Daily Bread Archives

February 6, 2020February 6, 2020

Don’t Justify Rebellion With Religion

“¹²So Micah installed the Levite as his personal priest, and he lived in Micah’s house. ¹³‘I know the Lord will bless me now,’ Micah said, ‘because I have a Levite serving as my priest.’” ~ Judges 17:12-13

Micah was a man who wanted to be a High Priest but was not a Levite. Micah wanted to be in a different area, then God had placed him. He wanted more, which is why I believe his mother had the silver he stole from her, turned into an idol for him. Micah desired to be everything he wasn’t, in doing so, he rejected everything God called him to be.

Micah then tried to justify his rejection of God’s calling by becoming religious. Because he wanted to be a High Priest, he felt that God would accept his desires and pursuits because he now had an actual priest, a Levite, serving with him. He justified his sin with religious reasoning.

Often times, we do this in today’s world as well. We see what other people are doing and we desire their call more than we desire our own. We want to follow what we want instead of what God wants, justifying it with religious reasoning. Our own desires can’t compete with God’s ultimate plan for our lives, He knows what’s for us. When we do it ourselves, we not only deceive ourselves but also those around us. Micah’s sin deceived an entire tribe, who has been deceived by your sin?

LORD God, I ask that you teach all of us how to follow Your perfect will for each of our lives. I ask that You would forgive us for when we’ve done things our way and polluted your call on our lives and led others astray. Please help us to return to You whole-heartedly, humbling ourselves to Your call and Your desire for our lives. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Justify Rebellion With Religion.

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Take Back What’s Yours

“¹⁸David got back everything the Amalekites had taken, and he rescued his two wives. ¹⁹Nothing was missing: small or great, son or daughter, nor anything else that had been taken. David brought everything back. ²⁰He also recovered all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock.” ~ 1 Samuel 30:18-20a

David went before the LORD and asked Him if he should attack the Amalekites after they had stolen everything from David and his men. Because David waited on the LORD, the LORD was with him, and not one thing, neither large nor small, was left behind. David and his men recovered everything the Amalekites had stolen from them.

Instead of getting discouraged and allowing himself to become defeated, David humbled himself before God and asked God what he should do. Then he waited for an answer. The enemy has taken many things from us. Some he has taken children, spouses, loved ones, finances, success, health, and place it at the LORD’s feet. It may seem like an obvious answer but wait for the LORD to go with you because with him, you will be able to bring back that wayward child or spouse. Recover those depleted finances. Achieve success in every endeavor.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Take Back What’s Yours.

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Train Your Children

“¹¹Then the Lord said to Samuel, ‘I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. ¹²I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. ¹³I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever because his sons are blaspheming Godand he hasn’t disciplined them. ¹⁴So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings.’” ~ 1 Samuel 3:11-14

The LORD places children in the hands of their parents. It’s not by chance or accident that you are the parent of the child you have, but it was supernaturally ordained by God. He gave you your child. He placed them in your hands, with the expectancy that you would train them up in the way they should go. Eli, even though he was the High Priest, never corrected his two sons. Because of this, his sons died for their sins, and Eli was also held responsible because he didn’t teach his children. He allowed his two sons to carry on however they wanted, when God wanted and expected him to raise his sons to respect and fear God.

The fear of the LORD isn’t a negative thing, it’s a positive. Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Fearing the LORD means you respect Him and all that He commands. God’s ways don’t always make sense, but if you teach your child to have faith in the LORD, they will never abandon Him. They may stray, but never for long because you helped them build a strong foundation. Teach and discipline your children from a young age, and you will see the seeds you planted flourish as they age. When they are put to the test, they will be able to pass. When they are tempted, they will be able to overcome. When they are lost, they will know how to seek God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Train Your Children.

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Listen For The Whisper

“‘Go out and stand before me on the mountain,’ the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” ~1 Kings 19:11-13^NLT

Elijah spent so much time with God that He knew His voice, His presence, and probably even His taste and smell (Psalms 34:8 and 2 Corinthians 2:14) Elijah wasn’t distracted by the large blasts and intense scenes, like windstorms, earthquakes, and fires, no instead, Elijah waited for the LORD. Not a great and mighty sign. Not what he thought God should appear like, but who God actually was.

When you spend quiet time with God, you build your relationship. You get to know Him and things begin to change. You aren’t easily led astray by false prophets or pastors. You aren’t led astray by Hollywood or culture’s version of God, because you truly know Him. You know who He is and what He does. What He wants and what He does to get it. You know who God is.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Listen For The Whisper.

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Remind God

“⁶A delegation from the tribe of Judah, led by Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb said to Joshua, ‘Remember what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-Barnea.’” ~ Judges 14:6

After the Israelites overcame the inhabitants in the Promised Land enough to settle in, Caleb reminded Joshua of the promise that God gave Moses about to two of them. Because Caleb brought this back to Joshua’s attention, everything promised to him was given to him. Some may say, why should we remind God of His promises to us? Isn’t He God? Shouldn’t He know already?

In a relationship, there are conversations. Promises are made and when you have finished your side of the bargain, it’s time to then go collect your side. To do that, you remind whomever you made that promise with. We are in a relationship with God. If we do our part of the deal, we must then go to God reminding Him of His part in the promise. God didn’t forget; this is so you will never forget.

If you haven’t seen a promise fulfilled yet, have you done your part? Have you gone to God with your finished offering and laid it down at His feet, reminding Him of His part? God is more than willing to fulfill His promise, He’s just waiting on you to finish your part. So finish with excitement, for the LORD is waiting to fulfill His promise and bless you!

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Remind God.

