Daily Bread Archives

June 3, 2023June 3, 2023

Do You Have Ears To Hear?

¹ Again He began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ²And He was teaching them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said to them: ³“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.” ~ Mark 4:1-3

So, when this huge crowd had gathered, Jesus opened up His mouth and began teaching the crowd about faith, but He didn’t just say it plainly, because it was not for everyone. How do I know? Well, just look at what Jesus says after He finishes telling the parable:

^8b …As He said these things, He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Luke 8:8b

This is a strange thing to say because I would assume that everyone there that day had ears that could hear. If not, they would come and receive healing. So, what this tells me is that it is not for everyone, but only for The Diligent Seekers. The casual bystander won’t profit from those words. Why do I say that? Just take a listen to what Jesus said when they came to Him after the crowd had left and asked Him about the parable:

¹⁰And when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parables. ¹¹And He said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, ¹²so that ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”

Mark 4:10-12

Did you notice what Mark adds in there? Those around Him with the twelve. Mark makes a distinction between Jesus’ Apostles and Jesus’ other disciples. He wanted to make sure we understood that it was not just the twelve but also those around Jesus. Those who followed Him and hung on His every word. Those who were hungry for the Word of God. Those who desired to be fed. Those who study to show themselves approved. In other words, those who have ears to hear; The Diligent Seekers.

Those were the ones who would receive the secret of the kingdom of God. It’s all about [ὁ (ho) Pistis], The Faith! It is not those who hear only, because you can hear, but not actively listen and make the Word of God of no effect, but it is those who hear and put it into action who will prosper from this teaching.

Dear LORD, please give me ears to hear your Word that I might understand it and put it into action. That I might be a diligent seeker seeking You and Your kingdom. Help me to understand Your Words, for as Peter said, You alone hold Eternal Life. You alone can save my soul. You alone can redeem me from my suffering and bondage. Help me to receive Your Word in good soil within my soul so that it might take root and grow within me. So that it might sprout the fruit that brings me closer to You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Weigh Yourself

¹ What sorrow awaits you who lie awake at night, thinking up evil plans. You rise at dawn and hurry to carry them out, simply because you have the power to do so. ² When you want a piece of land, you find a way to seize it. When you want someone’s house, you take it by fraud and violence. You cheat a man of his property, stealing his family’s inheritance. ~ Micah 2:1-2^NLT

It’s very easy to feel angry and want revenge on people who have power and use that power for evil. We feel so helpless and oppressed. But the LORD said that vengeance is His. This is a difficult concept to understand because we’re a very microwave mentality society. We want what we want, and we want it now. But the LORD is slow to anger and patient so that all have the opportunity to repent and receive forgiveness. Why? Because the LORD created and loves each and every one of us. He doesn’t just take revenge; the LORD takes vengeance. I heard a quote once that said, “Revenge is seeking one’s owns passions, while vengeance is seeking justice.” The LORD seeks justice, not passion getting even.

This is why no one can say that the LORD doesn’t judge. The LORD has to judge, or He won’t be able to fulfill His vengeance, which is bringing justice to the World. This is why we should cling to two very important phrases.

To whom much is given, much is required.

Jesus, Luke 12:48

With great power comes great responsibility.

Uncle Ben, Spiderman

We get angry at those who take advantage of those under them, but do we ever stop to think about whether or not we are taking advantage of somebody under us? Do we treat our waiters and waitresses with respect, patience, and common decency? What about people we’ve hired that work under us? Or maybe our family members that are younger than us? How do we treat others? We, the Church, have been given more than anyone else because we have salvation. Since we have been given so much, do we give enough back in return? On Judgment Day, when we are weighed and measured, will we be found wanting?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Weigh Yourself.

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Not Given A Spirit of Fear

⁷ for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. ~ 2 Timothy 1:7

Anxiety is a crippling disease. It claims you from the inside out. It demands full and complete control over you, your life, and all of your actions. They say the average teenage/young adult has the anxiety levels of a psychiatric patient in the 1950s. Why? What happened in our society that has brought this amount of anxiety upon our young people? I believe it can be summed up in a single word, fear.

