Daily Bread Archives

July 2, 2023July 2, 2023

Appreciate Your Inheritance

⁷Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. ⁸When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided all mankind, He set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. ⁹For the Lord’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance. ~ Deuteronomy 32:7-9

I want you to understand that God parted up the earth and gave it to the rest of the people of the world as their inheritance but kept the land of Israel for Himself. How do you think God reacts to those who don’t appreciate and despise the inheritance He gives to them? God hates someone who despises his or her inheritance, but He loves the one who loves and appreciates his or her inheritance. That is why it is written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated, because Esau despised his birthright.

It is very insulting to God when He goes out of His way to give you something, and you despise it. How can you say you love God but hate what He has given you? When you love someone, you love being with them, you love the things they love, and you love the things that they give you, especially when it is really good things.

I believe it is the agenda of the globalists who have infiltrated our school system and brought about hate for our own country so that their agenda of a one-world government, with a one-world ruler, and with a one-world religion will be accomplished. That is not God’s plan; that is the plan of the enemy, so do not fall for it.

God does not want you to hate the nation in which He has brought you. Many people have migrated from their own birth countries and settled in foreign countries because of better opportunities and a better way of life for themselves and their families. Others, God has called to go and be missionaries, bringing the good news of the Gospel to its people. Either way, God wants you to love the place where you have settled or where He has brought you, and He wants you to pray for its well-being and its prosperity and peace so that you yourself will also prosper and have peace.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Appreciate Your Inheritance.

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Use Your Citizenship

²⁵When they tied Paul down to lash him, Paul said to the officer standing there, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried?” ²⁶When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!” ²⁷So the commander went over and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I certainly am,” Paul replied. ²⁸“I am, too,” the commander muttered, “and it cost me plenty!” Paul answered, “But I am a citizen by birth!” ²⁹The soldiers who were about to interrogate Paul quickly withdrew when they heard he was a Roman citizen, and the commander was frightened because he had ordered him bound and whipped. ~ Acts of the Apostles 22:25-29 NLT

Paul remained silent as they beat him, but after, he revealed his identity when the opportunity presented itself. Paul knew the laws of the Romans and used them to his own advantage. They were terrified when they found out Paul was a Roman citizen after all they’d done to him. This should be us today.

We have a much greater citizenship than Roman. Our citizenship is in heaven. We’ve been given the Holy Spirit as a seal as we wait for our full adoption as sons and daughters of the Most High to gather us to Him and give us new, perfect, immortal bodies. While on this earth, He’s given us His name to use and His Holy Spirit as proof of our citizenship. So why don’t we use it?

When we’re under spiritual attack, why don’t we use the name above all names to push back the darkness? When we’re depressed, why don’t we put on the garment of praise to encourage our souls and lift our spirits? Why are we so stubborn? The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. We want to do these things, but our flesh is weak. It’s ridden with sin, unbelief, roots of anger, bitterness, envy, hurt, and pain. So what are we to do? Take it one step at a time. We fail forward. We keep track of the flaws that plague us and take them down one step at a time. We crucify the flesh, and we build up the spirit so that we might be strong enough to use our citizenship to our advantage, just as Paul used his.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Use Your Citizenship.

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Live Without Regret

²⁶I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault, ²⁷for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know. ~ Acts 20:26-27^NLT

Paul was confident that he had done all he could do. He lived his life with no regrets. How many of us can say the same? Today’s Church is silent because of Fear. We’re afraid of being ostracized, persecuted, taunted, fired, or hurting someone else’s feelings. The Truth has been silenced, and where it isn’t completely silenced, it’s perverted. We take bits and pieces of the Scripture and preach a cherry-picked message that will tickle the ears of our listeners. But what good are we truly doing? The saint is still asleep, and the sinner is still lost.

I heard about a man who would get up all hours of the morning to pray for his congregation. Why? Because according to him, “I have 8,000 souls I must give an account for, and I know not their condition.” How many of us take the people put into our lives as seriously as this man? Each person we come in contact with is a soul that we have the chance to save. A soul that we have the chance to plant a seed in or to harvest.

If we look back on our lives, can we truly say that we’ve done all we could have done to witness, guide, lead, disciple, and pray for the souls we’ve come in contact with? If we are to give an account of all that we did on that final day, what’s more important: Speaking the Truth and making disciples of every nation or bowing down to Fear and remaining silent? Don’t let Fear keep you from spreading the Word. When we give into Fear, Fear then takes control and takes us farther than we wanna go. The silence of the Church only breeds darkness in the world. Light can only be shown by those who have the Light living within them. Therefore, shine the Light of the world into the world. Be like Paul and live your life with a clear conscience.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Live Without Regret.

