Eat the bread of life and live forever

John 6:48-51, I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh. Let’s be encouraged today by what Jesus says about Himself in these verses. First, He is the Bread of Life. Second, He came down so that the one who eats of Him will not die. Third, the one who eats of Jesus, the Living Bread, will live forever. The bread which Jesus gives is His flesh. How can we be encouraged to live to love with Jesus from these verses? Jesus is the life of the world, and the one who has Jesus has the life (1 John 5:12). To eat the bread of life, is to abide in Jesus. It is to receive who He is, embracing His purpose of glorifying God by loving with His Father, doing His will. As we abide in Jesus, He loves through us. We will be doing this forever! Just reading those words that the one who eats of the bread of life will “not die… He will live forever,” produces such hope, joy, and love for the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. His love poured out in our hearts becomes the fountain from which all love flows. To use the metaphor used in these verses, it’s like we are the baskets that have the extra bread to be shared with the world. Doesn’t that encourage you to live for the purpose of sharing the bread of life with others? Doesn’t His love move you to express His love to others? I hope so. Let’s also notice the extent to which Jesus went in order to give us the bread of life. He gave His body to be broken so we might have eternal life. God’s love is the sustained direction of the will toward the highest good of another, no matter what the cost, in the power of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of God. That’s the kind of love and the extent to which we must also go to love in His name and to love with Him. We should not be surprised if He asks us to lay down our lives, expend all our energy, suffer great hardship, persecution, and rejection. That’s how we will know to a greater depth the love of Jesus for us. We’ll know first hand, to a small degree, what Jesus meant when He said the bread which He gives is His flesh. We may expect God to give us the grace we need to live to love with Jesus. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.