Presence or Provision

Now, let's talk about a little irony really quick here. Um, somehow someway I uh the longest winded talking guy in the place got stuck on the longest chapter in the book of John. It's a test. Yeah, I think it's a test. I think it's a test. And then, ironically, I have this whole thing put together, which we're going to somewhat follow. And then this morning, I wake up and God's like, "Just slow down, bud." I was like, "Oh, okay. I'll just slow down because let me tell you something about John. I don't know how many of you have taken the deep dive into our friend, the beloved John, but there's something about the man that laid his head on the bosom of Jesus and uh the way he speaks and who he speaks of and how he speaks of him.

If you read the other gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, um all profound, all pointing to our Lord, but they draw pictures. So, it's almost like you get to watch like we're sitting here watching Matthew draw these pictures for us of who Jesus is and what he's doing with the people. And we see the same in Mark and in Luke. But man, when you get to John, it's like John comes down and he grabs you by your hands and then he walks you up and he just kind of brings you this sweet hug and he starts whispering this whole story in your ear. And you you not only see the pictures, but you get experienced because John has taken us into a journey into the inner divinity of who Jesus is.

Even as he's witnessing the man Jesus walk on earth, he's fully aware of who this is. And you know it in his writing. So obviously we've gone through um the first several chapters of John. But what I want to do is I want to just take you kind of through what I would call like a long arc of chapter six. Okay? Because there's a you remember a few talks ago, maybe two talks ago, I kept using the word hyperlink, right? Because something about the Bible is I I start reading and all of a sudden the more of it I read the more places one place leads me into other it's like portals into the back pages of the word and and underneath the words and into the heart of our God.

Right? So hyperlink only means this. It means that we can go to another place from this sentence or this paragraph or this story in the Bible. It's like it's hyperl to somewhere else. And I think someone said that there's about 67,000 divinely orchestrated hyperlinks or cross references across the word of God, which is crazy when you think about how this book was put together. that it was inspired by God, written by men across these centuries that they didn't know each other, 1500 plus years of organization, humans not encountering other humans, that somehow are writing the story that just seamlessly comes together and tells both a cosmic story and a historical true real life history of the people just like you and me that walked the land.

2,000 3,000 almost 4,000 years ago leading up to this moment actually ultimately to the moment of Christ stepping into time but to this moment if you really think about it kind of crazy you follow everything back. Okay, so in chapter six of John there's this arc story that's being told here and we're going to go through it. I'm going to I'm going to read through uh there's kind of an acronym so like stick this. I was trying to think, all right, Lord, what's a good acronym here we could? And it's stop. Collaborate and listen. It's stop. Okay. S T O P. Because in this chapter six alone, we're going to we're going to read about a large crowd that comes seeking. And then we're going to read about them taking. And

then we're going to read about them being offended. And then we're going to read about them parting ways with the one that so deeply desires them to not part ways. Okay. So, just kind of keep that in mind. That's not in here. That showed up this morning. I got so many notes. I just I don't do good with this kind of stuff. We're going to see how this goes with notes. Um yeah, I'm not going to do good with that. Okay. So, here's the deal. I got coffee mouth. Marilyn, you drink whatever you want. Don't even let me stop you because even if you stop to drink, I just keep talking. So it kind of defeats the purpose. Come on. Not intentionally. So what I want to do, I want to set the stage here.

Now the first thing I want to do is uh I want to and the Bible has what we call bookends. And they're like little mystery mysterious start points and a whole story and then an end point like these bookends. And there's so many of them. And honestly, not a lot of them are what I would call close to the surface of your pondering mind. They require like the little spirit toggle, I call it, where my mind might want to read. And as I read, I'm talking to the Lord. I'm like, God, show me what's in here because it is, as Hebrews 4:12 us, alive and active and quick and powerful. It's, as I'm reading it, it's reading me back, right? Because it's the spirit of God, the word of God.

