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4. Bread for the Hungry

"Bread for the Hungry"
The Message of Jesus

In Luke 24:13-35, we read about a couple of followers of Christ walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus shortly after the death of Christ. So much had taken place recently in Jerusalem.

The man named Jesus who was not only a friend, but a prophet, a teacher and even thought to be the Messiah by many of his followers, had been crucified and buried. The latest rumor was that his tomb had been found empty. These two followers troubled by these events were looking for answers.

The walk to Emmaus from Jerusalem was a seven-mile walk and would have taken them a few hours to complete. Another traveler suddenly joined These sorrowful, weary travelers and asked why they were so downcast. They wondered where He could have been that He didn't know the events of the past few days.

They did not recognize Jesus although they had sat under his teaching for the past three years. They had perhaps been present when he fed the 5,000 or when he turned the water into wine at the wedding in Cana.

The Bible tells us that their hearts warmed within them as he unfolded the scriptures and helped them understand that the recent events were prophetic and had to occur for scripture to be fulfilled. They stopped for the night, and when Jesus broke the bread their eyes were opened and they recognized Him.

This story is such a parallel to our Christian journey. We can walk with God and not really know Him. We can read the scriptures and not understand what we are reading until the Holy Spirit illuminates them and opens our eyes to reveal the truth to us. We, like these fellow travelers, are captivated by his presence, and hunger and thirst to know him more.

Matthew 5:6 says "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after Righteousness for they shall be filled." In Job 22:7 we see that our calling as followers of Jesus is to give water to the weary and bread to the hungry. In fact not to share the bread of life so that others may see our Lord is considered a sin.

Not many of us are called to be evangelists like Billy Graham or Steve Hill. In fact, most of us would consider ourselves just ordinary people. But the last commandment Jesus gave as He ascended into heaven was that we should go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

How does one ordinary Christian go into all the world? Scripture says that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. As we share the bread for the hungry with those in our community, we are preaching the gospel.

A friend of mine shared a testimony of God’s faithfulness with me yesterday, and I cried with joy. The Gospel was preached as she shared how God had provided a miracle by making way for her husband to receive the best possible chemo treatment available, at no cost.

They miraculously met the drug representative of a major drug company who was able to provide this treatment through her company. The insurance company had denied their claim and said that a cheaper, less effective treatment would be provided.

Although my friends had many questions and wondered why this cancer had happened, their attitude in the face of this adversity has enabled God to be glorified.  The love of Christ has been shed abroad in the hearts of many people whose lives they have touched.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit, we carry Jesus where ever we go. If we knock on a door and take someone a free meal or hug them, the Holy Spirit is with us. We are Christ ambassadors.

Recently I have been reading accounts of the messages preached by Smith Wigglesworth. These are inspiring and stir me to want to draw closer to the Lord, to be full of the Spirit and presences of the Lord so that I carry more of Jesus with me as I go out into a world full of hurting people who are looking for answers.

As an ordinary Christian, I can go into all the world and preach the love of God to one person at a time, through one act of kindness at a time.

Don Nori, the editor of Destiny Image Publishing Company, says that we should be consumed with a passion for His presences. Dr. Michael Brown stated that “if we walk in intimacy with God, we will follow Him with Holy abandon!”

Pray that we will carry people to the Father just as Jesus did, and represent Abba Father with total devotion and abounding love. May our focus be on Jesus and not on our self.

Patricia Harris 

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