John 6:30-33 -- So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Quick rewind. This large crowd (5000+) had been following Jesus nonstop everywhere because of the miracles He did with the sick. When He finally sits them down and feeds them, everything changes. Before they were content with the hope of all these miracles. Once they got a miracle of their own, eating bread, contentment disappeared. They wanted more.
They followed Him across the Sea of Galilee only to be confronted with their own selfish intentions. Jesus tells them to work for eternal food and when asked what work they needed to do, Jesus says to believe in Him. Now they have the audacity to ask then what He will do to make them believe! Every miracle they had seen before this meant nothing to them. Our human hearts can be so wildly selfish it turns off our brains, blinds our eyes, and deafens our ears.
Here's what really jumped out at me today. This crowd goes as far as to quote Old Testament scripture at Jesus to justify and drive home their selfish desires. They quote from Psalm 105:40 to try and manipulate Him. They called Him "Rabbi" when they found Him here, so surely, He must respond to scripture...right? I mean its scripture. It's God's Word. Now you got to give us bread, Rabbi Messiah Jesus... (I'm being sarcastic of course)
Christian, be incredibly careful how you use scripture to justify something. Also extremely careful when someone else uses scripture to get you to do or believe something. Just because a devotional or thirty second tik tok has a scripture in it, doesn't make what they're saying truth.
God shows us clearly in the Bible people will use anything, including twisting or cherry picking out His Word, to manipulate, cheat, steal, hurt, and even destroy. Wait that sounds like someone else too… oh yeah, the devil. Even He tried this trick on Jesus.
Matthew 4:5-6 -- Then the devil took Him along into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and he said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written: ‘He will give His angels orders concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will lift You up, So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
Someone might be able to fool other people or themselves by quoting scripture, but not even one of us can fool God. It's His Word! He already knows every single wicked way we humans and the devil himself can try and twist His Word.
Beloved, therefore if you are not walking daily with the Lord in prayer, in reading of His Word, you are not going to know if it's truly Him or just someone's twisting of Him. You MUST know His Word and know Him, or you can find yourself believing and supporting things that sound like God, look like God, but are not of God. It's a dangerous game, don't play it!
Well, that's it for today. Thank you for everyone's prayers and encouragement over these past two days. It was a huge blessing.
Know that you are loved. You are prayed over. You are not alone.
Yorumlar