It is God Almighty in written form meant to take the Holy Spirit who's in us and change us, change us. Right? So this next slide here is two verses because you know me, chapter six, it's like I'm in a box. I'm not real comfortable with that. So the first thing I want to do is take us to a whole different book. Not even, in fact, not even on the New Testament side of things. Let's just go all the way back to the Old Testament. I want to show you how chapter 6 of John fits in a couple bookends, okay? So Psalms 38:8 says, "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." So this is the entrance exam, so to speak, of a relationship with the Lord.

What must you first do? Not a dang thing that you can do. What you must first do is the father who is desiring to draw you to his son introduce him to you with a taste of the goodness of an almighty god that the world is desperate to steal that opportunity from us with noise and things and glitzy glamorous stuff. Right? But the the starting point is taste and see that the Lord is good and then look at the end point. Let's imagine and we're going to see this in John six. the start point. I'm seeking you, gonna get a taste of you. But the ultimate end point we're looking for is this. Now listen to these words. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart, it may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Okay. So now back to the New Testament. Let that sit on your heart as we go through a story. I'm going to read you the first 15 verses here of John. We're going to set the stage.

After this, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberius. And a large crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews was at hand. Hyperlink. Lifting up his eyes then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming towards him, Jesus said to Philillip, "Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?" He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, 200 dinari worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people sit down?" Now there was much grass in that place. So the men sat down about about 5,000 in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost." So they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the prophet who has come into the world."

So when we started this, there was a slide there because I'm terrible with this stuff, but the slide is what are you hungry for? Right? So the real question here in the concept of stop the story we're about to see is what are you really looking for? Okay, from a broad perspective, like I I really want you to think about that in your relationship with Jesus. You can do that in about 45 - because right now I just want you to hear what I'm saying and then I really want you to think about these things when you're when you're in pursuit either at the

beginning of a relationship with Almighty God or deep in the middle of it. I want you to find yourself where you're at in these six different seasons we're going to go through here. So I'm going to I've got them labeled. The first season that we're studying right here that we just read is what are you hungry for? So the crowd that we just read about, now this is a neat thing about how God has inspired this word is if you look at the gospels, not always do we get the whole picture in one gospel. Did you know that? Because there's four writings from four individuals watching a scene from four different mindsets, perspectives, and recording. Right?

I think the total picture here though is that God wants us to explore him. This isn't an easy adventure. This adventure that is a walk with Christ, right? It has deep concepts that can't be understood by our minds that require a strength in spirit that needs to grow up from a little baby that gets to wander a little bit and go hike on its own as a youngster that gets to grow up into the wise perfected man of God or woman of God that we all become. But we can all get stuck along the way.

It's why perhaps you might put a 10,000 people in a stadium with one person preaching from a wise position and a relationship with God. It doesn't mean that they're not wise. It just means the vast majority are in a certain part of that walk that God hasn't necessarily put in a place of visibility, wise in the ways of God to teach and preach. I'm still a kid. I know this in a lot of ways, but I also recognize that there's a that God wants me to stand up here and talk about this stuff. So, how cool is that, right? So, I want I know where I'm at in this walk. The goal is that we all know where we're at in this walk. So, look at what's happening.

So, the first um what are you hungry for? I actually need to pull this up because I wrote something here. The question here that's needing to be asked is we have this these folks, the crowd, it says 5,000 people ultimately we're going to see, right? that they came and uh the other gospels explained to us that that's the men that they've counted. So I so grow your vision here a little bit. Um they've they've counted the men, the women and children aren't included, but just you know the scholars seem to say there could be anywhere from 10 to 20,000 people. Okay? So regardless of the number, we see this massive amount of human beings that have followed a reputation that precedes Jesus.

