No better than this

Jesus spoke truth and life. He spoke the truth despite what others would think - hard truths for many. In John chapter 6 Jesus says "For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever. ... On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? ... The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe." Hear what happens next. "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him."

You see Jesus spoke hard truths, knowing it would offend some. Some learned from it, took it in, grew in their faith, and some were offended and turned away. We can gloss over the truth with others so we don't offend them or we can be bold and speak the truth, despite opposition. I think it's interesting how Jesus says that our flesh counts for nothing. Don't we rely on our flesh alot? We forget that it is the spirit within us that gives us life. We forget that as followers of Jesus we have this spirit within us. We may know it's there but don't realize that this spirit within us has power so we just live in our own flesh. And living in my own flesh - well I usually mess up when I do this. It can be hard to understand sometimes. I would encourage you to pray, to ask God to speak to you, to open up your heart to an understanding of the life that is within you in the Holy Spirit. Jesus said "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." A full life, despite our circumstances.

We will always have "circumstances" in our life. They come in many different ways but this full life that he came to give us is not based on our circumstances. Paul learned what it was to be content in all circumstances and the full life he lived he lived in the Spirit of Christ that lived in him.

Our heavenly Father - his son Jesus - and the Holy Spirit - 3 in one. Loving us, longing for us, beckoning us, healing us, and living within us. It cannot get any better than this.