The Music And The Dance

Finding Life in Christ: The Bread of Life.

Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 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.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” – John 6:47-69

John 6:66, is a passage of great significance: From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. Here’s a passage where a bunch of people who had stated to follow Jesus basically said, “No we’re not going to follow any more.” The reason they turn back and no longer follow him is because they finally figure out what following Him actually means. When Jesus clarifies what it really means to follow him they turn and walk away. What is it that we have to understand and accept to follow Jesus but so many people find so hard to accept? The issue is what Jesus says in verse 48. He says, “I am the bread of life.”

There is a lot that could be said about this passage. There are many interesting questions it raises but in this study we are going to go right to the heart of its message in relationship to discipleship, or following Jesus. In verse 48 Jesus claims to be the bread of life.

Before you go any farther what is your first response to that statement. What do you think it means?

This is not just an issue that shows up here. Think about the story of the life of Jesus. Jesus public life didn’t begin until he was thirty-years-old. The beginning of his public ministry is made all the more dramatic by the mystery of his childhood. We are only told that he grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man. We can only imagine his life in a small village learning to be a carpenter and waiting for God’s time. Then it comes it He steps out of quietness, He is baptized by John the baptism and confirmed by the descent of the dove and the voice of the Father: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. This is an amazing moment in human history. God in human flesh is about to begin his earthly ministry. What is the first thing that he does? What is his first day on the job? He doesn’t preach a sermon or perform a miracle or choose disciples. He goes out into the wilderness alone and stops eating for forty days. For forty days he went hungry. I know that there are many spiritual benefits to fasting but there is also at the heart of this fast a strong statement that Jesus was making about the central question in human life and discipleship. The most important question any person asks is, “What is it that will fill my hungry heart?” Jesus is saying that his hunger will be fed by God.

What are some of the things we all hunger for as human beings? What does it mean to think of God as the one who satisfies these hungers?

Our memory verse for this week is John 7:38 “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

Continue reading the Bible. Keep reading the gospel of John. If you are reading a lot and finish John consider reading Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians or Luke. Or ask the group or person you are doing The Walk with to make suggestions. The important thing is to try to be consistent in your reading. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse from last week and this week.

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Day 5:  Going Deeper

Look at John 14:20 where Jesus says, you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. What Jesus is describing here is what theologians call the spiritual union of Christ with his people. What it means is that when you believe in Jesus, you are born again spiritually and Christ not only becomes present with you but also at the same time one with you. His Spirit interpenetrates your renewed and reborn human spirit. So that his presence in your life is not only by your side but in your thoughts, in your mind, will and emotions in the deepest way. Some people emphasize the verse from the prophet Jeremiah that says the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. So they figure everything within them is bad. But Scripture also says that when you experience new birth in Christ you receive a new heart and a new nature. Christ, by the Holy Spirit, comes into your life and unites himself to that new and spiritually reborn part of your innermost being. Christ become one with you. Then from that place of new life he begins to speak, to counsel, to strengthen, to purify, to convict, to guide from within. In Galatians Paul says, Christ lives in me. From within your heart Jesus says: “Follow me.”

The presence of Christ and the gift of the Spirit should change how you think of yourself; your very identity. There’s a crazy old story about a man who went to a psychiatrist because whenever he went grocery shopping and walked past the pet food he had an overpowering urge to rip open a bag of dog food and start eating. The doctor had never heard anything like this so he asked, “When did this begin?” The man said, “I think it’s been this way ever since I was a puppy.” I know it’s a silly story but it makes a point. The way you see yourself has a tremendous impact on the way you live your life. Your sense of who you are drives a lot of what you do. How do you see yourself? The Bible says if you believe in Jesus Christ then see the truth about who you really are through him. You are a needy human being whose needs have been deeply met by God’s grace. You are not pure in yourself but you have been cleansed by Christ. You don’t deserve God’s love but it has flooded your life. You are not powerful in yourself but you are not alone, you can do all things through Him who strengthens you. You are not an orphan, unknown or cared for scrambling to make it on your own. You have Christ in you by the Holy Spirit who has been given to you forever. Christ is in you, you are in Him and he is in the Father and you have become one with him by grace. To live life with Jesus, following him is not some restrictive limitation imposed on you from outside is what you were made for and saved for.