Right? So, they have come because they've either seen or they've heard about this reputation of a guy that is doing signs and miracles, things that def defy the natural law that we're all used to, supernatural things. And we are, aren't we all somewhat drawn to things that we don't understand that our mind can't quite comprehend? Is it hasn't it been the tell's oldest time? this uh we want an encounter that takes us out of this mundane got to be more than what this life is right so these people they are hearing about a guy and at that point in time they've had they've had this Torah they've been studying the law of Moses right and in the law of Moses back in Deuteronomy 18 um a lot of them as we've seen at the last part of that reading are like this must be the prophet so just a quick hyperlink back Moses Moes back in his day.

So they're reading in the the scripture that they have available to them, which is a lot less than we have now, where Moses said, "The Lord your God will send another prophet and when he comes, he's going to be the one that you're going to listen to." They're aware of this. So they see a guy now. They've been waiting just like us. We're all waiting for the Lord to come. Just like the past 2,000 plus years of people that come before us are doing the same thing. In fact, before the Bible ends that we as we know it, it's conversation about is he coming back started almost the moment he was ascended into heaven, right? The conversation. So in John 6, we're seeing here at the start of this, what are you hungry for? So these people came seeking the signs and the miracles, right?

So just a quick little metaphor. It's terrible one, but it's also a great one, but I'm going to use it. But I want you to see what what our what our God does. And it's not that this is why it's bad. You'll see who has a furry friend like as in a puppy or a dog. Okay. Not Yeah. Not as in like a new age furry friend. U if you've experienced the love of a dog, a puppy that in this growing up phase with a puppy, you are distributing uh you're training the dog. Okay. But your goal when you give it a treat and you say come right, what are you doing with the treat? Why are you holding the treat? Because initially the puppy doesn't know you. But what your real goal is is to get the puppy to come to you so you can do what?

o you can pet him, right? And then what happens after a while? You no longer need what? The treat. Now because why? What does the puppy experience from you? Love. So now the puppy in fact from that never leaves you. Even when you're like that's enough the puppy is there,

right? Okay. So, a terrible metaphor in the sense that we're we're not his puppies, we're his children. Okay? But the concept is like, wow, it was just too good a metaphor to pass up because this is what Jesus is doing. This is what we're seeing demonstrated is he's Jesus is doing two things. One, he's drawing the crowd. Two, he's do the treats. They didn't know they were going to get fed. They knew that the treats to them were something that were beyond the thoughts and concepts of their mind. Miracles. So the miracles are the treats that only God can do, right? Killing a couple birds with one stone. I'm God doing miracles. I know you, my little friends, are going to be really drawn to the miracles and the supernatural things that your minds can't comprehend.

So now here I am. So then they show up. Now what is what happens in those verses we just read? There's not enough room on this podium. Well, what happens is the other gospels put it together. So, I'm filling in some things that we didn't read there. The people get hungry in their physical sense and and the disciples and Jesus is aware that they're hungry in the physical sense. So, a loving God, Jesus goes, "Let's feed him." And everyone in the physical sense thinking with a carnal mind is like, "What?" And we see this conversation where the carnal mind goes, "Wow, this much money in our day and age," which by the way is equivalent about eight months, right?

They're saying, "Eight months worth of income, like is barely going to buy crumbs for all of these thousands of people." And and so Jesus sees the mind look at the situation and circumstances and he's trying to say, "Yeah, but look at who's in front of you." Right? So this is this whole thing keeps going throughout this story. So he feeds the multitudes with a miracle. So they've come for miracles. He feeds them with a miracle. And then we start rolling into the chapter, right? So the stage is set. I've drawn a crowd. Come get check out this treat, this miracle, the thing that is beyond this world. And now while you're here, I want to I want to talk to you about some things, but we're just going to feed you now.

So these people are getting fed words from the word himself, and they're getting fed physically to keep them there. So let's take a look as we go uh next slides. What are you hungry for? The the second step here is it actually should say what are you following Jesus for? Okay, presence or provision. So So think about our lives, okay? Because we're we're going to see this as we read. Just keep that in mind as we read. Now, I got I just put a couple verses in my slides and this morning I'm like, "We're actually actually going to go through it here." So, I'm going to read through some of the nuts and bolts of what's exactly happening. Here's the here's the story streamlined, okay?