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Throw In Some Flour

“One of the young men went out into the field to gather herbs and came back with a pocketful of wild gourds. He shredded them and put them into the pot without realizing they were poisonous. Some of the stew was served to the men. But after they had eaten a bite or two they cried out, ‘Man of God, there’s poison in this stew!’ So they would not eat it. Elisha said, ‘Bring me some flour.’ Then he threw it into the pot and said, ‘Now it’s all right; go ahead and eat.’ And then it did not harm them.” ~ 2 Kings 4:39-41^NLT

Sometimes things look hopeless and extremely complicated, but God makes it simple for us. The poison could have really hurt the men who ate the stew, but instead of throwing out the stew, Elisha just threw some flour into it, and everything was okay. We’re all given a pot of poisoned stew at some point in time. Some of us eat it and slowly perish, others throw it away and miss out on the nutrition, and others throw some flour into the pot to purify it.

The pot of poisoned stew is your next step in life. If you take it without God, it’s like eating the poison. If you throw it away, you stay where you are and never grow, slowly dying from Spiritual starvation. Lastly, you can do it with God by throwing in the flour. Use the Holy Spirit to guide you, protect you, teach you, and take you to your next level.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Throw In Some Flour.

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Resist Your Tamar

“¹⁴But Amnon wouldn’t listen to her, and since he was stronger than she was, he raped her. ¹⁵Then suddenly Amnon’s love turned to hate, and he hated her even more than he had loved her. ‘Get out of here!’ he snarled at her.” ~ 2 Samuel 13:14-15

Amnon desired his sister, Tamar. She was all he could think about. It kept him from sleeping. Eating. Functioning as a regular person, so he and his cousin cultivated a lie to get alone time with his sister Tamar. Once he gave in to his desire, what he thought was love immediately turned to hate.

That’s exactly how sin works. We desire it. We seek it out. We devise a plan to get it. Then once it’s over, we hate it, and usually, we hate ourselves as well. We swear we’ll never do it again, that that was the only time. And then the desire builds up again and we go after it again. That’s how strongholds develop. It starts out as something we think we love, something we think we can’t do without, something we swear we’ll only try once, then once we give in, we feel disgusted with ourselves and our sin, and finally, the stronghold starts all over again.

It’s an endless loop that keeps you captive and a slave. Fight the desire. Jesus promises if you resist the Devil, he will flee. Jesus overcame and so can you. Call on His name and He will break any and all chains.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Resist Your Tamar.

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Get Rid of False gods

“³Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, ‘If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the Lord and obey Him alone; then He will rescue you from the Philistines.’ ⁴So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord.” ~ 1 Samuel 7:3-4

The people of Israel were afraid of the Philistines because the LORD was no longer with them. So, Samuel showed the people the way back to the LORD. They had to get rid of all of their false gods, and then the LORD would return to them. See some of us are under attack by the enemy and the LORD is nowhere to be found because we’ve replaced Him with false gods and idols. The only way to get out of the situation we’ve got ourselves into is to return to the LORD fully by getting rid of our false gods.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Get Rid of False gods.

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Question, But Still Trust

“²¹Saul replied, ‘But I’m only from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of that tribe! Why are you talking like this to me?’ ²²Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the hall and placed them at the head of the table, honoring them above the thirty special guests. ²³Samuel then instructed the cook to bring Saul the finest cut of meat, the piece that had been set aside for the guest of honor. ²⁴So the cook brought in the meat and placed it before Saul. ‘Go ahead and eat it,’ Samuel said. ‘I was saving it for you even before I invited these others!’ So Saul ate with Samuel that day.” ~ 1 Samuel 9:21-24

Saul didn’t see himself as Samuel did. Samuel saw God’s chosen King of Israel, Saul saw himself as a member of the least important, probably poorest family of the smallest tribe in Israel. He couldn’t see the vision God had for his life, so he asked, “why me?” Samuel didn’t get upset by this. Samuel didn’t condemn him for questioning; instead he tried reassuring him by showing him a glimpse of God’s plan by sitting him at the head of the table and giving him the best cut of meat.

Even though Saul couldn’t see it, he didn’t argue. After he asked that question, he obeyed and followed Samuel’s instructions. He could have argued and told him he couldn’t take the most important seat at the table. No, instead, he accepted his call and didn’t fight it. He didn’t fully understand, yet he committed. He probably didn’t fully believe, but yet he committed.

Is God calling you to be someone or something that doesn’t make sense to you because you’re not enough, you’re too poor, too young, too stupid, too messy? Ask the why, but walk with faith following the call, even if you don’t get a response from God on the why.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Ask, “Why?”

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Fear Rushes God

⁷ Some of them crossed the Jordan River and escaped into the land of Gad and Gilead. Meanwhile, Saul stayed at Gilgal, and his men were trembling with fear. ⁸ Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn’t come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. ⁹ So he demanded, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!” And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself. ¹⁰ Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet and welcome him, ¹¹ but Samuel said, “What is this you have done?” Saul replied, “I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn’t arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle. So I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the Lord ’s help!’ ¹²So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.” ~ 1 Samuel 13:7-12 ^NLT

Saul and his men were afraid. They were terrified that the Philistines would attack them, but he waited for Samuel to come. Saul waits the seven days, but when Samuel still wasn’t there on the seventh day, Saul began to panic. He probably thought Samuel abandoned him and left him to fend for himself, so he moved without him.

When time seemed to be running out and the enemy closing in, Saul gave into fear and lost everything. He lost his entire kingdom to David. See God wanted to establish King Saul, but Saul’s lack of faith and disobedience made it impossible for God to use him.

Don’t believe the lie that fear screams at you. God isn’t too late. He’s always right on time. Have faith and be obedient, so that God may be able to use you and establish your name forever.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Rush God.

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