Devotion by Mike Geiger originally published August 20, 2012 on www.whataboutjesus.com
For this week’s Sermon from Cross & Crown (CLICK HERE)
John 6:41-47
At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 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’?”
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.
Are You Connected with God?
Find God within. Find God in nature. Find God through meditation. We can’t find God. Our society is filled with thoughts and ideas of how to connect with God. Inside each individual, whether they acknowledge it or not is the desire to know God. But how? God seems so distant, so elusive, so intangible that to really connect with God…is that possible?
The confusion is not recent. The words of John 6:42 indicate that individuals at Jesus’ time were confused when they saw Jesus and knew he grew up in the family of Joseph, yet he claimed to come from heaven…from God. How could a human being make this claim? Because he wasn’t just a human being. He was God. As the angel Gabriel told Jesus’ mom Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) Joseph was an earthly father figure, but Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father. This was a miracle of God becoming flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.
So how do we connect with God? We connect with Jesus Christ. We connect with his words and his teaching. As Jesus said, “It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.” This is a connection you don’t want to miss! For whoever connects with God through Jesus Christ and places his trust in him, is the person who will enjoy heaven forever.
We can enjoy God’s creation in nature. We can focus our minds through meditation. But ONLY through Jesus Christ can we truly connect with the one and only true God.
(To further discover Jesus Christ and your connection with God through him, visit www.whataboutjesus.com)
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you for coming from heaven to live, die and rise again for me. Come to me to through your Word to connect me with you, my Saving God, forever. AMEN.