“THE I AM”

Today’s Reading: John 6

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion on the right-hand side).

These are windows in the Church of the Loaves & Fishes (also known as the Church of the Multiplication), located in Tabgha on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. This is the traditional site of Jesus’ miracle of multiplying the five loaves and two fish (John 6).

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where Reynold took the photo, click HERE.

Key Verse: John 6:20

But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

The Bible has much to say about “fear.” The most familiar words are from Psalm 23. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 27 starts with these words, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?” The translator put a capital on the pronoun, “Whom.” He believed, I’m sure, that when we fear God (awe, respect and worship), we need not fear anyone or anything else. Jesus made it very clear that He is the same One who spoke from the burning bush, giving His Name as, “I Am” (Exodus 3:1-6). Over and over Jesus refers to Himself as “I Am.” In today’s reading, He says, “I am the bread” twice. He illustrated this by providing bread for the multitudes. We could read again now verses 48 to 58 in our Bibles. There is spiritual communion where spiritually, and not just physically, we make Christ Jesus the integral essence of our innermost being. We eat of Him. He is our very life. We also need to gather with other believers to participate in the Communion service. Paul teaches about the right way to eat and drink of Christ (read 1 Corinthians 11:17-34).

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Dear Lord Jesus, when I partake of the Communion emblems, the bread and the fruit of the vine, I am reminded of Your words here in John 6. I am most conscious of Your Presence with me. On the cross, You sacrificed Your body and shed Your blood for me, so that I would have everlasting life by partaking of You by faith. I pray for a fresh daily experience of Your life, death, and resurrection. Amen!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

John 6:37 is the Word I believed for my salvation as a 16 year old. Yes, I had prayed many times at my mother’s knee when she would encourage me to do so, and I had gone forward to the altar to pray for salvation. I had gone through the procedures that the church recommends, but I did not have the assurance of eternal life in Jesus until one night in the Glebe Collegiate auditorium in Ottawa, when I went forward at the invitation of an Evangelist from New York City by the name of Jack Wyrtzen. He had a radio program that I listened to, and I liked his preaching. However, it was not his preaching that night that brought assurance to my heart; it was the words of an elderly man, whose name I don’t know, who met me at the front, held his Bible open at John 6, and asked me to read verse 37 several times. I did so. Then he said, “You’ve come to Jesus, right?” I answered, “Yes.” He then looked intently at me and said, “Then, what does Jesus do?” Suddenly, for the first time in my life, I truly believed, “He does not cast me out.” I believed with all my heart at that moment that Jesus received me and that I was saved. The next day I quoted that verse over and over, and I have not doubted my salvation since. I know that when I believe and confess the Word of God, the power of God is activated in my life. This is why I’m committed to this daily blog.

Yours for the assurance that comes from believing the “Word,”

David