Image from digitalmissioners.com
Listen to today's devotional right here: https://bit.ly/3jzLcHk
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” 52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:51-59 New International Version of the Bible)
Happy Monday of the Blessed Kind, ConCafe Family! May your day, dear Friend bless you with a closer walk with the Lord. We expect, with God's help, to be made perfect in love. What that really means is to seek to make Monday better than Sunday, Tuesday better than Monday, etc. until people see the love and spirit of Jesus in us! May it be so! Let us continue to pray for one another; pray for ourselves, and for the needs of the world.
I remember days in my childhood home when we would have fresh flour tortillas as the bread for the day. I also remember being ashamed of taking tacos as my school lunch instead of some sort of sandwich made with white bread. Keep in mind this was before the whole world discovered breakfast tacos and tacos of all kinds. Many were the ones at the school cafeteria that would gladly trade their PBJs for a taco; once there the choice was not even close. Years later I learned of a certain school's football tradition of throwing tortillas into the crowd, and I thought I would incorporate that into a sermon. I preached on one of these "bread of life" texts of Jesus and threw flour tortillas into the congregation. As a result a couple visitng our church to check us out, joined! Yes, the one lady who was not paying attention did not appreciate a cold tortilla shot to her head. Oops.
Bread is a foundational food. It can be eaten alone. It can be eaten warm with butter or cheese, or it could be used to house meat and cheese, maybe lettuce, tomatos, and other things to truly be a sandwich. Whatever form it may come in, it is seen as a living symbol of nourishment, as that which can sustain life. So, for Jesus to make such a declaration of His being "the living bread that came down from Heaven," is to make a declaration about His being able to sustain life for all people. And He makes claims that go beyond this life. "Whoever eats this bread will live forever." And to make matters more interesting, critics and those who were not aware of Jesus' life and ministry, began to claim that to be a Christian was to be a cannibal, after all, Jesus said, "This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." The Jews chimed in with their objections, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?" Jesus addresses the need to know and be with Him, as He said, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the loving Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me." Every time we have the opportunity to receive Communion, we are taking part in a sacred moment of connecting deeply with our Lord and Savior. We are taking Him at His word, and we are feastng on the real, living bread, and the living blood which blesses us for the present age and prepares for the the coming age, where we will live eternally with Jesus. Whatever our challenges or obstacles, we are not alone and we journey in the presence of Life, Jesus Christ.
PRAYER: Living God, we praise You and thank YOu for this bread of life that is Jesus. Help us to share His promises and peace as we march on in faith with Him; through Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be the bread and peace of God that you have found in Jesus.
Receive my blessings of joy and hope,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
