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Editors note: This is part of the devotional I had with the Lord this morning/afternoon of July 28, 05 that I wanted to share with you all! If the questions or statements can be used as Bible study guides or discussion questions feel free to use them.

Quiet Times (Psalm 58, Proverbs 58, and Mark 6:35-44, John 6:10-13, John 6:25-26, and John 6:48-51)

"A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance." (Proverbs 28:10, TLB)

^“By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat." (Mark 6:35-36, NIV)

Observation/Interpretation:

I asked myself what I learn about the disciples.

They were concerned about the people who were gathered to hear Jesus. That was noble of them but they still did not get it. Jesus saw the crowd gathered as sheep without a shepherd. Jesus decided to become their Good Shepherd. A shepherd makes sure their sheep is fed and taken care of. If it were up to the disciples they would have sent the sheep on their own way to find their food. Not Jesus though for Jesus makes a profound statement to the disciples.

“But he answered, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?" (Mark 6:37, NIV)

The disciples still did not get it. Anytime Jesus had sent them to do something, Jesus always provided for them. Jesus wanted them to depend on Him instead they go of on a rant about it costing eight months of a man’s wages. Still, they do not outright say they will not do it but ask Jesus a question. Jesus answers them with a question & command and the disciples respond.

“How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see." When they found out, they said, "Five—and two fish." (Mark 6:38, NIV)

“Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.” (Mark 6:39-41, NIV)

As a Good Shepherd, Jesus decided to feed the crowds physically with bread and fish as He looked to heaven, gave thanks and broke the loaves. The cause and effect relationship was that they all ate and were satisfied. Afterwards, twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish were left. The number of those eaten was five thousand plus because the children and women were not counted.

“They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.” (Mark 6:42-44, NIV)

This is awesome to know how many people Jesus fed. Jesus not only cared for their spiritual needs as He taught them but He also cared for their physical needs and health. As I thought about what Jesus did, it reminded me of another passage from the Gospel of John. John 6:10-13 records Jesus feeding the five thousand! John 6:25-26 records Jesus’ reaction to the crowds that gathered later again.

“When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, ‘Rabbi, when did you get here?’ 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.’” (John 6:25-26)

Interpretation:

I asked myself the significance of Jesus’ reaction to them.

The people were looking for Jesus because of what they could get out of Jesus and not because of seeing miraculous signs done by Jesus. Jesus wanted them to believe in Him for the miraculous signs He had done rather than for the food they were able to eat and be filled.

Basically, Jesus was letting them know if they were seeking Jesus just because of the food, they have missed the point of His coming. Jesus did not come to give them food alone but more than food. Feeding the 5000+ was a means of taking care of their physical needs but Jesus emphasized what is more important is there spiritual health and the spiritual food they receive which can come only from Him. He is their Good Shepherd to take care of them, His sheep.

Implications I:

I saw important implications for my own life studying these verses and the verses that later follow. When I serve Jesus because of what I can get out of Jesus then I have missed the point and my personal relationship with Jesus is conditional. It becomes based on what Jesus could give me and very shallow. The basis becomes, ‘If Jesus gives me what I want, then I will believe Him but if I don’t get my way then I don’t serve Him or believe in Him.’ That is a slippery path to walk on.

You know there was a time in my life when I thought because I became a Christian, only good things should happen to me because Jesus is my Lord and Personal Savior. When things did not go well for me, I was mad with Jesus.

My mommy took me to the side and asked me, “Ramesh, do you love Jesus because of what you can get out of Jesus or for who He is?”

That was a powerful question and made me think what my loyalty to Jesus was based on! I should believe in Jesus for who He is most of all!

Jesus is the Bread of Life and those coming to Him will never be hungry again and those believing in Him will never thirst! Reading additional verses from John, chapter 6 reiterated to me that Jesus cares not only for our physical needs but mostly our spiritual well being.

Jesus knew how much the people loved eating the bread that He had given them. So Jesus uses that as an analogy to preach a mini-sermon to them. I learned a lot from that too.

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” (John 6:48-51)

Observations:

I looked for words/phrases that are repeated over and over because repetition usually implies importance! What stuck out in these verses is BREAD. It is mentioned 7 times in these verses alone:

I am the BREAD of life.
Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and died.
This is the BREAD which comes down from heaven.
This BREAD can be eaten and one who eats it will never die.
I am the living BREAD which came down from heaven.
If anyone eats of this BREAD, he will live forever.
The BREAD that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.

Within these 7 listings alone, I saw lots of precious nuggets of Truth which have been spoken by Jesus and confirmed with repetition. Seven is a number of completion too!

1 & 5 can be paired together.

3 & 5 can be paired together.

4 & 6 can be paired together.

All these pairings are brought together and summarized in a nutshell with #7!!!

I found these 7 points very fascinating and exciting to look deeply into!

Observations/Interpretations:

I asked myself what types of bread are represented here?

