Daily Bread Archives

February 15, 2019June 24, 2020

Go Into The Light

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” ~ John 3:19

All our lives we’ve been taught that if we see a bright light, run the opposite direction. Maybe we should run towards it instead…. here’s something to think about… When we sin, do we do it in the light or in the dark? When we cheat, sleep around, steal, lie, do drugs, etc. we do these things in the dark (in secret). The only time we share we did these things with others, is when they are in the dark right there with us. We don’t go willingly into the light and boast about these things, we feel uncomfortable, it feels wrong. We even refer to some things that are wrong as “coming out of the closet.”

Why? Because the closet is dark. We hide what we know as being wrong in the dark. We get easily offended, and we’re constantly on guard when we are living half in the dark and half in the light. It’s like we become vampires… vampires thrive in darkness, they can’t live without it. That’s what our flesh is, a vampire. If you want to kill a vampire you have to put it in the light. When you do it starts to burn, you act out irrationally, you’re in pain, it feels like you’re dying. When you bring your flesh into the light long enough, it will sooner or later die, just as the vampires would. But what is the light? Jesus said that we are the light of the world. But what does that have to do with anything?

James chapter 5 tells us to confess our sins to one another. In doing this, we become each other’s light. When your flesh is hiding in the dark, you have someone to shine in that darkness and help you kill your flesh. Proverbs tells us that iron sharpens iron. We are one body, and no one nerve, no organ, no single drop of blood can survive on its own. Find someone who will be your light when you are dark, and who you can be their light when they are dark.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Go into the Light.

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Be Clingy

⁶Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. ⁷So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. ⁸But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. ⁹The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. ¹⁰And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” ¹¹But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? ¹²Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, ¹³would you, therefore, wait till they were grown? Would you, therefore, refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” ¹⁴Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” ¹⁶But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. ¹⁷Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” ¹⁸And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. ~ Ruth 1:6-18

Ruth gave up her way of life, her way of thinking, her gods, just to follow Naomi. She wasn’t just loyal to her; she trusted her and had faith in her, that no matter where she would go or take her that it would be the place that they needed to be. They left with no money, no husbands or sons, but yet she still went and took on the culture of Naomi without reassurance that she would be okay. This is the type of faith and loyalty we need because it’s hard to trust God when we can’t see what He sees.

We hesitate even when God tells us to go. If Ruth could have so much faith in a regular woman that could not guarantee her prosperity, why can’t we as Christians let go and follow God wholeheartedly, without doubt? This is something we should strive towards this year; by stepping off on to a branch that doesn’t look safe, but God has promised that it will uphold us. That no matter how sketchy the path looks that we will still go walk the path in faith that this is where and what we should be doing.

We should desire to love like Ruth, that no matter the outcome of the situation, whether she would be poor or rich, it didn’t matter she just wanted to be with Naomi. We should want to love God in that same way, even if we poor, we should desire Him. Even if we are wealthy and well off we should desire Him. Our situation shouldn’t matter, we should still desire to cling to God as if He is the only way we can breathe because He’s the only way we can live.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Clingy.

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Clean Your Land

“²⁹I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. ³⁰Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. ³¹And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. ³²You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. ³³They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.” ~ Exodus 23:29-33

There will always be something that will try to lead you astray. Whether it’s a person, a show, a thought, an idea, there will always be something. But God said He would destroy them. He would remove them little by little so that you would not be overcome by the wild animals (demonic/evil spirits). If you are completely rid of every temptation without having to fight first, you will be overcome easily. See God uses the people, thoughts, ideas, obstacles, places, that the devil meant for evil, as a training ground. He allows us to be tested not so that we can fail, but so that we can learn to overcome.

