OUR REASONS FOR FOLLOWING CHRIST
I send greetings to you in the name of Jesus:
There are almost as many reasons for following Christ as there are people who follow Christ, but God himself is looking for a particular type of person. From the very beginning Jesus is explained to us what his purposes in bearing the message of the good news from God the father. He is fairly straightforward in his explanation of the new covenant, and the differences that God expects in the changes that have been made from the old covenant which was based upon the law, to the new covenant which is based upon the spirit.
In the book of John 6: 22- 40 Jesus began to deal with the types of people that were following him around for various reasons. At the beginning of the chapter is the account of the feeding of the 5000 with five small barley lobes and two small fish. It was the compassionate Jesus had to fill the needs of the people that caused him to do this miracle, and yet he soon saw that instead of opening people's eyes to see the glory of God their first tendency was to seek after an easy and free way to get a meal.
For some reason it is this basic instinct that the world drives all of us toward that makes us look at cutting corners; finding the easy way to go from point A to point Z, and it automatically leads us toward destruction.
I believe it is important for us to understand God's reasons for the miracles that he does because Christ's miracles have always had a reason behind them that led to people listening to the message that he gave them. I believe that Christ tried to avoid doing such things because he knew the nature of man, and he knew the nature of the world around him. Inverse 26 it is recorded "Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the father has placed his seal of approval." Jesus then proceeded to lay out for them what we should do with the works of God, or the miracles that we see being done around us. Jesus said inverse 29 "the work of God is this: to believe in the one God has sent." It was that point that Jesus began to declare himself to be the bread of life. He said that he who comes to me will never go hungry, and he believes in me will never be thirsty. Still we who look for signs and wonders do not believe that he is the Christ until we see a sign.
Jesus criticize the people who followed him only for the physical and the temporal benefits and not for the satisfying of their spiritual hunger. There are many people today who are using religion to gain prestige, comfort, or even political votes. Those are also centered motives. True believers follow Jesus simply because they know he has the truth in his way is the way to live. People eat bread to satisfy physical hunger and to sustain physical life. We can satisfy spiritual hunger and sustain spiritual life only by a right relationship with Jesus Christ. That seems to be the main focus of what God's spirit keeps telling me each time I sit down to write to you. When do we begin to start thinking with the mind of the Holy Spirit? We will find that sooner rather than later we are going to be required to go through a transformation like we have never imagined in order to be a true reflection of the power of God's Spirit in this world. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
There are almost as many reasons for following Christ as there are people who follow Christ, but God himself is looking for a particular type of person. From the very beginning Jesus is explained to us what his purposes in bearing the message of the good news from God the father. He is fairly straightforward in his explanation of the new covenant, and the differences that God expects in the changes that have been made from the old covenant which was based upon the law, to the new covenant which is based upon the spirit.
In the book of John 6: 22- 40 Jesus began to deal with the types of people that were following him around for various reasons. At the beginning of the chapter is the account of the feeding of the 5000 with five small barley lobes and two small fish. It was the compassionate Jesus had to fill the needs of the people that caused him to do this miracle, and yet he soon saw that instead of opening people's eyes to see the glory of God their first tendency was to seek after an easy and free way to get a meal.
For some reason it is this basic instinct that the world drives all of us toward that makes us look at cutting corners; finding the easy way to go from point A to point Z, and it automatically leads us toward destruction.
I believe it is important for us to understand God's reasons for the miracles that he does because Christ's miracles have always had a reason behind them that led to people listening to the message that he gave them. I believe that Christ tried to avoid doing such things because he knew the nature of man, and he knew the nature of the world around him. Inverse 26 it is recorded "Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the father has placed his seal of approval." Jesus then proceeded to lay out for them what we should do with the works of God, or the miracles that we see being done around us. Jesus said inverse 29 "the work of God is this: to believe in the one God has sent." It was that point that Jesus began to declare himself to be the bread of life. He said that he who comes to me will never go hungry, and he believes in me will never be thirsty. Still we who look for signs and wonders do not believe that he is the Christ until we see a sign.
Jesus criticize the people who followed him only for the physical and the temporal benefits and not for the satisfying of their spiritual hunger. There are many people today who are using religion to gain prestige, comfort, or even political votes. Those are also centered motives. True believers follow Jesus simply because they know he has the truth in his way is the way to live. People eat bread to satisfy physical hunger and to sustain physical life. We can satisfy spiritual hunger and sustain spiritual life only by a right relationship with Jesus Christ. That seems to be the main focus of what God's spirit keeps telling me each time I sit down to write to you. When do we begin to start thinking with the mind of the Holy Spirit? We will find that sooner rather than later we are going to be required to go through a transformation like we have never imagined in order to be a true reflection of the power of God's Spirit in this world. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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