Last year, for a myriad of reasons, I switched my main writing focus from writing my novel to writing my blog post twice a week. For the most part, I have enjoyed writing these posts, they are nice and short and come fairly easy for me. My friends and family give me positive feedback and that makes me feel affirmed.

This week I considered switching my focus back to my novel and letting go of one of my blogging days or taking a break altogether. That same day a friend called to let me know how much my post had ministered to her.

Wow! What was God trying to tell me? I wrestled. This month’s posts have been hard to write. Even though the message came clearly, they challenged me to take the message for myself. I was having a bout of imposter syndrome. How could I, a broken person, offer words to inspire and encourage others? Until my friend showed me I could.

This morning I was still wrestling with that concept of inspiring people, when God said, “I am the inspiration.” Oh! Yeah! That’s right. I know that. What was I thinking?

I NEED GOD!

Two verses came to mind about bread, so I followed the trail.

The first one that came to mind is in two places.

Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Deuteronomy‬ ‭8‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Manna is referenced here, the bread from heaven. God was teaching the Israelites that He is their provider.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Matthew‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Here, Jesus quotes the Deuteronomy scripture. I noticed another correlation between these two—the number 40, which has been said to represent testing or trial. This supports the message of our need for God.

The second phrase that came to mind is repeated several times through John chapter 6: Jesus is the bread of life. Manna is spoken of again and its source is clarified as from Father God, not from Moses’ intervention. Jesus then reveals himself as the true bread from heaven.

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Yes, I am the bread of life! I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.

“Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.”

John‬ ‭6‬:‭32‬-‭33‬, ‭35‬, ‭48‬, ‭51‬, ‭56‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus prepares His followers for what’s coming—His death and the rite of communion, a concept that His listeners couldn’t fathom. I was hit by that last part and its connection to Jesus teaching about abiding in the vine.

This last bread crumb brings understanding to the previous scriptures and vice versa. We celebrate communion because Jesus is the bread sent from heaven.

He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.”

Luke‬ ‭22‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There is great depth in the symbolism of the bread of life. The message God has for me? I am not the source of inspiration and encouragement. God is. He sends it down from heaven like manna, but it is not part of the physical realm, it is the work of Jesus, through the Holy Spirit.

Thank you for venturing down this trail with me.

Grace & Peace,

Sandy