1. Dying bread!

2. Living bread!

I asked myself what ‘dying bread’ means?

What came to my mind when I thought about dying bread is the manna that the Israelites ate in the wilderness. It was a type of bread that was going to rot if it was not used in the specified time and amount that the Lord had allotted for them to eat it. Also, this bread was not going to help them live forever. Those that ate of it eventually died. This bread could not sustain life forever.

I asked myself what ‘Living Bread’ means?

What came to my mind is Jesus Christ for He claimed to be the ‘Living Bread’. Not only that but He is the ‘I AM’ that introduced Himself to Moses at the Burning Bush. It is Jesus that gave them manna to eat. Now Jesus does not just introduce Himself as ‘I AM’ but as ‘I AM the BREAD OF LIFE’. It is this Bread that gives life but there is a condition.

Those who want to continue to live forever need to eat this Bread. Just as the Israelites had to eat the bread that fell from heaven to stay alive physically, following the rules set by God, Jesus is letting his listeners know that they need to eat a new kind of Bread that came from Heaven to stay alive eternally, following Him.

All the manna eaten would not give people Eternal life but Jesus said He could give it to them.

The statement Jesus makes is so profound that Jesus introduces His credentials first before making the statement, “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

I asked myself what are the credentials that Jesus introduces for Himself?

1. I AM

2. Heaven

The people of that day would have been familiar with ‘I AM’ especially since that is how God introduced Himself to Moses. The people knew that God spoke from Heaven. Jesus uses those same words with a description: ‘I Am the Bread of Life’. Jesus does not stop there but lets them know He is the I Am from Heaven!

People needed to believe in His credentials if they were going to accept what He was going to tell them. Right after speaking about His credentials, Jesus talks about eating.

Jesus wants them to eat the Bread of Life to live forever and makes it clear to them He is the key to make that happen. This is evidenced by “and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

What cannibalism? No, No, No!!!

Jesus is foreshadowing His death to come when His body would be broken, symbolized by bread, and given for the life of the world.

Jesus starts of with ‘I Am the Bread of Life' and concludes here with ‘Given for the life of the world.'

If these two are put together for a nutshell summary it comes of as “I Am the Bread of Life given for the life of the world.”

I asked myself what is the ‘life of the world’ mean?

What came to my mind is that physical bread such as manna was not enough to keep the world from dying. People were eating and living but their souls were still dying because they were separated from God due to missing the mark set by God. No one of the world has been able to achieve the mark and the people of the world have not been able to live forever. Their eternity has been hampered because of them missing the mark.

Finally, God decided to intervene as the Son of Man and became a new kind of Bread with living qualities called the Living Bread so those who partake of Him will never die.

God made Eternal life available to the life of the world so people of the world would not continue to die eternally. But it had a price!

Jesus was going to give His life for the life of the world for only life could give life. Jesus was foreshadowing His sacrifice for the world but wanted those there to follow Him right there. He was going to sacrifice His life so the people of the world could have life. There is a condition though.

Jesus is letting them know that as they follow Him, their life will continue forever eternally because it will be interwoven with His Life.

Implications II:

I saw important implications for my own life.

Life starts with Jesus, for He is the Bread of Life. Just because I am living does not mean that I have Eternal Life and will live forever. It begins with Jesus. This means no one else can give Eternal Life. Jesus is making the Absolute claim that He is the ‘I AM’, He is from Heaven, and He is the Bread of Life given for the life of the world.

No one else claimed what Jesus claimed, not Buddha, not Krishna, not Mohammad, not anyone else. If I wanted a religion to follow, I could have stuck with Hinduism. For me it is not about religion for religion can save no one. In fact, people following a religion have caused more havoc in the world and have made people see that religion can become the death of the world, not the life of the world.

It is God who saves, who revealed Himself as ‘I Am’ to Moses and has revealed Himself to us in Jesus Christ. Jesus wants us to partake of Him to receive Eternal Life. I am so glad that I do not follow a religion but now follow a relationship with Jesus Christ who wants me to partake of Him. For He has become my Bread of Life!

I ask you now dear friend what kind of bread do you eat?

Dear friend, all the earthly bread we eat regardless of who it is blessed by will not save us to live forever eternally unless that bread is symbolic of what Jesus did. For then, the Good News is that there is bread that you can eat and live eternally. Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life offering Himself to you. He gave His flesh for you on the Cross of Calvary. His body was broken for you. He wants you to eat of Him in a symbolic sense.

Partake of Him in your life by allowing Him to come live in you. One way we do this is by taking Holy Communion! The first is the bread that represents Christ’s body broken for you and me. When we eat the bread, we are saying that we do remember what Jesus did for us on the Cross of Calvary and He did it to give life to the world of which we are part of. The second part of Holy Communion is the wine/juice symbolic of Christ’s cleansing blood when His blood was shed for you and me.