But you can read it. I encourage you open John chapter 6 when you get home and spend time in it. Like, what do you you can't just come here and have someone tell you and then we go about life. like the the very story we're talking about is the reason you can't do that because if you do that, you're only here for provision of some sort. Whether it's, oh, I've got my little drawer open and someone else fed it. I can I go back into life, right? That's provision of a sort. Uh, but presence is a whole different thing. And we're going to read. So, look what happens here. So, the evening comes now. Jesus has told um he's noticed something is going on here.

Okay? And it starts right here. Verse 15 says, "Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself." So he's just fed him, but he's noticing something's happening. And what's happening is they're realizing that this gentleman because of our expectations of who he would be, the prophet that sent, look at what he just did. He provided provision. and if he's going to be the king that's going to meet our expectations. And Jesus is like, "Oh, no. I I'm actually the king that wants you to come share my life. I'm not here to meet your expectations." And so, he withdraws into a mountain.

Now, look at this parallel. So, here's what's happened. Jesus is now chilling on the hill because he's not going to be taken captured by our expectations. And he's watching. He sent his disciples to get in a boat and cruise across the Sea of Galilee, which by the way, I didn't know this, it's just a freshwater lake. It's 13 miles by 8 miles, right? Like that kind of changes the picture. It's kind of cool. So, these disciples are given a good row. They get about uh the translation, the ESV translation says three to four miles, 25 to 30 furlongs um that they've rode. And it says that a wind comes, right? this this uh the waves start getting big and mighty and fear sets in.

So as this is happening, as the story goes, when you combine all the gospels, Jesus notices, oh, there's a storm of brewing. He comes down, walks on water, and he and I there's so many hyperlinks in here I'm going to stay out of. But he um he basically comes he gets in their boat and the moment he's in their boat the way it reads is they show up then on the other side of the lake where they're meant to be in Capernaum which is intriguing right because Jesus is in this word is juositioning this seeking me for provision or seeking

my presence well the presence of Jesus got in the boat and the moment he got in the boat fear stopped water stopped and almost instantaneously they're exactly to the place they were meant to be all along. Right? Some ironyies in there, right? We don't have time to go too deep on it. So, we're going to keep stretching this out. So, what happens is the next day, the next morning, all the crowd on the other side of the sea who just got their billy bellies filled, they wake up and now they're smart, right? Look at the intellect kick in. They're like, "Wait a minute. Where is he? Where's the one that can like what's on what's on the menu today?" like you know like I'm ready for my hot cup of java and a bagel blueberry with some cream like what you know you can only imagine what our minds do because our minds do the same thing right so they're like where is he now hang on let's talk about this guys because look this is them talking on the shore there was one boat and we seen the disciples get in and go but Jesus didn't and he ain't he didn't make a walk like they're like oh he's back at base camp because capernaum is kind of where Jesus is like we talked earlier kind of his base camp he's doing some work in that area.

So, they're like, "Oh, let's go." They pile in the boats and they rest race after the master breakfast chef. Okay? And now look what happens on ch in verse 25 of John 6. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" And and this is how we know what we're talking about right now is true. Because Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you. You are seeking me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves." So Jesus is, you know, what does he look upon? He looks upon the heart. He's fully aware that they are coming for provision and not his presence. And I don't know, I'm reading the story and I'm just like, man, his heart's breaking.

Has to be breaking all through this. I mean, especially when we take the totality of John, even in all the gospels, but specifically, what have we talked about the last couple weeks? Everywhere Jesus goes, he's saying, "I'm your new life. The one that sustains all that you could ever want or desire. I'm the one that's gonna rewire your mind to understand that this little vapor of a life is not what you think it is and that there's so much more and all of those answers rest in me. Come, I'm about to give you an opportunity to have a shared life in mine. But you keep wanting me to come to your table and pick from your desires and the things that you want.

