The Freedom Diet

The Freedom Diet
John 6
Print a PDF

Last night, a strong rain came after a prolonged drought in Columbus, Ohio! Ahhh! Lord, You rain! Rain Your nourishment on us! You are the manna from heaven! Feed us! Be our Food and Drink! We listen. We hear Your voice. We follow You. You delight to speak and lead. Give life to our ears and humility to our response.

Difficult Words
Jesus told His disciples to eat His flesh and drink His blood (John 6:51, 53-56). These were harsh words to those who did not linger to understand. “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.” (John 6:60, 66)

But those closer to Him lingered. They waited, they trusted, because they had received His words of eternal life and had come to know that He was the Holy One of God (John 6:68-69). Then, Jesus offered an explanation, “It is the Spirit Who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.” (John 6:63)

Even though Jesus gave the key to understanding these difficult words, we still must rely on the Holy Spirit to give revelation. How do we spiritually eat His flesh and drink His blood?

If we fast-forward to Jesus’ last meal (a Passover feast) with His beloved disciples, we find part of the answer. Jesus said, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19)  Jesus intended the eating and drinking of the bread and wine to be reminders of the sacrifice He was just about to make for them. Why would He want them to remember such a horrific and unjust scene as His death on that cruel Roman execution stake? After all, He was resurrected! Why concentrate on His death?

Words of Freedom
Remembering Jesus’ death reminds us of our freedom. Our ability to walk in His new, resurrected life is a result of remembering the debt He paid through His sacrificial death. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
How does this work? What does He want us to remember?

• For us to walk in freedom, it is necessary for us to remember that His love is free, because He paid our debt; His love cannot be earned. I can daily fulfill His instruction to eat His flesh and drink His blood by receiving Him as my Daily Bread, i.e., by consuming His life as the gift it is meant to be for all who believe. For an expansion on this truth please see my study The Tabernacle Hesed Moon and, also, my study tool called The Work of Rest.

• When we remember Jesus’ sacrifice as our Passover Lamb, we not only join in communion with believers all around the globe, but we join His ongoing story that began with those who celebrated the blood of the lamb at the first Passover meal. This meal was a foreshadow of God’s final sacrifice in Jesus. We feel a sense of family as we together remember the cost of our freedom and deliverance that reflects His great love for us! “For God loved the world in this way that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:16-17)

The Freedom Diet
Jesus said, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you for on Him the Father God has set His seal.” (John 6:27) When the disciples asked Him for further understanding, He said, “This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” (John 6:29)

Our work for this food is to believe. We must commit to remembering our freedom by remembering the cost given to procure and secure it.

Jesus also said, “My food is to do the will of Him Who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” (John 4:34) Jesus spoke these words after ministering to the woman at the well. He Himself was nourished by giving the woman the Living Water that set her free. Jesus’ satisfaction at that moment was far greater than the satisfaction of a large meal! We are fully satisfied when we walk in the freedom that resulted from His sacrifice and when we offer it to others.

Dear Father and Savior of my soul,
Let me daily breathe in Your gift of life and freedom. Let me eat Your life and drink in Your gift of redemption through the sacrifice of Jesus the Messiah. I want to remember what You did for me. Thank you for Your Spirit that moves me to do Your will as I rest in You!

Shale Fragments™ - devotionals by Beth Ann Phifer is a division of Flower Girl Greetings, LLC. ©2020, All Rights Reserved.
Blessings and love in Him,
Beth Ann