The Self Focused Crowd (John 6: 22 to 27)

Now we'll look at John 6: 22 to 27 and focusing in on verse 26...."you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled."

Jesus and the disciples had their day of refuge from the self focused crowd. I call them "self focused" because they approached Jesus so they could satisfy their own need of food and they wanted more free food. If you have ever been around famous or wealthy people, there is always that groupie crowd that is looking for hand outs. They see someone who has a means to provide. These people tap into the life of a wealthy or famous person like a leech stuck to your leg sucking blood. They are only there for themselves and they offer nothing in return. These people seeking Jesus wanted more food. Could you imagine being alive during the time Jesus walked the earth and be able to learn from His wisdom! But all these people were not seeking wisdom. All they did was to ask for more food! They totally missed the point Jesus was conveying. The selfish crowd is saying "hey, my father is sick", or "I have lost everything, please help me" or "my neighbor wronged me, please condemn them!" The kept asking Jesus to do stuff. If we believe Jesus is who he says he is, then we would not approach Him like some faith based vending machine. He would be the Lord of our lives. Just being in His presence, listening to His direction for our lives and studying about who He is and how He lived should be enough to impact our lives. But the natural result of loving Jesus and having a relationship with Him is Him caring for you and directing you to the right way of living. It is important to not just treat Jesus like a genie who will provide us with our material and physical needs. In contrast, we really need to look at our overall relationship with Jesus as follows:

1. Are we communicated with Him? (Prayer)
2. Are we listening when he communicates to us? (meditation)
3. Are we studying who He is and how He lived? (Studying the Bible)
4. Are we applying how he lived to our lives? (Following God's promptings for our lives)

It's OK to seek need from Jesus. But if that is our only dimension of our relationship with Him, then we are none-other than a groupie to a famous person.

Dear Jesus, It is important to just pause and think of who you are!!................................................................................................, Thank you Jesus, Amen!

He Ditched Them? (John 6: 20 to 27)

It's been a while since my last post. Peggy's and my grandfather passed away. He was a great grandpa to me, my sisters and my brother. A farmer by trade. We always looked forward to seeing him and spending time with him on his farm when we were kids. I was able to be with him when he passed. Right before he died we prayed for him and gave him God's word, that seemed to be enough spiritual food for him to complete his journey and he died 20 minutes later. We felt a peace that he went into the arm's of Almighty God. I look forward to seeing him driving up to the "pearly gates" on his John Deere tractor. Heck maybe Peggy will be riding on the back of it, like the old days. Anyway good times, good memories and a great grandpa. See you up there Grandpa!

As we continue our study through John chapter 6, we look at verses 20 to 27 and focus on v. 21 "Then they willingly received Him into the boat; and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going."

The crowd was pursuing Jesus. But Jesus knew their hearts, they wanted food, not spiritual revival in their heart. Looking at the circumstance, Jesus was showing an unbelieving crowd his supernatural ability, but then He wanted to get out of there and spend time with His core group, His disciples. In a way Jesus ditched the crowd, much like a famous person, or a rock star or the President of the United States would leave a crowded scene. They would go and get whisked away in a limo or a plane and go back to their core people.

Instead of a limo, or a Gulf Steam Jet or Air force One; Jesus removed himself from the crowd with two miracles, one well know and one little known. It is well known that Jesus walked on water, but notice that once Jesus stepped into the boat, it was supernaturally placed at their intended destination. This gave Jesus a chance to spend time with His disciples while the crowd caught up to Him. So in a way Jesus ditched the crowd, so he could be in His own element with his core believers.

Was that wrong or impersonal for Jesus to "ditch" these folks. I don't think so. Remember the crowd was seeking Jesus for physical food not spiritual revival. They missed the point of his miracle creating food for the masses out of five loaves and two fish. Plus, Jesus was focused on teaching the 12 to carry His message after He was gone. The 12disciples with the help of the Holy Spirit would spread the gospel to the masses in a big way.

The example we can take is that Jesus valued "time away". We often need that as well. Whether you are at work, home, school or around people, the pressures of life and people always wanting something from you can be taxing and distracting. The point is that we do need to "ditch" our surroundings and take the back door out to get our minds set on God and take a breather. That is what Jesus did and also helped his disciples do.

Lord, thank you for those quiet times when we can be away from our surroundings and pressures of life so we can seek spiritual energy for our soul from You! Amen