back into the body of Christ to simply give and be a huge blessing to us. We KNOW that you are out there and this ministry project is in your own backyard!!! Arent you tired of seeing people fall between the cracks? Do you really KNOW how many wont even enter into a local Church? Thats where WE come in!
We bring the Church to them...unconditional love...talk about a transformation!
Help US Help THEM this day! We never know when it will be our last...and what WE DO will be the only thing that lasts in these last days. Everything else will be burned away...Leave a mark and legacy along with us! Your name will be placed on our WALL OF PRAYER along with the date of your prayer requests. When your prayer(s)are answered simply call US and Give US the Praise so we can rejoice along with you and put THAT New DATE on our Wall. You can also send us a Picture(s) of who you are praying for as we begin our day covering request..it will put a name with the face(s).
God Bless You!
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