I’ve been posting about how similar our modern attitudes are to the crowd in John Chapter 6. They seem to have their eyes on the temporary, while Christ is trying to point them to the eternal.
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty…And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 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 him up at the last day.”
John 6:35-40
Notice that Jesus repeats Himself here. Two times He said to them, “I will raise them up at the last day.” It’s a very simple statement. It’s so simple, in fact, that most Christians miss it as well.
He told them that if they come to Him and put their trust in Him, He’ll give them eternal life and He’ll raise them up at the last day. The key is that you must have this eternal life in you BEFORE you enter the grave. If you have this eternal life in you, then death will not be able to keep you any more than it could hold on to the Lord.
He said it twice yet they didn’t hear him. Look at their reaction.
At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
John 6:41
It went right over their heads. They missed it. The Lord said you can have eternal life and that He’d raise you up at the last day. All they heard was that He thinks He’s bread that has come down from heaven. “What does He mean He’s bread coming down from heaven?”
They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6:42-44
Jesus is desperately trying to get it into their head that He wasn’t emphasizing bread coming down from heaven. He was trying to get them to embrace eternal life. Over and over again He said, “I’ll raise him up at the last day.” They just didn’t get it.
I think, that just like us, they didn’t want to get it. They could tell that what Jesus was talking about meant change. They would have to change their views and attitudes about God. The Lord would no longer be that big “candy machine in the sky,” but a friend with whom you must spend time cultivating a relationship.
Question: How do you deepen your relationship with Christ?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: attitudes, bread of heaven, bread of life, candy machine in the sky, Christ, eternal, eternal life, friend, friend of God, God, Jesus, raise him up, relationship, temporary, the last day
I’ve been posting about the discussion Jesus had with the crowd in John chapter 6. Having told them that He understood their motives; Jesus goes on to explain further.
“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
John 6:27
The Lord is about to tell them that He’s the Bread of Life and He has the Words of truth. He goes on to explain that if they’ll come to Him in faith, they’ll never lack for life. The point is that you can’t spend all your time and energy chasing the things of this world. There’s a more important issue at stake here.
Too many believers spend their prayer time with the Lord running through their lists of needs and wants. While there is a place for petitioning the Lord in prayer, that should not be the major part. Prayer is where we get to know Christ in relationship. It’s give and take.
Yes, it is talking, but it’s also listening. If we’re going to be prepared for the last days, then we must get past this mentality that chases God around simply for what we think we can get from Him.
The crowd made their motives very plain to Jesus. Even in their answer, they show Him that His assessment of their true character was correct.
“Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.”
John 6:34
Their thoughts are, “You’ve got the bread from heaven. Give us this bread.” Again, they’re thinking in a material way. If His earthly bread was good, the heavenly must be even better tasting!
It reminds me of the woman at the well. Jesus said that He could give her living water so that she would never thirst again. Her reply was, “Great, then I won’t have to come to this well every day to draw water.”
Why are we all so foolish? Jesus longs to give us eternal, abundant life, yet we are content to simply ask Him for things. I know that in His Word He’s promised to take care of our needs. The problem is that we seem to major on the physical.
My true needs are so much deeper than that. He wants to satisfy the longing of our souls, but this will require that we spend time in His presence. We fail to enter the abundance that He has for us because we’d rather have the “quick fix” of more money or more stuff so that we can then get on with our plans. The better solution would be for us to bow our knee to the Lord and take up His plan for our lives.
Question: Why do the temporary issues of life seem so important sometimes?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: abundant life, bread of life, Christ, eternal, faith, Jesus, listening, needs, petition, prayer, relationship, temporary, temporary versus eternal, the Lord, things, things of this world, wants, word of truth
There were times in His ministry that Christ taught some things that the crowd didn’t like, mostly because they didn’t understand it. As a result, a lot of people left Him, even some of His disciples. These are some of the Lord’s most important teachings.
