Category: Daily Bread

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Destroy Your Midianite

¹⁷ Attack the Midianites and destroy them, ¹⁸ because they assaulted you with deceit and tricked you into worshiping Baal of Peor, and because of Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, who was killed at the time of the plague because of what happened at Peor. ~ Numbers 25:17-18^NLT

When we fall into temptation, it’s difficult to get back up, and usually, it’s because we don’t want to change our surroundings or those who surround us. The people of Israel fell into temptation because of the Midianites, and the only way for them to be able to move forward was to destroy the Midianites who led them astray. Today it’s no different. Today we still have Midianites leading us astray and causing us to worship false gods. They use our ever-changing culture as an excuse to draw us in. They indoctrinate us with lies that cause us to be unable to see ourselves growing sick and spiritually dying like them.

The only way we can truly overcome our sin is to remove the Midianite from our midst. I’m not saying you go out and destroy your tempter or temptation. I’m saying to destroy the friendship or relationship that is constantly dragging you to sin. You can’t hold on to the past as you try to step into the future, or you’ll only fall. You have to purge yourself of the sin around you so that you can move forward into the joy of the LORD.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Destroy Your Midianite.

Unyoke From Baal of Peor

¹ While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. ²These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. ⁴And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” ⁵And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.” ~ Numbers 25:1-5

The people of Israel fell into temptation because of the Moabite women. They forgot the God whom they served because of the culture around them that caught their eye. This led to the death of everyone who fell into this temptation, and it’s no different today.

The culture around us is filled with exotic forbidden fruit that tempts us into spiritual death so that we don’t even notice that our culture no longer has a place for God. We fall into such a deep sleep after indulging in the forbidden fruit that we don’t even realize that our culture is filled with worshiping and sacrificing to other gods. In fact, we don’t even realize that we’ve joined in and bowed down to these false gods.

When we live in a physical world, it’s easy to forget that every physical action has a spiritual effect. What we do in our physical lives affects our spiritual lives, whether we think it’s a big deal or not. The only way to know if you’ve fallen prey to the gods of this world is to seek the God of the entire universe. Search through Scripture, ask God to wake up your sleeping spirit, and pray for discernment and guidance.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Unyoke From Baal of Peor.

Invest In Your Talents

¹²Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. ~ Revelation 22:12

Jesus warns us at least three times in Revelation chapter 22 alone that He is coming back very soon. He doesn’t want His return to sneak up on us. He doesn’t want us to be unaware of the signs of His coming. Nor Does He want it to “sneak up on us” like Christmas does.

You know, like how we watch the calendar tick down every year, and then two weeks before Christmas, we exclaim, “Wow! Christmas just snuck up on me.” No, Christmas didn’t just sneak up on you. You watched it crawl up. Well, these days, it runs up.

Jesus does not want us to be like that. He wants us to be ready. He wants us to use the gifts that we were given. The talents, the resources, the minas that He has blessed each and every one of us with.

God has blessed you so that you may be a blessing to others. If you aren’t being a blessing, you’re not investing your mina. So, use what the LORD has given you to further His kingdom and reach as many people as possible before His return. Don’t let Him come back and find you asleep and your talent unused. Use them for the glory of God, and He will come back with rewards for your good. Rewards that cannot be taken away, nor will they perish.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Invest In Your Talents.

Seek Solid Food

¹ But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. ²I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, ³for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? ~ 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

Many believe the longer you are in Christ, the more of an elder you are, but according to the Scripture, that isn’t what makes you an elder. As humans, it’s easy for our minds to think in an earthly manner, which is why Paul tells us he speaks to us in certain ways. For instance, we think of an elder in a physical sense. You are older in age. Therefore, you are wiser. The problem is that we don’t take into account the spiritual growth of the person in question. It’s not about the amount of years we’ve served Christ but about the amount we’ve grown spiritually in Christ.

Moses wasn’t the oldest Hebrew man alive; that’s not why God chose him to lead. Jacob was not the eldest brother, nor was Abraham. It has never been about physical age with God. God used young children to declare who Christ was upon the earth in the temple. It has always been and always will be about personal relationships and spiritual growth with God.

When we go just based on the physical, we give an opportunity to spiritual slumber to sneak in and sweep us away. We stop listening and growing because we feel we know it all. We stop seeking and searching for a closer relationship with God because we’ve had one with Him for so long. God isn’t interested in the length of time spent with Him but in what you do in that time. Peter wasn’t the first disciple Jesus called, yet He was a part of His inner circle and arguably His best friend. Paul was never a disciple of Jesus, yet it was Him Jesus to be the greatest apostle who ever lived. It wasn’t because these men were old in age but because they sought the Truth.

The truth of the matter is age, in this case, is just a number. The real elder in Christ is one who has the attributes and characteristics of Christ; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. Not those easily angered or filled with envy. Test your spiritual age by seeking God for true wisdom and asking Him to open your eyes to any ungodliness within you. When you do, your eyes will begin to awaken, and you will soon no longer need milk.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek Solid Food.

Have Faith In The Wilderness

² And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. ~ Deuteronomy 8:2^ESV

The Israelites struggled with their faith from the moment they left Egypt. We often judge this, but when we look at it for what it is, we can see that it’s no different with us today. When we are in our slavery to sin, we cry out to God, but as soon as He saves us, we grumble, complain, and doubt that He can keep us from temptation and sin. This is how the Israelites were as well. They saw miracle after miracle from God Almighty, yet fear and doubt still took root in their hearts and caused them to have to wander the wilderness for forty years.

