Fed and Transformed

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 6:8-15 ~~~ Psalm 119 ~~~ John 6:22-29 ~~~

 

 

"Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me
not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled."

 

 

Once you get a 'taste' of Jesus your soul longs for more.

You begin to crave his presence; for some it is close to an obsession.

 

Anything to an extreme is not healthy, but the more you have of Jesus

the more you want.

I recently heard a person who was in the midst of a God loving group

comment that they wanted what the others had.

 

Being fed by what Jesus has to offer produces invisible signs.

These signs are however detectable by the casual observer.

 

The more you are fed by Jesus the more his love for others

 seeps out of your pores.

It is impossible to be fed by Jesus and not be transformed.

It is true that you can block and reject this transformation

 but it does happen.

 

Jesus is pure goodness.

His goodness enters into our being and swirls about whisking away

our frailties and our insecurities.

 

 

'...and people from Cilicia and Asia,
came forward and debated with Stephen,
but they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke...'

 

Perhaps Stephen was the first Christian martyr because he would not stop.

 

'...This man never stops...'

 

He ministered to the poor and preached the love of Jesus

through his actions and his words.

 

I pray that I will have the strength to make my life 

 a true reflection of the love of Christ.

Obedience of a Child

~~~ Ezekiel 2: 8-3: 4 ~~~ Psalm 119 ~~~ Mathew 18: 1-5, 10, 12-14 ~~~

You are what you eat,

literally and figuratively.

The Lord God placed before the prophet a special meal.

Initially Ezekiel is scolded as you would speak to a disobedient child.

"...obey me when I speak to you..

 be not rebellious...

but open your mouth and eat what I shall give you."

God is speaking with authority over Ezekiel as a parent to child.

Stern but loving....I saw a hand stretched out to me..

An obedient child does what he/she is told and does not ask questions.

Ezekiel was obedient to God.

So when God said,

"Son of man, eat what is before you; eat this scroll,

then go, speak to the house of Israel."

Ezekiel did as he was told and was pleasantly surprised by what he tasted.

The scroll covered in the words of the Lord was as sweet as honey.

Ezekiel opened his mouth and God fed him on the scroll.

God was satisfying the hunger of the prophet in a way he would not

have conjured up on his own.

I am not sure if the words of God are always as sweet as honey.

They sometimes taste bitter and more like sour lemons.

"Lamentation and wailing and woe!"

I have wished that I could consume the words of the Bible.

 So that they would be such a part of my being that I was one with them.

For all that you eat becomes part of every living cell in your body.

If the words of scripture could be part of every cell in my body

just maybe I would be a better person.

My lips would only speak the words from the Lord himself.

These words of the Lord would be the only joy of my heart.

The disciples ask Jesus,

"Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?"

He certainly must have surprised them with his answer

to become like children...humble...

The nature of the question tells us they were ready to compare themselves

to those who may have not been following Jesus at that particular time.

Becoming like a child is one thing, but he added the whole humility bit.

Becoming humble takes eating the scroll and allowing it to become

part of the fiber of your being.

In some way or another we all fall into the trap of thinking we are better

than so and so because we_______.

You can fill in the blank with any number of things.

Lord, help me to consume your words, accepting them in humility,

without trying to compare or control.

I freely take the scroll containing your holy words.

I promise childlike obedience to your words.