I want to take a few posts to look at one such section. Here’s some background to help you understand what’s happening in this passage of Scripture. Jesus had just miraculously fed 5000 people.
They were all on a hillside listening to Jesus and hadn’t eaten all day. The disciples found someone with five loaves of bread and two fish. They took this meager provision to the Lord. Jesus then broke the fish and bread and fed the whole crowd with what started out as just a little bit.
He then sent the disciples out on a boat to cross the lake and meet Him on the other side. As they were in the middle of the crossing a huge storm came up and the disciples feared for their very lives. In the midst of the storm, Jesus comes to them walking on the water and gets them safely to the other side.
Now, on the far end of the lake, the crowd catches up to the Lord on foot. They were surprised at how fast He got there. Of course, He went straight across. He didn’t have to go the long way around!
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”
John 6:25-26
Here we see Jesus going right to the heart of the matter. “Why do you care where I go and how I get there? The reason you’re following Me is for what you can get materially. You only want a free lunch.”
The trouble with the crowd was that they didn’t want to hear and obey His teaching. Instead, they liked the spread He put on. They weren’t following Him because He had the words of eternal life.
It’s a sad truth, even in Christian circles today. If you throw a church dinner everybody comes. If, on the other hand, you call for a week of special fasting and prayer you get a lot fewer people involved. It’s easy to see that the desires of the flesh haven’t changed in 2000 years.
Question: Why does it seem so hard to deepen our spiritual walk?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: Christ, church dinners, eternal life, fasting and prayer, hear and obey, Jesus, lazy, Lord, material blessings, teaching, the word
I’ve been talking about excellence for a few posts. I want to finish up this topic by showing that everything God has for us in His kingdom is excellent.
The Greek word usually translated excellent in the New Testament is hyperballo. Hyperballo, literally means, to throw beyond. The word picture being used is of an Olympic sport such as throwing the javelin.
Everyone else has thrown it to a certain, average point. You, however, get up and throw it beyond all the others. That’s a picture of the concept of excellence. When you throw beyond the normal or what’s expected, then you’ve entered the realm of the excellent.
Here are some examples of how the word hyperballo is used of the Lord in the New Testament:
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Ephesians 1:18-19a
The word that was translated incomparably great is hyperballo. Many people have a measure of strength, but God desires to work His power in us. This is a power that goes beyond the normal, the average or the expected. His power working in us is excellent.
In order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:7
Not only does He desire to show us His excellent power, but He also wants to work His excellent grace in us. Most of us know that the grace of God is His unmerited favor. The favor of the Lord goes beyond what’s deserved or expected.
And to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:19
He also wants to show us His love that throws beyond knowledge. This love is greater than anything we have ever experienced before in our lives. His love goes further than we could ever ask, think, or imagine.
If you have ever received teaching on the book of Hebrews, you have probably heard that the theme of the book is “Better.” How much better the ministry of Christ is than any other! It incorporates a better sacrifice, a better priesthood, and better promises.
Why would anyone settle for mediocrity? Knowing who the Lord is should spur us on to excellence. His excellent power, excellent grace, and excellent love are the treasures that He is ready to bestow upon us. We only need to be willing to walk the high road of excellence.
Question: How have you experienced the excellence of God’s kingdom?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: average, better, beyond, excellence, expected, God, God's excellent kingdom, God's grace, God's love, God's strength, hyperballo, javelin, kingdom, kingdom of God, mediocrity, normal, Olympics, throw beyond
I believe that the word excellent is overused in our society. In my last post I talked about what excellence is. It doesn’t just mean good, or even great. It means that what’s described is far ahead of all the others. It’s not a word that should be used lightly.
It’s a descriptive word that should probably be reserved for God, and the things associated with Him. We serve a God of excellence. I just want to take a post and show the excellent God that we serve.
