Are you getting fat on the Bread of Life?

This was the question that the Lord gave me this morning….are you getting fat on the bread of life? (and just to clarify, there was no condemnation or guilt in this question), but it challenged me to question my walk with the Father. I love how God gives us comparisons to our everyday life. He is so relevant today as he was 2000 or even 4000 years ago. In recent weeks I have rededicated myself to getting fit, physically and spiritually. I have changed my routine, shuffled things around and given up things that have been taking up my time and I’m still working on this even today.

The Lord reminded me through this question that we can be full of Jesus – going to Church, attending conferences, meetings, bible studies and social groups but if we are not exercising that faith it means nothing – if we aren’t changing and looking more like Jesus what are we actually achieving? Please hear my heart on this though, I love all of those things greatly! I love connecting with other believers of different denominations, churches and states, it is a tremendous blessing. But where the Lord was challenging me this morning is what am I doing with all that nutrients? Am I storing up all this faith for a time in the future? Or am I using it to glorify God in the here and now?

Jesus, as our ultimate example, would often go – it says in Luke 5, to lonely places to pray. But when he returned he would pour out the presence of God with everyone he came into contact with. The disciples would be taught, the sick were healed, the religious were challenged, the oppressed were set free and so on. Jesus didn’t spend time with the Father to keep quiet and hold it all in. He poured himself out and invested in to everyone.

Jesus would not have been as effective if he did not spend those vital hours alone, praying with God. He lived to please the Father and “it is impossible please the Father without faith, because anyone who comes to the Father must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). The reward is for the ‘eternal’, and the ‘now’. We must realise that our devotion to the Father will result in our lives being changed FOR GOOD. We will look different to how we used to look. Our thinking will change, our motives will change, our boldness will change, our trust will change – just like when we devote our time to exercise and getting fit in the physical, so it will be when we do it with the spiritual. Paul says that he disciplines his body, training it to do what it should, for he fears that after preaching, he may himself be disqualified (1 Corinth. 9:27).

We have to remember that it was not natural for our nature to worship, we have just come out of a sinful nature and still live in a sinful world. There are many bright lights and distractions trying to keep us from fulfilling our destiny. So then, we must train ourselves, work as unto the Lord. And what promises do we have to sustain us?? He promises that when we seek with all our heart we will find Him, how good is that! That when we seek His Kingdom, all these things (EVERYTHING that we need to do this life) will be added unto us, yes and amen! That he will do abundantly more than we can ever imagine. Do not fear, for it is I, the Lord your God who fights your battles. Hallelujah! The list goes on.

So, if you’ve read this all the way to the end, let me encourage you, strengthen you, call you to arms! Chase after Him! Seek the One who saved you! He will be worth it! He loves you and this is His desire for you – to know Him and His goodness.