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thoughts

In Season

a new horizon

3/20/2020

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Good Morning,

My thought for today comes from the Gospel of John 6:63-69:

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

It's in times like this when every sense of routine and daily living has been stripped away from us, when our basic need to interact with one another has been reduce to a formula, that I truly hear the weight behind Peter's cry to Jesus, when he said, "where else will we go?"

Consider for a second all that Peter was experiencing prior to his response to Jesus:
   ***crowds growing in massive amounts...
   ***Jesus in act of compassion feeds over 5000 people with a little boy's lunch, that Peter helped passed out.
   *** if that wasn't enough, Peter collected one of the baskets of leftovers.
   *** Wait - it gets even better - Peter watches Jesus walk on water!
   *** Then Peter witnesses crowds of people still hungry, getting into boats to come to the other side where Jesus was.
Peter at this point has to be feeling pretty good about his decision to follow Jesus!

Then comes verse 66: "From that point in time many of His disciples followed Him no more."

What happened???

It got personal! Jesus spoke the Words of Eternal Life!! Jesus shared the Good News! Jesus said He was the bread of Life!!
Jesus offered an invitation to eat the True Bread of Life! Jesus was revealing His true purpose which was "to come and seek and save the lost!"

Listen to Peters cry "where else can I go???" But don't stop there, listen to the rest:

"You have the Words to Eternal Life, also I have come to BELIEVE and KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE CHRIST THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD!!

FRIENDS: when all the shelves in the markets are finally filled, when all human interactions returns back to normal, when the Stock Market rebounds (praying for all of this to happen) understand this one Truth: none of that can give you the Peace and the Confidence that Peter had in the midst of everything he was trying to process. He knew that his only hope was in Christ! He knew there was no where else to go. It was this revelation that gave him the confidence to stay when everyone else was leaving!!!
Trust me in this: the peace, hope, confidence and assurance that Peter had is available to all who are willing to call on the Name of Jesus.

Believe me, for 24 years Jesus has been the anchor that has held me. I can honestly say my life has never been the same!!
My prayer for all that are reading this post is simply this "that you will allow Jesus to be the anchor that holds you!!"

THERE IS A NEW HORIZON COMING!!!

Blessings - and I pray you tune into our live stream Sunday!!!
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    Author

    ​Rev. Mark S. Benson pastors Joy Fellowship Church in Bradford, RI. He has a heart to see people come into a right and wonderful relationship with God and see their lives renewed and transformed through the power of Jesus Christ.

    He and his wife Lisa have two adult children, Scott and Jaimee and have a very special Boxer/Mix named C.J.

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Joy Fellowship Church    /    17 Bowling Lane     Bradford, RI 02808    /    (401) 465-7745
  • Welcome
    • I'm New
    • About Us
    • Visit Us
    • Contact Us
    • Our Leaders
  • Watch Online
  • Gatherings
    • Weekly Services
    • Small Groups
  • Church Ministries
    • Children's Ministries
    • Men's Ministries
    • Women's Ministries
    • Crossrunners
  • Celebrate Recovery
  • Give Online
  • Missions
  • JF Photos
    • 2020 Event Photos
    • Past Event Photos
    • Building Phase 3
    • Building Phase 2
    • Building Phase 1
  • News / Info
  • Thoughts Blog
  • Food Pantry on the Lane