The Spirit of Fear has been unleashed upon our generation. Fear of failure, inferiority, rejection, imperfection. Fear is running rampant. Why? Because the love has dwindled. James tells us that the only thing that overcomes fear isn’t faith, it isn’t pride, it isn’t courage, it’s love. Perfect love casts out all fear. The love of God has left our societies.

I don’t mean that God has stopped loving us. This issue isn’t a problem on His end. It’s a problem on our end. Our love for Him has grown cold. Our hearts seek after and desire anything and everything except for Him. We refuse to remain in Him. Why? Because of distractions. Laziness. Rebellion. And apathy. We don’t care because it doesn’t seem that important. Anything and everything is more important than spending time with the LORD. Now is the time to live; tomorrow, we’ll get saved. No. Today is the day of Salvation; tomorrow is promised to no one.

If anxiety is crippling you, you lack the love of God. Your love for Him is being overrun and overpowered by fear. The only way to overcome fear is to face it. Face it with the Word of God. Speak verses that remind you of God’s love for you. Verses that remind you of His goodness. Spend time daily in prayer about your fear. Place it on the altar at His feet and ask Him to intervene. Speak boldly and with all confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit within you to the Spirit of Fear and cast him out. Fear is NOT a feeling. Fear is a person. A person that is no longer welcome in our lives, homes, societies, and nations.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do Not Adhere To The Spirit of Fear.

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Pray Dangerous Prayers

^16b…The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. ~ James 2:16b

I remember reading a book once that was about dangerous prayers. As I was reading it, I thought to myself, these don’t really seem like dangerous prayers. They seem very generic basic prayers. So, being me, I thought of prayers that were more dangerous and moved on with my life. Now, like 10+ years later, those same thoughts came to mind again, after not thinking about it for so long, but this time it came with a follow-up thought. What makes a prayer dangerous isn’t what you pray; it’s how you pray it.

See, we can pray things like, “Jesus, change me.” “If there’s anything inside me that isn’t of you, remove it.” “Mold me into whatever you want me to be.” “Send me wherever I need to go.” “Use me in whatever you see fit.” These are all dangerous-sounding prayers, but if you don’t pray them with a pure heart and an intent to obey the answer, then your prayers are just words. It’s like the seven sons of Sceva. They knew the name of Jesus was powerful. They saw it used by the early Church. They even, most likely being exorcists, successfully used it themselves. They didn’t realize that that name alone can only do so much because you need the authority to use it.

Our prayers, unless prayed with authority and power, are just empty words. The Word of God is living and active, stronger than any double-edged sword, but if you don’t believe it and follow it, then it becomes null and void for you. Our intent matters. Our prayers matter. And what we do after we finish praying matters.

Don’t let your prayers be like empty words, holding no weight. Imagine the Spiritual battles that your prayers have to break through in order to get to God. Do you think half-hearted prayers such as “Use me. Change me. Mold me.” will break through the spiritual blockades in the Heavenly places? No. Only strong, powerful, heartfelt prayers of the righteous will break through. Don’t let your prayers only sound dangerous. Let them be dangerous.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Pray Dangerous Prayers.

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Carry Your Mantle

²Attention! Let all the people of the world listen! Let the earth and everything in it hear. The Sovereign Lord is making accusations against you; the Lord speaks from His holy Temple. ³Look! The Lord is coming! He leaves His throne in heaven and tramples the heights of the earth. ⁴The mountains melt beneath His feet and flow into the valleys like wax in a fire, like water pouring down a hill. ⁵And why is this happening? Because of the rebellion of Israel—yes, the sins of the whole nation. Who is to blame for Israel’s rebellion? Samaria, its capital city! Where is the center of idolatry in Judah? In Jerusalem, its capital! ~ Micah 1:2-5 NLT

The whole world was judged because of one nation, divided into two. The nations of Israel and Judah brought condemnation upon the entire world. Their actions caused the wrath of God to come. In fact, it brought the accusations of God against the entire world. Why? Because Israel and Judah, being God’s chosen people, were His spiritual, moral thermometer in a sense. Because God dwelled with His chosen people, and no other nation did He make Himself known to in the same way, they became the soul of the whole world.

