What Are You Hungry For?

 

One question that is often asked in our home has to do with food. 

 

Whether I am making a meal, my hubby is BBQing on the grill, we are

checking out restaurants to celebrate an event or if we are bringing

a favorite dish to our loved ones,  the question is always the same

What are you hungry for?  What do you have a taste for? 

What language are your taste buds speaking?

So when it is time for a meal, any kind of meal, inquiring minds want to know two things…

WHAT we will eat and WHEN will we be eating it.

 

There are multiple types of foods not to mention the varieties of ways to prepare each

type of food…the recipes are endless with millions of options.

 

After one identifies the what and the when about eating, there is another question to answer

Who will prepare or buy the food

 

Satisfying hunger is a big job and takes a lot of work!  However, when we do physically eat our favorite dishes such as that delicious steak and potatoes, the yummy cheesy enchiladas, the chicken and rice that is SO good,…or my favorite, the melt in your mouth cheese cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting…

unfortunately, the satisfaction of these meals are only temporary .  It goes in, it goes out, and then we start the process all over again to nourish our bodies once more.

 

Jesus had the same question.  What are you hungry for?

During Jesus’ three year ministry food and eating where significantly present, Jesus spend time teaching, fellowshipping and eating with His disciples and His followers throughout his whole ministry.  From creating food

to having Passover meal with the 12 disciples, eating food was incorporated in almost every aspect of His ministry. Jesus demonstrated and used analogies with food all the time as a way of bridging the gap of drawing others closer to the understanding and belief of who He is as Messiah to the point of receiving Him into their own heart.

 

Jesus the great Chef and gracious host

A chef is a skilled cook who manages the kitchen and all the additional responsibilities

thereof. Jesus’ did just that in Galilee where He fed the 5000. During the time of the Passover, Jesus’ followers had increased to a large multitude of people. After having a meeting with His disciples, Jesus assessed the situation, diagnosed the need and after instructing the disciples, immediately put into action a lunch meal in no time flat.  Course He did not have to cook anything but created even more fish and barley loaves with enough leftovers for people to take a to go box container home with more food to eat later.  Jesus understood hunger and He was ready to meet the people’s physical need with compassion.

 

Jesus is Bread

After Jesus feed the 5000, we see Jesus declaring one of his famous “I Am” statements

This was Jesus’ format of teaching throughout His ministry.  He would do something miraculous, then declare Himself as the holy Messiah by declaring the truth through a “I Am” statement.  Jesus knew that even though He gave them physical food to help curb their natural hunger, He knew that spiritual food was the utmost need that will last for eternity. However, they where only concerned with the natural food needs and not their spiritual school needs.  Jesus says,

             

^“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes [in me] has eternal life.  I am the bread of life. Your  fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from  heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” ^[1]

 

Blood and Flesh for Dinner

After Jesus declared that He is the great “I AM” He challenges those who heard Him to

prove it through accountability by a change of behavior

 

 “ So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of   Man and drink

his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my  blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”  John 6:53-58

 

Are you Hungry?

Self Evaluation

What are you hungry for?  Physically food, spiritual food, both?

Will you ask God for a deeper hunger for Him above and beyond all else?

Will you seek to eat his blood and flesh by practically reading the Bible daily ?

 

Prayer:

Dear God give me spiritual food, bread from heaven, namely your blood and flesh that I might feed upon You and have ever lasting life for eternity.

 

 

© Copyright 2013 Simone Lake. All Rights Reserved.

 

© Copyright 2013 Deep Roots in Christ Ministries. All Rights Reserved

 

Far Off, Now Near, and Wealthy to Overflow

“But now in Christ Jesus you, who at one time were far off, have become near by the blood of the Christ. For He himself is our peace…”  Ephesians 2:13.

 

Apostle Paul shares this comforting scripture reminding his audience in Ephesus around 61 AD, all the way to reminding us that are reading this right now in 2013, that the purpose of the blood of Christ has not only reconciled people back to God almighty, but this same blood that Christ shed on Calvary has made the saints extremely wealthy to overflow. 

