I am the bread of life. ( John 6 v 35)

 ,'Recently my wife and I were out with friends from  the church,and I asked a lady sitting beside me,'' Do you like cats?'',she replied no.But later it turned out she thought I said ''do you eat cats?,that made me  laugh.We all have things we like  and what we don't like, I would not like to eat a cat or a dog,but I do like  a lot of things,though I still have problems eating certain vegetables, but I do ,for I know that they are good for me. One food I really like is bread, soda bread,wheaten bread.bread is known as the staff of life,meaning one of the most important foods we eat.In John 6 our Lord performed a wonderful miracle,in which he fed thousands with a few loves and a few fish.When Jesus moved on,by crossing a lake to Capernaum, the crowds followed Him,it was then that our Saviour made clear the meaning behind the miracle.In the gospel of John the miracles that  our Saviour performed ,are seen as signs (6 v 14).The crowds only saw this miracle being like a local food bank, or like the miracle of the manna in the wilderness.( ( 6 v 31) Our Saviour points them to the greater truth,v 35 reads ,' Then Jesus declared whoever comes to me will never go hungry,and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'In other words He will meet the deepest need of the human heart, but not only that, those who ate the manna in the wilderness died,but when you trust Jesus you will live forever (v 51. / 11v 25)

                                                    'Jesus says, come and dine'

Our idols ( 1 Corinthians 1 v 26 -31 )

I  listened to the testimony of a famous sportsman telling how he came to know Christ, his name is Bernhard Langer, in case you don't know about him,he was one of the top golfers in the world. He comes from Germany,and was brought up in very religious family,he said he did everything to try and please God,to win his favour. Well that didn't work out until he had a real spiritual encounter with God,when he asked Jesus to be his Saviour. Writing on the wealthy and famous,Philip Yancey who had opportunities to interview,''stars'', great footballers,movie actors, music performers, best selling authors, politicians, and TV personalities. We fawn over them,poring over the minutiae of their lives...... Yet  I  must tell you that,in my limited experience, I have Paul Johnson's  principle to hold true; our ''idols'' are as miserable a group of people as I have ever met. Most have troubled or broken marriages. Nearly all are incurably dependent on psychotherapy. In a heavy irony,these larger- than-life heroes seem tormented by self doubt'.The fact is ,'fame and fortune ', does not remove our need of Christ ,as ones Saviour, in fact it highlights it.

Christ will remain. ( 1 Kings 19 v 14/18 }

When the communist took over China,all missionaries had to leave,but the good news is the church did not die.Our Lord said I will build my church, and He is doing just that ,in spite of  Christians being persecuted. I read of a certain place were some Christians took up residence,they built houses ,planted crops,and prospered,they also witnessed to the people and many came to know the Lord.But the non-Christians did not like that,as it was having an affect as regards the witch doctors powers,plus other things. So the authorities told the Christians they would have to leave.The Christian leader said this,'we will leave , but Christ will remain'.At this time I think of  dear Afghanistan where the Taliban have taken over,many Christians have had to flee as being ex-Muslims they would be put to death.So that's it? no,I  believe Christ is still there.The prophet Elijah lived at a time when the true followers of God were under attack,Elijah cried unto God,' I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty,. The Israelites have rejected your covenant,torn down your altars,and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left,and now they are trying to kill me'.But God replied,' Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel,all whose knees have not bowed to  Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him' ( 1 Kings 19 v 14 /18)

                                           'In times of the greatest degeneracy and apostasy

                                           God has always had, and will have, a faithful remnant.

                                                                Matthew Henry

Deliverance. ( Luke 4 v16 -21 )

 Lets continue on in Luke 8 and consider a case of demon possession,here in the west we are not acquainted with such things, but in v26- 39,we read a very obvious account of a man that was demon possessed.A man out of control,he was naked,lived among the dead,his life was an absolute nightmare,but help was on the way,in the person of Jesus,the one who calmed the raging storm,was going to be set him free.With Jesus there is always hope,but the story involves other things.as we will see. The man runs up to Jesus,but it is not him who speaks to Jesus, it is the demons,they don't just speak they shout,they are afraid,for though they have never seen Him ,they knew who he was,they address Him as,'Son of the most high God'. They beg Him to not torture them,for Jesus had began to command these demons to come out of the man,the damage they had done to this man was awful.Jesus speaks to them,'what is your name?',they replied Legion for they were many. They further asked not to be cast out into the Abyss,and to cast them into pigs near by,this was a Gentile area,so Jesus did that,when they entered  the pigs  they ran into the sea and drowned .When the local people heard what happened, they hurried to the scene and there they  saw an  amazing sight, the demons had been cast out and there he was sitting at Jesus feet, clothed and in His right mind.