Today, that is the Church. We are the moral compass of the whole world. We are the soul of the whole world. Why? Because we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). Therefore, if the light that is within the Church is actually darkness, how great is that darkness (Matthew 6:23)? The Church today has become so lukewarm and powerless that we have become the Church at Laodicea, that Jesus said He would spit out of His mouth.

The actions of the righteous have always either moved the hand of God towards wrath or rewards. Curses or blessings. Why? Because the righteous are the light, and if the light becomes darkness, then darkness takes over. Darkness reigns. Darkness overruns the Church and enslaves them, both physically and spiritually. This is why we, the Church, have to get down on our knees and repent for all of the sin we have allowed to enter into our homes, communities, towns, cities, states, and nations. We have to beg for forgiveness for being lukewarm, refusing to call sin sin, not praying or supplicating, not reading our Bibles or worshipping, for having hardened hearts, for being unfruitful, and for quenching the Spirit. We have to get our house in order so that we might be able to move the hand of God away from wrath as Moses, King David, King Rehoboam, and King Hezekiah did.

This is the mantle we have been passed. It’s on us to carry it and fulfill our duties as prayer warriors, the body of Christ, and the light in this dark and dying world. So, pick up your mantle and raise it high. Carry it with pride and high esteem that the LORD God would choose you to represent Him on this earth and to be a light in the darkness. Don’t be discouraged by the weight because when we are weak, that’s when He is strong. That’s when He carries us. That’s when He shoulders our burden. So, stand tall and don’t be discouraged or intimated. You have been chosen by God for such a time as this.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Carry Your Mantle.

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Always Remain Grateful

¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. ~ John 15:13

Today, as we enjoy our barbecue and family time, let’s not forget what we’re commemorating. We enjoy constitutional freedoms that no other country has the liberty of enjoying. We have the freedom to evil burn our flag and run down our nation without fear of being arrested or executed. This freedom that we have isn’t free. It wasn’t just thrown onto our laps one day out of nowhere. Our freedoms were bought and paid for at the highest price, the lives of many young and old male and female Americans. They paid for our physical freedom with their lives so that we didn’t have to. Let’s not forget their sacrifice. Their ultimate act of love, laying down their lives for us.

They bought and paid for our physical freedom here in America with their spilled blood, just as Jesus bought and paid for our spiritual freedom with His spilled blood. There is no such thing as free freedom, so don’t waste it. Don’t let it slip away. Don’t let their sacrifice be for nothing. Always remember and never forget all who came before us, paving the way for us to have the lives that we do.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Always Remain Grateful.

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Come Receive The Power of The Spirit

¹⁴And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him. ~ 1 John 5:14-15

If you need something from Jesus, find it in Scripture, petition it before God, and believe that He will give it to you. The faith the size of a mustard seed, even though it is the smallest of seeds, is enough to move a mighty mountain because of Pentecost. Because the Spirit of the LORD has been poured down on us. Not just the Jews, not just the Gentiles, but all believers. All who are willingly to believe and follow Jesus have the Holy Spirit within them. And if they have the Holy Spirit within them, then they have the power of the Holy Spirit within them just waiting to be fanned. Just waiting to be stirred up.

We have all been given a Spiritual Gift. Not just the early Church. No. These Spiritual Gifts are for all generations. Why? How do we know? Because the Spirit of the LORD Himself has been poured out on all of mankind. Because Jesus has overcome the grave, and there is power in the name of Jesus. There is power in the Church, but only if we fan the flame instead of quenching it. And this is Pentecost Sunday, a time for signs, wonders, miracles, and many acts of healing.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Come Receive The Power of The Spirit.

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Don’t Settle For Being A Chicken

¹⁷And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover. ~ Mark 16:17-18

I heard a story about an eagle who lived his life as a chicken. It goes like this:

A pair of eagles made their nest on a large mountainside. They had 2 large eggs inside the nest. One day, an earthquake rocked the mountain, causing one of the eggs to roll down to a chicken farm located in the valley below. The farmer found the eagle egg and placed it under one of his setting hens. Eventually, the eagle egg hatched along with all the other chicks, and a beautiful eagle was born. Being chickens, the chickens raised the eagle to be a chicken. The eagle loved his home and his family, but it seemed his spirit always cried out for more.

