Since we have moved to
Exhibition Street in Guelph, we have discovered the most amazing place to get
bread, Polestar Hearth, a bakery just around the corner. I have to admit that with all the social
distancing requirements, waiting in line has taught me to appreciate it even
more. They make incredible sour dough
bread and our favorite is Super Seed! It
is starting to become a Saturday morning ritual for us. There is an incredible sense of satisfaction
that you experience when you know you are eating good bread!
I am also discovering
new things as I learn to be still in the presence of Jesus. In John 6:28, He is described as the bread of
life. I know that as good as the bread
that fills my belly, I desperately need to be in His presence to sustain me and
that time for me is carved out in the morning before I start my day.
Jesus in John 6:28 was
trying to teach His followers a “new normal”…the very thing we keep hearing
today. In that day He was getting them
to go beyond just getting their daily needs met or rushing after another
miracle. He was offering them so much
more and He wanted to completely fill the hunger of their soul.
What matters most in
the Christian’s life is “who is Jesus to you?”… not what Jesus has done for
you.
Holly Furtick in a
powerful message she gave on Mother’s Day shared about identifying the things
that are first not bread in your life.
·
Gossip is
not good bread. Proverbs 26;22 The words
of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.
· Good bread
is not trying to find all my needs met in my spouse or my children or material
things.
She also made a really
good point that bread is meant for right now.
The Word that God gives you is a word for the season and more
importantly for this moment. Don’t let
it grow stale
Jeremiah 15:16 When
your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I
bear your name, Lord God Almighty.
His bread is normal, God is not limited to
sermons and worship songs. Expect God to speak to you through every mundane
moment. Holly Furtick
Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the LORD is good
His Bread sustains us,
but it is also placed in front of us to declare It’s powerful and life changing
promises too!
I also have recently I
have been reminded once again about the power of praying Scriptural
declarations over my family. I take time
to insert their names into some of the most profound prayers written in the
Bible, for example, I will take my children’s names and insert them into the
following prayers for example:
Ephesians 1:17 I keep
asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give Rylan the Spirit of wisdom and
revelation, so that he may know him better. 18 I pray that Rylan’s eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that he may
know the hope to which God has called you, the riches of his glorious
inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who
believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he
raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly
realms.
I will take turns and
then insert Jordan and Katelyn, Phil and Brynley and Addi as well.
I also pray verses
like Galatians 2:20 and the prayer of Ephesians 3:14-21 and there are soooo
many great ones packed in Philippians, Colossians as well.
As we take time to
listen, to journal, to pray these powerful declarations, I believe the
atmosphere changes in our hearts and in our homes.
When everything starts
to open us and the pull comes to go in every direction and chase after
everything, remember to stay, to listen, to be grounded in His truth, His Word,
His life-giving bread. Then, go out
there and let the new normal be revealed in you, a new appetite, new desires…not willing to
settle for the cheap stuff that never satisfies.
I close with a story
about Addi. She has just started a new
job working for a landscaping company.
She has been very diligent about her health, especially her “gut health”
after dealing with some parasites after being on cross cultural missions. I watched in amazement as she meal prepped 5
identical healthy lunches on Sunday evening.
I asked her to give me her lunch break down and here it is!
Quinoa bowl with
roasted carrots, beets, brussel sprouts, black beans, corn, grape tomatoes and
arugula with hummus or greek yogurt as a dressing, some sort of vegetable like
small bell peppers, carrots and hummus, unsalted nuts and some sort of fruit!!
like cherries, watermelon, or peaches
Well, the other
workers are noticing when they show up with their white bread sandwiches and go
for fast food runs. One guy in
particular is noticing so much so they he is actually asking Addi now to
prepare lunches for him! I believe the
same is true when we are sustained spiritually from Jesus’ presence. I believe other’s will notice the
contentment, the transcendent peace, the joy, the goodness that He fills our
lives with and it will be contagious in a really good way!