And I'm trying to say to you, you don't get it. You don't get it. Look in four and five. Chapter four and five. So he goes to the woman at the well. She's like all about the physical water. And so what does Jesus have to do? Peel back layers. He's like, I need to show you the truth about you. You keep coming to this well. You're wanting water. But the truth is, you're seeking something you can't find in others. I'm the thing you seek. You just don't know it. I'm the water for your soul. That's really what all of us are seeking. No matter how we label that or what season of our life we're in, how we're walking up, let's be real, I'm crucified with Christ and there's a dead man now that is gone and a new identity that walks.

But there's a whole spectrum of that like a snake slithering out of its dead skin. It's not just a new life and it's gone. It can be, but Jesus is aware. It's not that way for everyone, right? And he gets to chapter five and he visits the pool of Bethesda and the the uh 38 years nonwalking guy that's been crippled. And even there he's like, "Do you want to be made whole?" And what does the guy say to him? I ain't got nobody to pick me up, put me in the water. And Jesus is like, I am the water. How does he say it? Get up. Get up and go.

So, so this we see now we're in chapter six. Now look, you can see it all happening, right? So now you didn't come to me because of the signs you came to get your bellies full, right? It's like, so we go to the Grand Canyon. There's a big old sign, right? So let's say you get there and you set up your chair and you make your picnic and you just stare at the sign. Look, right? Like now so imagine the the frustration of I have to assume Jesus has some frustration because he is fully human. Let's not forget. Okay. So he has to be like uh see the little arrow on the sign. It points to this whole grand amazing minddefying, intellecting life of beauty and fantastic, mesmerizing majesty.

Like, but you want the Yeah. You want the 2D version? Like that's like what? It's like when someone asked me what's true story when I was a kid, they said, "You want to come to the New Year's Eve party?" And I said, "Yeah, when is it?" That would be like Jesus would be looking at me going this is this really is gonna be a miracle right? So so here we are now. Okay next slide. So this is important the sign right everything that Jesus is doing as we're seeing here going through this the the provision this is the here right he wants you to feel his love so he's bringing you something to get you there the problem is we're going to

start seeing how crazy we are how blind we are but the delusion this world is and what we live in because we're we're missing the point that the provision that God provides is meant to point to the provider and I keep thinking of the the scripture that says when uh paraphrasing the reign of God pours down on both the wicked and the righteous. Okay. So what's the difference? It's the perspective of the one down here receiving. See when the rain comes down on someone that's embodied in the nature of the divine sharing in Christ the nature of God. When the rain comes when the green light on the stoplight lasts this long to get you through it, all the glory goes to God and should be in everything.

I get it. It's not everything. It should be. And that's just part of the walk. The more that you quit asking, "Where are you God?" The more you go, there you are. There you are. You'll see him in everything. Right? And the dime that you find when you're 10 cents short. This is the point. So that's the difference. The rain coming down on the wicked and the righteous is the heart posture of the receiver knowing where it's coming from. These guys over here getting blessed by almighty God himself intimately involved in his creation. They're going, "Look at me rocking this thing out." So, so the glory stops going to God. And the glory is the the energy that comes from that glory that somehow supplies the heavenly realm.

like this. This is the the loop of joy, the sharing in the joy of the Lord. It ends because Satan gets it over here because it stays in this realm. It stays in pride. It stays in the sense of self, right? So, so all these points are coming to fruition here. So, next slide. Provision point of the provider. We're going to skip to a couple verses here. So, in verse 32, so you see Jesus kind of giving a little gentle lecture of why you're really here to these folks. They say um actually let's go to 31. He says our fathers ate the mana in the wilderness as it is written he gave them bread from heaven to eat. So setting the stage look where they're hyperl for us.

