Category: Daily Bread

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Know Your Own Destiny

1 When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. 3 And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. 4 And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 5 And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed.” ~ 1 Samuel 24:6

1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for 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? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? 5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ~ 1 Corinthians 3:6

Just because you can do something and it wouldn’t technically be wrong to do so doesn’t make it right for you to do it. Just because something would be good doesn’t make it right. God has called each and every one of us to do a specific job. To fulfill a specific call. We’re the body of Christ made up of different members. Some are feet, some are hands, some are arms. We aren’t all created to do the same exact job. That’s what makes us all so special.

Taking out King Saul and David taking his rightful place as King of Israel would have been good, but not right. It wasn’t his place to do so. We each have a plan for our lives. The enemy doesn’t always get us to do something blatantly wrong, but something good that isn’t right for us to do.

Don’t get caught up in trying to do everything. In trying to be every member of the Body. Just because something is good doesn’t mean it’s right. In the words of one of my favorite childhood characters:

Zuko: … I know my own destiny. Taking you down is the Avatar’s destiny.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Know Your Own Destiny.

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Go In The Confidence of The LORD

1 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire 2 and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. 3 And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. 5 David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. 7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.” 9 So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor. ~ 1 Samuel 30:1-10

One of my favorite TV shows of all time is Avatar: The Last Airbender. Each character has a unique and deep storyline that involves some form of growth. One of my favorite episodes is when Zuko and Sokka go to find Sokka’s father in a Fire Nation prison. Sokka feels like giving up because he can’t find his father, and if he stays, he’s risking everyone’s (him, Zuko, Suki) safety and freedom for something that may not happen (finding his father).

In hopes of encouraging Sokka to not give up, Zuko tells him this:

Zuko: Look, you’re going to fail a lot before things work out…
Sokka: This is supposed to make me feel better?!?!
Zuko: Even though you’ll probably fail over and over again…
Sokka: Seriously, you’re not helping!
Zuko: You have to try every time. You can’t quit because you’re afraid you might fail.

In the end, Sokka decides to stay, free his father from the Fire Nation prison, and lead everyone to freedom. If he had left, he would never have been reunited with his father or freed him. It looked impossible. It was dangerous, but in the end, it was worth it. Our lives are much like this.

We are each called to do things that scare us. Things that we can’t ignore. Things that we can’t just let go. Usually, these things are to take us to the next level. They’re to get back something that the enemy has taken from us. So, go in the confidence of the LORD. Sokka had his friends to help him, but you have the LORD God Almighty. You have the Great I Am.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Go In The Confidence of The LORD.

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Put Your god On Trial

5 And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.” 6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” 7 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” 8 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” ~ 1 Kings 22:5-8

15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. ~ Proverbs 12:15

3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. ~ 2 Timothy 4:3-4

I was recently reading the comments on a Christian video attempting to explain the Stone Age. There was one atheist in the comment section commenting and calling all these Christians dumb. What I found interesting was that if the Christian gave him evidence he couldn’t refute, he didn’t respond to the comment. He’d only attack, degrade, and argue with someone that he believed knew less than him. He never engaged with anyone bringing facts into the conversation that has now shifted to the possibility of a worldwide flood.

This is the tactic many non-believers use. They’ll go for Christians that they don’t think know as much as they do, and they’ll attack them. They’ll debate, argue, and engage with them so that they can show others, “Look, look. Look how dumb this religion is. Look how dumb its followers are. They don’t know anything and can’t even defend their own beliefs.” All while actively ignoring the one who can defend. The one who knows more than they do.

When you avoid someone because you know they’ll prove you wrong, and only go for the weak, it is intellectual cowardice. Deep down you know you’re wrong. Deep down you know that you cannot defend these beliefs against actual facts and evidence. So, you have to protect it. You have to beat down the weak to make yourself feel strong in your beliefs and stance.

This way leads to death. This way leads to destruction because your beliefs, opinions, and ideologies have become your god. It’s something you have to protect and keep safe at all times because it defines you. It’s the god you made with your own hands. With your own mind. So, you can’t let it go. You can’t let it be destroyed by Truth. So, you avoid Truth to keep it safe.

We should never run from Truth to keep our god safe. Our God should always lead us in the ways of Truth because the one True God is the Truth. He is the Spirit of Truth.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Put Your god On Trial.

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Know With Whom You Deal

9 If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet. ~ Proverbs 29:9

Instigating when you are losing a debate, I believe, is exactly what Solomon was referring to in these verses. If you argue with someone who cannot defend their stance, they attack you. They gaslight you. They will accuse you of being loud, aggressive, and in need of calming down because they have only one true option when it comes down to it: they have to admit that their stance is wrong, which a fool will never do. Why? Because according to Proverbs 1:7, they despise wisdom and instruction.

Throughout the book of Proverbs, they are characterized as quarrelsome, aggressive, and making their own path to destruction, ignoring any instruction of the wise. These people are self-destructive. Haters of wisdom. Mockers. Unable to ever find truth. Not because no one has told them. Not because no one has taken the time to explain it, but because they hate instruction. They hate Truth. They are wise in their own eyes, and therefore unable to ever come to the knowledge or understanding of Truth.

