Have you ever walked into a room and noticed the mouth watering aroma of freshly baked bread?  The smell seems to hang in the air. It is heavenly. When bread comes right out of the oven you can taste the difference. It has unique freshness about it that is not matched by the store bought bread or even the bread that was baked yesturday.  Here’s a thought. What would the bread taste like if it were fresh out of someone elses mouth? Can you picture it? Gross isn’t it? Previously chewed, mixed with saliva and God knows what else, layed out on a platter for you to enjoy. Nasty. Sometimes I feel like this is the case in our lives, in the christian culture. Rather than eating fresh bread out of the oven to choose to chew on regergitated manna. We CHOOSE this each day, when we decide to live our lives based on christian hype or theology rather than fresh bread from the Word of God. We use others ideas of spiritual experiences to satisfy the hunger in our own lives. I do this and now that I am aware of it, I kinda feel sick when I think of it. How many times have you read something in a book that really resonates in your Spirit and as a result you read it over and over. And the next day you read it again, you talk about the idea with a friend and formulate in depth prophetic words and meanings. You do with for weeks and even months until finally it begins to loose its flavour. You begin to question God, wondering why he is taking you into the wilderness, why you cannot feel his presence or his power? And if you are like me, you whine. Feverently seeking God to answer these deep questions of his existance, when all the while  you have been ignoring his Spirit and his FRESH bread which he makes available on demand. I am not saying that it is bad to talk to people about spiritual experiences or prophetic revelation, my concern comes when that is all we are doing. It is exciting and fun when God begins to move and we look ahead to the potential of what he is doing, but we neglect to follow him every step of the way. We take advantage of the outcome and miss out on the best part – THE JOURNEY! I once had a vision where God showed me a woman in labour and I was in the room along with a few other people, watching and experiencing this birth. It was hard and laboursome, I remember feeling like I believed in this baby and I was going to stick it out no matter what. In the end she had the baby, when I held the baby in my arms I heard the Lord speak to me and say that it will be a celebration for many people to see this child but for you and those who laboured with the mother, you joy with be even greater. Do you get it? Can you see the parallel in our walks with God? The joy and even greater satisfaction comes when we larbour with him and go through the journey together. It is not just all about the child or the end result, everyone will enjoy that, but there is a sacredness and an intimacy reserved for relationship that is built during the time this child is coming forth. It is about the journey. The relationships that are cultivated, between God and US. So what will you choose today? Regergitated manna or fresh bread? The choice is ours. The journey is His. The joy is guarenteed. I believe when we begin to consume fresh bread we will exude an aroma so irrisitable, that it will draw all people, regardless of background. We all need to be fed. We are all hungry. And we all know the fresh bread when we smell it!