We're back to Moses. Okay. So these folks, this grand audience that came seeking is aware that in their scripture, this prophet that's coming, they have this expectation because of, you know, spiritual things that they're not seeing in the word that they have. So they're coming back and saying, "Hey yo, you're just like Moses. You're a prophet." And what Moses was doing was every single day he was providing this bread, this mana, this mysterious thing. But for we see Jesus over here provided bread, right? So a physical sustenance. So in their minds, they're sitting here going, "That's who you are. You're a prophet just like Moses meant to sustain our daily needs because you just did.

You just gave us bread." So the expectation of who they have of the Messiah in front of them is factually blocked, right? Because of the story that they read without understanding. And so so here's Jesus. His goal here is to get them to understand one step deeper. Right? Okay. So, he's got them there. They're seeking. They're confused as to who he is even as he's doing miracles. Right? But watch this. He says, "You want to drink Marilyn?" Lord, heal the hole in my lip. So, look what's happening. Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you," now this is him. He's about to say, "No, no, no, you're missing it. It was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven.

For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Hello. I mean, here they are and here he is. And he's telling them, "Here I am." Okay. Hello. When's the New Year's Eve party? It's arrived. It's here. I'm the new life. He goes on to say, they said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always done." Right? Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life." So now he's getting specific. This is what he does with us. You want clarity? Ask him for clarity. Lord, I'm stubborn. I'm stupid. Uh I get lost in this world and I know you know these things. Please don't let me set my expectations before you and somehow get lost in my own life when you want me to come into yours.

Okay? I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. It's the same story. The woman at the well. I am it. I'm the thing your soul longs for. Listen, even as a born again believer in Jesus with a new life, you got to remember this. We lose track of this because remember, you're in the world, you're not of it, but the world wants you to be of it. And there's a constant battle of this movement into the life of you in Christ to just sneak you over here into the part of you you don't want to be in because all it does is it just it it dilutes the salt of the earth that you are so that you might slow decay now but you ain't bringing flavor.

You're not bringing desire for thirst. I'm just saying this is what he's talking about. He wants to draw us into his life. He says, "All that the father gives me will come to me. Whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. I am the eternal life that you don't even know you want. But I'm here to

tell you, you need because you're stuck in something called death. I'm going to free you from it. I'm all that you could ever desire. I just need you to come with me. Okay? So, look what happens in verse 41. Okay, now look, this is the we're we're going to the O and the stop sign here. This offense is coming. So the Jews grumbled about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They said, "Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph whose father and mother we know?" Okay, look at this. So, we're what we're reading here is a it's a paradox of sorts because as I get close to Jesus, I could get further and further away from him. There's a digression happening.

And the digression is here comes a crowd that sees miracles. They've already heard about his reputation. Now, they just eat of a miracle from Jesus. And now they've called him a prophet like Moses. Like, that's an elevated status even if it's missing it by this much. And now look what's happening. They're digressing. Now they're like, "Wait a minute. Aren't you just that dude that was born to Joseph and Mary? Like the carpenter guy. You see that? This is the long arc." Okay? It's a long arc that's that can happen and take shape in our own stories. So you got to be aware of it. It's why we have these conversations, right? Next slide. So, will you stay?

When the offense starts coming, are you going to hang around? I think I put some good notes on this one. So, when the offense comes, are you going to start making Jesus smaller than he is? When your pride gets pricricked, when your bank account doesn't get filled enough? You know, it's funny to me because I think a concept a lot of us don't get. So, let's address it right now. There's a lot of I have a t-shirt I just got. I should have wore it today. It says, "I can do all things through a verse taken out of context." Okay. So, well, it's it's important for today, I think, because we read verses like this one. This is John 15:7. If you abide in me and my word abides in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.

