{"id":291,"date":"2008-08-25T06:00:15","date_gmt":"2008-08-25T13:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/devonline.us\/dailyevotional\/archives\/291"},"modified":"2008-09-24T13:26:24","modified_gmt":"2008-09-24T20:26:24","slug":"whats-in-it-for-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/whats-in-it-for-me\/","title":{"rendered":"“WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?!”"},"content":{"rendered":"

John 6:32-35<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Jesus said to them, \u2018I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father who 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.\u2019 \u2018Sir,\u2019 they said, \u2018from now on give us this bread.\u2019 Then Jesus declared, \u2018I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty.\u2019”<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Have you ever wondered about the short sighted crowd of over 5,000, who had been fed on a small boy\u2019s lunch and then wanted more? They followed Jesus across Galilee, not to worship Him, but to get free bread on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

Before we become too critical of these seekers of a free lunch—what about our own selfish attitudes? Is it just possible that we serve the Lord for what it will benefit us?<\/p>\n

Let me get up close and personal. Have you ever felt that you were deserving of God\u2019s gifts and blessings because you were a good and faithful servant?<\/p>\n

I recall hearing about a precious servant of God who travelled the globe to help and encourage missionaries. With a sad heart he discovered that there were many sincere hearts who were there, not because God had called them, but because they thought if they did something noble for the Lord they would be blessed.<\/p>\n

Often we hear appeals to give, serve or go in order to receive physical and financial blessings. My study of the book of Job reveals that this most righteous man in all the earth lost it all: Sheep, oxen, camels, donkeys, servants and the greatest loss of all—his ten children.<\/p>\n

How would you respond to that blast from the furnace of adversity? Here is how Job responded in 1:2; \u201cNaked I came from my mother\u2019s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. May the name of the LORD be praised.\u201d<\/font> There, my dear friend is a true hero of the faith!<\/p>\n

Joseph experienced horrible treatment, even though he was innocent before the Lord. Why did he have to endure year after year in an Egyptian prison, even though he was innocent? God was going to use him to be the salvation of his family and that God\u2019s people would be birthed.<\/p>\n

Did Joseph see all of the results? Not really. He was reunited with his family, but it would be over 400 years before God\u2019s people would come out as a people of God\u2019s choosing.<\/p>\n

Whatever we do, we must not think that God is obligated to fill our bank account or place us in a mansion (That is coming later) because we are faithful and obedient. His blessings are so far above the mere \u201cstuff\u2019 of this world that it is a waste of time to seek after things that will pass away.<\/p>\n

I remember a sign that marked the entrance into Northwest Nazarene College many years ago. There was a Scripture verse above the sign that still burns into my mind. Matthew 6:33; \u201cSeek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.\u201d<\/font> I want to seek after His kingdom and His righteousness, then let Him give me what He wants me to have.<\/p>\n

Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing to others!<\/p>\n

— Pastor Cecil<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John 6:32-35 “Jesus said to them, \u2018I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father who 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.\u2019 \u2018Sir,\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-john"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}