Daily Bread Archives

May 21, 2022May 21, 2022

Walk Not By Sight

¹ And He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. ²He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. ³And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, ⁵yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” ⁶And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? ⁸I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” ~ Luke 18:1-8

It can become wearing to pray about a specific situation over and over again, year in and year out, without sewing even a sign of your prayers being answered. But the LORD promises that if we continue to be faithful, He will move on our behalf at just the right time. We have to remember that God isn’t slow to fulfill His promises as we count slowness, but He fulfills them at just the right time. So, we can be sure that if we continue to stay faithful in prayer, we will get our answer, even if it is many years later.

It’s clear in the verses above that if we are persistent, the LORD will hear our cry and answer our prayers. Even though it feels like we live in a hopeless world, this isn’t to lose faith. This is the time to press in and fight even harder for our God-given dreams and calls. This is the time to show God we are faithful in the good and in the bad because we understand that there is nothing without Him.

Always remember that God is faithful, and our job is to trust Him at all costs. Even when we don’t see Him moving, we have to have faith and believe that He is. Peace. Love. Go Forth and Walk Not By Sight.

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Let The Sins Go

²²For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” ²³And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” ~ Mark 6:22-23

King Herod had John the Baptist in prison. He wasn’t a follower nor a believer, but he knew that John was a righteous and holy man. So, King Herod refused to kill him and kept him safe, but because he wasn’t a believer and he didn’t have the Helmet of Salvation on his head to protect him, he was susceptible to the Spirit of Deceit.

Think about it. His niece danced for him, and King Herod was so amazed by this dance that he promised to give her anything she requested, even up to half of his kingdom. What dance is worth half of a man’s kingdom unless there is a spiritual aspect in this? This is how it is today.

When we don’t have our minds protected by the Helmet of Salvation, we are like sitting ducks in the middle of hunting season. We see this all over the world today. People who have the ideas of who God is are still being deceived by the ruler of this world. We are unable to see the deceiver before us when we don’t wear the Helmet of Salvation on our heads. We become like King Herod and get ourselves into the exact situation we were trying to avoid.

So, how do we avoid this? We humble ourselves before the LORD, and we build a relationship with Him by giving up the sins that were holding us back.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let The Sins Go.

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Don’t Strike The Rock

²And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’” ~ Deuteronomy 31:2

When Moses reached a certain age, he was no longer able to go in and come out. Even though Moses was constantly in the presence of God, he still fell into a spiritual slumber, unable to go in and come out. Moses became too focused on the people and lost focus of the LORD and His will for him and his people. In doing so, he allowed the quarreling of the congregation to cause him to fail to uphold the LORD as holy when he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. He allowed the confusion and rebellion of the people of Israel to stop his faith.

Even though Moses believed God and had faith in Him, because he allowed the people to get to him and he disobeyed the LORD, the LORD saw this as a lack of faith as well as Moses taking away from God’s Holiness in the sight of the people.

Today, it’s easy for us to allow the world to anger us and get under our skin, causing us to lose faith in the sight of God. Even if we have faith in our own eyes, disobedience, especially because of frustration with the world, will cause us to fall into a spiritual sleep. This will leave us unable to enter and exit the presence of God as we once did before. So, stay focused on the LORD and His plan. Don’t allow the world to distract you and take away your promises.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Strike The Rock.

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Praise the Father of Lights

¹¹Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His rules and His statutes, which I command you today, ¹²lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, ¹³and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, ¹⁴then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, ¹⁵who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, ¹⁶who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. ~ Deuteronomy 8:11-16

The people of Israel grumbled before the LORD, accused Him of evil, and even created and worshipped new gods. They even went as far as to praise these gods they had just made with their hands for saving them out of the land of Egypt from their slavery. Even though the people of Israel did all of this and more, the LORD still did everything for their good. Today we’re the same.

The LORD saves us from our sin and gives us freedom, yet we blame God for the negatives in our lives and don’t give Him the praise He deserves for the positive things in our lives. Every good and perfect gift comes down from The Father of Light. This is where we fall down, just as the Israelites did in the wilderness. We have to remember life isn’t always going to be flowing with milk and honey, but God is always working things out for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Praise the Father of Lights.

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Be Distinct

⁷Answer me quickly, O Lord! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit. ⁸Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. ~ Psalms 143:7-8

David described the LORD shining His face upon us as a distinction between those with hope and those without hope. We aren’t like the world that lives in darkness, and their prayers aren’t heard by the LORD. We may also live in the same dark world, but we are not a part of this world, nor are we alone in the darkness.