It's a two-part equation. What's the first part? him in him. Then what happens after that? Wide open. Ask whatever you wish. It'll be done for you. Okay, look at this one in uh 1 John 5 14. And this is the confidence that we have toward him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. One more for good measure. Psalm 37 verse4. Delight yourself in the Lord. What will he do? He'll give you the desires of your heart. What comes first? He ain't no ATM machine even when he is. He's just trying to get you to come to his hand so that you guys can lock hands so he can take you turn you around from this world and into a journey of who he is so you can partake in his life.

Okay. So, will you stay when the offense comes? You got to get look wherever you're at in this. You're somewhere in this story. I promise you, you just got to be honest with yourself and then invite Jesus into that place where you're vulnerable. You got to go do as Paul says, you got to examine your faith daily because I guarantee you none of us are where we're supposed to be. Um there's no condemnation in that. You're exactly where you're supposed to be today. Hearing about the fact that you're not where you're supposed to be. like this is a paradox of God and how he works with us and it's all a sweet great adventure that should excite you.

Um, but he wants to rewire some things in our minds so that we can start getting off of the provision and start walking into the life because guess what? Once we're walking in the life and my will is aligned with God, I can ask for anything. You know why? because nothing I'm going to ask for is gonna have anything to do with me. And there's a beauty and a joy in all of a sudden God give me a million dollars and then he does so I can give it all away. That's the thing. Lord, I need a new car and then he does so I can take the old one and give it to someone that needs it or maybe give the new one away and just keep driving the old one. He'll tell us, right?

Because as we walk in the life with him, what do we what do we learn? the sound of his voice and how it how that voice interacts with our very being in the layers and depths of who we are. Okay. Uh next slide. When many of his disciples heard it. Okay. Now watch. This is the ending of the offense the beginning the of the P and stop. Huh? This is a hard saying who can listen to it because what has just happened must have skipped that. Let me tell you what he just happened. Jesus has just said to them, you need to eat my flesh and you need to drink my blood. Okay. Now remember at the start of this chapter what was taking place. We read it in like verse two or three said the Passover was taking place.

So there's a hyperlink to a whole story that's happening in the Old Testament. The Exodus and Moses, the Passover, right? which was what? It was me in a house covered by the blood at the doorway, the entrance way into where I am, the blood. And I have partaken in a perfect lamb. I've eaten. Okay. And so he's set this stage as he's on a mountain in a remote area like the wilderness. The fast or the Passover feast is happening in the start of John 6. And now at the end of John six, he's saying, "I am that lamb that you read about. I'm the blood that protected

you that you read about back there in the days of your prophet that you're now comparing me to. So, I'm not him. I'm me. Jesus Christ, the eternal son of God, God Almighty in time, here to save your silly butts. Here to blow your mind with miracles so you draw near to me so that I can bring you into me. So you can now be surrounded by me and me in the middle of you. So we can just get this dilusion and delusion out of the way to make unity, right, of spiritual heavenly things and the fleshly physical things that we are. So he's going to renew our mind and reshape our souls. That's what he's doing. He's in you. Christ in you. And where am I? I'm in him.

Do you see? It's like a jawbreaker candy. The core is Christ in me going from the inside out of transformation. And yet the the no fear is that I'm in him. The sovereign hand of God leads our lives and protects us from the craziness that he's sorting out all around us. Right? So he doesn't want us just sitting here eating. Thank you for this help. Protect me here. Uh heal this. Provide this. Give this. Thanks so much. I'm gonna chase him down across the lake tomorrow to get it again. He's like, "No, I need you. I need you to come into me and share in my life so that I can put you into a new frame of mind and give you new vision so you can see what's really happening here so I can use you to do what?

Bring the kingdom of heaven into earth. There's a whole another story there, but I got 10 -. So watch listen to this. So, now that we know what he's just said, listen, you might you need to you need to eat my flesh and drink my blood. I actually love this. I Some people are like, "Huh?" But you got to see it. You want some water? I'm dehydrated. Here's what's happening. So, in today's world, what is what's happening here? He's purposely saying something. Mind you, he's in the flesh right now. So, it's like me. I'm looking at you saying, "You need to eat my f." So, they got the the carnal mind is like like we read about this cannibalism and things, right?

