Jesus Christ – The bread of life

The Bread of Life is the spiritual food needed by man. Without the bread of life man cannot live spiritually. Just as man needs to eat physically in order to live, the bread of life gives nourishment for the soul. Unless one eats from the bread of life he faces eternal death and punishment.

In the Old Testament, the Lord provided the Israelites with manna from heaven. They were told only to take what was required for one day’s supply and had to trust that God would provide more the next day. The manna served as salvation for the Israelites’ physical need. God, however, knew of a greater need for the salvation of man's soul and met that need through His Son, Christ Jesus, who is your soul’s bread of life. The Israelites had to eat their manna daily. But with the Lord Jesus Christ, you only need to taste him once. Once you feast on the true bread of life, your soul is saved.

I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world […] 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: hethat eateth of this bread shall live forever. John 6:48-58

Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life. It is only through Him that you can have eternal life. He is the promised manna for your soul. You just need to call upon His name for salvation once in your life, and He will seal you with His Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13), after which your eternal destiny is absolutely fixed. Just as eating physical food is simple, there is also simplicity in Christ for the salvation of your soul.

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. John 6:35

Brother & I

Unfortunately, nobody was able to go tract passing today. However, early in the evening, my brother and I were feeling quite bored and so, we opted to go do some tract passing at the metro. In the car, we were both yawning and laughing at just how tired we both were. Nevertheless, we are very glad we held the fort. My brother was able to speak to a few individuals. One lady he witnessed to says she might come to church tomorrow morning. My brother and I stayed at the metro for two hours and distributed almost all the tracts we had on us.

…but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Joshua 24:15

Think upon Him

Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. Psalm 112:1

As you go about your daily tasks, you will often get distracted and lose focus on Christ. Unexpected events can turn your day upside down, if you allow them.

To get through days as such, you must regain strength by meditating on the promises God has made you. He has promised to never leave nor forsake you.

Read the rest of the Psalm 112. It will bless and encourage you to trust in the Lord, no matter what is taking place. The 7th verse says “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD”. When your trust is in Him, the circumstances of life fade and are not that important. Your purpose should be to please and praise Him. If you know you are trying to live your life for His glory, circumstances are opportunities to strengthen your faith and to let Him reveal His loving grace and power.

One that knows the Lord Jesus Christ as His personal Saviour should never be defeated by this world. Remember His Words:

In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33

Your desire should be to use each day to grow stronger in the Lord, to become more like Him. In Hebrews 12:2 we are told to look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Neither trials nor temptations were able to defeat Him. He understood the Father’s will and was faithful to say and live, “not as I will, but as thou wilt.” And in the end, Christ arose the victor!

When life begins to get you down, delight in the Lord. Rejoice! Think upon Him who has overcome the world.

Praise God from who all blessings flow.

Glory to God!

My office manager is away on vacation all week and I am quite busy replacing her. As fun as it may be getting to play “boss”, it’s also a lot of work. Today, I also had to replace the receptionist and in consequence, I finished working at 5:30 instead of 5pm. I know it does not sound so terrible, however, adding to it all, I have an awful cold and I’ve lost my voice since Friday night. When I answer the phone at reception, I sound like a 500 year old receptionist. Not to mention that it’s been quite painful on my throat.

However, the Lord had a purpose for my having a cold and staying at work just a bit later. At 5pm, a client came in for his meeting with one of the lawyers who happens to be my boss, Jeffrey. I have witnessed to Jeffrey countless times. While Jeffrey was yet in another meeting, the client asked me about my cold. He then wanted to know if I was Italian. I replied that I was Lebanese, which led to political talk and which then led to discussing the Lord Jesus Christ. It turns out the gentleman is a Portuguese Catholic who has no faith in churches at all nor faith in the pope (no hope in the pope!!).

As the discussion flowed, he interrupted me wanting to know if I were “Christian born”. I corrected him and told him that the Biblical term is born again. As it happens, he was familiar with the term since his wife’s friend is saved and they had both visited her church once.

The Lord put words in my mouth as I shared with the client the simplicity of the gospel of Christ and that he ought to call upon His name for salvation. Being stuck at reception, my purse was at my desk and I was unable to hand him a tract before he left. I trust the Spirit of God to get a hold of him. Who knows, the Lord can use his wife’s friend to bring him and his family to salvation.

I have noticed that almost every time I end up staying late at work, the Lord gives me an opportunity to share the gospel to a lost soul. Had it not been for my cold, had it not been for my office manager being away and had it not been for my receptionist leaving early today, this Portuguese gentleman would not have heard the gospel of Christ Jesus. Glory to God!

Arrested for street preaching

To find out how our Sunday afternoon street preaching went, please visit Pen of Iron. Certainly an experience that will always stay with me and with all those who stepped out to war that day.

Pen of Iron -At War

Drawing nearer to God

The Lord has placed a Psalm on my heart, and it is the following one:

~But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works. Psalm 73:28

Christ Jesus has been my only hiding place all my life, but I want to draw near to Him not only in bad times, but at all times. I long to be with him and I thirst to spend more time in His Word.

It’s good to be involved in church activities, helping and serving, and it’s good to keep our responsibilities, such as our jobs, but I feel like I have failed Jesus in so many ways. Do I give to everybody else first, and then give to the Lord? I certainly don’t want to fall into that trap. I must put Christ first in my life and give Him my everything, after all, He laid down His own life for me.