The very names that God uses about Himself point to the fact of His excellency. Here are some examples from the Old Testament:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalm 91:1
In this verse God is called the Most High. This is a term of comparison. There are many things in the universe that could be considered “high.” But of all the high things and people that exist, God is the Most High. This fits perfectly into the definition of excellence.
Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
Psalm 148:13
Exalted and above are also words of comparison. They relate the Lord to His surroundings. They show that He alone is in a position of supreme excellence. There is no other god that can even compare to our God.
My lover is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand.
Song of Songs 5:10
In the Song of Songs, written by Solomon, an allegory of the marriage between Christ and His church is put forward. Christ is referred to here as outstanding among ten thousand. This is an obvious comparison showing the excellence of Christ.
In the beginning God…
Genesis 1:1
Before everything, there was God. All of creation sprang from His Word. He’s at the head of all He created. That’s a perfect description of excellence.
When we use the word excellent, we should be careful to understand it. We mustn’t water it down to simply describe something that pleases us. We should always be aware that we serve a God who is the very definition of excellence.
Christ truly is the Excellent One.
Question: How would you describe the Excellency of our Lord?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: above, Christ, Christ and his church, creation, exalted, excellence, fairest of ten thousand, God of excellence, Jesus, most high, names, our excellent God, outstanding, overused
Finally, brothers…if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
Excellence. It’s a word we hear all the time in the church. Everyone talks about wanting an excellent ministry. Sad to say, most of it is just talk. We need to strive for excellence.
What is a spirit of excellence? I’ve found that many Christians have no clue. If you can’t define it, then you have no basis upon which to judge yourself.
To excel is defined as to do or be better than; to surpass; to show superiority; to surpass others. Some synonyms of this word are to surpass, exceed, transcend, and outdo. These verbs mean to be or to go beyond a limit or standard.
It should be very obvious by now that this word excel is a word of comparison. You only use it when you’re relating to the norm, the average, or the expected.
Excellence, therefore, means that you’re going beyond what’s expected or what others are doing. We tend to get caught up in what people do or how they do it. Excellence is more than that.
It’s something you are. You’re either ahead of the pack or you’re not. There’s no partly excellent, halfway excellent or almost excellent. You’re either living in the realm of the excellent or you’re not.
A word with a similar root is accelerate. To accelerate means that you’re in a state of continually increasing speed. Your speed now is higher than that of a moment ago.
When purchasing a new car, one of the considerations is how well it accelerates. Acceleration is important when passing another car on the highway. In the same way, on the highway of life, if you intend to surpass the normal or that which is expected, then you need the power of excellence operating in your life and ministry.
We know how a great car should act. When we pull out into another lane to pass the car in front of us, we expect an immediate response when we step on the “accelerator.” If the car hesitates, if the engine sputters and coughs, then we know there’s a problem that needs to be addressed.
In the same way, if the Lord speaks to your heart to do something above and beyond what you’re doing now, or what’s expected for your type of ministry, He expects immediate agreement to His Word.
Hesitation in ministry is a sign that we lack excellence. When God instructs you to “pull out and pass” the normal or the expected, He’s looking for obedience. Responses such as “We’ve never done it that way before,” “No one else does it like that,” or “I can’t possibly handle that” are indications that you must move on to new levels of excellence.
That’s why He’s given us His Holy Spirit. He’ll work with us, bringing us to new heights in Christ, but only if we’re willing to submit to His leadership. You must desire this walk of excellence.
Question: Do you desire a walk of excellence with Christ?
Tags: above and beyond, accelerate, average, Christ, definition of excellence, excellence, expected, hesitation, Holy Spirit, Jesus, ministry, ministry of excellence, normal, power of excellence, spirit of excellence, surpass, walk of excellence
We live in a society where we have all but given up on understanding. In many schools we’re taught how we need to think. Don’t ask why, just agree.
We now have a generation of people who voice opinions, but don’t know why they have them. The media is constantly telling us what we need to wear, listen to, and watch. After all, “This is what everybody thinks.”