So, but but look what he says in verse 63. It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh is no help at all. So, get that in your mind. Your desires outside of him, the blessings that you want outside of abiding and outside of his will ain't no good. You think they are, but they're just like the bread these folks ate yesterday. It was good for one day. What are they already doing? They're chasing them down to get a fill for today. What did the mana do in the Old Testament? If you didn't pluck it out of the ground and pick it that morning, it rotted. So listen to what Jesus says. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. He's saying this ain't literal.

Like I'm I'm speaking to a different place that's past your mind. I need you to I need your little soul ears to prick up. I'm saying to you, I'm everything and I'll be your everything and I'll even provide for you and I'll do beautiful things on a daily basis for you. What we're not reading here is Jesus trying to condemn you if you're in a season of of provision desire. But the goal is to move you out of that into a not even just a relationship, a shared life. Do you understand the difference? But it's a progression. And God has great mercy for us as we move through it. But I'm telling you, there's something happening around the world. It's why I came into this whole new life because he did it.

I had no I wasn't seeking God, but I know what he's doing. He's trying to get us into his life so we can start being productive for as a you're a citizen of heaven. It's just like in the Roman days when you look where the Romans would take and they'd have an outpost and they put citizens in a place outside of where they are, outside of their city into an outpost. But they had all the rights to now do things over here as a Roman citizen. It's the story of us. We're here as a citizen of heaven, but we need to quit just eating our meals, sleeping, waking up, because there are decrees from our holy God that only come in spiritual mail that we need to be able to open and read.

And we can't do it when we're one leg in and one leg out. That's what we're talking about in this whole long arc of the story. After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. This is the P. This is the P and stop. This is the moment that they hit a wall where all of a sudden they made a choice. Joshua talked about this in the valley of Sheckchham. Mount Garazim, Mount Bal, the blessing or curse. Choose you this day whom you will serve. It's every moment you got to be choosing. What direction are you going to go? It should be so serious to you. So serious. Every day it has to be serious in a fantastic, grand, adventure, joyous, blessed, peaceful way.

That's the paradox of God. You won't know until you move into it. That's just how it is. But the minute you move into it, you know, minute your center of gravity changes and you find yourself in a whole new orbit and the things of old, I say that song all the time. I just love it so much. As soon as you're over here in the presence of God, sharing in the life of Christ, the things of earth will certainly grow strangely dim. And it will just be easier and easier and easier. And then he sends you on missions, adventures, spiritual hiking trails, with a pickaxe, mining, Proverbs 2. Seek her like silver, search for her like hidden treasure. Who's her? Wisdom. The wisdom

of who? God. Not your brain. But the but the renewal of Christ will take the good parts of your intellect. I promise. It's not like it's all trash, but he's going to renew it. So it's focused on heavenly things. You can now see and hear things from God. So he can now do things through you. Like do you want that? Do you really want to do that? Then you just got to die. It's easy. You just need to die. Yeah. The things that are your comfort just need to, you know, you Hey, Lord, show me. People don't even say that. Lord, show me. This is what I I follow a trail at times. The money in my account. Lord, I need to go past my inquisitive mind. I need to follow the root of my comfort in that checking account.

I need to go all the way down where it attaches to my soul, Lord. And we need to explore it right there. If it comes out, do I have pain and hurt right there? If I do, that means my comfort's moved into it and out of you. So now, the real hard part here where most people hit the P and stop. This is what's happening here. You got to consume me. Eat my flesh. Drink my blood. It's meant to offend you. The examination of these things is meant to offend you because your flesh is of no good. It's other than to get you from A to B. This body, but the flesh is not this. It's the desires that lay just under the surface of this that make my physical tingle that give me comfort. We examine those at the root and we invite Jesus in.