So, what can we do? We can plant the seed by showing them the Truth and the folly of their ways or beliefs, and then we place them in the hands of God. You can’t argue the Truth into them. You can’t even beat the Truth into them. Solomon says:

Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
along with crushed grain,
yet his folly will not depart from him.

Proverbs 27:22

In other words, no matter what you do to a fool, you will never get them to see the Truth. This one you can only put into the hands of God. Into the hands of Him who can melt stone hearts, open deaf ears, and remove scales from blind eyes. It is only the mercy of God that will save a fool. Therefore, show them the Truth, but do not let them anger you. Don’t let them get to you. Hold your peace, and when it’s all said and done, place them in the hands of the Almighty. Not every soul is the same. There is not a one-size-fits-all for leading people to Christ. Some you can show the Truth, and they will accept on the spot, while others will need prayer, and still others will need prayer and fasting.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Know With Whom You Deal.

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Keep Your Soul

26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? ~ Matthew 16:26

I recently saw a video of a young woman who had been on X-Factor and had a recording contract in her teens, open up about what it was like behind the scenes. She said that as a young teen, the label told her they weren’t giving her any money for promoting this new album. Instead, she needed to go to the clubs and try to seduce Bieber. To basically leech off of his success by throwing herself at him. This was their advice to a young teenage girl.

Now, I actually remember listening to her music as a young teen myself and wondering what ever happened to her. Why her career never blew up. I now know why. She didn’t play Hollywood’s game. She didn’t want to, essentially, prostitute herself for fame or gain of any kind. She was talented. Her music was catchy, but her soul wasn’t for sale, so her music didn’t go anywhere.

Jesus asks a very deep question: “What will you give in return for your soul?” We often read Jesus’ first question and think about someone selling their soul, but what happens once it’s sold and you want it back? What can you give in order to acquire it? In order to retrieve it? More times than not, when a person who has been in Hollywood a long time or has a lot of fame begins really seeking Jesus, they have some kind of mental breakdown. Some kind of mental meltdown that is often very public. Very intense. Very off. I don’t think this is a coincidence. I believe this is spiritual.

Make no mistake, your soul can be sold. You don’t need to sign your name in blood on a mystical contract with the Devil himself to do it either. Who you align with. Actions you take. Things you promote. Your soul has a for-sale sign on it. And what is all of that profit and gain and fame worth if your soul has been lost to an eternity of darkness because of it? Then Jesus asks the scariest question. What will you do to get it back? So many think that saying a prayer of repentance will save their souls from the consequences of contracts and open doors they themselves have signed and opened. I don’t believe so.

I believe there’s more to it than just the sinner’s prayer, which is why you see the meltdowns, the breakdowns, the mental instability. The Scripture paints the spiritual war as a war, but also a courtroom. A place of legal law. A place where we have a lawyer and an accuser. We have to spiritually take the enemy to court. We have to spiritually cancel contracts, close doors, and take back our soul.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Keep Your Soul.

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I Need A Change

13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. ~ Romans 2:13-14

It’s not those who merely hear. It’s not those who only listen. It’s those who, after hearing, obey. They are the ones who will be justified. The word “justified” carries rich legal, relational, and future weight in Paul’s thought. It primarily means “to declare righteous,” “to acquit,” or “to vindicate.” It is a courtroom term. God acts as Judge and issues a verdict of right standing. Paul is not saying here that God has transformed us into righteous people on the inside; he is saying God declares us righteous before Him.

That distinction matters. You can sit in church every Sunday and Wednesday. You can hear hundreds of sermons and teachings. But if the Word never moves from the ear canal into the heart and into actual obedience, you remain unchanged—and the verdict of “righteous” does not rest on mere hearing.

At some point the teaching must become practice. If it doesn’t, there is no real change. Jonathan Edwards put it plainly: “The salvation that does not change me will not save me.” A simple way to move from hearing to doing is to ask two questions after every sermon, every Bible reading, every time the LORD speaks:

“What are You saying to me, LORD?” “What is one concrete way I can and will obey this today?”

And keep inviting God to search you:

Search me, O God, and know my heart today. See if there be any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting. Help me to overcome evil with good. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

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Outwitted By Satan

11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. ~ 2 Corinthians 2:11

In the animated Western comedy, Rango—a sheltered chameleon—accidentally ends up in the desert town of Dirt, where he invents a tough gunslinger persona. He quickly becomes the town’s sheriff after accidentally killing their arch-nemesis—a hawk. But things take a turn for the worse when he uncovers a dark and sinister plot against the citizens of Dirt… He discovers that the water shortage is no accident but part of a scheme by the corrupt mayor.

We too have what we can consider a corrupt mayor; his name is Satan—the devil. The Bible states that he stalks around seeking someone to devour. But Paul says that we are not unaware of his schemes. Meaning, we know what he is up to, because the Word of God tells us what he is up to: He comes to steal, kill, and destroy. If your things are being stolen- your time, your finances, your relationships, and what have you- it is most likely the devil. You are working really hard, but something that should take you an hour takes you two, and you can’t figure out why—there’s an enemy stalking around, seeking someone to devour.

