Encouragement

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Always
by Lance K. Wilson, Sr.
John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, relates an interesting event in the sixth chapter of his gospel. Starting at the very first verse to the last verse. He begins by relating a story that every Sunday School teacher, at one time or another, has expounded upon, the feeding of the five thousand. After this miracle was performed, and the subsequent miracle that He performed in the sea, the multitudes followed him to the other side.
They claimed that they sought Him for His teaching. But Jesus knew that the real reason was because they desired the ‘natural food’ and not the spiritual teachings the Jesus would impart to them. He tells the crowd that He is, “The bread of life”, and that they must “eat” His body and “drink” His blood.
Now to the first century Jew this was an abomination. Maybe they had heard the stories of the ancient Israelites that resorted to cannibalism during the famine of old. From that time to the time that this event took place they, with reason, had an aversion to that practice, and to hear this coming from a Rabbi was a bit much to bear. What they neglected to hear was the fact that Jesus was speaking of the spiritual and not the natural. 1Corinthians 2:14 states, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” All they heard was a call for cannibalism and not the call for future communion.
It must have saddened Jesus to see the lack of faith among His people as well as His disciples. John says that after Jesus finished many walked away because their faith in what He was saying was false. Even the disciples who, just a short time earlier, were witnesses to the awesome power of God working through their master, were dumbfounded by the discourse. Here in the sixty-third verse, Jesus puts forth a dynamic principle, He says, “ the words that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT and they are life.” From Genesis to Revelation this fact is true; the Spirit of God brings life to the lifeless.
In the beginning the world was dead, God spoke and life sprang up all over it. The world was covered in cleansing waters that washed away the wicked and a dove found an olive branch the sprung up from a twice dead world. Sarah’s womb had stopped producing the eggs that are the start of human life, yet God spoke to Abraham and life flourished within her. The staff that Aaron carried was just a piece of dead wood, yet it flowered with buds. Job’s life seemed over because of the loss of his entire way of life, God resurrected his spirit and restored his family.
Maybe when Jesus spoke these words to His disciples they recalled the boy that was being carried to his burial ground and how their master simply whispered to him and he sat up and lived. So, when Jesus asked them if they were going to leave it only took a moment for Peter to answer. “To whom shall we go? Thou hast the WORDS of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:67-69)
Notice that he said “ we believe and are sure”. One can believe in a thing yet not be confident that it will accomplish what you believe it will do. It is not until that thing has proven itself that we become sure of it’s ability. Here, look around you today. How many folks do we all know that say they believe in Jesus but have no confidence that He is the ONLY way to our heavenly home? Quite a few. Having faith in God is not just belief. It is having that surety that the Father you believe in will bring the things which He spoke to pass. Even if we don’t see the results. Abraham died long before he saw the promise that God made to him come to pass.
When God speaks a thing into our lives that thing takes on a life of it’s own. His words are unchangeable, and eternal. We may not be around to see the salvation of our children, or the revival of our nation, but we know that God has promised that ours seeds would not have to beg for bread (natural or spiritual) we know that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess the Lordship of our savior. These are life giving promises. These are words that we can rest our lives upon.
Deep within each of us is the desire to commune with God. In the world we may not be able to verbalize this desire. Folk will say that ‘there is something missing ‘ and not know that, that ‘something’ is a relationship with their Creator. I sure didn’t. For years I went along unfulfilled. Even after marrying, thinking that this would fill the void that I felt deep within, I still felt empty. It was a feeling that there was nothing to look forward to after my life ended. That feeling led to depression, and then anxiety, and finally full blown panic.
Yes, I had the love of a great woman, three beautiful children, a decent job, and family that cared for me. But nothing can compare to the ‘ALWAYS’. What is that you ask? “The Always”, is that part of me that knows that I know that I know that nothing will come between myself and the love of my Father. It’s that mustard seed faith that Jesus spoke of. Just like I know that my name is Lance, I know that He is with me ALWAYS. I don’t have to feel His presence, or see Him manifest a miracle. I just know that He is there. The Always is the Holy Spirit of God Himself. It is He ( the Holy Spirit), that brings all to remembrance. It is He that gives discernment. He that reveals truth. He that brings to life dead things.
That’s why Peter was so sure of who Jesus was, and why he said what he said because the Holy Spirit put that into his heart. Unfortunately not all have Him. Some don’t because they don’t know Jesus. Others, who have Jesus , have not bothered to seek out the gift of the Holy Spirit. I’m not talking about speaking in tongues either. That is just one evidence of His awesome power. It is the unconditional love toward the most wretched of humankind that is true evidence. It is that love that overrides even faith, and hope. You can’t have faith in someone that you don’t love. You wouldn’t put your hope in someone that you don’t love either. Jesus exhibited unconditional, extreme, radical love that changed everybody that He had a relationship with. It is so powerful that even today lives are changed through that love.
It all starts with a word. YES.
Let us tell all that we can about the words of eternal life. Let us make new confessions of faith to Him that gave us the ultimate gift of love, His life. Let us allow the Spirit of God to be our guide and teacher in the days to come seeking Him ALWAYS.

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