Christ is full and sufficient for all his people. He is bread, wine, milk, living waters, to feed them; he is a garment of righteousness to cover and adorn them; a Physician to heal them; a Counselor to advise them; a Captain to defend them; a Prince to rule; a Prophet to teach; a Priest to make atonement for them; a Husband to protect; a Father to provide; a Brother to relieve; a Foundation to support; a Root to quicken; a Head to guide; a Treasure to enrich; a Sun to enlighten; and a Fountain to cleanse.
~John Spencer (1630-1693)
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 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.”
~Jesus, King of The Universe, in John 6
Oh beloved, it is true. There is an enigma to the Gospel. We are saved by Grace through faith. But it is not our faith that saves us – it is the G_d Himself. And in coming to an understanding of this mystery, we come to find that “Jesus saves” is not a motto – He is a real Person.
And as time goes on, the slaughtering He has done of our flesh, and the re-creation HE has done of our being, shows these things to have been real events. Everything we wanted before seems a bit silly in the light of what He has done for us. He becomes real, and changes the very profile of our desires.
He is now in ever-increasing measure:
our Life
our Passion
our Love
our Turn-on
our Strength
our Bread
our Hope
our Healer
our Drink
our King
our Friend
our Rest
our Buddy
our Lover
our Captain
our Counselor
our Everything
our All in all.
And all these things, and more, He will be forever.
Stop beloved… Let this sink in for a moment… Meditate… Worship.
Can we see it? Anything else we put into ourselves is now nothing more than junk food. There is no real nutritional value. And while we might feel a false burst of energy from the sin that so easily entangles us. There is no strength in it, and the aftertaste of such fake and foul stuff makes us sick to our spiritual stomachs.
So, just as a good man would drink water only from the well of his own bride, and always be intoxicated with her good love, so now we who are betrothed to our Husband, would be foolish in the extreme to try and find satisfaction anywhere other than Him.
Are you looking away over your shoulder friend? Stop. Look back in the direction you are going. Just look into His eyes. Just look. The Love and beauty and eternal depth of His gaze is all that is needed. For in His eyes you will find everything you ever desired.
Forever.
Warrior Diet – Avoiding Junk Food
What then is God? Of the universe he is the final end; as to election, he is salvation; as to himself, he hath knowledge. What is God? Omnipotent will, virtue of highest benevolence, light eternal, reason unchangeable, highest blessedness; creator of minds to receive of his own fulness, imparting to them life to be conscious of him, prompting them to desire him, enlarging them to receive him, fitting them to be worthy of him, enkindling them with zeal, aiding them to yield fruit, directing them to equity, fashioning them to benevolence, tempering them for wisdom, strengthening them for virtue, visiting them for consolation, illuminating them for knowledge.
~Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
