Spiritual Sustenance -- Cathy Bryant

"Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35

As I poured the food into the bowl, my cat looked up at me with an expression that said, “You’ve got to be kidding.”

I sighed. The canned food I had been giving her lately had changed her into a finicky eater.
She sniffed at the food, then turned and walked away.

My mind immediately realized that I am guilty of doing the same thing to the One who provides for me. He lavishes blessing after blessing on me, yet I often turn up my nose and walk away. I am actually guilty of treating the gift of God with disdain, scorn, and ingratitude.

Right before Jesus told His disciples that He was the bread of life, He had been teaching on a hillside. As He saw a crowd approaching, He tested His disciples by asking them where they would get bread for the people to eat. After all the time He had spent with them, surely by now they recognized who He was.

The disciples were not only slow to understand, but incredulous. To demonstrate the point He was trying to make, Jesus miraculously turned someone’s lunch of fish and bread into a feast. So much food that there were twelve basketfuls of leftovers—one for each of the disciples.

Before Jesus ever announced that He was the bread of life, He beautifully demonstrated to His followers that He was the bread of life. Why couldn’t they see that He was sent from a heavenly Father, intent on lovingly providing for the needs of His children?

Just as God provided manna, the bread of heaven, for the children of God in the wilderness, so He provides us with Jesus, the bread of life. But the choice is ours. Do we partake on a regular basis? Do we remember to “taste and see that the Lord is good” ?

My prayer is that we would all make the time to partake of the bread of life, to experience Christ, to find sustenance in the only One who can truly fill us up. He is our daily bread.


Cathy Bryant lives in a small Texas town with one amazing husband, two spoiled cats, and a garden-full of flowers, hummingbirds and butterflies. Her desire is to turn her God-given abilities and opportunities into an offering back to Him, in order to make Him known. She is currently working on learning more about the craft of writing and is testing her writing wings. You can visit her at www.wordvessel.blogspot.com.

Not by Might or Power - Cathy Bryant

"So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty. What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’” Zechariah 4:6-7, NIV

“There’s no way!” My eyes glazed over as I stared at my list of tasks to be completed. Instead of getting shorter, it was growing larger by the minute.

Overwhelmed, I rested my weary head on my hands and began praying. I was only trying to do what I sensed God was leading me to do. How could He possibly expect me to handle all this?

My prayer started with bitter complaining and anger. It ended with confession and repentance of my bad attitude, and a request for God’s wisdom and help. The very next day God led me to the verses in Zechariah.

Zerubabbel had started out strong when he brought the first Babylonian captives back to Jerusalem. But opposition to the work of rebuilding the temple, and getting sidetracked by building his own house had delayed the work for sixteen years. It must have been disheartening to have such a monumental task before him, especially considering that the previous temple built by Solomon had been so grand.

Sometimes God gives us monumental tasks, too. We feel inadequate. The task seems impossible. It looms like a giant mountain before us and we cower in its shadow. We start off strong, only to be confronted with opposition and our own propensity to wander off the path. We get discouraged.

When those times come, we need to remember that our God will never ask us to do something for Him without also equipping us. He gives us everything we need to do the job.

Most importantly we need to realize that nothing great will ever be accomplished in our own strength and power. Only when we allow God’s Spirit to work through us can we accomplish great things for God. Those gigantic obstacles cannot stand against the power of the Lord Almighty!


Cathy Bryant lives in a small Texas town with one amazing husband, two spoiled cats, and a garden-full of flowers, hummingbirds and butterflies. Her desire is to turn her God-given abilities and opportunities into an offering back to Him, in order to make Him known. She is currently working on revisions to her first novel, These Roads Lead Home. You can visit her at www.wordvessel.blogspot.com.

Divine Opportunities -- Cathy Bryant

"Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone". ~Colossians 4:5-6
(NIV)


She and I were so different from one another. I was educated; she wasn’t. I was employed; she couldn’t work. I was healthy and whole; she was an invalid. I struggled with the decision to reach out to her. We had so little in common. Or so I thought.

The truth is that we were more alike than I could have ever imagined. Both moms of boys—the love we felt for them fierce and undying. Both women full of questions of how to best survive the daily rat race. Both children of a God who lavishes His grace on us in ways we can’t even begin to comprehend. But the biggest and best lesson was that by reaching out to bless others, I was blessed.

Everyday we are faced with innumerable opportunities to make a difference. Just as God purposely set Peter and John at the temple as a crippled man was being carried to the temple gate, He also places us at different places around the globe, where someone needs a touch from God. It’s so easy for us to view our daily lives as mundane and routine, ordinary and unimportant. But God’s truth is that He uses ordinary circumstances and ordinary people like you and me to bring about extraordinary results.

The challenge for us is that we would see each day, each encounter, as an opportunity and a divine appointment. When we are the hands and feet of Jesus, it often opens the door to becoming His mouthpiece. Who knows what impact we can make for the Kingdom by living our lives with an opportunity-seeking mindset?

My prayer is that as we go about our daily lives, God will help us to seek out the opportunities He gives us to make a difference in the lives of others.


C.J. Bryant lives in a small Texas town with one amazing husband, two spoiled cats, and a garden-full of flowers, hummingbirds and butterflies. Her desire is to turn her God-given abilities and opportunities into an offering back to Him, in order to make Him known. She is currently working on learning more about the craft of writing and is testing her writing wings.

An Unlikely Path -- Cathy Bryant

Listen to An Unlikely Path- by Cathy Bryant



When Pharoah let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. Exodus 13:17a

“I’ll follow you,” I call out through the rolled-down car window. But after a few minutes I wonder what I was thinking. In frustration I mutter: “There has to be a better way. Where is he taking me? Is he lost?”

Within a short time I have my cell phone to my ear. “Shouldn’t we have taken that last exit?”

I wish I could say that my walk with the Lord was better than that, but when I look at my “following” through discerning eyes, I am often ashamed.

I am quick to say “I’ll follow you.” But when it comes to actually following, I often question if God knows what He’s doing. I sometimes find it difficult to trust that His way is best. Sadly I sometimes even try to go my own way, thinking that it surely must be a better way to go. And in this fast-paced world we live in, I’m always looking for the shortest and quickest route possible.

The very first thing God did when Pharaoh let the children of Israel leave Egypt was to take them on a path that didn’t make sense—a path that was dangerous. He took the long way, instead of the short way. Then He had them camp in a place where they were vulnerable. They were backed up next to the Red Sea, and the Egyptian soldiers were hot on their heels! God did this to reveal His glory and power to the Israelites and to let the Egyptians know that He was God.

God hasn’t changed. He still leads his children in ways that seem to make no sense. Sometimes He intentionally places us in potentially dangerous and vulnerable positions. He does it to see if we trust Him, to show us His awesome and amazing power, and so other people can see Him at work in our lives.

If the path you’re on seems bewildering, learn to trust that God knows what He’s doing. Offer Him praise for working in your life in magnificent ways. Thank Him that He’s willing to use you to make His glory known.


Cathy Bryant lives in a small Texas town with one amazing husband, two spoiled cats, and a garden-full of flowers, hummingbirds and butterflies. Her desire is to turn her God-given abilities and opportunities into an offering back to Him, in order to make Him known. She is currently working on learning more about the craft of writing and is testing her writing wings. You can visit her at www.wordvessel.blogspot.com.