Scripture gives us a different perspective.
Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.
Proverbs 4:7
As believers, we are told to seek wisdom and understanding. We don’t just blindly follow the crowd. There is a reason we are on the earth and it’s our job to find out why.
God has a plan for everyone’s life. We’re not just random. Life has meaning. The problem is that most people are afraid to find out the meaning of life. They would rather just “go with the flow.”
The issue is that wisdom and understanding will cost you something. They bring responsibility with them and that’s what we’re really afraid of.
If we don’t understand, then we are not responsible for what we do. That’s the key. Understanding and the resulting responsibility requires self-control.
That’s the reason that many people choose atheism. If there is a God, then I’m responsible to live under that understanding. My actions will have to be controlled.
But there’s even more to it than that.
Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
2 Timothy 2:7
Paul literally tells Timothy to apply your mind to understand. Understanding takes initiative – it doesn’t just fall out of the sky.
The good news is that if we take this first step, then the Lord will give you the next level of understanding. The word insight that Paul uses is the Greek word suneisis. It means to put together.
The fact is that understanding puts truth together. We have to do this with many truths if we are to live a fulfilled life.
For instance – there is a God, He will judge the world, and I will live forever someplace. These are all truths that are important all by themselves. But when I put them together by wisdom and understanding they take on a whole new level of importance. Now my choices are more limited than when I thought there were no consequences.
That’s why understanding is the foundation of coming to Christ. We have to put together our need and His provision. Then I have to bring my actions – and faith – into line with my understanding.
Question: Do you actively seek wisdom and understanding from the Lord?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: atheism, atheist, choosing to understand, Christ, coming to Christ, following the crowd, God's plan, Jesus, meaning of life, media, opinions, purpose, put together, responsibility, self-control, thinking, truth, understanding, wisdom
Yesterday was Resurrection Sunday. If you’re like most Christians, you went to church to celebrate this world-changing event. I hope you had a great time of praise and worship to our God.
My question is this: What happens the next day? How does the reality of the resurrection of Christ affect the rest of your walk with Him?
Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
John 21:2-3
This is a very interesting event in the lives of the disciples. What arrests my attention, is that this happened after the events of the first day of the week.
They decided to go fishing after Mary came running to them with the news that she had seen the risen Lord. It was also after Jesus came to them in their apartment. It was after Thomas was told to touch the wounds in Jesus’ hands, feet, and side.
I would understand it if they had not yet know about the resurrection. But at this point they were well acquainted with the risen Lord. Why did they go back to the same old routine? Especially since fishing is what they did before they had even met Jesus.
Where are we today? Are we stuck in the same old stuff we’ve always been doing? It’s funny just how like the disciples we seem to be.
It was in this setting that the disciples had another encounter with the risen Lord. This time He broke into their everyday world and turned it upside down. They realized that they couldn’t even go fishing without the help of the Lord.
This is the moment when Jesus told Peter, “Feed My sheep.”
Everything changed. There was no going back. Because of the resurrection, the very course of their lives was changed.
What about us? Yesterday, we celebrated the Risen Lord. How does it affect us today? How can we live a “normal” life knowing what Christ has accomplished?
Allow the truth of the resurrection to fill your thoughts. Don’t just consign it to one Sunday a year. Let it set you on a new course. A course that will turn the world upside down.
Question: How does the resurrection of Christ affect what you do today?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: affect, Christ, day after the resurrection, disciples, effect, everything changed, fishing, Jesus, new course, next day, no going back, normal, reality, resurrection, resurrection of Christ, risen Lord, turn the world upside down
I’ve been posting about the power of God at work in us. How far are you willing to go to walk in the power of the Spirit? Experience tells me that we would rather talk a good game and make excuses, than to put forth the effort to see the real thing.
“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
John 15:7-8
This is the last verse I looked at in my previous post. It deals specifically with the power available to those who remain in Christ. It says that they can ask what they wish and it will be done.