We Christians are guided, surrounded, and filled with the Light of the World. We have hope because God is with us. We have a purpose and a plan for our lives. We have hope in the LORD God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Distinct.

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Stay By The Pool

²Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. ³In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. ⁵One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” ⁷The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” ⁸Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” ⁹And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. ~ John 5:2-9

One Sabbath, there was a man who had been ill for 38 years and had given up all faith. So by the time Jesus comes by and asks if he wants to be healed, the man only responds with why he can’t be healed. He had the hope that he could be healed because he remained by the pool all of those years, but when he was faced with the question of whether he wanted to be healed, he couldn’t get passed the years he never received his healing. Doubt had taken route deep within. He had the hope but not the faith. Sometimes, this is his we are today.

When we go through trials and tribulations, it’s easy for us to become defeated and discouraged, but we can’t lose faith. Each day that goes by without our miracle can be hard, but we have to remember that God never shows up late. God always shows up at just the right time, so don’t lose faith. Continue to have the hope that you will receive what you are hoping for.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Stay By the Pool.

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Stop Pouring Gasoline

¹⁵Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. ~ Ephesians 4:15-16

In today’s world, it’s difficult to show love, especially to those who seem to only spew hatred and evil, but according to Paul, the greatest apostle who ever lived, we are correct and build each other up in love. As Christ was hanging on the cross and the people were mocking Him, He still cried out for God to forgive them because they didn’t know what they were doing. This is how we are supposed to be.

We are supposed to preach, teach, correct, and discipline in love so that we might build up the body of Christ and show the love of God to as many as we can. In doing this, we plant the seed of love within unbelievers and water the tree of love in believers. If we don’t walk in love, we are essentially trying to put out a fire by pouring gasoline on it. So, let the Holy Spirit fill you and mold you so that you might walk in love.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Stop Pouring Gasoline.

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Heal the Land

³³You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. ~ Numbers 35:33

Today, there is much bloodshed in our nation and around the world. In the days before Jesus, it was an eye for an eye and bloodshed for bloodshed, but we no longer live under this law, so how do we receive justice and cleanse the land? Paul writes that when we are saved, we are spiritually crucified with Christ, so what does that mean for us? We are to spread the love of God with as many people as possible with the hope and faith that the seeds we planted will be watered and harvested, for it’s up to us, the Church, to win souls for Christ and in doing so, heal the land.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Heal the Land.

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Be Thankful For Freedom

⁹Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” ¹⁰And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. ¹¹And the Lord said to Moses, ¹²“I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’” ~ Exodus 16:9-12

When the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they were grumbling before the LORD. They even accused Moses of bringing them into the wilderness to starve them. Keep in mind that they were just taken out of the land of Egypt where they were slaves, and they were away from the LORD their God. They are now, however, free people, and God Himself is leading them, yet they are grumbling and accusing Moses of saving them just to starve them to death.

This is how we are today. The LORD takes us out of our filth, frees us from our slavery, and we aren’t grateful. We complain about how hard life is. We accuse Him of starving us and leading us to our death when it’s only in Him that there is food for our hunger and water for our thirst. It’s easy to look at everything we don’t have and become upset and feel some type of way, but if we seek God and humble ourselves in thankfulness and gratitude, He will supply ALL our needs according to His riches in glory.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Thankful For Freedom.

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Don’t Be Silent

¹⁷But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name. ~ Acts 4:17

Whenever they tried to stunt the growth of Christianity, they tried to silence the Church. Why? Because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. How can they believe if they have never heard? So, what does the world do?

They try to stop us from discussing religion. How? They’ve hushed us up in the schools, they’ve hushed us up in the workplace, they’ve hushed us up in government, in our malls, in our stores we can’t even say Merry Christmas because it’s politically incorrect to do so.

People often say that God doesn’t need us, so why does this matter? Paul poses this question; How can they hear if no one tells them? Sounds to me like God intended for us to be His mouthpiece. Jesus did His part. It’s our turn now.

How then can we be silent? God wants the whole world to know the way to salvation, and it’s through our preaching and our teaching. There is no other plan. None. So, don’t let them silence you; you are called to preach the good news. How would you be saved right now if someone hadn’t taught you the way of holiness? It’s time for the Church to arise and stop being intimidated and shamed into being silent while our friends, our family, and our coworkers are going to an eternity of punishment.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Be Silent.

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