In the movie Rango, it was their corrupt mayor. Behind his polite, grandfatherly smile, he was deliberately starving the entire town of precious water by secretly shutting off the emergency valve on the water pipeline and thereby creating an artificial drought that turned fertile land into worthless wasteland, and the citizens of Dirt had no clue.

It’s the same with us. The devil masquerades as an angel of light, but he brings darkness wherever he goes. He turns green, lush pastures into barren wastelands that soon become worthless. He comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy. He presents himself as benign, but all the time he is scheming and plotting. Paul said we are not unaware, but to be unaware, we must first acknowledge that there is a devil and he is alive and active. Second, we must not be intimidated to attribute to him what is his—theft, death, and destruction. But we have a steady and faithful promise from our God: when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit will raise up a standard for us, and will fight on our behalf when the enemy is too strong for us. So, let us believe, and let us seek the face of our God and turn to Him with all our hearts.

Father, we ask you to bring us relief. We are battered by life’s storms; we are harassed by spiritual forces, and we are unaware of the enemy’s schemes. Please open our spiritual eyes to see clearly, so that our prayers may be more specific. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen.

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Do Not Choose Corruption

26 There the ships sail about; There is that Leviathan Which You have made to play there. ~ Psalms 104:26NKJV

In Job 41, God describes Leviathan as a fierce foe. Psalms and Isaiah both paint a similar picture, yet that wasn’t how it was when God created Leviathan. He wasn’t created evil. Yet his purpose was corrupted at some point; the Bible doesn’t say when, but it does paint a corrupted creature. I say this to say that all things were created good with a purpose. Even now, enemies of God.

Each person is created with a purpose. A good purpose from God, but we can corrupt ourselves. We can corrupt our purpose, just as Leviathan did. Just as Satan did. We are all given free will. Free will to decide what we will be and who we will become. God said, today I have set before you life and death, so choose life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do Not Choose Corruption.

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Crucify Pride To Grow

18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. ~ Proverbs 16:18

Lately, little snippets from shows like Kitchen Nightmares have been popping up on my reels, and one thing that I’ve noticed is most of these restaurants are failing because of pride. Any kind of criticism sends them off the deep end, and they attack the customers, staff, Ramsey, anyone who shows them the error in their ways. They’re hot-headed, quick-tempered, angry, unteachable people. And when their business fails, they don’t understand. They can’t comprehend why it failed. So, they have no other option but to blame everyone except for themselves. Taking responsibility is something they struggle with; I’ve yet to see one do so.

In life, we are going to make mistakes. We’re going to fail, but we have to learn from those failures. From those mistakes. The only way we can do that is by acknowledging that it was, in fact, a mistake or failure. Then we learn from it. Whether that new knowledge comes from a new understanding that you see, or from someone else explaining or showing you, it doesn’t matter; you are still learning.

As humans, we have to be able to take responsibility in order to grow. Without growth, we become stagnant. We begin to stink to those around us. We no longer fulfill our purposes in life. Therefore, we have to accept responsibility in order to grow. In order to move forward in life. To some, taking responsibility is difficult. It feels like you’re ripping yourself to shreds, and in a way you are. You are ripping down your flesh. Crucifying it. Putting it into subjection, so that pride will no longer have a place in your life. So that anger will no longer control you. So that you might not be stagnant in life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Crucify Pride To Grow.

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People Most To Be Pitied

19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. ~ 1 Corinthians 15:19

Paul explicitly says that we have hope not only in this life, with our needs being met, or maybe every now and then God will throw in a little bonus, and we will receive something that we strongly desire, but we also have the Great Hope of living in eternity with Him. For all though we die, we will live again. Although we, or one of our loved ones, may close our eyes to what seems like eternal sleep, it is not forever, because we have hope not only in Jesus for this life alone but also for the life to come. The early believers referred to it as the Blessed Hope.

That is what Paul was endeavoring to get the Corinthian believers to understand. If we hope only in this life, that is futile; it’s pointless. For what will it profit us to work and labor at something that is perishing? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then everything that we’ve slaved for will also perish the moment we die. Or at best, our heirs will inherit. But Paul is saying, “No, we have a greater hope than that. Our hope is in Christ, the giver of life. Therefore, death will not break the bond, nor will it cancel our hope in Him. He will resurrect the dead. In other words, He will raise to life all those who have died knowing Him as LORD and Savior, and they will receive the crown of life that gives them the privilege of living forever with Jesus.

Therefore, know that your labors are not in vain in the LORD. He is coming back for the living and the dead who have accepted His free gift of salvation. So, rest in the assurance that we have more than a mere hope in this life alone, but also in the life to come. Otherwise, we would be people most to be pitied.

Heavenly Father, please increase our faith. Be our stronghold, and our mighty tower. Create in us a heart to worship and a mind to seek first the kingdom of heaven. Be our strength and our shield now, LORD. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen.

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