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Avoid The Darkness of Self Ambition

⁶Afterward they traveled from town to town across the entire island until finally they reached Paphos, where they met a Jewish sorcerer, a false prophet named Bar-Jesus. ⁷He had attached himself to the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor invited Barnabas and Saul to visit him, for he wanted to hear the word of God. ⁸But Elymas, the sorcerer (as his name means in Greek), interfered and urged the governor to pay no attention to what Barnabas and Saul said. He was trying to keep the governor from believing. ⁹Saul, also known as Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he looked the sorcerer in the eye. ¹⁰Then he said, “You son of the devil, full of every sort of deceit and fraud, and enemy of all that is good! Will you never stop perverting the true ways of the Lord? ¹¹Watch now, for the Lord has laid his hand of punishment upon you, and you will be struck blind. You will not see the sunlight for some time.” Instantly mist and darkness came over the man’s eyes, and he began groping around begging for someone to take his hand and lead him. ~ Acts of the Apostles 13:6-11^NLT

Elymus interfered and urged the Governor to not listen to the Gospel. Being a sorcerer, he most likely not only used his words to urge the Governor but also a charm. He was using his position and demonic/Satanic power to his own advantage. How? If the Governor received salvation, the sorcerers and the false prophets would lose their influence over the Governor.

He was physically trying to keep the Governor in spiritual darkness; in doing so, he opened himself up to be taken over by physical darkness. We have to be careful what we say and do because every physical act has a spiritual reward or consequence.

Dear LORD, please help me not to act against You. Help me to have reverence for You and Your Kingdom. Help me to always show Your light to the world and to never snuff it out. Help me to always kindle the flame of the gifts You have given me and never use them for my own selfish ambition and gain.

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Escape Ignorance

⁴ Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. ~ Romans 3:4

The early Church was led, taught, and guided by men and women who didn’t search the Scriptures with biases but allowed the Holy Spirit to guide them. They didn’t care what the Truth was; they just wanted to know the Truth. I believe this was a key piece to the miracles they saw and mysteries revealed to them. Today’s Church is quite the opposite.

Today, we don’t care what God’s Scripture says; we care what our favorite pastor or teacher says. We care what Church Tradition has taught us from our childhood. We care what our own thoughts and opinions are. Why? Pride? Arrogance? Stubbornness? This is currently what plagues the Church, ignorance. We’re ignorant of the Truth because we’d rather someone else’s interpretation or our own beliefs over the Truth. Only the Truth can set us free. Only the true Word of God is sharper than any double-edged sword.

Therefore, seek God and His wisdom. Seek God and His understanding. If the Scriptures contradict your beliefs, then it’s your beliefs that need to be adjusted, not the Scriptures. If the Scriptures seem to contradict, then it’s your understanding that is flawed, not the Scriptures. We don’t have to stay in ignorance, our God wants us to understand and have wisdom, that’s why He gave us His Word and His Holy Spirit.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Escape Ignorance.

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Always Press On

¹² Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. ~ Philippians 3:12

We press on or press forward to that great and glorious day when Jesus will break the eastern sky on His way back to get us. But how do we press on?

Very good question. I can tell you in three words:

Dying To Self

Dying to self is not an easy concept to grasp and an even harder concept to put into practice. Because it is contrary to nature. The natural man’s main objective is to survive. To endure and to prosper.

The first and most important of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is derived from a person’s motivation or instinct to survive. God has placed that self-preservation in us by placing eternity in our hearts, according to Ecclesiastes 3:11.

Dying to self is contrary to natural instincts because we no longer look out for self-interest. We no longer look out for number one. We pray for those who persecute us. And when they curse us, we bless. We give to everyone who asks. And we bless and pray for our enemies.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Press On By Dying To Self.

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Aim For Sonship

¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. ~ Romans 8:16-17

We, our family, were in the process of adopting a little boy several years ago, but before the adoption papers could be fully processed, his mother came and took him back. He enjoyed all the pleasures and all the rights of being our son. Why? Because to us, he was our son. To our daughters, he was their little brother. Even now, whenever we get to see him, he still calls us mom and dad, and our daughters call him their little brother.

It is the same with God; we are called sons or children of God, and we enjoy all of the rights and benefits of being children of God. Siblings with the LORD Jesus and joint heirs with Him. As Paul advocated in the verse above. This is one of the mysteries of God. You must understand that God calls those things that are not as if they were. He proclaims the end from the beginning. Meaning that He sees us as His children because He sees the end result.

