Dana's Christian Journey

“Oh to be independent! To not have anyone tell me what to do… to be myself… to be free!” From the first man and woman until now, the desire for independence has been a powerful force. But while true freedom is one of the greatest gifts of God, He knows we will only receive it as we live in dependence on Him.

This is the way Jesus lived and He calls us to trust Him. “Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me.” (John 6:57) “I do nothing on My own but speak just what the Father has taught Me.” (John 8:28) “By Myself, I can do nothing…” (John 5:30)

Such dependence was not a burden for Jesus… it was life. And this “life was the light of all mankind.” (John 1:4) So He invites us to follow: ‘Come to Me… surrender your life and find it in Me. I am the true Vine who has the perfect Gardener. You are a branch who can only live by staying connected to Me. Depend on Me and you will thrive. Trust the Vine and the Gardener and you will bear fruit… lasting fruit that pleases the Father.’ (see John 15)

In the preface to his book ‘Abide in Christ,’ South African pastor Andrew Murray, who lived from 1828-1917, wrote:

I ask to be permitted to give one word of advice to my reader. It is this. It needs time to grow into Jesus the Vine: do not expect to abide in Him unless you will give Him that time. It is not enough to read God’s Word, or meditations as here offered, and when we think we have hold of the thoughts, and have asked God for His blessing, to go out in the hope that the blessing will abide. No, it needs day by day time with Jesus and with God… If we are to live through Jesus, we must feed on Him; we must thoroughly take in and assimilate that heavenly food the Father has given us in His life. Therefore, take time each day, ere you read, and while you read, and after you read, to put yourself in contact with the living Jesus, to yield yourself distinctly and consciously to His blessed influence; so will you give Him the opportunity of taking hold of you, of drawing you up and keeping you safe in His almighty life.

“I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will also rest secure, because You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.” Psalm 16:7-11

‘Abide in Christ’ by Andrew Murray, ©1985, Barbour and Company, Inc., Westwood, N.J., p 7

From John 6 – after the miraculous feeding of the 5000:

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (51)

“I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in them. Just like the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me.” (53-58)

“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.” (27)

“For My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (40)

From John 4 – the Samaritan woman:

“The Samaritan woman said to Him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman, how can You ask me for a drink?’ Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the Gift of God and Who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.’ The woman said, ‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?’” (9-11)

“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’” (13-14)

“The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.’ Then Jesus declared, ‘I, the One speaking to you – I am He.’” (25-26)

“Just then His disciples returned and were surprised to see Him talking with a woman.” (27)

“The disciples urged Him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ But He said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you know nothing about.’ Then the disciples said to each other, ‘Could someone have brought Him food?’ ‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of the Father who sent Me and to finish His work.’” (31-34)

From John 17 – the prayer of Jesus:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You. For You granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those You have given Him. Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have brought You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave me to do.” (1-4)

A few conclusions:

• Jesus knows Himself
• Jesus knows people
• Jesus knows that people need ‘real food’ and ‘real drink’
• Jesus is ‘food that endures to eternal life’
• Eternal life is knowing the Father and Son
• Jesus’ pleasure while on Earth was to do the will of the Father
• The will of the Father is that we have eternal life

“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.’” John 6:35

My friend Steve Wolf, who manages this blog site and helps me tremendously, read my Journey last week and was reminded of Dayenu, a song/prayer from the Jewish Seder meal at Passover. The Hebrew word means ‘it would have sufficed’ and emphasizes the powerful significance of each one of God’s blessings, alone and apart from each of His other blessings.

If He had brought us out from Egypt,
and had not carried out judgments against them
it would have sufficed!

If He had carried out judgments against them,
and not against their idols
it would have sufficed!

If He had destroyed their idols,
and had not smitten their first-born
it would have sufficed!

If He had smitten their first-born,
and had not given us their wealth
it would have sufficed!

If He had given us their wealth,
and had not split the sea for us
it would have sufficed!

If He had split the sea for us,
and had not taken us through it on dry land
it would have sufficed!

If He had taken us through the sea on dry land,
and had not drowned our oppressors in it
it would have sufficed!

If He had drowned our oppressors in it,
and had not supplied our needs in the desert for forty years
it would have sufficed!

If He had supplied our needs in the desert for forty years,
and had not fed us the manna
it would have sufficed!

If He had fed us the manna,
and had not given us the Sabbath
it would have sufficed!

If He had given us the Sabbath,
and had not brought us before Mount Sinai
it would have sufficed!

If He had brought us before Mount Sinai,
and had not given us the Torah
it would have sufficed!

If He had given us the Torah,
and had not brought us into the land of Israel
it would have sufficed!

If He had brought us into the land of Israel,
and not built for us the Holy Temple
it would have sufficed!

Those who put their faith in Jesus as Messiah believe He is our Passover Lamb. He is our Manna from Heaven… the Bread of Life. He is the Lord of the Sabbath and the fulfillment of the Torah. And Jesus is the Cornerstone of the Temple not made with hands, which is His Body, of which we are a part. (see Scripture below)

I once wrote about a tiny license plate I saw on the back of an old bicycle in a small village in Benin, West Africa. I asked my brother the meaning of the French words: JESUS SEUL SUFFIT. Brian translated: JESUS ALONE IS SUFFICIENT. Indeed He is!

And the grace God gives in Christ is sufficient to carry us through every trial and sufficient to empower us to live for Him.

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the Chief Cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19-22

“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’” II Corinthians 12:9

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” (ESV) II Corinthians 9:8