Sometimes we look at the gospel with tunnel vision, seeing only one facet of the blessings and promises that come to us through faith in Jesus. The result is that the impact of the gospel on our hearts to strengthen us for a life of discipleship is diminished. The gospel brings us much more than the promise of forgiveness and acceptance into heaven when we die. Through the gospel we are brought into a reconciled relationship with God. We are united to him! His Spirit lives in us so that we “participate in the divine nature”. We become new creatures with a new identity in Christ and a new power for life. His love, truth and beauty satisfies our hearts deeper longings. All of God promises are ours through faith in Jesus.

What gospel promises do you focus on the most? What gospel promises to you tend to overlook or neglect. What difference might it make in your life to see more fully the full dimensions of the grace of God that you receive through faith in Jesus?

Take a moment to pray asking God to help you see who you are in Christ. Then take a moment and in your own words write down some of your thoughts to complete this sentence. I see by faith in Jesus, that in Christ I am

Continue reading the Bible. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse from last week and this week.

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Tags: discipleship, Gospel, Holy Spirit, Walk

Day 4 Practicing His Presence

For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family  in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.  - Ephesians 3:14-21

Everything Jesus promises about his presence is inviting us to rely on him completely. He said, I will not leave you orphans. That means we can rely on his care, guidance and provision. Hebrews 13:5-6 echoes this promise: God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Okay there is the promise of his presence but look at the result, the change the reality of his presence is to bring about in us. Verse 6, So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” When we know that he is present we know that he is with us to help us and because of that we can choose confidence instead of fear.

John Piper tells how when he was little at the foot of his bed there was a painting of a boy standing at the helm of a ship. A storm was raging in the sea. The waves were breaking over the side of the boat. The wind was whipping the boy’s hair. His hands were tight on the wheel of the ship. And he was looking straight ahead into the storm. It was a picture full of adventure and danger and challenge. And standing at the boy’s side was Jesus, large and strong and serious. His hand was on the boy’s shoulder, and he looked totally in charge. Every night John Piper went to bed with that picture as the last thing he saw. And He came to believe in the reality portrayed in that picture. “The Lord stands by me. In every storm He is by my side and his hand is on my shoulder and he is very much in charge.”

In 2 Timothy 4:16 the apostle Paul this was his experience: At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. 17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength. I remembered once as a young pastor in my twenties facing a particularly confrontational meeting. This thought came to me as a question: “How would you feel about this meeting if you knew that Christ was going in with you right by your side to give you his support?” As soon as the thought occurred to me I realized that is exactly what Jesus promised. I realized that Jesus was with me and I could obey with that confidence and count on his presence. What is it that you face in life that makes you anxious, apprehensive or angry? Where are you tempted or tested? Picture Jesus coming into that situation, that place, that moment. Picture him literally present with you then and there. What difference does his presence make?

“Practicing the presence of Christ” is the idea of developing more of a habit of believing in and being conscious of the truth that He is with you every day. What might you do to better practice his presence in your life. Jot down a few ideas below and put them into practice today and through this week.

Continue reading the Bible. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse from last week and this week.

I hope to see you Wednesday night at Christ Community Church 

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If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” - John 14:15-21

One of the ways we learn to get more out of reading the Bible is by paying careful attention to the details of what it is saying. This is called “observation”. So let’s take this passage and observe and record as many observations as we can about the following questions.

1. What does Jesus tell us here about what the Holy Spirit does?

2. What other observations, if any, stand out as significant to you in this passage?

One of the titles for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. He inspired Scriptures, enlightens our understanding of it when we read it, and helps us apply it in life. His guidance is often very specific and personal but always in line with the Scriptures he has inspired.

I’ve always been impressed when I see a blind person led by a guide dog. Can you imagine how much trust it takes to follow that lead? One man was jogging when he saw a blind woman walking on the other side of the street with her Seeing Eye dog, a beautiful golden retriever. As he got came up the street he saw that there was a car blocking the sidewalk in front of one home. At that point the dog paused and gently pressed his shoulder against the woman’s leg, signaling her to turn aside so they could get around the car. You would imagine she would follow his lead, but that day she didn’t seem to trust him. She had probably walked this route, that sidewalk many times and knew that was not the place to make a turn. Whatever the cause, she wouldn’t move to the side and instead gave the dog the signal to move ahead. He pressed his shoulder against her leg again, trying to guide her on a safe path. She got mad and ordered [the dog] to go forward… when the dog put his shoulder gently against her leg again to nudge her in to turn. She gave him a little kick, stepped forward, and walked right into the car. Feeling the shape in front of her, she immediately realized what had happened. Dropping to her knees, she threw her arms around the dog neck and hugged it. I wonder how often we are being nudged but in our blindness, our stubbornness, we ignore or kick against the guidance we need.

