Do You Have All That You Need?

What do we need in this life? There are many things people may list including: food, water, money, health, protection/ security, etc. Many spend a lifetime seeking to gain those things for themselves, thinking that they must be the ones to provide it. Many argue about the source of those things, all the while Jesus is saying, “I AM all that you need.”

I AM the Bread of Life

John 6:35 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”

Jesus is our sustenance. This does not mean that we should never buy or eat regular food, but that He provides what we need. He satisfies our spiritual hunger and thirst, and provides for our physical needs as well. One of His names is “The Lord Our Provider” (Jehovah Jireh Gen 22:14). Jesus told Satan that man should not live on bread alone but on every Word of God. Jesus is the Word. We need God and we need the Bible to truly live. We need to trust Him to provide for us.

I AM the Light

John 8:12 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

Without God, all is dark. He created light (Gen 1:3) and is the source of all light. We cannot have light without Him, physical or spiritual. We need physical light to live, but we also need spiritual light. Without it we will fall into sin, never able to get out. Only He can light the way, only He can guide us, only He can give us victory over the darkness.

I AM the Door

John 10:7,9 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep…I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”

In those days, shepherds put all of the sheep into a “fold” for the night to protect them from predators and thieves. We are a lot like sheep, we need a fold, a place to be safe. This Door provides security and safety. It is the way we enter the family of God, and eventually heaven. He is the door to salvation. Only true shepherds (pastors, teachers, etc.) can enter through Him, all others are thieves and robbers.

I AM the Good Shepherd

John 10:11 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

All sheep need a shepherd. Anyone who has watched sheep knows that they follow the leader. They’re not that bright and need guidance; otherwise they may fall over a cliff or get stuck in a bog. We need a Shepherd to guide us, to lead us to green pastures and quiet waters. We need a Shepherd to protect us from harm and dangerous paths. We need His protection.

I AM the Resurrection and the Life

John 11:25 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,”

Jesus said this to Martha after her brother died. She had questioned why Jesus hadn’t come earlier to prevent his death. Jesus reassured her that physical death was not what mattered because He was the resurrection. Everyone dies physically, but if they have a saving faith in Jesus, they will rise again to eternal life. He is the source of true life, abundant life, the only life worth living, on earth and after. Death has no power over us if we have Jesus.

I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life

John 14:6 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Jesus had just told the disciples that He would be leaving them, that He must be crucified. Distressed by this He comforted them by saying that He was going to prepare a place for them, but they didn’t think they knew the way. He is the way. He is the only way to heaven. He is the truth about life and God. He is life. If we follow Him diligently and seek Him and His ways, He will lead us in the best life we could have on earth, and He will lead us to heaven. We cannot be saved without Him, but with Him we have everything!

I AM the True Vine

John 15:1 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.”

Jesus is the vine. They were in wine country. There were grapes everywhere. It was part of their culture. One thing about grapes is that there is a main vine from which all the branches stem. Without that main vine, the branches die. But some branches don’t produce at all. Those branches are thrown away. Jesus is our vine, He is our connection to God, our life source. We have to be connected to Him in order to have life. He is our sustenance. God helps us grow, pruning us and training us so that we produce good fruit and live vibrant lives.

Jesus is all we need. Everything He taught pointed to the fact that the spiritual is infinitely more important than the physical, but if we trust Him with the spiritual He will take care of the physical. The key to all of this, of having everything is abiding in Him.

John 15:4-5 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Abiding means living in Him, drawing our source of life from Him, diligently seeking Him. We need to seek Him with everything, meditating on Him constantly, immersing ourselves in Him so that we are saturated. That is how we have everything we need. We only need Christ, but we need to seek only Christ. If we look anywhere else for what we need we will not get it. We need Christ and only Christ.

Do you have everything you need? Where are you looking to find it?