 

The clear statement Paul clarifies again and again throughout this letter is that it is through the grace of God alone that He lavishes us with His love.   We have done nothing to earn, work towards, or buy these spiritual riches that, Christ followers attain. We are beyond wealthy, dripping with spiritual riches that is far better and far outweigh the merit of all the gold, diamonds, money and all other treasures put together in the world. 

 

Did you know that no matter how far you “feel” from God that He has brought you near to Him by the blood of Christ?  No matter how bad you feel about the things you did in the past or the things you should have done in your past these behaviors will not keep God from drawing you near to Him.  All that is needed is a heart that is sincere and willing to be drawn by a holy God.

 

All Have the Opportunity to Receive  the Riches

Not only will God draw you near to Him, but He will lavish you to overflow with the riches of His kingdom. Paul, known as one of the great apostles of Christ, could also be referred to as a deliverer of the good news of riches.

 

He has brought these riches to thousands upon thousands upon thousands since he first begin to teach about Christ. Confirming God’s incredible promise of reconciliation, God first made with Abraham, …providing a holy way…the only way for Gentiles and all the world  who were once afar off from God to now be drawn near to Him.

PRAISE be to the Holy Almighty God!

 

Since Skype, twitter and facebook was yet to be invented, Paul writes a letter and first greets these precious people… a audience of Greeks, Romans, magicians, followers of Artemis and other Gentiles, then commends them as they became followers of Christ and then Paul begins to list the riches that we attain as saints.  And all this is in the first couple of chapters of the book. This letter circulated not only in the church at Ephesus but in all surrounding areas from church to church.

 

Paul was first introduced to Ephesians throughout his mission trips and is writing this letter from prison in Rome. This letter was written to make believers more aware of their position in Christ because this is the basis for their practice on every level of life, to make Christians more aware of their position in Christ and to motivate them to draw upon their spiritual source of God in their daily living.

 

THE  RICH  LIST

Paul list one after another the overflowing rich blessings allotted to all who believe on Jesus as their Lord and Savior

 

1.  Our Lord Jesus Christ, has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ

2.  He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame

3. In love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace,

4.  He made us accepted in the Beloved who is Christ.

5. In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

6.  …which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence…

 

 

AND MORE RICHES IN CHRIST

1.  In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

 

2. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,  who is the

guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

PRAISE

After reading this, there is no other response but praise and Paul is faithful to do just that.

“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,  I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayer  that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him.”

 

QUESTIONS

1.  Would you like to attain the spiritual riches in heaven, never to fade but to have for eternity?

2.  What things are keeping you from attaining the riches of the saints?

3.   Why don’t you just lay it all down putting away the ways of the old man and become a new creation in Christ?

 

Dear Lord,

Yes, I would like to attain all the spiritual riches in heaven found in Christ Jesus, I realize that I cannot earn it or work for it but that it is freely given to all who believe and follow You. Lord help me to denounce my former man and the things contrary to your word accepting my new creation in Christ.  Guide and lead me every step of the way.  In Christ’s name AMEN

 

© Copyright 2013 Simone Lake. All Rights Reserved.

© Copyright 2013 Deep Roots in Christ Ministries. All Rights Reserved

 

 

Focus

Trip to Jerome

 

A couple of months ago my husband and I went on a day drive up to Jerome, Ariz. to show our friends this well known former copper town that once was the fourth largest city in Arizona. One of the highlights of the trip was visiting the famous Nellie Bly Kaleidoscopes store – the largest in the world – where there were literally hundreds of kaleidoscopes of every kind created by more than 90 kaleidoscope artists. We spent a lot of time in that store basically looking at the same item but in a variety of formats, colors, sizes, materials… we were all kids in a colorful candy store running and picking up the next cool kaleidoscope.

 

The single commonality to each kaleidoscope was to turn the knob, dial and level (whatever it was on that particular model) to get a clearer focus of the array of colors inside. It didn’t matter how big or how tiny, the aim was the same… look through the lens and begin to manipulate the object to get a clearer focus.

