"At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, 'I am the bread that came down from heaven.' They said, 'Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven?'" -- John 6:41-42

How difficult it was for the locals who had known Jesus while he was growing up to accept him as the messiah he had come to be.  When he started speaking to them in ways which were unfamiliar to them, they couldn't comprehend.  It was much easier for him to go into and area where he was a stranger and his reputation preceded him.  There, he would enter like a rock star.  But in his home town, to say he came down from heaven, when his parents' friends knew better was too much.  They couldn't get their heads around the abstract nature of his language.  Metaphor was lost to them.  But more than this, the idea that such transformation could occur in someone they thought they knew was beyond them.

Have you ever had profound transformation in your life only for your friends and family to not believe you, or to treat you more like your old self than your new self?  It's a difficult thing.  It's so difficult, in fact, that the fear of being misunderstood or not believed has the power to keep us from making major life change in the first place.  When we leave who we were behind, we fear that people will reject the "new us" we become.  The fear is valid and warranted.  It takes people some time to adjust, but they do.  Don't fear to make the changes you need to make to be the authentic person God created you to be.   The sooner you do, the sooner you'll be free to be the you God created.

Readings:  1 Samuel 8:1-9:27; John 6:22-42; Psalm 106:32-48; Proverbs 14:34-35

"When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, 'Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.' So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten." -- John 6:12-13

This is the aftermath of the feeding of the five thousand.  With five loaves and two small fish, by the power of God, the crowd was fed, and there were leftovers!  We live in a culture that conditions us to believe that what we have is not enough.  We're told through the marketing machine that what we have belongs to yesterday, and it's time to trade it in.  We need more, we need new, and we need it now.  So many of us live in this perpetual state of want.  We buy and acquire, only to feel let down and feel the need to buy and acquire again.  When we are able to be content with the material things we have, we will find that life is not even found in the material.  Rather, it's found in the spaces in-between.  Remember, God is spirit, and heaven is a spiritual reality.  If we want to live a God-filled life that moves closer to the heaven-on earth reality that is coming, we must transcend our dependance on the unnecessary physical things around us.  Enjoy them, have fun with them, and thank God for them... but don't base your emotions or sense of well-being upon them.  Then you too, will live a life of abundance.

Readings:  1 Samuel 5:1-7:17; John 6:1-21; Psalm 106:13-31; Proverbs 14:32-33

"The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, 'Samuel! Samuel!' Then Samuel said, 'Speak, for your servant is listening.'" -- 1 Samuel 2:10

I've seen few verses, if any, used more than this one when speaking of God's call for our life.  Samuel hears God calling to him, and thinks it's Eli.  After a couple of times of getting up and going to Eli to see what Eli was needing from him, he realizes it must be God speaking to him.  His response, "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening" is the response we should carry in our hearts and on our lips throughout our days.  While it was a response for Samuel, it can be either a response or prayer of supplication for us.  How attuned you will be if this is on your lips throughout the day.  How aligned your heart will be to living a life that seeks God first and doing his will!  Some struggle with what their calling in life is.  Scripture answers that for all of us:  "Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself."  In every moment that we live, we make a choice on how we will act in that moment.  Our calling is not some ethereal thing out there that we have to make manifest in our time here.  Rather, it is doing the right thing in every circumstance in which we find ourselves.  So may you pray each day and each moment, Samuel's prayer:  Speak Lord, for your servant is listening...

Readings: 1 Samuel 2:22-4:22; John 5:24-47; Psalm 106:1-12; Proverbs 14:30-31

"The Jesus said to him, 'Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.' At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked...so, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him." -- John 5:8: & John 5:16

Here we see again, how skewed religion had become and the headwinds Jesus was facing in his ministry. In this scene, Jesus heals a paralyzed man who lives his life sitting on a mat.  Upon healing him, he instructs the man to get up and carry his mat.  The response of the righteous ones wasn't "Praise God!  Our friend is healed!"  Instead, it's "Hey, it's illegal to carry your mat on the Sabbath."  Does anyone see the problem here?  Instead of celebrating what Jesus has done, they persecute him.   It's this misunderstood spirit of the Law that leads them to further detest Jesus.  These things ultimately lead to his being hung on a cross.  When I read this, I can't help but wonder what it is we modern day believers are missing.  Would we also persecute Jesus if he came and disturbed our religious sensibilities?

Readings:  1 Samuel 1:1-2:21; John 5:1-23; Psalm 105:37-45; Proverbs 14:28-29

"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." -- John 4:48

There is a growing acceptance of atheism in the western world.  Not agnosticism, mind you, which claims not to know whether God exists or not-- but outright atheism which has great faith that God does not exist.  This truly fascinates me.  I listened to an interview of a minister who "came out" as an atheist, and listened to her reason for not believing... much of it was centered around a rejection of the literal interpretation of Scripture.  More and more I'm hearing things like, "I don't believe in God because I don't think the earth and everything in it was made within a week."  or... "the description of God in the Bible is not consistent, and it's not a God I want to believe in... therefore there is no God."  Truly poor logic.  It seems that just as society in general is becoming more polarized, religion is as well.  If you read the Bible, and study the Bible, and come to understand Jesus' teachings...  how can you not believe in God?   IF you're struggling, perhaps you need to start with your definition of God... who do you refer to when you say, "God"?  Or maybe it's that you aren't seeing evidence of him... you want miraculous signs you say?  Look around you.  You're surrounded by them.

Readings:  Ruth 2:1-4:22; John 4:43-54; Psalm 105:16-36; Proverbs 14:26-27

"Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." -- John 4:13-14

These are words that Jesus says to a woman he had an encounter with at a well.  She was a Samaritan woman-- a person no good Jewish person would associate with in that day.  Jesus shouldn't have spoken to her, but he did.  To her, this was shocking.  Not only did he speak to her, he asked her for a drink.  She was shocked.  His response to her was along the lines of "do you know who I am?  Clearly you don't, because if you did, you would be asking me for a drink."  But then when he says the kind of drink she would be asking him for, it's not water... it's living water.  She's not sure why Jesus is there.  He doesn't have anything to draw water from the well with... what's he even doing here?  Then he explains to her that the water he's talking about is very different.  In fact it's not water as she knows water at all.  Drink the water from the well, you'll just be thirsty again... but drink from what Jesus offers... it will change your life forever.  Once you experience and understand the salvation and freedom that comes from Jesus, you'll see that life is more than quenching your thirsts and appeasing your appetites.  From what well are you drinking?

Readings:  Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22; John 4:4-42; Psalm 105:1-15; Provers 14:25

"All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." -- Proverbs 14:23

How many good ideas have you had in your life?  How many good intentions you carried only to be weighed down by them?  Often, the difference between people who have impact and people who don't is that those who have it act on their ideas and intentions.  Most don't though.  Most people fear failing to the point that it's safer just not to try.  These are the ones who regret later in life.  What do you feel God is calling you to do... that you would do if you weren't so afraid?  Examine the fear.  Is it warranted?  Is it keeping you from living the life God intends for you?  Pray to overcome that fear today, and live your life.

Readings:  Judges 19:1-20:48; John 3:22-4:3; Psalm 104:24-35; Proverbs 14:22-24