I found myself one day in a conflict in which emotions were running strong. I felt like what was being said was untrue and what was happening was unfair. But underneath all of my clear arguments there was a flow of thought that kept telling me to be kind. I wanted to be very clear more than I wanted to be very kind. But I listened. Because I believed that was the Holy Spirit. And I’m glad I listened. I’m always glad when I listen. I don’t always listen. No one listens perfectly or always. So if you are going to walk with the Spirit you have to be humble and honest. You have to know how to get back up and start over when you have slipped and fallen or just walked off again. You have to refuse condemnation, receive forgiveness and then listen again. It may be something simple: “Don’t do that.” “Wait.” “Be still and know that I am God.” “Do not fear”. The Holy Spirit in you guides you and convicts you and comforts you and empowers you. But you have to listen and believe and obey. What would our lives be like if we really listened and were led?

Continue reading the Bible. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse from last week and this week.

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Tags: discipleship, Holy Spirit

Day 2 The Holy Spirit: Who is He?

In John14: l6 Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.” Who is this other helper and counselor? The answer comes in verse 17 where he is identified as “The Spirit”. Jesus goes on to explain. He, the Spirit, has been “with them,” but now there will be a change: He will be “in them.” In verse l8, Jesus said “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” In the coming of the Spirit, Jesus Christ himself, comes to you. He is saying, “For three years you have lived with Me. Now I’m going away, but this relationship between us is not going to end. I will send my Spirit. So that I will be with you, not in a lesser way, but in a deeper, more powerful way: in you–forever.

So who is the Holy Spirit? To answer the question: “Who is the Holy Spirit?” we have to begin with an understanding of what Christians call “The Trinity”. “Trinity” is a term used to describe what is clearly taught about God in the Scriptures. The Bible speaks of God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit…and also clearly presents that there is only one God. Thus the term: “Tri” meaning three, and “Unity” meaning one, Tri+Unity = Trinity.

The relationships between the three persons of the trinity can be illustrated with a triangle.

We shouldn’t be surprised that some truths about God are hard for finite people to comprehend. Nevertheless it’s worth reflecting on these more difficult and mysterious aspects of God’s nature because understanding them helps us live in relationship with him.

Here’s a quote from a famous theologian named J.I. Packer. He wrote a great book titled Knowing God, that is highly recommended for anyone who wants to go deeper in their understanding of God. In another place he writes this about the trinity:

In itself, the divine tri-unity is a mystery, a transcendent fact which passes our understanding. (The same is true of such realities as God’s eternity, infinity, omniscience, and providential control of our free actions; indeed, all truths about God exceed our comprehension, more or less.) How the one eternal God is eternally both singular and plural, how Father, Son, and Spirit are personally distinct yet essentially one ( so that tritheism, belief in three gods who are not one, and Unitarianism, belief in one God who is not three, are both wrong), is more than we can know, and any attempt to “explain” it — to dispel the mystery by reasoning, as distinct from confessing it from Scripture — is bound to falsify it, Here as elsewhere our God is too big for his creatures’ little minds. (J.I. Packer, I Want To Be A Christian, pp. 29-30)

This is important because it tell us that the Holy Spirit is worthy of our reverence. He is not to be ignored. And this is also important because it tell us that the Holy Spirit requires, from us, a relationship. The Holy Spirit is not a force to be manipulated but a person whose companionship we cultivate in a relationship of reverence.

Remember the memory verse for this week is John 14:20b: I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

Continue reading the Bible. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse from last week and this week.
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Day 1: The promise of His presence

“If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” – John 14:15-21

A famous Christian author named A.W. Tozer once said that in his opinion most Christians are attempting to do the impossible. They are trying to be happy without a sense of God’s presence. What Tozer said about happiness is also true of discipleship. The basic command/invitation that Christ gave potential disciples was; “follow me”. In light of that look again at the words of Jesus in John 14:15-21. In your own words what is he telling us in these verses about his presence with us and our relationship with Him after his crucifixion and resurrection? What encouragements or assurances does he give us? What response do you think you should have to his promises? Jot down your ideas below.
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Our memory verse for this week is John 14:20b: I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

Continue reading the Bible. Keep reading the gospel of John. If you are reading a lot and finish John consider reading Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians or Luke. Or ask the group or person you are doing The Walk with to make suggestions. The important thing is to try to be consistent in your reading. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse from last week and this week.
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DAY 5
Consider a visual illustration that can help us think about how the gospel has to be the foundation for our relationship with Christ and a life of discipleship. This visual illustration is adapted from the World Harvest Missions book, “The Gospel-Centered Life”.