If we had achieved sonship already, then that sonship could never be taken away from us because Jesus warned us to abide in Him. If we don’t abide in Him, we will be cut off and thrown into (John 15:1-8). This is why each of the authors and early disciples referred to themselves as slaves to Christ. This makes what Jesus said a lot clearer:

³⁵ The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.

John 8:35

Now we can better understand that if we had achieved the sonship, that sonship could in no way be reversed because the son remains forever.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Aim For Sonship.

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Walk In Step With The Spirit

¹ Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. ²As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. ³When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money. ⁴Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” ⁵The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. ⁶But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” ~ Acts of the Apostles 3:1-6^NLT

I want you to notice that it took the disciples to see that the crippled man needed more help than he originally asked for. This is the same with us today. Sometimes, others’ faith isn’t enough to get them from where they’re at. Sometimes, their spiritual eyes are blinded to their own needs. This is why we need to be walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that rose Jesus from the grave lives in us. The same Spirit that dwelt in Peter and John lives in us.

Peter and John spent time in prayer, not just a short prayer every night before bed. No. They prayed for many hours every single day. In fact, they were on the way to the Temple to pray when they encountered the man. They didn’t just hear him ask for money, throw a coin his way, and then move on with their lives. They looked at him intently and then told him to look at them. Then Peter healed the man. He gave him more than he originally asked for.

Imagine if God only gave us what we asked for. We would be in serious trouble. Why? Because not everything we ask for is good for us. God has a better plan for us than what we can see for ourselves. This is why the Holy Spirit intercedes for us on our behalf because we don’t know how to pray the way we should. The man expected money; instead, he got a healing that removed his need to beg all together. This is how we, the Church, the bride of Christ, should be today. We should be able to give people more than hope. We should be able to change lives through the Holy Spirit that dwells with us and in us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Walk In Step With The Spirit.

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Throw Away Your Bandaids

The crippled man didn’t ask for a healing. He asked for a bandaid. The man asked for something to temporarily help him. He asked for money. That money would help him get food for the day, but it wouldn’t help him in the long run. The man has a giant wound that is causing him to bleed out, but he only asks for a bandaid. He never asks to get the wound healed. That’s how many of us are today.

We have so many deep seeded wounds, but we only want to put a bandaid on it instead of dealing with the root. This holds so many of us back. If Peter and John hadn’t had their spiritual eyes open, this man would’ve never gotten rid of the root. We, as Christians, disciples of Christ, have to look deeper than just the surface; we have to look at the root causing the surface wound. We have to get rid of the stronghold that’s causing the problem in order to move forward. We can’t free or help others if we, ourselves, are bound up by strongholds that keep us paralyzed and unable to move forward.

Dear LORD, please open my spiritual eyes to the spiritual strongholds holding me back. Help me to uproot every evil and wicked root within, allowing the Devil to have a foothold in my life. Give me the strength to overcome and move forward. Help me to let go of past hurt, pain, rejection, anger, and all negative feelings that keep me bound. Help me to forgive those who have hurt me and also myself for all of my past regrets. Please help me to close every door that I forcefully opened that took me out of Your perfect and good will for my life. Guide me in my journey on this earth, and please teach me to be an overcomer through You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Be Made White

²⁵I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. ~ Isaiah 43:25

We’re all ridden with sin. It often overcomes us and causes us to do the things we hate. Why? Because we’re flesh. The spirit may be willing, but the flesh is weak. This causes a great chasm between us and God because God is a perfect, holy God. He can’t allow sin to enter into His presence. So, what hope do we have? Jesus.

God prophesied through the prophet Micah that He would fulfill His promise to Abraham by pardoning the iniquities of His people (Micah 7:18-20). This would be fulfilled by Jesus’ death and resurrection. Our sin, though it’s red as scarlet, God will make it white like snow for anyone willing to accept the sacrifice of Jesus (Isaiah 1:18, John 3:16, and Hebrews 8:12). God may not overlook sin, but God does forgive the repentive heart. God not only forgives the sins of those who repent and then live for Him, but He blots out our sin from our books. Our ledger is covered in red because of our sin, but because of the blood of Jesus, our ledger is erased and made white as snow.

We’re filled with sin, but our God loves us so much He made a way for us to have forgiveness. God didn’t just leave us in sin; He came to us, became one of us, died, and then rose again. What a loving and merciful God we serve. He is a good good Father to us, His undeserving children.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Made White.

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