The True Bread

Two days in a row!!!  Crazy, huh?!  :)

I have started reading a book that one of my closest friends recommended:  Messy Beautiful Friendship.  I am on page 38 and I think it is one of the best books I have ever read.  This lady knows me.  I want to quote something she said in her book and show you how beautifully it tied in with my Bible study for today.

"When I am disappointed with my friendships and I take time to dig a little deeper in my heart, I inevitably find that I'm looking for my friends to relate to me as only God can.  I want God to give me good friends and when he has, I've been prone to shove him aside for the attention, wisdom, and companionship of those friends, despite knowing that they were intended as gifts rather than replacements.  People are not fillers for a present God, and God is not a placeholder for future friends." (Messy Beautiful Friendship, Christine Hoover, pg. 38)

She goes on to describe how God has the ability to love us differently that people do because He knows us much more intimately and He can handle the weight, complexity, and emotion of all that we are.  I love that.  So many times I feel as though I am too much for my friends to handle, and it is likely true.  But, I am not too much for God.  What a sweet thought.  What an encouraging thought.

Those were the words that I read as I fell asleep last night.  Then this morning, I woke up and did my Bible study.  I love how God orchestrates things we need to read/hear/ponder together so nicely.  He is gracious to us like that.  Today, my study was on John 6:22-42.  We are talking about the I AM statements that Jesus spoke.  When I got to verse 27, it stopped me in my tracks.  

"Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." John 6:27 NKJV

I have been struggling in the area of friendship for about 3 years now.  I have really been trying to figure out how to be a friend, how to keep friends, what it means to be a friend, etc....but what God is saying right here is to stop worrying and working so hard for the things that won't last.  Yes, friendships are important but I FIRMLY believe that God will bring the right people into our lives to be our friends.  I don't understand why I work so hard trying to prove myself to others....always worried about whether or not something is going to make someone not be my friend anymore.  I read this verse and God whispered to me, "Seek me....the One that provides everlasting life.  I will provide for you.....even friends....friends that you can trust....friends that won't leave you.  Stop worrying about those that won't last, because they weren't meant to."  

In John 6:33, it says "The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  Jesus.  He is the true bread.  If we come to Him, we will never hunger.  Jesus is not only the Provider, He is the Bread of life who never runs out and gives us exceedingly, abundantly more than we can imagine (Finding I Am, Lysa Terkeurst, pg. 35).

He says it.  And if He says it, it has to be true.  I can turn to Jesus for all of my needs.  He is my provider.  He is my source of life and the ONLY One that will give me true satisfaction.  All I have to do is believe that.  Believe that it is true with everything in my heart, mind, and soul - like my existence depends on it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Friends...Forever!

Image
What is a friend?  Webster defines a friend as: a person whom one knows, likes, and trusts. It goes on to talk about a friend being a supporter.  I would have the tendency to assume that everyone has at least one friend...maybe not a best friend or perhaps maybe not even a close friend but someone that they can call a friend.  I know that difference personality types lend themselves for more friends than others.  I am a sanguine which means that I have a lot of people that I consider to be my friend.  I have always been the type of person that needs and wants friends...people around me who love me, encourage me, and support me.  On the flip side of this, I have always had a hard time trusting people so I tend to be skeptical of people.  Unfortunately, a friend described me pretty accurately this morning.  She said that I (and she is the same way) have the tendency to dislike people until I have a reason to like them.  No, not proud of...
Read more

Replace My Complaining Attitude

If you know anything about me, you know that I am blunt.  I am straight-forward, to the point, and to a fault, honest.  This is something that I have often wanted to change about myself.  Let's face it, there are things about each one of us that we would change, and let me be clear, there are MANY other things I would change but becoming more gentle has always been something I have longed for. I have had people tell me that I should be proud of this.  They wish they could be more assertive like me.  I guess there are good points to this type of characteristic but more times than not, I find myself getting into trouble because of it.   Piggy-backing on that character istic  flaw is the fact that I am a complainer.  I would rather whisper that but again, if you know me, you probably didn't fall in the floor in disbelief that I just typed that.  It is hard to admit.  It is hard to tell a world (okay a few people) that read this that I...
Read more

FUN STUFF!!

Image
We have had a fun couple of days! I worked on July 4th and Rachel and Daddy stayed home doing nothing...I think they enjoyed it! Saturday was pretty uneventful.....we went to Target and bought some containers so that I could put all of my clothes away that are TOO BIG!!! YAY!! It was also a sneaky way to allow my husband to see that I really don't have too many clothes!!! None of them fit! =) Sunday was church and we came back here and relaxed all day. Here is a picture of Rachel from Sunday. Rachel's dress was adorable....went to her ankles.... Brice had yesterday off too so we all went to Hawaiian Falls waterpark in Mansfield for a little water fun after Rachel's nap. It was a lot of fun except for the part where I fell down the stairs leading into the lazy river and in an attempt to keep my child's head above water (I was holding her), I tumbled down about 4 stairs, twisted my ankle, hit my knee, and scraped up the side of my leg all while swallowing a lot of water....
Read more