Sermon Central
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"The God Who Feeds My Soul”
Contributed by Clarence Eisberg on Jul 17, 2024 (message contributor)
Summary: St. Augustine noted that every person has a God shaped hole in his or her soul. People attempt to fill that cavity with lots of things but Jesus the true bread from heaven. Deep in every human soul is a search for “Harmony” with our Creator, that was lost in the Garden of Eden.
One way that we stay connected is through worship. Worship is more than songs and prayers… as Rick Warren writes in his book the Purpose Driven Life. To worship is too: “Love God with all your heart and soul”… Worship is submission to God and imitating the behavior and words of Jesus.
Robert Capon wrote: “The Messiah was not going to save the world by miracles, Band Aid interventions; a storm calmed sea, a crowd fed there, a mother in law cured back down the road. Rather humanity would be saved by the mystery of His perfect sacrifice on a blood stained cross.
Bread in the Bible is the symbol of spiritual life. People all over the world are the same; they have an inborn hunger for something, and that something is Jesus, the true bread of life. People cannot be satisfied with anything less than Christ. Jesus said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven” (Cf. John 6:33). “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” (John 6:51).
When Jesus states: “I am the Bread of life.” He is inviting us to “absorb his teaching, His values, His very being….He is speaking total assimilation, His passion, cross and resurrection and his commands…” What does Jesus say? “If you love me you will obey my commands.” Jesus said... “Take eat this is my body”… There is nothing in any other religion that even comes close to this profound teaching. Ravi Zacharis Jesus Among Other Gods p. 91
It is the Holy Spirit that is the invisible presence of Jesus Christ in each believer. The Holy Spirit fills the hole in the human heart, for the Holy Spirit is truly the very presence of Jesus. The soul comes alive when Jesus moves in and lives in our being. When “harmony” with God exists, “harmony” with all creatures and our fellow human beings becomes reality.
This is how life works. Jesus said: “I am the vine, you are the branches”, but the vine needs the branches to bear fruit. “There is within every human heart a yearning for a connection with the Creator that nothing can satisfy. Only Jesus satisfies. He is the “bread of life.”
I encourage you to listen for the voice of Jesus speaking to your heart.