                                          ' From home and friends the evil spirits drove him,

                                            Among the tombs he dwelt in misery,

                                            He cut himself as demon pow'rs possessed him,

                                            Then Jesus came, and set the captive free.

                                                         Words Oswald J.Smith

                                          

Miracle and Mystery.( John 20 v 28 )

 Retuning to the disciples and Jesus in the storm( Luke 8 v 22 -25,to what was a miracle ,it was an ancient King Canute the Great, who in humility showed to his subjects that he couldn't turn the tide back.He had no control over the elements,Kenneth Copeland boasted he controlled the weather,well so much for that.,of course he believes he is a god. It was a miracle performed by Jesus in spite of the disciples lack of faith, what Jesus did filled them with fear and amazement,and questions,'Who  is this? He commands even the wind and water, and they obey Him',let us consider two OT quotations Psalm 107 v29,which reads'He stilled the storm to a whisper,the waves of the sea were hushed'. Here it is speaking of God  the only one who has control of the elements, likewise in Psalm 106 v 9,we read  ,'He (God )rebuked the Red Sea.,the word rebuke is the same word in Luke 8 v 24, were we read,' Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the waters',immediately the storm ceased.So we answer the question,that the disciples asked themselves,' who is this man?'( NLT), is it not obvious?

In a storm. ( Psalm 46 )

 One day Jesus said to His disciples,'Let us go over to the other side of the Lake, (Luke 8 v 22) as fishermen that would have been no problem with that,but they did not know what lay ahead. The Bible tells us that we do not know what a day may bring forth. In Proverbs 27 v1 we read ,' Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day will bring forth'.People read their horoscopes in a vain effort to find out what a day will bring forth.Hoping it will bring happiness ,love,and storms,no they don't hope for storms,no more than the disciples hoped for a storm,a  life threatening storm. Well after all Jesus was with them surely all will be well ,wrong, Jesus can lead us into a storm,!, But we read that Jesus was asleep ,and even though the storm grew more fierce,He continued to sleep,but the disciples became more and more anxious, until it reached the panic button time.In that panic they went to Jesus,and in their panic they woke Him,with the words ,'Master, Master, we're going to drown''. Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm'. I will stress of one lesson we can learn from this event,If Jesus leads us into a storm,He will most surely bring us  through the it. Here are some words from a hymn by Mary Ann Baker.

                                                ' The wind and the wave shall obey Thy will

                                                                  '' Peace be still''

                                                 Whither the wrath of the storm tossed sea,

                                                 Or struggles or evil,whatever they be,

                                                                      ''Peace be still''

One way. ( Acts 4 v 12)

 If I raise certain issues I  could be classed as intolerant  ,offensive,and not reflecting true Christianity,  which is a religion of love.   I raise this issue as recently our king went to Scotland to confirm that he is king of Scotland.There was a service held in a Cathedral, representatives of different religions were there,Muslim's,Buddhist, Jews,and others.each were invited to pray for our king. All very nice or was it?,of course not,why not?,simple because they were been  given credibility to that which is not credibly. None of these religions represent the truth,I have listened to Christian apologists,they are those who seek to defend the Christian faith,and it is clear as to the errors of these religions   .There are many things one could challenge as regards these religions,the morality of the so called prophet Muhammad, who had sex with a nine year old girl,he also  married his adopted son's wife.Then what did he believe about Christ?,he tells us Christ did not die on the cross,the implications of are very serious. None of those religions present would accept Christianity,in fact I pray for fellow Christians who are being murdered and persecuted by these other religions. None of those religions would recognise that they need a Saviour, look at mankind ,what does mankind need ? they need a Saviour, and there is only one Saviour, Jesus.

                                                             'Jesus said ,'

                                          '' I  am the way,the truth, and the life,

                                            No one comes to the Father except

                                            through Me.''