But their story didn’t end there. God didn’t give up on them. He still led them and was with them wherever they went. He never left them. And along the way, He continued testing them, I believe, getting them prepared for their restoration. Their failure and lack of faith didn’t stop His plans for them. Those who weren’t willing to be molded missed the promised land, but the next generation that was willing to listen to God didn’t. The plan of God wasn’t tarnished, nor did it fail. It was brought to fruition because His Word never fails.

Today God still calls mankind and has plans for us all, but it’s up to us to trust Him and have faith that He is able to fulfill that which He has spoken to us. He will be with us despite the wilderness, the obstacles, the mountains, and during this, He will be testing us and humbling us on the way, preparing us for the fulfillment and restoration. He’s preparing us for our promised land. So, hang on to His Word. Hold tightly to His promises. Don’t allow fear to hold you back because the LORD is with you wherever you go. You don’t have to be perfect; you just have to have faith in Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Have Faith In The Wilderness.

The World’s Hatred

¹²He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. ¹³Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ ¹⁴But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ ~ Luke 19:12-14

Jesus has physically left the earth, and the whole world is shouting, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’ They even murder and persecute His followers because they want nothing of Jesus in their world. This hatred for Christ is becoming more and more prevalent to the point that the hatred of Christ is making its way into the Church itself. How is this possible? Because the Church has tried so hard to be accepted by the world that we’ve turned our back on our own God.

The lies of the enemy have lulled us into such a deep sleep that we don’t even realize that it’s us that is attacking and hurting Christ. It’s us, His own citizens, that is whipping Him and nailing Him to the cross. We’re now the ones shouting, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us,’ and we don’t even realize it. We have become spiritually dead, unable to discern right from wrong or the voice of Shepherd from the voice of the Evil One. The enemy has tickled our ears with teachings that suit our desires, and we’ve declared Jesus to be a hater, liar, and unworthy of our praise. We’re so asleep we don’t even realize that we’ve turned our back on the Savior of the whole World.

So, wake up, for Jesus is coming back soon. And when He returns to get His children, there will be punishment on all who shouted, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us’ regardless of the supposed good they’ve done in the world. Nothing we do is good, especially if we can’t even discern who the Good Shepherd is. There is only one who is good, and that is our God, who is above and who lives in those who love and follow Him. So, seek the Good Shepherd while He can still be found. Seek Him that He might awaken you from sleepwalking through your life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Ask Him To Reign Over You.

Touch The Fringe

⁵⁶ And wherever He came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored Him that they might touch even the fringe of His garment. And as many as touched it were made well. ~ Mark 6:56^ESV

Jesus went into places and could only very few people and perform very few miracles, yet in other places, all they needed was the fringe of His garment. Why? In one word, faith. They were confident in who Jesus was, while the others wavered. They didn’t have to beg or pray over and over again to be healed. They didn’t even need to speak to Jesus directly. They had the faith to accept their healing because, by His stripes, they are healed. They claimed that promise for themselves in faith.

Today we have a similar promise; by His stripes, we have been healed. We’ve already been healed. The price has already been paid. All we have to do is accept it. All we have to do is step out in faith. We don’t have to have the most eloquent tongue or the most righteous of walks. All we have to do is have faith it is possible.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Touch The Fringe.

Where’s Your Trust?

⁵If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. ⁶But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. ~ James 1:5-8^NLT

Wavering in our faith in God, according to James, makes us as unstable as the waves being thrown by the wind. Why? Because when we don’t trust in God, we’re trusting in something else. It may not seem like it, but we have to have faith or trust in something. Either God or the world. Either life or death. Fear or love. How we live our lives will determine in whom we trust.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Trust In God.

Follow The Untamed Lion

¹ Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. ²Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. ³“Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” ⁴Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!” ~ Numbers 14:1-4^NLT

In one of the last scenes of the movie Narnia defines Jesus as good but not a tame lion. Our God isn’t tame. He’s the roaring Lion of the Tribe of Judah. He’s the God who got off of His Throne and died for His children. His plan for His own life wasn’t tame, so why would His plans for ours be any different?

This is where we get confused. We believe because God is good, only good things will happen when we follow Him; we forget that the ruler of this world is wicked and there is no good in him. Therefore the plans God has for us are good, but they aren’t tame. They’re filled with battles and wars that we have to fight for our souls and the souls of our loved ones.

This is where fear kicks in. Fear is the opposite of faith and love. And without faith and love, we can’t be with God. So, fear will show you the battle before us and the battle behind us so that we don’t see the lion that is with us. It’s easy for us to feel alone and scared when we have an army standing against us as a giant yells at us, but if we stop and remember the lion standing right next to us, fear wouldn’t have any hold on us. This is what the Israelites forgot. They just left Egypt and saw the mighty hand of God, yet they only saw the Nephilim in the Promised Land. Fear gripped them, and they forgot the God whom they served. They forgot their promise.

We each have a promise from God. This promise doesn’t mean we don’t have to fight the enemy. It doesn’t mean it’ll just happen overnight. Having a promise is our insurance from God that if we step forward to fight, He will do all the heavy lifting. He will clear the way for us because He goes before us. We need only have faith in Him and fight. When we stand, fear will laugh at us and mock us. Fear will tell us lies and try to deceive us, but it will go quiet when the lion roars. So stand strong and have faith. It’s not too late to go to war.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Follow The Untamed Lion.

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