To eat the bread, symbolizing the broken body of Jesus to give you life, is telling those around you that you do follow Jesus Christ and have a relationship with Jesus Christ because of what He did for you. To drink the wine/juice, symbolizing the cleansing blood of Jesus to give you life, is also telling those around you that you do follow Jesus Christ and have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Both bread and juice must be taken. There cannot be one without the other!

Eating of the bread or drinking of the juice at Holy Communion without acknowledging Jesus as Lord and Personal Savior, just becomes a religious ritual of religion which cannot save for only a relationship with Jesus Christ can save you and me!

Friend, Jesus has offered Himself for you too. Yes, He has! The world is full of sin and since the world is full of sin those who inhabit it are infected and become sinners. But the Good News is, Jesus came as the Bread of Life to give His life to give you Eternal Life. While we were yet sinners Jesus died for us.

Friend, this means you do not need to be perfect or have everything right in your life before you come to Jesus. If you wait for that to happen, you maybe waiting until it is too late.

Come as you are and allow the Lord Jesus to work in you. No matter how stained your sins are and you cannot forgive yourself, Jesus lends a Helping Hand and wants to forgive you. Jesus reminds us though our sins are scarlet red, He can make us white as freshly fallen snow and though they are crimson red, Jesus can make us white as wool.

If I allowed my sins to control my life, then I have given control over to Satan and he has won but I have come to accept Christ’s grace and merciful forgiveness to move on and remain His child. For He reminds us friend that “To all who received Him, He gave them right to become children of God, all they needed to do is trust in Him to save them”

Won’t you do that friend?

You could be reading this and already have a personal relationship with the Lord. That’s great! If you feel this would be helpful to someone who does not have a relationship with the Lord, won’t you share it with them? If you do not have a relationship with the Lord as you desire, now is the time of Salvation. Don’t wait, for Jesus is the Bread of Life and wants to be part of your life. Yes, He does! May you make Jesus part of your life today! Amen!

Bread of Life
by Ramesh C. Reddy

You came as the Bread of Life
Offering deliverance from eternal strife
You ask me to eat
Offering me a seat
From the place you came
Heaven is its name
So I come with my heart
Asking you for a new start
Now I will eternally live
For Eternal Life you give
Jesus, my Bread of Life!
Jesus, my Bread of Life!
Amen!

“Beautiful Redeemer Emancipates Always Delivering!” (B.R.E.A.D)/”What kind of bread do you eat?”

Make this your prayer. Don’t let the enemy deceive you into thinking you need all the answers before coming to Christ. Let me just assure you though you may not have all the answers right now before coming to Jesus, He will answer them slowly. Yes, He will for I know our Redeemer will! Amen!

Prayer:
Jesus, I thank you for being the Bread of Life. You are the Living Bread of my life. Thank you for coming from Heaven and giving your life for the life of the world. You sacrificed yourself for humanity. Thank you Lord when we eat of you symbolically making you part of our life, digesting what you teach us by following you, we can be living Eternally, and the fruit that comes will reflect and resemble your life. I want that Father God. I want that Lord Jesus! I want that Holy Spirit! I know of a lot of people who partake of Holy Communion where the bread represents your body broken for their sin and the juice represents your blood shed for their sin. When we partake of Holy Communion, we are reminded that we are remembering you. I want to remember you always Lord Jesus. But for me to remember you always, I need to know you and acknowledge everything you said you are. So right now I acknowledge that you are my Lord and Personal Savior who died and rose again to give me life from sin. So right now, I come to you and say how sorry I am for my sin and living a life on my own. I repent of my sin and ask you to forgive me of my sin with your cleansing blood which I accept. Wash me and I will be clean from this infection of sin. Come Lord Jesus and please become part of my life as you live in me and I will live for you. I thank you Jesus for coming into my heart and making my heart your home. Thank you for living in me Jesus and I will live for you and serve you the rest of the days of my life. I do need your Spirit to reside in me and work in me and through me so I surrender all that I am and will be to you. Whatever your will is for me, please give me the strength and willingness to bear it and rejoice in you. Thank you so much Jesus. I thank you Jesus for becoming my Lord and Personal Savior. I thank you Jesus you have heard my prayer and have answered me. I thank you that I am your child Oh God. I thank you for becoming my only Way to Eternal Life. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

(You can start your Christian adventure by reading the Gospel of John)

Friend you may feel something or may not feeling anything but do not go by your feelings. When you ask Jesus to come into your life, He will and does. He will take over from here as you depend on the Lord and let Him work in you and through you! This is exciting friend! May each one that came to know Jesus be filled with His Holy Spirit forever more and those that know Jesus come to know Him more and more! Amen!

Love in Christ,
Ramesh

P.S.. If you need someone to talk to, pray with, or have a Bible study, you can email me at reddy4HisGlory2004@yahoo.com and we can set up a time that is convenient for you! You can also call me at 412-720-4579