Think about the trust God places in that kind of believer. I personally wouldn’t give that kind of power to most Christians that I know. It would be dangerous.
The fact is that in this fifteenth chapter of John, the Lord referred to us remaining in Him 8 times in 4 verses. I think He’s trying to make a point. It’s required that we remain in Him if we want Him to manifest His power in us.
I asked a question four posts ago – in the first of this series (Power and Authority – The Difference). I asked which form of power – AC or DC – was better?
You probably answered the question as most people do. They say that they prefer DC batteries because they can go where they want. They can take their device with them when they leave the house. When you have to plug it in the wall, you’re confined to stay at home to use it.
This is the big problem in the body of Christ today. We want to be able to leave the house. If your goal is to go in and out of the house, then batteries are better.
If you intend on doing that in the spirit – living for Christ sometimes and living for self at other times, then the power of the law is better than no power at all. Christians of this generation have a real problem with remaining in the spiritual “house.”
There are two forms of power. The greater of these requires you to remain in Christ. Our goal seems to be to live with one foot in the world, and one with Christ. You can’t do that and use the power of the Spirit to any great extent.
We need to take an honest, hard look at our walk with God to see where we fit into this picture. We must then be willing to make the changes necessary to remain in Christ.
Question: What will it cost you to remain in Christ? Are you willing to pay the price?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: body of Christ, Christ, Jesus, one foot in the world, plugged in, power, power of God, power of the spirit, remain in Christ, spiritual power, spiritual walk, the law, this generation, trust
In my last post I talked about the differences between the power of the law and the power of the Holy Spirit.
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13
There’s another big difference between the law and the Spirit. When you walk by the Spirit, you are totally dependant upon the Spirit. The law, on the other hand, allows you to be self-sufficient. All through Scripture we see this truth. If we are to minister for Him, then we must work in His strength. There is no other way to operate in the Spirit of God
The law gives you the appearance of self-sufficiency. That is, until the batteries die. That’s why it’s so hard to reach people in legalistic churches. They know what they’ve done to keep the law – to live right. They know the effort they’ve put forward.
“I’m okay because I’ve served God faithfully for forty long years.”
That brings us to the final difference that I want to cover. It’s actually the same as the last one, but from a little different perspective. To understand this we could look at the whole of the Gospel of John, chapter 15. Instead, I’ll only look at a few verses that emphasize the point I’m trying to make.
“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
John 15:7-8
REMAIN IN CHRIST! That’s the crux of the whole matter. In order to be entrusted with the power of God, we must remain in the Spirit of Christ. This is what trips most of us up. We don’t want to remain.
The law is a little more lenient, it allows you to be transient. What’s transient? Now there’s a word you don’t hear very often, but it describes the situation exactly. Let me explain it to you.
My parents used to have a summer home in the state of Maine. It was in a trailer park in the woods. We used to have a lot of fun going up there each year.
My parents spent most of the summer and fall there. They knew all of their neighbors and had a wonderful time living there. While my family and I visited, we heard about another section of the park, with a different sort of people. That was the “transient section.”
The transient section of the park was reserved for those who would come for only a week and then leave to go somewhere else. They didn’t remain there permanently, as my parents did. Instead, they wanted to come and go as they saw fit. This seems to be a problem of epidemic proportions in the body of Christ today.
We don’t want to remain in the Spirit. We want the freedom do what we want and have the blessing of God on our lives.
According to Christ, it is as we remain in Him that we enter the place of power.
Question: Why does remaining in Christ sound so difficult to this generation?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: blessing of God, Christ, dependant, dependant on God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, law, legalistic, power, power of God, power of the spirit, remain in Christ, self-sufficient, transient Christian
I’ve been posting about how similar our modern attitudes are to the crowd in John Chapter 6. They seem to have their eyes on the temporary, while Christ is trying to point them to the eternal.
The Spirit and the Word 