I want to draw near to Him! I long to be with Him! I want the precious name of Jesus Christ to be on my tongue all day. I want to praise Him and tell the whole world what a wonderful Saviour He is. Sometimes, I really wish I could just fly away and truly be Nearer, my God, to Thee.

~Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. James 4:8

Paul’s joyful attitude

The meaning of the word joy is cheerfulness and sincere delight. Joy is an emotion evoked by the feeling of well-being and happiness. The spiritual joy experienced by the disciple of Christ is elevated to a level above happiness. The scriptures often refer to "rejoicing" as an expression of joy and instruct the faithful to rejoice. The apostle Paul repeatedly reminded the Philippians to maintain an attitude of rejoicing in the Lord. "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord….Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice" (Phil. 3:1; 4:4).

The scriptures have provided a beautiful example of a joyful attitude in the character of Paul the apostle. Though he was persecuted and suffered at the hands of unbelieving, preaching the truth and nurturing fellow younger brethren brought him great joy and strength. Paul says, "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." Phil. 3:8. Worldly possessions become worthless when compared to the opportunity and privilege of being called by the Almighty God. Paul trusted in God to be the supplier of all his needs. (James 1:17)

Paul remained without complaint, as we learn from 2 Corinthians 7:4 "Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation” even though we learn from the very next verse (5) that he had suffered greatly. In these verses, Paul is revealing a perfect example of suffering combined with a joyful attitude.

So much to learn!!!

Tract passing at a later time

We ended up going tract passing much later today. We arrived at the metro at 4 p.m and stayed until nearly 6 p.m. Time went by so quickly because the metro was packed with people. I’m happy that we went and that we were able to hand out so many tracts. The tract passing made my day!

I’m also ecstatic that tomorrow is Sunday. I can’t wait to go to church. I love the preaching, the singing and the fellowship. I love the Lord!!

The Just One

Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers. Act 7:52

I know the Lord Jesus Christ has over an hundred titles in the Bible, but I hadn't thought of "the just one" until I read the above-mentioned passage today. What a fitly name for the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, Jesus Christ, THE JUST ONE!

How bright is our light?

Far above rubies

Be STILL and KNOW

~Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10

Through these words of the Psalmist, God invites us to seek quietness and to become still. He then promises that this stillness will not be an empty experience. In the stillness He will strengthen us.

Be still and know boils down to two important truths: Prayer and Faith.

The "be still" part sounds difficult, but the Lord is just asking from us a time to be quiet. Instead of letting the cares of the world and the hurts of our heart get the best of us, we just have to commit all our insecurities to the Lord, and He will sustain us. We are to seek fellowship with Him, a time of prayer.

There is another very powerful message: not only are we to be calm, we are also to know that God is in control. He is almighty! The quiet time that we spend with Christ will humble us in knowing how great He is and how small a creature we are. He will equip us with the shield of faith.

If we can be still and know that He is God in whatever situation we are facing, whether a time of trial or a time of praise, the Lord Jesus Christ will get the glory and He will be exalted among the people.

~In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. Isaiah 30:15

Resting in God’s presence

I find it almost too wonderful that Jesus is my burden-bearer. I can allow him to take the burdens from my shoulders. Whatever these troubles of mine (and yours too) may be, whether worry, unconfessed sins, fear, etc., whatever they may be, the Lord Jesus has comforting and promising words to us all.

~Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30

All these unnecessary troubles that we carry can be obstacles which prevent us from resting in God’s presence. We must remember that Christ Jesus dealt with everything on the cross and He only asks us to believe that He has done away with all our sins. He has also done away with all our sorrows. Isaiah 53:4 says that “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows”.

One of my favorite Psalms is chapter 91. I invite you to read it in its entirety, it’s quite short.

~ He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalms 91:1

Having found that place of rest, we then need to dwell in that secret place, under the shadow of the Almighty. This secret place, to me, is an intimate communion; a place where I can make known my heart, with its needs and wishes, its thoughts and feelings, its doubts and anxieties, its sorrows and its joys to Christ my Lord. It’s a place of refuge from the storms of the world where I can cling to Him.

If we abide with him and abide in His WORD we shall remain under his care. His outstretched wings of power and love cover us. This protection is ours if we abide constantly in Him. He is our refuge and we can fly to Him. He is our fortress. The Lord of Hosts stands between us and the enemy.

How do we come to dwell in this secret place and rest there? We make it ours by faith and prayer, "I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust” Psalm 91:2.

In times of trial and temptation, difficulties and problems, we can only fly into the secret place of God and we can rest in the shadow of the Almighty. When we're weak and struggling, striving against sin and sorrow, hurting from the attacks of the world, He then is our safe, quiet and resting place.

We have won the Lottery!

Lost folks who do not have the Lord Jesus Christ as their hope are so caught up with earthly goods, it really breaks my heart. At work, most lawyers and staff participate in collecting money to purchase a lottery ticket. Each week, they hope for the best.

On the train tonight, on my way back home, a young lady sat next to me and the first thing she did was to pull out her lottery ticket and scratch it as fast as she possibly could. Terribly sad…I really should have given her a tract.

How privileged are we to have obtained eternal life through Christ. Our affection is set on things above (Colossians 3:2) and our inheritance is an everlasting one, reserved for us in Heaven.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5

Praise God, for we have won the lottery, big! Our ticket is bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ who died for us that we might live and lay hold on eternal life. We have the ticket to Heaven, and it’s through Romans 10:13.

Riches and honor are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver. I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures. Proverbs 8:18-21