08-21-21 Not For The Meat Which Perisheth

John 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

In these Devotionals I pull from my daily life and then write what God has been showing me and laying on my heart in how to deal with what I am going through in hopes that it can also be a blessing to others. Today has not been the easiest day for me, without getting too deep into my personal life as I have other blogs for that, there is a situation I am dealing with that has been ongoing for over a year. The person in which this issue revolves around once again threw a wrench into my life and it has been causing me stress and worry.

It is from this place that I came to God praying about the situation and what He would have me to do about it and how to deal with it overall. As I prayed God wanted me to get into the Word and laid on my heart to continue reading in Psalms as I have been and also laid on my heart the chapter which the Devotional comes from today, John 6. As I was reading in Psalms the verse that stuck out the most was this one:

Ps 111:6 He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.

Reading and praying over that many things were brought to my mind and my heart, mainly that God will be bringing me and His people to inherit wonderful things by His power, that we did not work to attain. Just as Israel was brought from Egypt to Cannan and by God’s great works laid claim upon a land of milk and honey which they did not sow or labor to produce, so too would God be doing so for me and His people. Jesus also mentions this ideology in John as well:

John 4:38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.

So this thought was on my heart and in my mind when I went to read from John 6 and after reading through the chapter I was somewhat confused as to how the verses in Psalm can relate to what Jesus was saying throughout John 6. As we read in the chapter we come to find that Jesus was with a multitude of people, much of which comprised His disciples. And seeing that there were so many and they were hungry He took 5 small fish and a few loaves that were given to the disciples by the young lad, prayed over them, broke them and had the disciples pass them out. Jesus produced a miracle and fed the 5000 with very little so much so that the disciples were able to fill 12 baskets in left overs.

At this point Jesus goes to be secluded because He knew the people overwhelmed with the miracle came to want to crown Him as King before His time. As the evening came the disciples left in a boat to go across the sea and during the trip came upon a storm in which Jesus calmed, entered the boat and they immediately appeared on the other side. The Bible is so rich and deep and there are many lessons to be seen in those passages but that isn't what God drew my heart too.

Further along we see that many of that same crowd who were fed followed the disciples when they got into the boat hoping they would be led to Jesus, yet another wonderful lesson to understand. When they came and saw Jesus He began to speak to them about their intentions, why were they coming to see Him. And it was from this parable that God turned my heart to understand how the Psalm, this chapter in John and my situation was related. As I lay this out I am hoping that someone else can be as blessed as I have been in understanding what God is showing us through these Scriptures today.

Jesus turns to them and tells them why it was they had followed Him saying to them it wasn't the miracles that caused you to seek after me, but because I have given you the bread and you were filled. Then He proceeds to explain how He is the bread of life, and uses the imagery of the mana that came from Heaven that the Jews ate in the wilderness. In this parable He says to them the verse quoted, stating not to labour for the things that perish but labor for the things that don't perish and give everlasting life.

God showed me that He will provide for us, for me in the situation that I am going through when it comes to the physical aspects of it. According to Psalm 111 He will show His mighty work to bring us into a place where we haven't sown and reap what we haven't labored for. The situation I am going through at the moment is one of worry about some of the physical things in life, but God doesn't want me to focus on that, instead He wants me to believe on Faith that He has that covered.

Moreover however He wants to give to me and you something greater, just as Jesus was offering to the Jews who followed after Him because He was able to provide them bread to eat. Jesus was capable of and happy to provide them the physical things that were necessary for them to flourish, but He wanted them to have so much more, He wanted to give them Eternal Life and all the blessings that come with it. In the chapter we see that many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more after He offered them more than just bread of this world to fill their stomachs.

I am walking forward today with Christ knowing that He will provide all the things needed for my physical life, but I know He is calling me and you to look beyond what He can do physically and to look towards Him for the blessings He wants to offer us Spiritually. The blessings that come with Eternal Life because they greatly outweigh any Physical blessing we can receive on Earth.

So today as we rise and go off on our lives, dealing with the issues of the day, let us take hold of the promise God has made in Psalm that He will be showing His great work in our lives as we are poured out upon in His Grace and Goodness to reap what we haven't sown. However let us more so look upon Christ as He offers to us things that are even greater, the blessings of Eternal Life!!!

I love you all, have a great day and blessed day in the Lord!

If you need prayer or anything else please feel free to reach out to me and I will help you the best I can and if I can't help I know one man that can, this man named Jesus!

Disciples

Are

Continually

Influencing

Peoples

Living

Existence

John 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.