The starting point of the Christian life (conversion) takes place when you become aware of the issue of your separation from God due to the incredible gap between God’s Holiness and your sinfulness. When you turn to Christ as your Lord and trust in him as your Savior the gospel assures you that your debt of sin is cancelled, you are forgiven everything, you are declared righteous in God’s eyes, you are reconciled to God and at peace with him. This is the foundation for your relationship with him. You do not follow Jesus in order to achieve this. This is where you begin and what you build on. 1 Peter 3:18 says, For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God

Most of the time when we first come to Christ we have a pretty limited view of both God’s holiness and our sin. As time goes on, and we live as followers of Jesus, we come to understand more and more about the holiness of God and at the same time we come to see more clearly than ever how sinful and broken we are. It is important to know that when this happens we are not actually becoming more sinful and God is not becoming more holy we are just coming to sense and see spiritual truths more clearly. We are seeing God as he really is (Isaiah 55:8-9) and ourselves as we really are (Jeremiah 17:9-10, 1 John 1:5-9).

In light of the story of Jesus and the woman who loved much because she had been forgiven much, this growing sense of our sinfulness and God’s holiness can serve to deepen our love for Christ. But this deepening of our love and discipleship will only happen if we have a growing understanding of, and appreciation for, the cross and the gospel. If your understanding of the love of God and his grace revealed in the gospel also grows larger and larger, love for Christ and true discipleship is strengthened.

What we have to fight against in discipleship is the tendency to take a different path. Sometimes instead of magnifying the cross we fall into minimizing our sins or trivializing God’s holiness. We think too lightly of God’s hatred of sin or we think too highly of ourselves. When that happens we sort of “shrink” the cross in terms of its place in our lives and its importance for us. The result is that the powerful dynamic of love that Jesus praised in the woman with the alabaster jar becomes something foreign to us.

What needs to happen is that our view of love for, and faith in, the gospel needs to grow. But what seems to be the tendency of the human heart is that we try to resolve this tension in other ways. Instead of our understanding, love for and faith in the gospel growing we do several things. Sometimes we try to deal with the tension by pretending we are better than we are. Like Simon, we think of ourselves as pretty good and certain others as serious sinners.

Sometimes along with pretending we try performing. We try very hard to live better lives so that we can feel that we are acceptable to God, to others and to ourselves. What’s wrong with that? Well it’s good to live a better life. But Jesus says we are just too broken and sinful to ever live well enough to earn God’s acceptance. Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. If you try to earn your acceptance you will end up anxious and dishonest. And you will never awaken the dynamic of love that could most powerfully change you. So we have to receive the good news that he has done for us what we cannot do. Then we love, follow and obey him, not to earn his acceptance but because we already have it and we love him for it.

Sometimes we get tired of pretending and tired of performing and so we just opt out. We go for numbing or distracting. Maybe that was the path the sinful woman in the story was on until it caught up to her and she came to Jesus. We drink too much or watch too much TV, spend too much time on the internet or try to fill our lives with engaging hobbies or people that keep us occupied. Some of these things are not bad in themselves but they aren’t the answer either.

What is the answer for us? When we come to see more clearly God’s holiness and our sinfulness and feel the tension of the huge gap between who we are and who we ought to be, the only thing that will help us is a larger view of the cross. Our understanding of and dependence on the gospel has to grow with us throughout our lives so that no matter how much we see our sins and short-comings we see the cross as even larger and always sufficient to cover our sins and bring us to God.

If you find yourself like Simon, unhappy with what Jesus is doing or allowing, complaining in your heart, critical and condemning toward others you are not deeply understanding and believing the gospel.

If you find that the devotion in this woman seems very distant from anything you have ever felt or experienced in your heart then you are not deeply understanding and believing the gospel.

This story is in the Bible not so that we can simply know it happened once but so that we can hear in it Jesus speaking to us and calling us to believe more deeply so that we love and follow him. Believe big, believe in a big gospel full of promises and keep growing in your believing.

Continue reading the Bible. Keep reading the gospel of John. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse also. ____________________________________________________________________________________
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