Ever realize how much stronger you feel after you have overcome. Sure, you may not overcome right, but that’s why Jesus said to Peter when you return back, help your brothers. See falling isn’t a problem, messing up isn’t a problem because when we’re at our lowest point, that’s when we have no other choice, but to look up. I’m not saying that God tempts us so that we can fall and then need Him again, I’m saying He allows us to be tempted so that we can train to get better. When we fall, when we hit rock bottom, and then we get up, we never get up the same way. We never get up weaker than we were when we fell or just as weak when we fell, we get stronger because in that moment we submit everything to God. Every relationship, show/movie, thought, idea, conversation, obstacle, everything, but we tend to not do that for very long.

We tend to keep one thought, one idea, one relationship, one thing and it begins to consume us. And we end up sinning against God. See we need to understand that things happen slowly for a reason, impatience gets us nothing but sloppiness. We allow certain things to stay in our land, in our hearts because we didn’t do it God’s way. We didn’t follow the process we jumped ahead, without reading all the instructions. Stop and read… fail, fail again, fail better. Don’t give up. Get stronger, so that at the end of the day there is no wild beast left in your land that can overcome you, so that there is no idol, friendship, relationship, god, idea, or thought that will cause you to sin.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Clean Your Land.

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Fear Steals Blessings

²⁸And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” ³⁰Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. ³¹And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” ³²And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. ³³The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. ³⁴And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region. ~ Matthew 8:28-34

Fear can hold you back and stop you from getting your blessing. Imagine what more Jesus could have done in their region if they had not been afraid. If they had just had faith and brought him their sick. Brought him their hurting. Imagine how much more they would have gotten if they had just asked. The church has become like this. The church has become fearful of things we do not understand. Because we don’t understand power, we don’t seek it. Because we don’t understand prophecy, we don’t seek it. Imagine if we did.

Jesus said if we would only seek, we would find. If we would only ask, we would receive. But we are too afraid to seek things we don’t fully understand. Let us no longer be like the people of the Gadarenes, fearful and without faith, but instead let us be courageous and full of faith.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek.

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Be Determined

⁸Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. ⁹Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” ¹⁰Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” ¹¹But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. ¹²The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” ~ Ruth 2:8-12

Ruth was an outsider, a woman not of any status or wealth, but because she worked hard and never gave up, she found favor in the eyes of Boaz. She denied her flesh (tiredness, laziness, pride, etc.) and she strove forward until she completed what she needed to. This is the type of determination we as Christians should desire. We should want to strive towards the things of God so that we find favor with God and all of those that we meet. We should want to seek God wholeheartedly so that we will be able to hear His gentle whisper in the wind. We should want to run this race as if every leg was the last leg of the race and our reward’s in touching distance. May we each have the determination of Ruth. The determination that no matter how our circumstance looks, we can be confident that we will become successful.

Not once did Ruth look at her situation and feel sorry for herself. Not once did Ruth look at who she was, an outsider, and begin to build a victim mentality. Not once did Ruth stop, look around and say that she could not do it. Instead, she was determined to follow her mother-in-law Naomi no matter where she went or what she did. She didn’t question Naomi when things didn’t make sense to her. She didn’t second guess Naomi when things seemed hopeless. She knew that Naomi had her best interest at heart and so she followed wholeheartedly. That’s how we need to be. We have to look at our current situation and believe that God is going to getting us through because He has our best interest at heart. We don’t have to become the victim because we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Determined.

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Clean Your House

³⁵The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. ³⁶I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, ³⁷for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” ³⁹But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will see the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ⁴¹The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. ⁴²The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. ⁴⁴Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.” ~ Matthew 12:35-45

²⁵“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. ~ Matthew 23:25-26

In order to become a new and changed person, you can’t just change the way to dress or the way you present yourself. You must first change yourself from the inside, and the outer will follow. What is on the inside will show on the outside. This is why it is so important for someone not to just change the way they act and the way they talk, etc. because while that may work for a moment or two, they always return back to their old ways in a greater and stronger way. Relapse is always worse than the initial problem. Even if they are cleansed on the inside and they are trying does not mean they will not have a problem with it later on. Matthew 12:40-48. If you simply clean your house but don’t fill it with the Holy Spirit, you will relapse, and you will be worse off than you were before.

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Category: Daily Bread

Go Into The Light

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Be Clingy

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