ANCHOR DEVOTIONS (JULY 24, 2012)

A Spiritual Feast

John 6:1-29


"Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
(JOHN 6:27)

Today we read of Jesus using food as a metaphor for our life's foremost pursuits. He is addressing the multitude that crossed over Galilee after Him, mainly because they wanted more free food. Isn't that just like us? Jesus does not miraculously provide for them again, but He does give them - and us - a feast of truths to consider.

First, Jesus gives a prohibitive command: "Do not work for food that spoils." He is not saying that we are to avoid the basic economy of working to provide for ourselves, our families, and others. But that must not be the sole focus of our lives. Whatever we do in life, He commands us to labor for the "food that endures to eternal life," to pursue those things that have an eternal value. Jesus tells us that He is the Source for lasting "food," and all of this is pleasing to the Father.

Let's look to the Lord for our temporal nourishment (Matthew 6:11), but also remember that the better food is that which does us eternal good, every word from God (Deuteronomy 8:3). What a feast!


INSIGHT
"BUT SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU AS WELL."
(MATTHEW 6:33)

READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Song of Solomon 1-2
Psalm 69
John 9

John 6:1-29
New Living Translation (NLT)
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
6 After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. 3 Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. 4 (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) 5 Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” 6 He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.
7 Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money[a] to feed them!”
8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. 9 “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”
10 “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. 12 After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.
14 When the people saw him[b] do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”[c] 15 When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself.
Jesus Walks on Water
16 That evening Jesus’ disciples went down to the shore to wait for him. 17 But as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn’t come back, they got into the boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum. 18 Soon a gale swept down upon them, and the sea grew very rough. 19 They had rowed three or four miles[d] when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. They were terrified, 20 but he called out to them, “Don’t be afraid. I am here![e]” 21 Then they were eager to let him in the boat, and immediately they arrived at their destination!
Jesus, the Bread of Life
22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the far shore saw that the disciples had taken the only boat, and they realized Jesus had not gone with them. 23 Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. 24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. 25 They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. 27 But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man[f] can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”
28 They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”
29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
Footnotes:
a. John 6:7 Greek Two hundred denarii would not be enough. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage.
b. John 6:14 Some manuscripts read Jesus.
c. John 6:14 See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6.
d. John 6:19 Greek 25 or 30 stadia [4.6 or 5.5 kilometers].
e. John 6:20 Or The ‘I Am’ is here; Greek reads I am. See Exod 3:14.
f. John 6:27 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.

KEEPING FAITH
with Alex Chediak

What is the greatest challenge for today's college student? Many would assume grades or social status. But there is a greater challenge every Christian student will have to face.

ANCHOR DEVOTIONS (JULY 23, 2012)

Misapplied Bible Study

John 5:36-47; Luke 24:13-53


"You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life."
(JOHN 5:39-40)

Many religious leaders in Jesus' day spent their entire lives in intense study of the Scriptures. They were proud of their knowledge, but it was misapplied because they failed to see that the Scriptures pointed in fact to Jesus. In their intellectual pride they refused to come to Him for eternal life.

Some scholars today are no different. But it's not just academics who can be snared in their studies. You and I may fall into the very same error. If all I learn from my Bible study are facts, figures and rules then, Jesus says, I have missed the point. Does that strike a chord with you? All of the Bible is about Him.

After He rose again, Jesus walked with two disciples along a road. "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (Luke 24:27). Whatever we may learn about the Bible, the knowledge we gain is misapplied if it takes our attention away from seeing Jesus on every page and growing in our love for Him.

INSIGHT
DEAR LORD, THANK YOU FOR THE BIBLE, A GIFT FROM YOU. SEND YOUR HOLY SPIRIT TO REVEAL JESUS TO US ON EVERY PAGE. AMEN.

READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Ecclesiastes 11-12
Psalm 68
John 8

John 5:36-47
New Living Translation (NLT)
36 But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, 38 and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you.
39 “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! 40 Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.
41 “Your approval means nothing to me, 42 because I know you don’t have God’s love within you. 43 For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them. 44 No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God.[a]
45 “Yet it isn’t I who will accuse you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in whom you put your hopes. 46 If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47 But since you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
Footnotes:
a. John 5:44 Some manuscripts read from the only One
Luke 24:13-53
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
On the Road to Emmaus
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Christ[b] have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Jesus Appears to the Disciples
36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.
44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
The Ascension
50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
Footnotes:
a. Luke 24:13 Greek sixty stadia (about 11 kilometers)
b. Luke 24:26 Or Messiah; also in verse 46

KEEPING FAITH IN THE FACE OF FEAR [PART 4]

What do you think when you hear the word "College?" A student may think of the word "debt." How does God provide for the student? How did He provide for Abraham and his son Isaac?