 

Focus, Focus, Focus

I was reminded of this trip to Jerome when I heard myself say out loud…”OK brain, focus, focus, focus.” Something about remembering to take the time to adjust each kaleidoscope, into clear precision, every single time… no matter how big or small the item is… Wow, what a excellent illustration… totally applicable to my life. It just resonated in my heart and brought complete closer on the solution to my current situation of not focusing.

 

It all started as I began my day silently reviewing my stresses, worries and concerns, my mind traffic got the best of me and not only was it like busy rush hour traffic… it had managed to barely miss a huge traffic jam in my head. And it wasn’t because I had so much on my calendar to do or that I had larger than life challenges, instead, it was because I had yet to focus, causing a clearer respective focus of my kaleidoscope of colors.

 

Focus on the One

Turning 180 degrees, I begun the day again… listening to Crown Him With Many Crowns, originally written by Matthew Bridges. Fernando Ortega always manages to gently guide me to God’s throne to a place of praise no matter in any situation ever! The soothing sounds of the piano and cello quickly order commands of my heart and brain to put all that mind traffic to a complete halt exchanging it in salutes of praise, homage and honor for God Almighty.

Heavenly focus always brings clarity.

 

Join the Focus

Crown him with many crowns,

the Lamb upon his throne,

Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns

all music but its own.

Dear Lord as the heavenly anthem drowns out all music but it own.

Lord guide me in drowning out all this distraction of temporary distraction and keep my focus on You with wisdom and wise counsel for each situation.

 

Awake, my soul, and sing

of him who died for thee,

and hail him as thy matchless King

through all eternity.

Dear Lord cause my soul to sing in the midst of my concerns acknowledging that

You are high on your throne for eternity, there is none other higher. 

Cause me to be faithful in giving you praise for dying on my behalf.

 

Crown him the Lord of love;

behold his hands and side,

rich wounds, yet visible above,

in beauty glorified.

Praise be to You Lord that because of Your great love for me and faithfulness to the promise of Abraham, You fulfilled Your promise to Your people.

 

No angel in the sky,

can fully bear that sight,

But downward bends his burning eye,

at mysteries so bright.

Lord may I learn from the angels in their quest of praising you.

May my eyes gaze at you in awe of what you have done on the cross.

 

Crown him the Lord of life,

who triumphed o’er the grave,

and rose victorious in the strife

for those he came to save.

Praise Your name Lord that You have conquered the grave of death triumphing in great victory causing my life to be eternal with yours.  Lord may I cling to you in all things in all ways knowing You are my Savior. Thank you Lord for conquering the grave

 

All hail, Redeemer, hail!

For thou hast died for me;

thy praise and glory shall not fail

throughout eternity

Praise be to Your name precious Lord, your fame and glory will never fade but instead will last forever and a day in eternity. Lord may I keep this focus, Your focus, on You in perspective of my earthly life that will fade and eternity that will never fade away.

Keep my heart and mind in a place of persisting You in praises and prayers.

 

Crown Him the Lord of years,

the Potentate of time, ?

Creator of the rolling spheres,

ineffably sublime.

Dear Lord for eternity you will reign! Praise be to Your holy precious name!

All hail, Redeemer, hail!

 

For Thou has died for me;  Thy praise and glory

shall not fail throughout eternity.

Yes Lord praise be to Your name for dying for me. Thank you Lord!

 

Your Turn to Adjust Your Kaleidoscope

What is your focus these days? 

Are you overwhelmed with all the happenings of life?

Will you trade your mind traffic for praise to the One on high?

Worship Him in His holiness!

Seek Him and He will respond!

Praise Him for who He is!

 

© Copyright 2012 Simone Lake. All Rights Reserved.

© Copyright 2012 Deep Roots in Christ Ministries. All Rights Reserved

 

About the author

Simone Lake is a Christ follower, bride of Pastor Dr. John Lake, Bible teacher

and a passionate pray-er.

Visit her: www.simonelake.com, www.deeprootsinchrist.com, facebook, twitter and LinkedIn