One day, the eagle looked to the skies above and noticed a mighty and majestic bird soaring high above. “Oh,” the eagle cried, “I wish I could soar like that bird.” The chickens roared with laughter, “You cannot soar like those. You are a chicken, and chickens do not soar.” The eagle continued staring at his real family soaring high up above, dreaming that one day he could be just like them. Every time the eagle talked about his dreams of soaring high above the clouds, he was told it is impossible, it will never happen, you are nothing more than a chicken, and chickens cannot soar.

Eventually, the eagle accepted what he was taught and learned to believe it. After a while, the desire of the eagle to soar was quenched, and he stopped dreaming and just continued to live his life as a chicken. Finally, after a long life as a chicken, the eagle passed away, never living up to his full God-given potential.

We, Christians, are full of God-given potential. We are called to make disciples of Christ. That means that we are called to heal the sick, raise the dead, and to drive out demons. But the chickens say signs and wonders ceased when the last Apostle died. They try their best to discourage eagles from expanding their wings of faith. Keep your wingspan short, they say.

Some chickens even believe in healing but refuse to drive out demons. They have nothing to do with the casting out of demons, and just to talk about it makes them sick to their stomachs. They expect us, with so much potential. With so much authority. With such a wide wingspan. With so much mountain-moving faith to live our life as chickens. We are not called to scratch the ground, pecking for our food, eating whatever we find. We are called to soar high above the clouds seeing for miles and miles and miles. We are eagles. Our potential is for greater things than even Jesus did (John 14:12).

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Settle For Being A Chicken.

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Ask For More

¹⁷Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, ¹⁸and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. ~ Daniel 2:17-19^NLT

Daniel’s gift was the interpretation of visions and dreams, not the telling of visions and dreams. Nevertheless, he prayed for that gift. He sought higher and greater gifts than he was given. And the LORD not only heard his prayer, He answered it.

Daniel didn’t look at the times he was in and say to himself, “This is impossible.” No. Daniel looked only to his God and said, “All things are possible for those who believe.” His faith was strong. He knew in whom he believed. Daniel sought what no one else was given. He didn’t think it was prideful. He didn’t think it to be selfish to seek what no one else had. No, Daniel understood that God desires to give us good gifts from above. Gifts that will help us and make us grow closer to Him.

God promises that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. So, begin to seek God with all that’s in you. Seek out His wisdom, His fruit, His gifts, and His understanding. Begin to seek Him. When you earnestly seek God and His kingdom, your life begins to change. You begin to change. And God begins to use you in ways you didn’t think possible. Don’t settle for what you have. Always seek more from God; that’s why He came, to give life and life more abundantly.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Ask For More.

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Fan The Flame

³⁸And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself.” ~ Acts 2:38-39

The promise of Salvation and the promise of the Holy Spirit were for those in the time of Peter and for those of us who were a far off as well. God did not exclude anyone, not even us Gentiles (Acts 10:45). Because God poured out His Spirit on the day of Pentecost with signs and wonders and miracles, and the promise of prophecy and visions, and healing, we too can have signs and wonders and miracles and the promise of prophecy and visions and healing in our ministries as well. We are not inferior, for God is a respecter of no person. Meaning He does not differentiate between Jew and Gentile (Romans 10:11-13).

God bestows His riches on ALL who call on Him. The word translated as ‘riches’ does not necessarily mean financial wealth, though, in some cases, God does pour out an abundance of financial wealth on His servants according to His own will. This, however, is actually referring to His true riches, His signs, His wonders, His miracles, and His healing. God is a God of the miraculous. He’s a God of the impossible. A God that does not change. Therefore, if He did the miraculous in the past when His Spirit wasn’t poured out on all of mankind, how much more will He move in the miraculous now that His Spirit has been poured out on all of mankind and dwells in those who believe and follow? The Spirit of God still has power. The name of Jesus still has power and authority. He will reveal His Spiritual gifts to you if you fan the Spirit within you instead of quenching it.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Fan The Flame.

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Tag: Daily Bread

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