I Ams (1): Bread, episode 83

0:00 If you love a prodigal, you can discover help and hope for your wilderness journey right here at When You Love a Prodigal. And also help and hope for your own life journey. In a recent podcast, I told you about discovering our son's roommate after he had taken his life at their house. After that, all of us, but especially our prodigal, did a lot of grieving and a lot of soul searching. What was missing that made him think he couldn't go on? What are we missing that causes an emptiness in us?

0:44 In all the uncertainties of life, especially when you love a prodigal, we're seeking something or someone solid and dependable as your foundation. And we have all of that in Jesus, whose name is I Am. Over the next few weeks, we will discover seven ways that Jesus is all we need. The seven I Ams he called himself. So right now, what is your greatest need? Health? Maybe just something to eat?

1:24 Freedom? Oh, peace. Peace is always a big one. Closure on something that just keeps going forever. Some people in your life and certainly your loved one to turn and or return. Our God answers those desires, those needs in our lives. In Exodus 3, Moses, in response to God sending him back to the Israelite people and to Pharaoh, which he didn't want to do, he says, OK, OK, I'll go. But who shall I say has sent me?

2:07 And God says, Tell them that I Am sent you. What? I Am? What an amazing name. Now, the English language grammarian in me, I love grammar, sees that as the great present tense. God says he is I Am. He's not I was or I will be. He's now. He's always here. No beginning, no ending, always now. And that's what Jesus is saying. It's kind of hard for us to comprehend, but God is implying not only that he is ever present, but also he is everything that we need.

2:58 John in his gospel reveals how Jesus brings understanding and application of this I Am concept to us. In the book of John, we discover these seven statements of Jesus that tell us specific ways he is present with us, meets our every needs, fulfills our deepest desires. So over these next few episodes, we will briefly consider what each of the I Ams of Jesus meant in Jesus' time and what he provides for us and what he offers our loved prodigals. The purpose is to prepare our hearts to come to God with our own needs and to help us understand the needs of those we pray for.

3:47 This will also equip us to do battle with the enemy of our souls. Again, he's the enemy of our loved ones and he's the enemy of ourselves. And these I Ams will help us be equipped to withstand his attacks, to be part of God's search and rescue efforts on their behalf, on our prodigal's behalf. As we begin each week, ask God to speak to you, to reveal how he is the one we're looking at, the I Am we look at each week, who will provide for every need you have.

4:29 We're going to begin with, I am the bread of life. So what food have you been yearning for more than ever in these stressful days? Now for me, because I'm on a temporary restricted diet and I'm not eating anything with gluten, yeah, well, probably cookies, cake, pie, anything like that. Maybe you like chocolate, coffee, ice cream, or you like a big hearty breakfast, or you just want a good hamburger, a hot bowl of soup in the places where it's finally getting cold. Not here in Florida.

5:10 Or maybe it's bread. I like bread. In many parts of the world, bread is the primary staple. And even if you have little else, you will have bread to eat. In John 6, we read the story of Jesus multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish into an abundance that fed 5,000 men and also all the women and children who were with them. And guess what? There were 12 baskets of leftovers. One for each of the disciples to be reminded of what Jesus could do.

5:54 Next day, the people thronged around him, and he said to them, You're looking for me not because you saw the miracle, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. You don't work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. And then he said the strangest thing. He says, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. What does that mean? First of all, the bread that he's talking about is for those who love a prodigal.

6:36 We're hungry. We're hungry for something that satisfies, that gives us hope, that strengthens us, that provides what we need. Hunger is a real thing in much of the world. People are starving all over the world right now, and they're hungry. But for us, it may not be physical hunger. It may be this heart hunger. Jesus, though, is talking primarily about a spiritual hunger. He created us with desire and a need for purpose and meaning, for deep relationships.

7:16 And he offers a relationship with himself and abundant and eternal life. He knows about our desire for purpose in life, for love and acceptance, for being valued, for people to love and be loved by. He understands all of those needs. And he tells us if we will receive and eat the bread of life, we will begin to find those things. We will discover many more things that we receive from Jesus as we study the other I Ams. But to recognize what he says, I am the bread of life, and I'm offering it to you for whatever the need of your life.

8:00 I will satisfy the hunger, the desire that's there. But he's also bread for our prodigals. Our loved wanderers are hungry, too. Some of them are literally hungry for food. Their choices have left them destitute. But most of them are spiritually hungry for what Jesus can give them, even though they don't or won't recognize it. Perhaps they have had a real relationship with the Savior, but have turned from him. Or many may think that they do belong to Christ, they're just not very interested, and they've never really repented and received the forgiveness that he has purchased for them.

8:48 And some have never even considered Jesus. They've rejected him. Most of them, I believe this is true, have some kind of pain or loss or trauma in their lives that causes them to seek to satisfy their deep hunger with the things of the world. How do we help them begin to look for bread in the right places? First, we let them see us, letting Jesus be the one who fills us and satisfies them. We'll have conversations with them about it, but we can't preach or pressure them.

9:32 Rather, we need to live it out. And so it's not so much telling them this is what they need, but letting them see Jesus meet our needs. And we can talk about what he's done for us without saying, and you should do it too, because then they will decide for themselves and it will make all the difference. We also learn to let Christ guide us so we reflect him in our words, in our tone of voice, in our actions. Sometimes I've had to stop and think in this situation, in this conversation, what would Jesus say or do? And let him live through me.

10:17 You might want to read The Voice of Grace from my book. We'll put a link to it in the show notes for you. And of course, we pray. We can ask God to reveal to our loved ones the emptiness, the danger of the food they are choosing. No, it's not real food, but it's what they think will satisfy them. But it's empty and even many times dangerous that he would be instead wooing them back to himself, to us who love them, to protect them from the world, the flesh and the devil.

10:59 I can't tell you how many times when I have seen someone I care about, either my own or someone else, that I find myself warped. Protect them from the world, the flesh and the devil. And that kind of covers most of the things that entice and draw them away. But also to open their eyes and hearts and minds to the wholesome, satisfying bread of life that he offers. Reminds me of bread without gluten. When you're used to bread that has gluten, it's hearty and it tastes great and it satisfies.

11:39 But when you are first trying to eat without gluten, you go, OK, this doesn't work at all. And you just feel it's totally unsatisfying. And that's what can happen for them when they've chosen something besides the bread of life in Jesus. It's not going to satisfy, but as they see us living full lives, deeply satisfied because of our relationship with him, there's a chance if we haven't pushed it hard on them and pushed them away, therefore, they'll say, yeah, I think I do want that.

12:19 And they will come back. The wholesome, satisfying bread of life that Jesus offers. So what are you hungry for and your prodigal? How might the bread of life, Jesus himself, satisfy that hunger for you? Meet the needs that you have, fill the emptiness, take care of a hurt. That's what Jesus came to do. So here's my prayer that I'm going to be praying every week, something like this. Father, thank you for sending your son to be our bread of life, to give us a relationship with you, eternal life, and the meaning and purpose for which you created us.

13:11 May I and my prodigal choose you more each day. I'd love to hear from you. You can write to me. I'll send you a place on their show notes to do that, and you can comment. That would be a real blessing to me. Thank you.